Visiting the homeland

We slept in, then had breakfast and got ready for our journey to the homeland. Cristina's great great grandparents were from Italy. Her great-great grandfather was from a town called Sermide and her great-great grandmother was from a nearby town called Carbonara di Po. We picked San Venanzio as a stop on our trip especially because it is near both these towns and we wanted to visit, even though we didn't have a whole lot of info about them or specific places to visit. But it felt like we needed to at least visit the towns while we were in Italy.

So a bit of genealogy:  

Cristina's great-great grandmother:

Domitilla Campi D'avanzo
Birthdate: July 15, 1860
Birthplace: Carbonara di Po, Lombardy, Italy
Death: April 17, 1933 (72)
Domitilla was the:
Daughter of Claudio Campi and Adelisa Davanzo
Wife of Ermenegildo Molinari Zucolli
Mother of Güelfo Ermenegildo Molinari Campi; Cesare Roberto Molinari Campi; Maria Teresa Molinari Campi; Virginia de Jesus Molinari Campi; Juan Luis Marcelo Molinari Campi; Angela Elena Molinari Campi; Victor Manuel de Jesus Molinari Campi; Manuela Victoria de Jesus Molinari Campi; Hugo Mariano Bruno Molinari Campi; Oscar Amadeo Molinari Campi; Claudio de Jesus Molinari Campi; Giovanni Molinari Campi; Roberto Cesare Molinari Campi and Juan Molinari Campi

Cristina's great-great grandfather:

Ermenegildo Molinari Zucolli
Birthdate: ____ 04, 1858
Birthplace: Sermide, Lombardy, Italy
Death: August 17, 1920 (61) in Alajuela, Costa Rica
Ermenegildo was the:
Son of Giovanni Molinari and María Zuccolli
Husband of Domitilla Campi D'avanzo
Father of Güelfo Ermenegildo Molinari Campi; Cesare Roberto Molinari Campi; Maria Teresa Molinari Campi; Virginia de Jesus Molinari Campi; Juan Luis Marcelo Molinari Campi and 9 others
Occupation: Relojero, Mecánico

Domitilla and Ermenegildo's first three kids were born around 1885 in Carbonara di Po, Mantua (Mantova), Lombardia, Italy before the family moved to Costa Rica. Their fourth child was born in 1891 in San Jose. Angela (Cristina's great grandmother) was child #6 and was born in San Jose in 1895. All children after Angela were born in Alajuela. The last child, #10, was born in 1905. 3 still-births for 13 total births of children.

Okay, so that's what we know.

Before getting far, we got coffee, of course. The little place in San Venanzio that we stopped at was just okay. The Asian lady behind the counter made a decent cappuccino, but while we were drinking, Bella and I noticed her refill the hopper with coffee beans, and then stir them around with her bare hand. That just didn't seem like the most hygienic practice, even if they are destined to be ground up and scalded with hot pressurized water.

It took about an hour to get to Carbonara di Po. We decided to go all the way to Carbonara first and then do Sermide on the way back. We stopped at the sign for Carbonara di Po and got a photo of Cristina with the sign. 

We drove to the church and Cristina explored it as best she could on a quiet Sunday afternoon. There was no sign of anyone in this little town. We assumed they were all at home, resting through the hottest part of the day. But not us! We were bound for a little nature area on the River Po to have a picnic lunch.

There was one other car parked at the nature area near the river. We parked beside it, then trekked in with our food. Just a little ways in, we found a clearing with some picnic tables. While we ate our prosciutto and cheese, a couple came up the path and passed by us, obviously the owners of the other car. So we had the "park" to ourselves from that point on.

If you look closely, you can see Cristina far back on the path, going slowly thanks to her Seek app

The park was as desolate as the town. I don't mean that in a bad way, it's just that there were no signs of people. At one point Bella and I walked down a path and found a clearing where we could finally see the river (it had been obscured by trees). In the far distance on the other bank, we could just barely see a couple of people.

We headed back into town and then stopped at Sermide. Did the same: found the church, let Cristina explore, took pics. Sermide had much more life than Carbonara di Po.

We drove back to San Venanzio and got a little rest before heading to dinner at Trattoria Pippi. Anna got on the phone with the airline, who had informed her through email that her bag had been located and was at Bologna airport. It was supposed to be delivered to us at the Airbnb, but it hadn't arrived while we were gone, so she was trying to get the current status on her bag. Frustratingly, she kept getting disconnected. She tried over and over. Perhaps because it was Sunday, they were transferring her to a department that wasn't open. She finally gave up and planned to call first thing in the morning.

I tried to pay my toll online but couldn't get anywhere with their website. Maybe I'd find a shop to pay in person.

Pippi being our second trattoria experience, we thought we knew how it worked. We knew it was a fixed price of €15 per person. We assumed there would be antipasti, then a primi, then a secondi. But when they brought the antipasti, giant platters of fried bread and meats and pickled veggies, we thought we were never going to have room for everything. So we ate as much as we could, but we tried to save room for the next course. They finally took away the platters (with lots of meat and bread leftover). Bella had opted out of the fixed price experience and had ordered a lasagna. So when Bella was done, the server asked her if she was ready for dessert. She was a little confused, but said sure. So then the server brought all of us dessert. Then we finally figured out (by asking the server) that all those meats and breads WERE the meal. They weren't just the antipasti. So we chalked it all up to a learning experience. Sofia, still struggling to regain her normal appetite, hadn't eaten very much of the meat and bread, so she needed a bit more food. We ordered some tortellini in broth, which was very similar to a wonton soup. She couldn't eat very much of that either, so we just finished our desserts and called it a night.

Tomorrow, we would be leaving San Venanzio and finally heading to Florence, with a balsamic vinegar tour on the way and hopefully a trip to Bologna airport to get Anna's lost luggage.