Italian Adventures – We Bought a House in Italy!

In May 2022, once I had working bathrooms and a kitchen, my daughter, Jessica, and my mom, Nora, Grammie, traveled to Rome and stayed through the end of the month at our new home, Casale Giulietta. This would be the first time my mom was seeing it in person.

COVID was still a thing, and we were diligent vaccination people, but masks were a necessary precaution, particularly given my mom’s age and heart health. My mom & Jess have a very strong bond so traveling together made perfect sense. Now, I am not saying that traveling with an 84 year old woman in not the greatest of health is easy, but Jess has a strength & patience most of us do not. She’ll be first in line at the pearly gates!!!

Mom had recently gone through some additional heart procedures, including replacing her old pacemaker with a new one. In hindsight, it was too soon for her to travel following the procedure, but we asked her cardiologist and he said ‘GO! You will likely never get the chance again.’ Well, both compelling and saddening at the same time. But we embraced the opportunity. Plus, it was a chance to bring a little part of Papi (my dad) over so he will always be here with us.

They were arriving in the morning, so I booked a room in Fregene so that I didn’t have to get up at the crack of dawn and drive to Fiumicino (nearly 2 hrs). This allowed me to complete some work calls and enjoy the beach in the evening. Top it all off with a fresh new haircut!!!

They arrived as scheduled, although the wheelchair service left them at the baggage claim so it was quite a lot for mom to get to the car. Nonetheless, we made it, had a fantastic lunch and gelato, then settled in.

Rewind a bit for a little history. I have been to Italy countless times at this point, either with Jessica or friends, and have taken my family a few different times. I think Jess loves Italy as much as I do, or at least close. My mom and dad fell in love with it as well. Katie didn’t like walking 30K steps everyday in Rome (HA HA HA)

2009 Family trip – Counterclockwise… Jessica, Papi, me, Mom, Katie (my niece who my parents raised)

In 2014 I planned a trip for just myself, mom & dad to stay just outside of Siena in September during the Chianti wine harvest. It was a very special time that I got to spend with my parents, not knowing that in just a few short years we would lose my dad. It was the last few days of this trip, winding down in Rome, that we had the opportunity to attend mass with Pope John Paul!!! (You might remeber we lost John Paul just a short time later)

So back to 2022. It was a very special time to have Jess and my mom here with me in Italy. It was a little challenging, in that my mom had some mobility issues. She had brought her walker / chair thing with her on the plane, which was good for getting around the outside of the house. I had also coordinated with Jess in advance and ordered a wheelchair for our day trips. This chair became the bain of our existence.

We explored Trasimeno sul Lago, Siena and so many other places. But mostly we enjoyed the house and garden. Let’s just say Siena was a nightmare for Jess & I, pushing Grammie around in a wheelchair throughout the market while she swung her cane around pointing at things. Not to mention that you are pushing a wheelchair on a cobblestone walkway through crowds of people, uphill and downhill. This is a story for another time, perhaps over a glass or two of wine, maybe even some limoncello. Let’s just say that once we got home, we each went our separate ways for an hour to decompress.

I love the sweet moments captured of Jess teaching Grammie about TikTok one night, snuggling up before bedtime, and enjoying the garden before having dinner with our new Italian neighbors. (Very brave os us since I am just learning Italian and they don’t speak any English. Nonetheless, it was a success, embracing each other as new neighbors and friends)

I am not 100% positive, but I believe Luigi and Giuseppa, our new nonni neighbors, arranged for the new priest in Monteleone d’Orvieto to come and bless us and the house. It was a very special moment, I just wish I had known he was coming, as I was in my tank top and shorts from my morning walk! Here’s a funny side note…when I posted this in FB, everyone commented on how young the priest was!!!!!

We invited our new friends and neighbors, Karen (American) and Terry (British) to come for the afternoon and make pasta and a cake from scratch, and then join us for dinner that evening. Jess is an excellent baker and Terry had mentioned that she can’t make a cake to save her life, and Karen loved the idea of learning how to make fresh pasta. It was a great way to christen our new kitchen!

