Friday

Friday Nov 1st, 2019

The feast of All Saints...after breakfast we bought some flowers and a candle and all went back to the cemetery.  Len wanted to make sure the seal was golden...and it was.  Placing the flowers and candle on my aunt’s place of rest brought closure for us and her sons, Mike and Louis, in fulfilling her last wish.

We decided to leave town for awhile and explore neighboring towns.  First stop ... The church of Saint Gerardo Magellan in Materdomini. I never knew about this particular saint, only that the people of Quaglietta and area have great devotion to him.  The cathedral is not exquisite, but there was a room there filled with pictures of children (babies) and the walls were covered with baby clothes, balloons, and pillows and blankets - so I did a little research.  Turns out that not only did he perform miracles (walking on water, increasing a grain harvest), but once he was visiting Oliveto Centro (Carmelina's town), where he dropped his handkerchief.  A little girl ran to return it to him.  He told her to keep it.  Years later, after his death, and during childbirth, it appeared she was about to die.  She asked for the handkerchief and she placed it on herself, and immediately the pain stopped and she delivered a healthy baby.  It is for this reason he has been invoked for generations.  I believe the room is called the "room of bows"...where grateful parents place these items in thanksgiving.

The original church was destroyed by the earthquake of 1980, the old sanctuary was rebuilt and the relics and body of Saint Gerard are preserved in the old church.  Mass was held in the new Basilica, and because it was All Saints', we attended.

We had a tourists' lunch (a price fixed with 4 courses!) and it was great...the wine better!  

The adventure continues - onto Senerchia - a neighboring municipality of about 1,000 people...still larger than Quaglietta.  The main attraction is Oasi Valle della Caccia (Oasis Valley of the Hunt), where there are nature trails and water falls.  I've never been, so I was excited for something new.  We got there about 4:30 and the ranger wouldn't let us go on the trail.  I guess with the time change it was to be dark in a 1/2 hour.  So we decided to return on Sat before leaving for Terranova.

Getting down the mountain was our next challenge.  Around a curve, the entire road was blocked with hundreds of goats.  There's nothing like seeing that - and hearing all the bells!  The dogs were doing their job, but 2 humans were evident!

That night we were to meet Carmelina and Mario for dinner.  She picked a great pizza place in Oliveto, where we were able to order light (after that lunch we weren't really hungry - but who could pass up pizza?).  She is so entertaining!  Then we went to this great gelato place... it was surprising to us that this little nothing town had such choices.  Again, though, bigger than Quaglietta.

It was quite a great day!  Time to say goodbye...