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La Famiglia: The Trip of a Lifetime to Italy

In the fall of 2019, our family made the decision to go on the proverbial “trip of a lifetime” to travel with my then 82-year-old mother Angela (Carolis) Battista to visit Italy in May of 2020.  My wife, Heidi, and our three adult children would travel with us and their “Mee-Maw” who could still speak Italian, with one of the main objectives to visit my grandparents’ hometown of Alvito, 90 minutes southeast of Rome.  

With our children bound to be going their separate ways soon, we thought this would be our best chance to make this magical vacation for “La Famiglia” a reality.  Unfortunately, fate would intervene in the form of a global pandemic in March of 2020, with Italy being one of the hardest hit countries and under strict lockdowns. Surely the pandemic would only temporarily postpone our celebration of La Famiglia?  It was not to be. Two years passed before the trip would be green-lighted.  A lot can change in two years.

Angela was now 84 and not quite as strong or resilient as she was at 82. My father was now 90-years-old, and my mother simply didn’t feel comfortable leaving him for 11 days. As much as she wanted to attend, it became clear our trip of a lifetime would no longer include the matriarch of La Famiglia.  

Our oldest child, Brianna, likewise would not be able to join us as she had just accepted a new position within her company at Boston Scientific and relocated to Alexandria, Virginia. Our six quickly became four. In the middle of all this we just sold our house and are preparing to move to South Carolina. Good timing, eh?

Well, we decided we had waited long enough (and the travel agency gave us a deadline!) and the remaining four Battistas would have to carry the torch, so to speak. Heidi had been to Italy briefly during a 1987 European trip and I had been up in the northeast mountains in 2003 for the World University Games. Jonathon, while a world traveler including much of Europe, had never been to Italy, and Ryan, well he’d been to Niagara Falls, Canada.

On May 7, 2022, the journey began with a surprise upgrade to first-class seats courtesy of good friend John DeBlasio. John’s son Jack had lived with us this past year while finishing his Penn State degree. I coached and have been friends with John and his famiglia since 1982. It was just what good family friends do for one another and it got the trip off to a great start.

Arriving in Rome one thing became apparent immediately: the pandemic had its negative impact on the city in the form of graffiti, litter and crime. Italy is, after all, not a very wealthy nation and is so dependent on tourism that the pandemic really impacted the country. 

Once we got over that initial impression, however, the rest of the trip was simply magnificent. The food, the wine, the limoncello, the gelato, oh the gelato, the bread, oh the bread, the fresh seafood, emphasis on fresh — everything was even better than advertised.  

The historical sites in Rome were even better than imagined. I recommend you get a private driver and tour guide that gets you to the front of the lines and to the best sites expediently.  The Colosseum was an engineering marvel, especially the elevator system. It was the hidden history of the Colosseum that was really fascinating.  For instance, gladiators didn’t look like Russell Crowe; in fact they were typically big bellied so that their vital organs were protected and they could survive to fight again. Over the years the gorgeous marble that once adorned the walls was repurposed (or stolen).  

We visited the Roman Forum, the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain, the Sinking Boat Fountain, the Spanish Steps, the Basilica Santa Maria, the Castel Sant’ Angelo and, of course, the Vatican. The Sistine Chapel, St. Peters Square, St. Peter’s Basilica, the Vatican Museums with their priceless paintings, sculptures and tapestries were breathtaking. Seeing the Swiss Guard performing their duties and visualizing the scenes of Dan Brown’s “Angels and Demons,” we were expecting Tom Hanks to come walking around the corner at any moment. 

Our guide for the Vatican, Gracelyn Monaco, who was a wealth of knowledge, was born in the Bronx, moved to Rome after college and married a local man. We asked why and she said matter-of-factly, “Americans live to work. Italians work to live.”

I realized just how advanced ancient Roman engineering and architecture were, as well as their governance and commitment to public services, especially clean water and a working sewage system. In fact, it was the destruction of the aqueducts by the Vandals (think vandalism) from northeastern Europe in 546 that ultimately sealed Rome’s fate as the once greatest city in the world. 

