Darby Girl's Perspective

Day Sixteen: We wrap up our journey with a visit to Villa d’Este a 16th century villa commissioned by Cardinal Ippolito II d'Este (1509–1572), second son of Alfonso I d'Este, the Duke of Ferrara and grandson of Pope Alexander VI through his mother Lucrezia Borgia. Beyond this basic info, the entire Renaissance church/state thing confuses me except to say they are all in cahoots and loads of money and other riches are controlled by both and neither seem too concerned about the people they govern or shepherd. Cardinal d’Este appears to be particularly bereft of piety with an ego as big as the villa he built. The vast construction site required the demolition of houses, public buildings and roads. In 1568 the local residents filed twelve different lawsuits against the Cardinal, but he was not deterred. The interior space is impressive and the gardens are an engineering delight with waterfalls snd fountains. Cardinal d’Este pillaged some material from villa Adriana (see yesterday’s...

We are Americans. Me, simply by birth and Caesar by choice since age 25. These last few weeks we’ve enjoyed both the natural and engineered beauty of Italy. We traveled as Italians, on their roads, their public transit and ate in their restaurants and slept in their homes. Many things are different but the one uniting force and I think it may be for all people is their desire for liberty. Liberty to pursue one’s dreams and ambitions without the shackles of an oppressive government, within a society that allows the individual autonomy over their body, their thoughts, their pursuit of a lifestyle. There are towns of a few hundred people where hundreds of young men died fighting for this. The monuments list the names of the dead from the great wars and often there are several brothers listed. An entire generation gone in the pursuit of liberty. I am of the opinion that the United States of America was the inspiration to these people. They saw what George Washington’s Great Experiment pro...

Day Eleven: Make New Friends. In Amazing Abruzzo , you can be from the seaside to the mountains in half hour. So, you can hike in the Appenine in the morning and swim in the Adriatic Sea in the afternoon. Or you can just make Sunday the day of rest that it was meant to be. Caesar has been following a British couple on Insta and FB who are doing a reconstruction on a property in Abruzzo ( Brambletye ) and he was adamant that we should meet them during this trip. Okay, Caesar, that’s not weird. Nonetheless, we traveled to Guardiagrele, which also happens to be the DeLuca hometown, to meet them for coffee in the morning. We didn’t get home until nearly 9PM. There was a marching band that didn’t march, church bells that never stopped, a MotoGuzzi rally that was attended by a Cardinal and a long afternoon of sharing stories, good food and wine with Lynn, Steve, Katja and Andrew and a sweet dog called Button.

Day Five. Our day of rest. Giovinazzo, Puglia. Leisurely stroll around town, a couple hours in the sun. Dinner. Soccer game. Planning our next outing.

Day Four: Travel Day. Leaving Naples and headed to Puglia, specifically a small sea town called Giovinazzo. Itinerary is fluid here and the intention is to spend at least one day doing nothing. We are staying in an unusual place, the old Ducale Palazzo, that was built upon a Roman building. The apartment we are in was constructed during Roman times and rehabilitated to a wonderful modern space overlooking the sea. I wonder what weird dreams we will have here.

Day One. Arrival into Naples . Evening walk through Caserta Vecchia. Keeping ourselves awake until midnight to get acclimated to the time change. Day Two: Naples Walked 25,000 steps in 93 degree weather. Hold none of these comments against me. First day waking up in Italia. Forgot how hard it is to move fast around here and started the day with a fall in the bathroom as a result of my speed. Reminder to slow down. I did. Naples Day. If you’re Italian, one of your first memories might be someone in the family telling someone else to “va fa Napoli” which literally means, “go to Naples” but is idiomatic for “go to hell”. Naples is not hell but it’s not heaven either, and this was intricately explained to me at a park that overlooked the Bay of Naples in half Italian and half English by a man who could have been Jesus Christ but probably just needed a behavioral health referral. So, a lot happened, including Caesar rescuing me from some truffatore (grifters) outside the train station, av...

Yeah, the US is a big country but most people live on the coasts. I wonder why my grandfather didn't go to the other one. The one that is funky, where the weather is always pleasant and the people better looking. Too tired maybe after the long trek across the Atlantic or perhaps living on the East Coast allowed him a glimpse of home or at least a glance at the horizon that led the way back to the Adriatic Sea. Which makes me wonder why he ever left the place at all. That place more lovely than even California.