The Foot Part of the Boot

Lina's penthouse.

The next day my cousin Antonio came to pick me up at the hotel.  Antonio is Lina's son.  We are about the same age.  My grandmother and his grandfather were brother and sister.

He drove me to Lina's place which was a really nice penthouse apartment in Locri.  There was a panorama view of the mountains with the historic village of Gerace in the distance and the sea.

Gerace, up on the hill as seen from Lina's place.

As a side note, next trip to Calabria will definitely have to include a visit to Gerace.


I struggled to communicate in Italian all day long.  There was lots of pantomiming and searching for words in my translation book.  We had a great lunch of pasta and veal parmigiana.  Lina asked me, "Bagno?  I know "Bagno is bathroom."  "No," I replied.  "Bagno?  Bagno?"   She repeated.  "No."  Then she stood up and put her hands by her crotch and did a downward motion.  "Pee pee?  Pee pee?"  I laughed out

Small restaurant at the harbor in Rochella.

loud.  "NO!"  ha ha.  No pee pee.  

Thankfully, Marina had internet, so now my Samsung S Translator would finally come in hand.  Just speak into it in Italian or English, and it will translate into the other language.  It is awesome.  

We took a ride to her daughter Marina's house a bit east on the coast to a town called Rochella.  We hung out there for the afternoon, looking at the pictures I brought.

Yes, this is me sitting on the front porch of my grandparents house when my grandmother's brother, and his wife came to visit.  I believe this was 1981. Lina had these same pictures in her photo album.

And here we are all cooking out in my grandparents' backyard in Ohio.

Wow.  I am looking...solemn.

This was the first picture I found among my grandpa's photos that informed me of the exact town my grandma was from.  She would always say, "I'm from Reggio di Calabria.  The foot part of the boot."  I never knew until I looked at the information on the back of the photo, that her actual commune was called "Portigliola."

Lina was so exited when I showed her the picture.  The little girl standing in the background, "That's ME!" She exclaimed.  Her father, in the white t-shirt, was a barber and a shoemaker.

Here is the back of the postcard.

The two redheads.  Lina and me.  Yes, I have been eating too much pasta this week!

At Marina's house in Rochella.

Lina, Marina, and me.

Later, Lina's son, Antonio, picked us up and we headed to dinner..  Afterwards, Antonio took me to a party at his friend's house.  A few of them even spoke English.  Oh happy day! 

Cousin Antonio on the far right, and his friends in Locri.

Antonio spotted himself in this picture with his grandma!

Me, Antonio and friends.

I'd like to get the following pictures restored when I go back to the US.  This is my great-grandfather Francesco Condelli.

Unfortunately, Lina didn't know who these people are.  The back simply says: Mother's grandmother, (Father's mother) Aunt (daughter)

So, I would conclude: I believe the old woman in the back would be my great-great grandmother. The man in the mustache is Francesco Condelli (my great-grandfather), his mother (the old lady in the back) and his sister is sitting.

The wedding of my grandma's sister Caterina.  Didn't know she had a sister.  Or did she?  Who is this woman??

Grandma.  Ida Carmela Condelli.

Time to head to the UAE, for a new job and new adventure!

Flying over the Straits of Messina.  Caught between the Scylla and Charybdis -Sting