20 Nov We made it to Rome!

We’re in a hotel about 2 blocks away from Rome — we got in at around 11 last night after about 10 hours on the road [again]. Sant’Andrea was simply amazing. I put virtually all of the pictures from the town on the lap top I borrowed from Jackie, so here are a few I took yesterday.

MIA CUGINA: Daniela, Zia Nuzza and Zio Al were phemonenally gracious hosts for 5 days in Sant’Andrea. Daniela essentially runs the town using her quick wit and infectious sense of humor.

PECORINO DEGLI PECORARI: This guy, it turns out, was the most important person we met in Calabria. He’s Mimo Pirritano, the goat herder, whose family has been making cheese for more than 200 years. Everything we did this week revolved around when we could get the cheese for my grandfather. MUCH more on this later.

Nino Lijoi, a cousin of my grandfather, took us on a couple of, um, interesting adventures. He took us just about everywhere in the Sant’Andrea area, whether we wanted him to or not.
Nino, who built a huge house in Isca, a neighboring town, all by himself, has a thick Andreolesi accent. Thank God Uncle Bruno knew what he was saying. All I understood was “Frine, veini qua!” That’s when he called for his dog.

FUNNY TO MEET YOU HERE: Uncle Bruno with cousin Bruno Frustaci and his wife. We met them at the Soverato market, where we got the Godsent cheese.

Uncle Bruno and I spent about 10 hours on the road, much of it overlooking the Amalfi Coast. Videos to come.