Servant Leader, Historian, Writer
In the summer of 2012, my husband and I traveled to Italy on a site-seeing and genealogy tour. All four of Jim’s grandparents were born in Italy, so he had wanted to visit the homeland for some time. While we were in Italy, I blogged about the high points of the trip. I also wrote a few articles for a Website called Suite 101.
What do you do when you want to serve a no-frills dish that’s easy to transport, serve, and consume, but you don’t want to just open a jar? You get creative! I was recently asked to make a main a …
Recipe! Marinara Sauce with Sun-Dried Tomatoes Read more »
Each year when the Oscar nominees come out, it’s fun to review the list and add the ones that look interesting to my DVD Netflix queue. This year’s movies are just starting to arrive in my mailbox, and the gem …
“Call Me by Your Name” Oscar Well-Deserved Read more »
My husband is quite the genealogist. He’s always following hints on Ancestry.com, scrolling through old, imaged documents, and updating his Italian family tree. We even traveled to Italy a few years ago to walk the same narrow streets his grandparents …
7 Tips That Might Help You Live to 100+ Read more »
Every August, the St. Paul Roman Catholic Church holds its three-day Italian festival celebrating the Feast of the Assumption. St. Paul’s is located in Erie’s historic Little Italy and is the parish my in-laws grew up and were married in. We’ve …
St. Paul’s Italian Festival: An August Tradition in Erie, PA Read more »
In the summer of 2011, my husband and I traveled to Italy on a site-seeing and genealogy tour. All four of Jim’s grandparents were born in Italy, so he had wanted to visit their homeland for some time. While we …
A Two-Week Tour of Italy! Introduction Read more »
Well, now we’re back home in the USA, in our small community, in Erie, PA. Although we had an amazing time in Italy, we’re so glad to be back home. From the time we woke up yesterday morning, until we …
No Place Like Home (17-of-17) Read more »
For the last two days of our vacation, we stayed in Gaeta, a seaside town south of Rome, for its proximity to Itri, which is where Jim’s maternal grandparents were born. Itri is much larger than Troia, where his paternal …
Another Festival Wraps Up Our Journey (16-of-17) Read more »
On the morning after the procession, we went back to Troia so Jim could return to the tourist info office and ask some more questions. The man who spoke English well was there and he said that his friend’s mother …
Relatives in Troia and a Tour of a Castle (15-of-17) Read more »
As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, we decided to return to Troia in the evening to observe the procession for the Cathedral of Beata Maria Vergine Assunta in Cielo’s celebration of its six patron saints, Eleuterio, Ponziano, Anastasio, Secondidino, Urban, …
Troia’s Procession for Patron Saints (14-of-17) Read more »
Yesterday, we drove 40 minutes from our hotel in Lucera (Grand Hotel Vigna Nocelli) to the hometown of Jim’s grandparents, Troia, in Puglia, which is located on the eastern side of the mountains, and Naples is on the west coast …
A Walk through Troia and through Time (13-of-17) Read more »