Day 1 of our vacation to Italy - July 7, 2013

Day 1 - July 7, 2013

Cleveland to Newark - Security people told my son "he has the Best Mom Ever" for taking him to Italy!

Pretty quick flight to Newark Liberty - 95 degrees - very busy but unusally calm & quiet. Lunch from Smashburger was very good! Found the United Club - Very nice and very crowded but pretty quiet - everyone is either on a laptop or a phone!!
Three more hours to kill before we go to Gate C120 to board for our flight to Milan!

Day 2 - July 8, 2013 ****

Arrived in Milan on time! Great flight other than the fact that we didn't sleep much.  Cousin Domenico picked us up and we were on our way back to his parents home in Albissola Marina, Liguria.  It was a 2 1/2 hour drive and they drive fast in Italy!!  We hit it off right away because he is very intelligent, and he speaks English well! He is a defense attorney just like his father.  He works out of the courthouse in the morning and in the office in the afternoon. I asked him many questions while he drove...we made a quick stop at a local florist shop so that I could buy his parent's flowers.  We had to drive up a winding street as they live on the side of a mountain and he parked outside the gate of the home.  His father, Antoniobenedetto (Nino) came to greet us and they kiss on both cheeks in Italy, took our luggage in, and met his wife, Graziella (Grace).  They showed us up to our bedrooms - we each got a room upstairs and shared a bathroom - we unpacked  and freshened up. The house is awesome - It is three stories high - Garage underneath, main floor (kitchen, full bathroom, family room, sitting room (library), bedroom, large foyer) and upstairs (bathroom, three bedrooms, and an office) and the best feature is the terrace outside the kitchen/living room which overlooks the Ligurian Sea!!
Grace served us a"pranzo" lunch of pasta, prosciutto, vino, and bread.  Delicious!! Domenico did all the translating , and we all practiced our English and Italian with each other and we communicated just fine!  Paola, Domenico's girlfriend stopped over on her lunch hour and brought a cake! She speaks excellent English as she has to speak English every day in her job. She speaks to the captains of ships as they arrive in numerous ports to deliver fruit from Chiquita! She is a shipping manager.  I really like her!! She is very smart, sweet, and very welcoming to us.  Paola went back to work and we moved from the kitchen outside to the terrace for espresso.  It was very hot outside, about 88 degrees F/32C.  We talked all afternoon mostly about family and shared photo's and genealogy.  We all are up on technology and the have WiFi!!  Therefore, I had free calling back to the states so I called my Mom and my brother-in-law and put them on speaker phone!
Angela arrived around 5:00- she is also very smart, sweet and welcoming..we talked more, drank lots of water, and then we all went out to dinner at a local pizza ristorante.  The owner, Nicola, spoke English and owned a home near Clearwater, FL.  Diner was great, especially the foccocia with sesame seeds!!! I loved it!!
We were all TIRED after a VERY long day!! I invited them all to come to Cleveland and visit next year!!