Lou

I don’t know what to say. One of my favorite relatives passed away. Lou was one of relatives we (I’m speaking for my brother and sister) loved when we were kids. I think the best thing was that he and his family lived in Cleveland and us in Cincinnati. There is this strange love-hate relationship between Cincinnati and Cleveland. Why do the North and the South never get along(in this case Ohio)? We could always joke with him and his brother Tony about why Cleveland sucks and Cincinnati was great.
Anyway we didn’t see him all the time but they were close enough that he and his brother would be down for smallest anniversary or holiday gathering. My mom still remembers when he drove from Cleveland to Cincinnati as soon as he got his driver’s license. He was part of that big extended Italian family thing that made holidays at Nonna’s house so cool. He will be missed but we will always remember him. Still, it starts to hurt when you think about how we can never have those amazing holidays like we used to. This is why I should be in the States, so I can be there to pay my respects. Sometimes being an Expat sucks, like Cleveland!

I guess I need a little Pliny the Elder to help me out “Assuredly, only he who is always mindful of the frailty of man will weigh life in a fair balance.”


LOUIS V. PALLOTTA, age 76. Beloved husband of Susan (nee Toth). Loving father of Louis M (deceased) (Ann), Robert (Diane), Ellen Neel (Keith), William (Lisa) and Patrice Kilo (John). Cherished grandfather of Janice, Christine, Louis, Michael, Andrea, Emily, Keith, Kelly, Matthew, John and Nicholas. Dear brother of Anthony and the late Josephine Englebry. In lieu of flowers the family suggests contributions to Parkinson Disease Research. U. S. Army Korean Conflict Veteran. Former ARCA stock car racing champion.

Can I sum up Lori and Kent's visit quickly?

Let's see... It was everything from earthshaking to mountain climbing to chillin’ at the beach. I do mean literally earth-shaking because we were all in the same room when Kent said, “Did you feel that?” I thought it was just me until his comment. We all agreed that the chair or bed felt “wobbly” for short time. We checked out an earthquake website and sure enough there was a small shudder centered near Corfu (5.5 on the Rictor Scale). We filled out an online report to document the experience.
Mountain Climbing: As I mentioned in the other blog one of the really cool things we did was to go down to the Basilicata-Calabria border to visit the Parco Nazionale di Pollino. I loved our hike and now I understand a few Italian things more clearly. One is the love for mountain spring water. We found a spring of cold refreshing wonderful water that came out of the ground at about 2000 meters above sea level. That’s amazing considering the highest point around us was 2200 meters. Also in the park we saw cows grazing around freely. Its no wonder Italians are so proud of their cheese. The biggest problem for these cows was annoying hikers between them and their spring water. Pesticides, hormones, stalls, no way! They were living “La Dolce Vita” of the cow world. Then when we hit the summit we were treated to some beautiful vistas from a place called “La Grande Porta di Monte Pollino”. Kent and I even got close enough to a several hundred-foot cliff to get my fear of falling going (it’s not the height that’s bad, it’s the fall!).

Chillin' out: Then on the other end of the spectrum, we spent several days chillin’ at the beach. The first day was by far the best. Calm seas, nearly empty beach, and on the last snorkel of the day Lori and I saw my first real octopus. I say “real” because it was the first time I caught one out moving about. Usually they dart into a hole and hide and then all you see is a little part, usually an eye peering back at you from the hole. If you want to eat them you just stick your hand in, or use a stick, and pull it out. I wanted a photograph without torturing the animal to death! This particular octopus was in the perfect position to get photos without harassment. It was funny because every time I swam down too close to him he would change to white and puff up to scare me off. I gave him his space (I’m not Jeff Corwin after all) but I knew that later I would wish I tried a few more photos. Video, I should have made a video! I always forget! The other days were a little windy and not good for underwater photography or snorkelling. However, the wind couldn’t stop us from throwing the Frisbee and I can honestly say in 3 days at the beach not one innocent bystander was maimed, knocked out, or even hit. Hey we’re professionals. Other sporting news on the beach is that Kent is starting to become a legend in Bocce. I knew he would have the touch necessary for the game but wisely Marco and Gianluca didn’t allow him to warm up so Kent and I lost our first match. Later when Kent matched up with Gianluca they beat the pants off of people. Kent was pretty consistent while Gianluca was just plain lucky! Admit it Gianluca!

