Lino and I just got back from a trip to visit his family in Morsano, Italy. Morsano al Tagliamento is a small town in the Province of Pordenone in the Italian region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia located about 85 kilometres northwest of Venice.
We had a great visit with family and friends and I would like to take this opportunity to share two other highlights of our trip.
The first being our favorite local eating place - the al Ponte Osteria Pizzeria in Morsano. The al Ponte Pizzeria is a locally owned and operated restaurant. The owners are Maria Grazia, her husband Vito and their son Alessandro.
We go there all the time to enjoy their good food and every time we go I order a ham and pineapple pizza and of course the owner's son Alessandro, who is now used to me cheerfully explains, once again, that they have no such pizza in Italy.
This time things were different; Alessandro challenged me to make the pizza myself in his restaurant kitchen.
To make a long story short - it was so much fun watching Lino helping to make my ham and pineapple pizza. There were photos before and after of one of the first ham and pineapple pizzas to come out of a stone masonry-brick bake oven in that part of Italy.
Italians are pretty serious when it comes to their food and especially their pizzas. Italian cuisine has influenced food culture around the world and is viewed by many as a form of art so making this new kind of pizza was serious business.
By the way - the made-to-order ham and pineapple pizza was delicious.
The second highlight of our trip was when we took the GoEuro train on a round trip from Portogruaro via Venice to Cosenza; Cosenza is a city in the Calabria region of southern Italy.
The train system in Italy is amazing. It is clean, easy, comfortable and fast and for our trip the train was always on time.
If you book early, by at least two months, you can enjoy huge discounts on the price of your rail ticket.
The distance to our destination in Cosenza was approximately 1,120 km and it took us about 14 hours to get there. I can't even begin to describe the wonderful scenery of the mountains, the farming regions and the coastline of Italy along the way. We were able to spot Mount Vesuvius and Pompeii near Naples.
I was disappointed when it got dark out and I could no longer see the beauty of Italy.
When we arrived in Cosenza, we were met by our good friends Vince and Teresa Carpino.
Vince and Teresa have the best of both worlds; they live in Prince George for part of the year and then their home in Italy for the other part of the year.
We got settled in at their home and the next morning we started a personalized guided tour of Calabria with the main attraction being our trip to Sicily.
Vince and Teresa actually live in Piano Lago; next door to the rest of their family, on the outskirts of Cosenza.
The region is generally known as the "toe of the boot" of Italy; it is a long and narrow peninsula stretching north and south for about 250 km with a width of about 110 km.
We crossed the rugged mountains of the Basilicata Region wooded with pine trees and other trees growing chestnuts, hazelnuts, almonds and walnuts and eventually ended up in Alberobello, Puglia.
The lower hills are terraced for the cultivation of citrus fruits and olive trees; much of the local economy is involved in olive oil extraction and the processing of citrus products.
The lower region of Italy has acres and acres of green houses, solar panels, miles and miles of vineyards and general farming.
We headed further southwest until we arrived at the Strait of Messina which separates Sicily from the mainland of Italy. We took the ferry to the Island of Sicily which is located in the central Mediterranean Sea. From there we headed to the landmark of Mount Etna, the tallest active volcano in Europe and the highest mountain in Italy south of the Alps.
We toured nearly 1,300 km and learned a lot about Calabria and Sicily, thanks to our well informed tour guides.
Vincenzo (Vince) Carpino is the eldest of his two siblings; his brother Franco (Rafelina), his sister Loredana and his mother live in Italy. At the age of 17 his family immigrated to Toronto and then moved to McBride in 1970. Time went by and the rest of his family moved back to Italy.
Vince worked for the railroad and eventually moved to Prince George where he met and married Teresa Mascaro in 1971.
Teresa, the eldest of the two children of Sebastiano and Agata Mascaro (both deceased) was born and raised in Cellara, Calabria, Italy. Her family had previously immigrated to Prince George where she learned the English language.
Teresa said, "I am still grateful to my lifelong friends that taught me to speak English."
Vince is now semi-retired from his nearly 50 year trade as a tile setter.
Vince and Teresa recently celebrated 46 years of marriage. They had three children Carmela (Richard) Denis, Melisa (Earl) Ford and Angelo Kenneth (Tracy) who sadly passed away in January of 2016.
Teresa and Vince agreed and said, "We have five wonderful grandchildren all of which are perfect in every way."
The annual Christmas parties and gatherings are getting started and it is time to drag out the address book and get those Christmas letters in the mail.
I have heard the question many times, "What do seniors want for Christmas? What can I buy for a senior who seems to have everything?"
I would like to suggest a copy of my book People of Prince George - the Foundation of our Community as a lovely Christmas gift.
The book is a compilation of 147 of my columns over a period of nearly five years that were originally published in the Prince George Citizen.
You can pick up a copy of the book for $25 at Books and Company or other community minded businesses around town.
The proceeds from the sale of the book go directly to the Prince George Community Foundation.
The Prince George Community Foundation was founded in 1995; their investment income is allocated carefully and responsibly to charitable organizations committed to enhancing the quality of life in our community.
Organizations involved in health, sports, recreation, education, arts, culture, social services and the environment all benefit from the generosity of those giving to the foundation.
I will be at a book signing event hosted by Caf Voltaire and Books and Company at 1635 Third Ave. on Friday between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.
If you already have a copy of my book, please bring it along and I will be happy to autograph it for you.
