Mike’s parents come from a small town in Southern Italy called Spilinga. They moved to the U.S. in the 60’s to escape the post-war depression that gripped Italy especially small towns in the south. Since they’ve retired, they spend half of the year in Italy (May-October), and half of the year in the U.S. (October-May) They still have a lot of relatives who live in Spilinga so they feel right at home when they go back. How nice it is to be retired and settled, in two countries nonetheless!
Our flight from Fiumicino to Lamezia was 40 minutes delayed. We, together with our 3 pieces of luggage, were welcomed by Mike’s father and his cousin at the airport. Sporting his 5-Series, his cousin flew on the Autostrada, and made it to Spilinga in half an hour. Had his father driven, it would have taken an hour. But normally it takes 45 minutes. In any case, I love being on the road with Italians. Most drive fast, and those who drive slowly know how to get out of the way or stay in the right lane.
Spilinga has a population of about 1500 people who are referred to as Spilingese. It may be safe to say that the population of Spilingese in northern New Jersey is bigger than that of the actual town. I think it’s interesting that even though the post-war exodus has limited Spilinga’s population growth, generations of Spilingese, both old and new still manage to find a reason to return.
Below is an image of the map showing this particular region of Southern Italy. Circled in red is Lamezia, and in white is Spilinga. Clearly, it’s at the top part of the shoe, close to the toe of Italy.
Upon arriving in Spilinga, we quickly said hello to a few cousins and then got back in the car to find our way down to the beach house. Mike’s parents have a beach house in Santa Maria, one of the beaches in Capo Vaticano. It’s about 5 kilometers from their house in Spilinga, and the journey down is quite nauseating because of tight windy roads on steep slopes of the mountain. The image below doesn’t give the terrain any justice, but it gives you an idea.
Finally, we arrived in Santa Maria, our base for the next 2 weeks. The water is still and blue, and the weather is lovely. The house sits right on the Mediterranean, the water crashing 5 feet away during low tide.
Below is a map image of the coast, marked where the house is situated.
Mike put his bathing suit on the moment we got to the house and jumped right in the water. You could almost see his head in the image above! 
He’s so much like a happy child right now, it’s cute. Come to think of it, this is the place where he spent practically every summer of his life. It’s where his roots are. It’s like being home.
For dinner, Mike’s mom made stuffed pizza and Mike’s cousins are coming over. And so our vacation has begun.
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Comments ( 1 Comment )
You can even see the sandy patch of water in front of our house in the last picture! And actually if you look close enough, you CAN see my shiny bald head …it just blends in with the sandy sea floor! I miss Santa Maria!
Mike Pontoriero added these pithy words on
Aug 28 09 at
15:31
