special.

I feel like I can't even write this posting because I'm so excited to tell you all about it!  I think I've tried writing the first sentence 3 or 4 times before I decided to just start like this! HAHA

I'm not really sure what else to say, other than my trip was really special.  It was one of those trips that, before I even got there I had an amazing time.  One of those trips that brings tears to my eyes, and I can't really explain why. 

This weekend I had the absolute pleasure of meeting my cousin, Germana, and her husband, Marco, in Torino.  Germana's side of the family didn't immigrate to America and they're the only relatives that I know of that are still in Italy.  I posted a bunch of pictures from our visit on my facebook page along with little discriptions of everything, so you can kind of get a sense of everything we did together.

The night before I went to Torino I met up with friends and was supposed to just hang out, "have a glass of wine," and go to bed early because I hadn't packed yet and my train left at 11am.  PFFFFF!!!  Yeah right... A few bottles of wine later, I got home around 3am.  I figured I would just get up with the kids, pack, and sleep on the train.  I was so gitty and anxious to meet Germana and Marco that I didn't sleep at all, it was a 3 hour train ride.

I got off the train and Germana recognized me immediately.  With a huge smile on our faces and open arms, we hugged as if we had known each other our entire lives.  We walked back to her incredible apartment in downtown Torino and chatted the whole way.  We were greeted by her two dogs, Nouvela and Ortellia.  Both of her "babies" were adopted from shelters and have physical problems.  Germana has a very nurturing heart and takes care of them with such patients and compassion, all the while with a beautiful smile on her face.  Germana and I spent the rest of the day walking around the city and getting acquainted with each other.  That night, all three of us (along with one of Marco's best friends AND Nouvela) went to a pizzeria for dinner.  The pizza was fantastic, of course!

What an incredible feeling to be loved so much by someone who you've never met, but share a common name, therefore a common ground and a common history.  Two completely different worlds brought together by nothing more than "Gastaldi."  It was like we had always known each other.

CIAO!

b.

p.s. Marco is a riot!