Today was intended to be a leisurely day for us and, thankfully, it stayed true to form. We were greeted at the entrance by Givoanni, his wife Anna Maria and 6-7 Soverato Rotarians. Due to Enzo’s great concern for Martina’s ability to hike in high heels, Maria, the Soverato club president, presented Martina with a brand spanking new pair of Yike sneakers. Next, we headed out to Soverato. Again, the boys went in one car and the girls in another.
Within 90 minutes or so, we had reached our destination: Serra San Bruno. Serra San Bruno is a small, mountainous town and is named after San Bruno, a monk who founded a cloistered monastery in the town in 1091 and had been Pope Urban II’s mentor. We met up with a tour guide when we arrived. She was French but spoke English and led us through two of the seven churches in the town, including the largest, San Biaggio. In 1783, there was an earthquake that destroyed the entire town but the town began to rebuild quickly and San Biaggio was finished by 1795.
After that, we drove to the monastery founded by San Bruno. No one is allowed to enter the monastery and the museum was off limits today due to construction. So, we walked around the outside and learned more about San Bruno and the history of the monastery. San Bruno was born in Cologne in 1030 and founded the Carthusian Order in 1084. He fled to Calabria in 1090 to escape oppression. From there, we drove to the Santa Maria chapel, where San Bruno was buried. In 1984, Pope John Paul II visited this site for the 900-year anniversary of the founding of the Carthusian Order.
By the time we finished there, we were all hungry and getting ready for a lunch of “mushrooms only,” or so we were told. Luckily, lunch turned out to be more than just a huge plate of mushrooms. In fact, we had quite the spread there waiting for us. Several types of sliced meat, zucchini wedges, fried cauliflower, bread, fava beans, a pasta roll and broccoli were lined up for us near our table. Before our entrées arrived, one of our hosts, Giuseppe, suggested we try “nduja,” which is Calabrian dialect for a hot red pepper spread. Jason and Nick tried, and loved, it while Martina and Jane declined the adventure. Giovanni told us how to clear our plate of excess sauce. You are supposed to use “scarpeta”, which means “little shoes” but is actually using small pieces of bread to soak up the sauce. Grazie, Giovanni.
After lunch, we drove to Grecio, a pipe workshop at the artisan’s house. The owner’s wife showed us a pipe that her father-in-law, the founder, had handcrafted. There was a woman’s face with amazing detail carved into the wood. The type of wood used comes from the base of local briar trees. We headed inside the workshop to meet the owner and see some of his work. He explained the process of making these pipes and we were amazed at what went into the whole thing. Briar trees’ wood is used because the adverse conditions in which they grow force the trees to adapt in order to continue to thrive. The wood is extracted from the trees and boiled for 20 hours. Then, the wood is placed in racks and exposed to the elements for 10 years! After this short wait, the wood is expected to have been weathered enough to be ready for lifelong use. The pipes are then carved out of the wood, treated and sold to shops around the world.
We headed back to the hotel to quickly change and head to the Soverato Rotary Club office to deliver our presentation. While we were at Grecio, Jane told Monica, a Soverato Rotarian, that Nick was in love with the Italian song, “La Gatta,” and she actually sang it for us. Well, not only did she sing it but she also arranged for the song and lyrics to be hand delivered to Nick at the meeting! Needless to say, Nick is still on Cloud Nine. After meeting the rest of the Rotarians, we gave our presentation but, this time, we had an interpreter! We all felt pretty good about our performance. Then, we exchanged gifts and were treated to a nice, small dinner of pizza and finger foods. This was a great break for our stomachs because we have eaten so much since we’ve gotten here. We also had some great desserts, all of which were handmade with almonds. Best of all was the limoncello, made by Maria, the club president! After dinner, Stefano took us to Marrons Glacés, the gelato place we went to the other night and we made up for the calories we missed at dinner!
This was our final day with the Catanzaro and Soverato clubs and we have to say that it has been a fabulous start to our trip. Everywhere we turn, our hosts are there to make us feel welcome, engage us in excellent conversation and give us all we need and more. Our group has come to the conclusion that we couldn’t think of a better place to go for the Group Study Exchange. The hospitality of southern Italy, not only of Rotarians but all people we meet, is overwhelming. We are anxiously awaiting our next adventure in Amantea tomorrow. Stay tuned for the next post.
Thank you and good night.
No comments:
Post a Comment