This was the beginning of a long and endearing friendship with Terry. She is British, and self identifies as NOT a Hugger, NOT a Name Asker, etc. And yet she embraced my crazy, loving American family. She and her husband, Stewart, adore Jess. Terry, who lost her mum at an early age, came to love Grammie as if she were family. There was a moment during the activities where Terry sat down next to Grammie. They chatted it up over their pink prosecco and then, Terry looked at my mom straight in the eye and said… Can I call you Grammie? I about lost it, my heart filled with so much joy. It was such a sweet moment in time that will forever define our friendship.

As I sit on this deck overlooking the sea this afternoon writing this blog post, the storm has passed and the sun is starting to peak through. It’s lovely and inspiring. I should tell you a little about the room I created for my mom, wanting to make her comfortable and at home. I may have mentioned this in a much earlier post but I can’t remember so I am doing it again (or not).

My mom has always loved the color yellow. I remember this because when I was younger, my mom mentioned the idea of buying a yellow car to my natural father, an abusive man, who dismissed her and would only ever consider buying a brown or green car. Fast forward once we escaped from him, living as a family in a 3 bedroom apartment in Chicago, we finally saved up enough money to buy a volkswagon and my mom chose Texas Yellow as the color. Brava!!!

I painted the accent wall of my ‘mom’s room’ a limewash Mimosa. It was the first time I have ever used limewash and didn’t dilute it enough so it was more intense yellow than intended but she loved it. I them worked with my antique dealer friends, Emma & Valerio, to source an antique dressing table and mirror. The room already had one of their restored armoirs. I also updated the light fixture on the ceiling with a beautiful chandelier with yellow glass that glows gold in the night light. It was perfect.

I have since upgraded the room to include a side bench and blanket box, along with very pretty bedding.

Here’s the funny part. Both my friend Heather and niece Jayme stay in the yellow room when they are here. Thank goodness they never come at the same time because I think they would have to duke it out over who gets the ‘yellow’ room! They both have been great about letting me know what would improve the room…a larger mirror, a laundry basket, better pillows, etc. Never mind that every room has a basket that includes charging cables for all phone types, outlet adapters, silky sleeping eye masks, hand lotion, etc., along with another basket with slippers and cloudies for comfort. But it’s these suggestions that make everyone’s stay at Casale Giulietta a comfortable one.

As May was coming to a close, Terry asked if we wanted to join them for Cantine Aperte. WHAT? What is this? Apparently, all of the wineries across Italy open their locations for visitors the last weekend of May. Some hold special events for lunch or dinner, others just open the doors, no reservations needed. Given that we live very close to a fabulous winery, Tenuta Vitalonga in Ficulle, we said YES! We went around 3pm, after their special lunch event and it was perfect weather. There was a band that was fantastic, something like STOP! The Bus Driver’s Drunk, and tons of snack foods, delicious wine, dancing and new friends. The owner of the winery is also the Mayor of Ficulle! He is in the last picture below, in the blue shirt talking with Terry. It felt like the perfect way to end the trip for all of us, especially my mom.

After the fun afternoon at the winery, Jess, Mom and I went to Mennula for dinner. This is a little trattoria / pizzeria next to the train station that Andrew and I discovered in early April. They have AMAZING hamburgers! Just to put into perspective, I went there one Friday night in early April when I still didn’t have a kitchen and ordered a sausage pizza, a bottle of water and a bottle of white wine and it cost me 11 euro!!! It was ALL delicious! Here are some highlights.

One last night before we close up the house and call this trip a success. We planned a girls night, with a charcuterie board, wine, trashy Italian game shows, and face masks!!! It was perfect!

While mom has not been able to come back to Italy, much to her disagreement, we have since expanded our family and now have 4 generations of strong women! Little miss Olivia Rae Olafson was born on March 25, 2024 and she is the light of our lives. I am so grateful that Grammie is still alive to experience the love and joy from this little creature. I will leave you with just a few snapshots of the 4th generation…I Love you Mom!!!