On Sunday, October 11, 2021, Hannah and I had lunch with the sweetest Italian family. Our group was put into pairs and matched with different families. These lunches are very popular among the students and community members each year. Hannah and I met Gianfranco and his daughter, Maria Stella, at Porta Fiorentina (the main entrance to the city). Gianfranco then drove us to his house where we met his wife Lucia and son Giovanni. Lucia gave us a tour of their cozy home. Her parents live on the first floor and she and her family live on the second floor. Multi-generational homes are very common in Italy. Lucia prepared the most amazing traditional Tuscan lunch. We had crostini, which Hannah and I helped prepare, cheese, olives, & prosciutto breadsticks just as the appetizer. And lasagna and chicken as the main course, plus french fries and salad. The lasagna was D E L I C O U S ! Lucia’s mother hand-made the pasta. Sunday lunches are a big deal, so they tend to be large. And we couldn’t finish the meal without gelato cake.
Lucia did an exchange program when she was 16 years old and spent a couple of weeks in Texas. She didn’t know we were from Texas until we met, so she was tickled. She visited several popular Texas cities. She even visited Bryan/College Station! She proudly showed us her souvenir bluebonnet shot glass. And pulled out the scrapbook she made from her time in Texas filled with pictures and lots of journaling. It was so cool to see and I am so glad she shared it with us.
After lunch, Hannah and I played board games with Maria Stella & Giovanni (snakes & ladders, a marble racing game, & a translation game). Maria Stella is 8 years old and Giovanni is 10 and they are both learning English. The translation game was actually really fun. Maria Stella would translate from English to Italian and Hannah and I would translate from Italian to English. It was a fun way to practice. Gianfranco knows like 5 languages so he was very helpful. Lucia brought us coffee while we played games in the living room.
Dopo giocare (after playing), they drove us around and showed us parts of Castiglion Fiorentino we hadn’t seen before. They drove us to a couple of secluded churches out in the country. Including the beautifully hidden Chiesa di Santa Maria Ausiliatrice del Bagno, where Lucia would go after school with her friends to homework when she was younger. It was a chilly but beautiful day and we walked a little bit down Via Madonna del Bagno. It was so cool to see CF from a different perspective. We drove through a few small towns near CF until we got to Frassineto. We stopped at a private villa. I don’t think we were supposed to be there, but Lucia really wanted us to see it. Straight in front of it was Villa Fattoria di Frassineto. A factory where the “poor” would work on the lower level & the “rich” would work above. On the road perpendicular to the two ville there is a row of mulberry trees that was planted in order to produce silk (they are the only ones found in this region).
Chiesa di Santa Maria Ausiliatrice del Bagno 
road directly in front of the villa 
the private villa 
Villa Fattoria di Frassineto 
After our little tour, we returned to their house and Lucia made us hot chocolate. Hot chocolate in Italy isn’t like hot chocolate back home, but this was the closest to what we’re used to. It definitely hit the spot, especially since we had Getilini Osvego (Italian honey biscuit cookies) to dip into the hot chocolate.
Lucia and a calendar from her trip to Texas in 1995 
Giovanni 
Maria Stella 
Lucia pulled out an old calendar from her visit to Texas where she marked the exact dates of her trip. She hopes to take her family to visit soon. Gianfranco and Lucia were the sweetest hosts. It was so nice to have more insight into the Italian lifestyle. Lucia spoke to me in Italian 70-80% of the time and it was the best practice I could have asked for. We spent all afternoon with them and they invited us to have dinner with them sometime soon.
nhhltf