Following Family Footsteps
Here we are, we have left Voiron after having spent exactly 2 weeks at home. A break that turned out to be very beneficial and allowed us to get organized and fill up on plenty great things before leaving again.
It was a departure under the sun on a Saturday, that turned out to be the start of the fall school holiday break which got us into a nice big traffic jam going through the Frejus tunnel. In preparation for the re-departure, we seemed to have forgotten this small detail... It's a good sign in a way, it means that we have somehow switched off from "normal life" 馃槈.
We drove for 2 pretty full days without really stopping. Surely it's not because the north of Italy isn't worth it !! But mostly because it's not so far away for us and that we wanted to maximize the time spent in countries located further and less accessible with shorter vacation time.
So, our first stopover was in Brugnera, north-east of Venice. The location was not chosen by coincidence, Brugnera is the town where J茅r么me's father, Sante was born. His grandfather, Jean escaped Italy and fascism in the early 1930s and settled in France. He had his wife, Antonia and his son, Sante (J茅r么me's father) brought over a bit later, J茅r么me's father was 8 at the time. In France they had 3 other children, so J茅r么me's father was the only one born in Italy.
There is still some family living in the area, some far away cousins that welcomed us with open arms:
Cousin Pamela and her father Egidio Celotto (Celotto was Antonia, J茅r么me's grandmother's maiden name) who gave us a family tour of town: the Celotto family house, the must-do visit to the cemetery, and the Corazza family house (below), where J茅r么me's father was born:
There is also cousin Dorina (a Corazza this one) and her husband Angelo who welcomed us with coffee and splash of grappa and on the side a glass of red wine made by Angelo. Italians really have the sense of hospitality, particularly for family, even if everyone is seeing each other for the 1st time. We don't speak Italian, they don't speak French or English but we found a way to communicate 馃槄.
Something interesting worth mentioning, there was in Brugnera a big joinery industry, in furniture making to be specific, and many family members were or are joiners. So, without even knowing about this, J茅r么me chose the family profession... It's one Italian word that we have learned and integrated: joiner is "falegname" in Italian 馃槉.
Italian hospitality didn't stop there. A few kilometers aways from Brugnera is a town called Portogruaro, from where Barbara, J茅r么me's colleague and friend is from. There her sister Emanuela was waiting for us to give us a tour of this pretty little town
A visit that finished with an aperitivo with a glass of local Proseco, as it should 馃構.
Richer with all the beautiful encounters we made and after making plans to see each other again but in France this time and in a year, we continued on our way. The weather is very autum-like, it isn't very cold but it's quite rainy so we are waiting for the situation to improve before we head up to the Julian Alps and cross the border into Slovenia, which should be in the next few days. In the meantime, after making a small detour to say a quick hello to the Adriatic, we are wandering around and discovering the beautiful region of Friuli (Udine, Cividale del Friuli, San Daniele del Friuli) and it's local flavors:
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