![]() In hind sight, I should have known to get off in the center of town, find a bar (a coffee shop in Italy) and find a phone. I told the bus driver where I was going and he dropped me off at the closest possible spot. I just did not plan on how to get from the bus stop in Calascio to the Rifugio, nor did I realize how far Rocca Calascio is from Calascio. The university is now on the outskirts of town. He was in a dorm during the earthquake, but survived. One is for university students and one for the center of town and the Collemaggio Bus Terminal. A young man returning to the University in L’Aquila was also taking the bus. After a night in Pescara, I left in the early morning for L’Aquila then Calascio. Bingo! I found Rifugio della Rocca in an Abruzzo Bradt Travel Guide on the bookshelf in the den. The free time at the yoga retreat paid off. Leave my luggage in a hotel in Pescara or Chieti and bus to L’Aquila then bus to Calascio. I started to think of how to make a day trip. The bus left from L’Aquila, but again I could not find a room near the bus line. When I found a B&B or an agriturisimo, they required a car. Finding a place to stay within walking distance was the bigger obstacle. A few months before leaving I found a bus schedule, so I knew car free travel was possible. I have become a flat-lander here in Wisconsin. Why? I would love to say that my reason is totally my green travel scruples, but fear of driving in the mountains played a large part. Why? Because I did not want to rent a car. In all of my research on Calascio, I had not devised a plan to get there. Everyone was racking their brains for my family connections. When Calascini emmigrated in the late 1800’s, either they went to Windber, Pennsylvania or to Riverton or Toluca, Illinois. It felt like I was back in Windber in a relative’s kitchen. Marissa said, “We are all Calascini, we are all cousins.” I heard their story: how Fred came to Calascio to find his roots and met Marissa. In no time I was sitting at their dining room table discussing our ancestors and Windber, Pennsylvania. “Where in Wisconsin?” “Eau Claire.” “NO! We’re from Ettrick!” Thus I met Marissa and Fred who have a house in Calascio and a farm about one hour from my house in Eau Claire. ![]() Suddenly there were people asking me where I was from in English. When she said I was Americani, he quickly found several other people. She didn’t understand me, so she shouted down the hill to a man. I watched a woman walk over a stepped metal bridge that connected the door to her house to the road and then I asked her where the path was using my best Italian. On the top street, I began to look for the start of the path. The step-bridge that Vittoria crosses to get from her house to the road.Īfter writing home, I headed back up the hill to return to my room. I felt suddenly transported to a Tolkien novel. One of the first streets I found was Via di Mezzo la Terra or middle Earth Street. I walked through the town and found churches, buildings that were empty, buildings with large cracks, a building with workers, and many buildings with flowers in front and lace in the windows. He had his children direct me to the path. Paolo said I should buy a house here and learn Italian with the other Americani. He gave me the phone numbers of the three Americans in Calascio. Later I tried to beg a ride down to the town of Calascio from Paolo, the hotel owner. Most were Italian, but some were English, Scottish or German. Then other tourists arrived to break the spell. First it felt scary to walk alone along the massive walls. View of Calascio and Rocca Calascio from the cemeteryĪfter treating my dehydrated body to a coke, I walked to the castle.
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