Another wonderful day.
I spent the afternoon with Tina. We reminisced and looked through old photos and came across one I had given her of my grandparents in front of an old farmhouse. The photo captured them so perfectly that I asked Charlie to make several prints, one of which is now framed and hanging in the guest room. It’s my favorite photo of them. Charlie & I had always been curious about the location of the farmhouse, and even went to look for it based on Tina’s vague directions.
This time, I asked Tina if she remembered the street address, she said no but she could take me there. So we drove to the area between Ponte Buggianese and Casabianca, parked in a residential area and set out on foot. It had been built up since then and we knew that we might not find it. We asked a man sitting in his front yard repairing olive nets. He referred us to someone around the corner. The homeowner around the corner who was mowing the grass, invited us to sit at his picnic table to talk. Like he had all the time in the world. We had such a lovely conversation with Signore Camarotto. He couldn’t help us as he only lived there about 40 years but his next door neighbor, who was a little older, might know. He offered to introduce us to him (Sig. Gentilleschi?) a history buff who knew a lot about the area. Sadly, he was not home. Signore Camarotto then referred us to a street where, coincidentally, we had parked the car. He told us to follow it all the way to where it forks and take the left fork. There would be other older farmhouses. We found a number of them similar in style to the one in the photo. I’m pretty sure we were close, or at least in the right area. (via Firenze off of Via del Popolo, the Barbestetica barbershop on the corner, not far from the big hotel like building in Santa Maria) The view of the surrounding hilltowns was just so beautiful, especially late in the afternoon. It’s exactly the kind of place my grandparents would have chosen to live.
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Note to self: Several days later, on the way to the airport, I noticed that if I take a right on via Santa Maria from via Pesciatina and take the first right fork, I will end up on the street with the big hotel like building. Just past that on the left is the little street where we think my grandparents’ house is potentially located. It’s a much easier way of getting there than the way I came with Tina. Also easier to remember.