Italy Summary and Major News ! ;)

So that was our tour of Italy. I hope to say that it was not a once in a lifetime experience, because we certainly would love to go back. We got to see quite a bit, and now I'm sure it was worth taking the time that it took to plan it because we were able to squeeze in experiences that are less likely to happen on a whim. Italy is a beautiful place and it was great to feel a part of it again.

As for my experiment, blogging it all using my Iphone, I had a great time doing it. I had comments about when I found time to write it all. Really that was the beauty of riding rail. When you have two hours to kill, it's a good way to capture a memory. Like writing a journal, but sharing it with others. And not to plug the Iphone, but it was a great tool to have with me on this trip.

Major News:

Well little did we know when planning the trip that it would not only be the two of us visiting Italy. In fact, we found out about 4 days in that Grace was pregnant ! It was in Siena, our first morning there. Grace came running and screaming into the bedroom from the bathroom at around 7 a.m. I was still sleeping and thought we were getting kicked out of the hotel :) SHe had brought a pregnancy tester cuz she "had a feeling".

We were thrilled, excited and nervous all at the same time. We didn't know how to change up the trip but we decided to go ahead with it all and just tune it down during the crazy periods. Which meant ixnay on our half a day Milan stop and half a day San Marino stop .Nonetheless, Grace did quite a bit of walking :)

I won't go into the details of the long and arduous pregnancy that Grace experienced, but in the end, our little fighter was born a Happy, Healthy, Bouncing Baby Girl of 8 pounds and 1 ounce. We named her Myka Maria. We couldn't be happier !

Maybe, one day we'll bring her back to see all of Italy from outside Grace's tummy :)

Mr. Procrastinator

Yup, today is the day I finally got around to finishing this Blog. Part of the reason for the delay has to do with the fact that I had a whole bunch of ideas for adding factoids about Pietracatella, and then reality set back in and never had enough time for it.

So I just topped off what I have from memory just today and put the date as Sept. 2008 which is a lie :)

I'll just add some links and paste some text below to some of the sources I found.

1.

From: http://www.italyworldclub.com/molise/campobasso/pietracatella.htm

The Locality: In the Middle Ages there were two separate settlements, Catella and Rocca Catella, recorded as fiefdom of Riccardus de Guastus, who was followed by the De Catellis then by the Boccapianola in the 16th century, by the Di Capua and finally by the Grimaldi families. The medieval center rises on a tuff rock that is almost inaccessible on the Northern side.

INFO: Altitude: 707 m a.s.l -- Territory: hills -- Population: ca. 1600 inhabitants -- Zip/postal code: 86040 -- Phone Area Code: 0874 -- Patron Saint: San Donato celebrated on 7 August

HISTORY Though the area was inhabited since prehistoric times, as shown by stone handicrafts found in the local tuff grottos, and by an ancient sepulchre in the area called "vigna della Signora", there are very few historical records of the Samnite and Roman times. The chapel of Santa Margherita, built on early Christian catacombs, points to the existence of a settlement when the Christians were still persecuted, that is before 313 AD. The medieval town was all surrounded by walls, and the only buildings outside the walls ("extra moenia") were San Nicola and Santa Maria di Costantinopoli; then in the early 20th century the population, exceeding at the time 3000 people, started to build outside the walls.

WHAT TO SEE

The church of San Giacomo and the chapel of Santa Margherita on top of the tuff hill where the town rises. Santa Margherita was originally all covered in frescoes , only some of which are still extant. The church of San Giacomo was built later, partly on the rock and partly on the crypt of Santa Margherita. Over the altar is placed a very ancient, wooden crucifix and in the arches near the entrance some very interesting stones are placed, with inscriptions in the Phoenician style, whose origin was not explained yet.

2.

From: http://www.mondimedievali.net/castelli/Molise/campobasso/pietracatella.htm

Artist rendition of Castle at top of Tuff rock.

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