Prologue

Karen and I haven't been to Italy since 2001. Since that time, we very much wanted to return. Our last trip in 2001 was in northern Italy; Tuscany, Bologna, Cinque Terre. This time we wanted to explore a different region of Italy. Our research dug up Puglia, the heel of Italy which sticks out into the Adriatic Sea and Ionian Sea. We thought it would be ideal as it is off the beaten path and has few American tourists. Puglia is known as a world class wine region and proudly serves "peasant food" featuring local vegetables and homemade pasta.

We did our research and booked our trip. Four days in Puglia and three days in Rome. Karen was being a good sport since she had been to Rome twice before but I wanted to see the sites in Rome at least once. We would leave Oct 30th, right after the close of the Richmond Farmers' Market.

As the trip grew nearer, Karen and I read a bunch books about southern Italy. Guidebooks like Lonely Planet and Rick Steves' Rome guide gave us a basic understanding of the major site seeing attractions we would want to hit and helped us flesh out an itinerary. Other books like Stolen Figs, the story of a New Yorker trying to connect with his southern Italian roots gave us a feel for the culture of the area. My favorite book was Carlos Levi's "Christ Stopped at Eboli." Levi told the story of how he was exiled to Basilicata as a political prisoner by the fascists. The book was made into a movie in 1979 and won an Oscar as best foreign film. Mel Gibson was inspired by the movie and shot "The Passion of the Christ" in Basilicata. After seeing "Christ Stopped at Eboli" I learned that Puglia has a fine cinematic tradition. But, films are shot in the native Puglian dialect and when released in Italy, use subtitles. We were going to a region where even Italians didn't understand the locals!

I pretty much gave up studying Italian after learning this, but Karen pulled out her Italian textbooks and studied for several weeks leading up to our trip. But, then another project took over her time; dual citizenship. Karen can trace her family roots back to the hill towns outside of Naples. The Italian government allows individuals meeting certain criteria to apply for dual citizenship. People with dual American/Italian citizenship can easily travel throughout Europe for extended periods and even work in the EU.