My three cousins:
Robin, Joan and Judy.
We rented a car, packed our small bags, grabbed a map, left France, hopping the boarder to Italy.
I was forbidden to drive, since falling asleep at the wheel isn't attractive. Nevertheless, I was a driving force.
We headed towards my cousin's family roots, deep within a remote part of Italy.
Looking forward to adventures- as my cousins said, "Secrets to unfold."
We drove for hours, with story after story, shared without censor.
Wrong turns turned into undiscovered chapters.
Finding lost villages where neighboring villagers were consider foreigners.
Empty old houses, one after another… Where jack rabbits, wild boars and daisies appeared with each bend of the road.
Was this a movie set from "Enchanted April"?
I could not help repeating, "Oh my God!" As I licked up the images that past before me swallowing them whole, while my camera sat in the trunk of the car.
In the village where my cousins' relatives lived, we saw a grape vine that their grandmother use to tell them about, growing along a house that was for sale.
The vine we learned was over two hundred years old.
The stone house was much older. Of course my imagination flew up the stairs, opened the windows, I heard myself singing in Italian while twirling pasta with my fork…
and not even two moments later we were sitting across the street, sharing an Italian meal with my cousins' Italian family.
Delicious.
Heartland.
Ciao Bella!
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Have you ever been to Italy?
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