Julia and Nicole’s family own a charming hotel called Hotel Al Sorriso. It is steps away from a gorgeous lake and the surrounding mountains still had snow on them. The landscape was quite different from what I had seen in Tuscany; it was very beautiful. We stayed in the hotel during our visit, which was a funny phenomenon in and of itself because it was like the “Shining” (like the movie) a bit because the hotel was not open yet, so we were the only guests there! This had just a tad of a “Shining” effect, but otherwise, it was so delightful having the hotel all to ourselves and the hospitality was … well…very Italian! We ate dinner every night with the family – aunts, uncles and cousins, each had such a great character. The family members, each so animated, include:
*Nicola & Gianluca - the twins ... here's my non-family perspective...they are adorable and Lordy I wish they were 10 years older!
*Franca & Franco - twins parents.
*Chiara, Marta, and Marco - the three kids of Alberto and Roberta. Chiara speaks English and is a beautiful girl and stands out as she is tall with dreadlocks...something I did not see a lot of in Italy.
*Alberto - He is the dad of the three kids and he LOVES America and looks and acts like an American -- he sings American songs at the dinner table and likes to tease Nicole and Julia!
*Roberta - Alberto's wife - Very nice and was the first one to see us as she picked us up at the train station after a miscommunication on our arrival time!
*Donatella -- gave us a tour of her amazing home and was always there in the morning to greet us.
*Silvano - the quiet, amazing chef!
*Federico - cousin, which we saw only once, but seemed a little shy
*Alessandro - the guy who graduated from Architect school in Venice and was hazed by his friends (a common tradition apparently) after the graduation.
*Adelia - Julia and Nicole's great aunt - the "boss". A little intimidating, but I like a strong woman!
*Letizia - lovely, lovely Letizia whom we had pre-dinner treats with just about every night
*Marco - An uncle we visited in the nursing home; he's very bright-eyed.
So...only a couple of the younger cousins – Chiara 16 and Nicola 20-something, spoke English. I had fun for the next four days practicing my “Dick and Jane” Italian!
Prepared by Silvano, one of the uncles and the food was delicious and every day was memorable… meeting different family members and traveling around the town. I felt so honored actually to be a part of this family for a few days. Every evening before dinner, we went to Aunt Letizia’s home for wine and cookies; we sat on the deck, enjoyed the view and enjoyed a little bit of conversation…mixed with a bit of hand gestures to understand one another. Most of the time just nodding and say “Si, si,…si.”
One day in particular makes me chuckle just thinking of it. We enjoyed a pool and spa day at the hotel; after taking a swim we lounged in the spa and enjoyed giggling like junior high girls about the translations in my Italian book for starting a relationship – … one Italian phrase -- Toccami qui, which means “Touch me here”… had such a funny sound to it and when Nicole and I said it out loud, well we just could not stop laughing. We were being a bit disruptive in this place that was supposed to be serene. One “Italian stud” in his speedos was not thrilled about our laughing and consequently flashed me a few minutes later when I was sitting in the sauna. I also met a nice fella named Walter in the sauna; Walter builds gondolas for a living, but after he “adjusted” himself, I decided to head to the steam room. Meanwhile, Julia is behaving herself reading my Oprah magazine and Nicole is sleeping in the “nap” room (there are single water beds and there are little star lights on the ceiling) just a few beds down from Mr. Speedo, “look at me” Italian man.
The following day the whole family, plus a handful of family friends, took a small shuttle (then a boat, to another boat) to Venice to attend a cousin’s graduation from architect school. Venice is about 3 hours from Levico and it was my first time in Venice. I loved the fact that we were going to this graduation in Venice… it was an inside look at something beyond the normal touristy activities in Venice. Watching the family interact and laugh with one another, again, I felt privileged to be among the group. Julia, Nicole and I enjoyed the time spent in Venice and even got a glimpse of a few very “ooh-la-la” Italian men with their expensive sunglasses and tight jeans. At moments we were like kids in a toy store, “Oh, look at that one…no, look at that one over there…wow, look at THAT one.”
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