Two of our best treats in Rome came during our “free time.” The Italian Open tennis tournament was being played, so we were able to see family friend Jessie Pegula and her doubles partner Coco Gauff play. We also visited Botticella’s, the famous Steelers and Western Pennsylvania bar smack dab in the middle of Rome! Owner Giovanni Poggi and his staff treated us to a fun afternoon, and we saw autographed pictures of famous Steelers and Penn Staters throughout the bar. I also met PSU grad John from upstate New York, who was wearing a Cowboys hat. We had a great discussion about the battles between our teams and the respect they had for each other. We made a toast to “Great champions are made by great rivals!”

The Battistas at Botticella’s (top) and Taverna Agape

Perhaps THE highlight for me was going to my mother’s parents’ hometown of Alvito – a small mountain town about 90 minutes south and east of Rome. Picture a mountain twice the size of Mount Nittany, steeper, with homes literally built into the side of the mountain. When we arrived, we stopped at the Pasticceria Macioce (pastry shop and café) in front of the town hall.  My cousin Loretta (Macioce) Shelapinsky and I were keeping in touch during the trip, but we were not able to determine if they were the same bloodline. What we did find was a World War I monument listing my great uncle Giuseppe Bove and cousin Antonio De Carolis, and a World War II monument with my cousin Antonio Martini (Loretta’s grandfather) listed.

We were able to meet a young man at the municipal office, Gianluca, who along with colleague Serena researched and found the birth certificates and marriage license of  my grandparents Costanzo De Carolis and Concetta Bove. When I was able to share them with my mother she broke down in tears. While she couldn’t be there with us in person, she enjoyed the trip vicariously through our eyes and photos. 

Next on our itinerary was the most beautiful part of the trip, to Sorrento, Capri, Pompeii, Amalfi and Positano.

The Isle of Capri was spectacular. We took a hydrofoil to the island then a smaller boat out to the Blue Grotto.  There we transferred into an even smaller boat. Once in the grotto, the scene was amazing, and hilarious, as the boat captains all sang, trying to outdo each other. I will never have to go on a roller coaster ride again as our driver Antonio was flooring it coming down from top at Anacapri to the port of Capri, while school was letting out and people were getting out of work. It was, in a word, terrifying!

The next day we visited Pompeii, the city that was buried beneath ash for almost 2,000 years after the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. It was the best preserved of all the ancient ruins. There are still parts of the city that have yet to be found and researched.  No one knows for certain what went on in ancient times, but archeologists and their tools have gotten better over time and so have they are putting the pieces together. As soon as a site is discovered there is an attempt to preserve some part of the story. 

During our trip I reached out to an old friend, former Penn State assistant football coach John Bove, whose relatives owned a vineyard near Positano. I received this text: “Joe what a great surprise! There is a winery owned by the Bove family above Vietri. The winery is Tenuta San Francesco Winery in Tramonti. Gaetano Bove is the contact. He speaks English. We were there in September.  vinitenutasanfrancesco.com. – John.” So off we went to the valley town of Tramonti. When we arrived we were treated like royalty by Gaetano Bove, daughter Rafaela, wife Eva, friend Sonja, and the rest of their famiglie. Well, we found Heaven on Earth! The tour of the vineyard, with roots back some 400 years, the winery, the food, and especially the seven bottles of wine we drank, were out of this world. 

On our final “free” day, Jonathon recommended that we go to the Bagni della Regina Giovanna (the Baths of the Queen Giovanna) to see the Cape of Sorrento and to swim in one of the swimming holes surmounted by a rock arch beneath the ruins of a Roman Villa. On our way down to the cape, Ryan runs smack into a friend from Penn State, Maggie, who was studying overseas.

Little pleasures abounded. The leisurely breakfasts, walking through the piazzas and basilicas, hiking up and down the Spanish steps, perusing all the little shops, and stopping every night for gelato. Meeting Trey and Vivian (a native Honduran) from Tulsa, Oklahoma at dinner at the La Botta Antica restaurant near our Al Manthia Hotel in Rome. Getting to know one of our driver Salvatore of Napoli, who recommended great restaurants like the Taverno Azzurno and showed us the best shops and cafes. Discovering the Fresco Sorrento Gelataria owned and operated by a young husband and wife and going back there every night that we were in Sorrento.

While my mother and daughter were not able to make the trip, they were there in spirit, and we kept them updated with pictures and texts.  It turned out to be the trip of a lifetime after all and it highlighted the importance of sharing experiences with La Famiglia more than ever.