Other sights, sounds, and tastes we took in… We had a great lunch with my Uncle Joe, Ruth and the Girls at the Penny Restaurant. I have to thank Ugo’s uncle for staying open to accommodate us. For taste buds there was also the Sagra del Pesce at Porto Cesareo. The biggest sagra I have been to with the least amount of food! The fish was good but I want more variety at THE Sagra del Pesce. Throw in a visit to Gallipoli, Polignano a Mare, and Monopoli and I think it was a pretty complete trip. We had thought about a ferry to Greece or Albanian but with Lori and Kent we always seem to have plenty to do in this area.
See Lori and Kent’s blog for other photos and stories. If our stories don’t match up then I’m pretty sure I’m right and they’re wrong. I’ll try not to duplicate photos but I see my sister has already used my best picture of the octopus but that’s ok because I’m sure I’ll use a few of Kent’s photos.

New Banner

Did you notice the new banner? It has a sort of professional quality to it. Meglio cambiare, no? Sorry inside joke!!! Thanks for the help Shelley at Really Rome You can tell from her blog and site that she’s a professional at this sort of thing.
This photo is the sunset from the beach Saturday night. I would have stayed later but it’s at this time that mosquitoes come out in force.
This weekend I spent most of my waking hours at Penna Grossa or Torre Gauceto. I should explain in case I confuse all of you. I use both names but I should just use one or the other. Torre Gauceto is the large national park in which the beach, Penna Grossa, is located. So Penna Grossa is the just the physical beach and everything else is Torre Guaceto. This is important because there is good and bad news in the park this year. The good news is someone of dubious intentions is no longer collecting the money you pay to park to go to Penna Grossa. You park in a big level dirt parking lot and “someone” collected 1 euro from you when you leave. That’s 1 euro per car, which is bargain, but it was be collected “in nero”. No taxes and no benefit to the park, which really bothered me. This year the park has taken over duties of collecting for parking that makes me feel much better about paying. It’s a good thing I feel better about it because the park raised the rate from 1 euro to 2.50 per car! And they moved the parking lot area to a place that’s about 0.5 km from the sea. They have in turn a bus that takes you from the parking lot to the beach but it’s sooooo slow and dirty (I have yet to ride in it as I see it as a waste). I walk to the beach faster than that stupid bus because it sits and waits until it’s close to full before leaving. I see a lot of benefits for this new parking scheme and I hope I’m right about these reasons.
1. Less people at “my beach” because it’s more expensive.
2. Less people because it’s more of pain to get to. The bus is slow like I said and I also don’t think it’s going to be reliable over the summer.
3. The people that do come will tend to carpool to pay less, which is good for everyone.
4. The park will have money to complete their projects. They already have put up a great fence that keeps people off the sand dunes and a boardwalk area so disabled people can reach the beach area. There are a couple of strange buildings they should demolish, as they are only used by graffiti artists at this point.
Other news is Sunday the sign below was on my building. They post these signs around towns in Italy. It seems Antonio Bonatesta in my building died this weekend. I don’t think I ever met this person. I don’t know my neighbors very well. They all seem to be very old couples that keep to them selves. I know I keep different hours than them so I try not to make much noise. These signs are put up all over town when someone dies and in some cases people put them up on anniversaries of the death of someone. It may seem strange to us Americans but Italians are much more about family and that includes in death. Signs like this remind all of us to think about our own family, which reminds me I haven’t called my Nonna in a while to see how she’s doing. Ciao

Father's Day to me

Well this is a belated Father’s Day post. In my defense it’s not Father’s Day in Italy. For us nothing says father and son like goin’ fishin’. I picked a photo from that day back in May when had our latest trip. Time on the lake is something special for us and I always look forward to the next time. Of course our trips are few and far between these days but anyway... So many crazy memories... We started out renting a 14 foot aluminum boat at Miami Whitewater and now he's got a beautiful Skeeter Bass boat. Happy Father’s Day! Have the boat ready for the next time I'm in town.

Paw trying out my binoculars!

Zio, Dio mio!!

You can call me Zio Jeffo now! My brother's wife made me an uncle and more importantly my parents are now grandparents!!! Whoa, no wonder they are going to Florida for the month of January!!! And the kid is just like me, so far. Over 9 lbs when born and he has my middle name, Kyle Fredrick Gromen. Fredrick was my grandfather on my Dad's side and I must say I like the name and wish the whole family well. I hope to see this big kid between Christmas and New Years.
Let's just hope he has the amazing natural Gromen ability to throw a frisbee. I don't want him to grow up playing Rugby like his Dad!!!

With the 'rents

This is a photo from Saturday. I hope Mom doesn't get mad at me for for putting her in the blog. I think she's pretty small in the photo so you can't tell that her hair's getting blown around. It was windy all weekend! We had a snack here by this small beach on the way home from Polignano a Mare. The water is still warm and some people were going in. That would be fun but you would be freezing getting out in that wind!