So funny story. Two weeks before we left John found out he
had relatives, tons of them, on an island called Ischia, which is about an hour
and 15 mins off Sorrento. Since we had booked a hotel there already we decided
to take a trip there. My teacher also said if we had time to head down there
since this is the place tourist don't visit and Italians go for
vacation.
To get to Ischia from Sorrento you have to take a ferry –
only 1 runs daily going and coming home. So we had to make sure we were on time
for once.
Before I go any further – Johns family owns about 9 hotels
on the island and before going he tired to reach out to them but they never responded. So we went on a
wim and just showed up at one of the hotels…… After forcing socially awkward
john to just go in and say Hi at the front desk we realized n one spoke
English. We were able to sort of get our message across before his relative
came out – the director of the hotel.
He asked us to wait upstairs by the pool and bar so he could
get a translator. After a nice drink and waiting around anxiously he came over
and sat down and asked how John was related etc. After he finally figured it
out he took us downstairs again to his office where we were introduced to his
father Salvatore. They were speaking rapid Italian- so I had to use my basic
knowledge of it to act as a translator.
After drawing out an entire family tree the father was so
happy that we were there. Turns out John was the first of his side of the family to come back to the island since
1953. We hopped into a car with Salvatore who barely spoke any English and went
off on a tour of the island. He took us to many of the hotels and spas they
owned to show us around.
One of the hotels he took us too was built on the property
that Johns great grandfather had owned. It was amazing to be a part of this
experience and just soak everything in.
After a lengthy tour of the island Salvatore took us back to
one of the hotels for lunch. We sat down with him and another relative,
Salvatores grandson joined us, who was about 14 and spoke English! We got the
royal treatment and had a 4 course lunch. Insane. Fresh fish galore. I was in
heaven.
It was truly an amazing thing to be a part of, watching
someone meet a side of their family in another country that he never knew of. I
wish I could have that!
After lunch we asked if Salvatore would take us to the
beach, since it is one of the best in Italy. He dropped us off and after a
friendly goodbye our afternoon with the Di Meglios was over.
The beach was incredible with amazing views, sand and
crystal clear waters. We were the only non Italian-speaking people on the
beach, which made everything cooler.
After the beach we headed into the town some more to shop.
In one of the shops we got to talking to one of the workers who asked us where
we were from and why we were on
Ischia. We got into the story and when we told him the last name Di Meglio he
said that there was 9 of them living on the street we were standing on and they
take up much of the Ischia phone book!
After we got back from Ischia we went back to the hotel and got ready for a late dinner at Inn Bufalitowhere we tried buffalo steak!
Rosemary Focaccia and Buffalo Mozzarella Fondue!
Buffalo steak!
This was one of my favorite days we ever had. Wish we could
have stayed longer!
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