The first two nights in Italy, Jade drove us outside Bologna to the small ancient community high atop a mountain. This medieval cluster community is built around a monastery of Franciscan monks. Yes, they hear confession…in case you wondered.
This particular place is very significant for Jade, as this is the burial site of Jade’s mother who died 5 years ago. Jade had spent many months with her mother in this town before she died. We gathered at the gravesite as Jade shared stories and pointed out the rose bush that has grown out of control and now completely obscures the headstone. She fondly calls this gravesite her mother’s “garden”. In tribute to her mother, both she and her brother share a tattoo of her mother’s initials done a year after her death.
That evening we walked to the town grotto for THE GRANDEST feast ever imagined, complete with delightful breads and handmade pasta. We enjoyed an antipasti plate with delicately thin slices of unusual meats. To our shock (because we liked it!) we found that one of these was lard…straight fat. These Italians aren’t about to waste a sure fire, tasty artery plug.
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