Easter Sunday, 1 April, 2018
This just in from Oxnard, California . . .
Jacob and Mary had a fun
Easter Sunday
Buona Pasqua is actually Italian for "Happy Easter," a day for families and friends to gather together to enjoy each other's company and, of course . . .
mangia, Mangia, MANGIA!
Mangia is the Italian word meaning "eat until you pass out."
I was fortunate enough to be invited to the beautiful, forested home of the Digennaro family on this blessed day.
Cinzia and Maurizio "DJ" Digennaro
DJ is the Defensive Coordinator for our U15 Flag team.
I'm not 100% sure if it is true but according to Enzo Petrillo, the U15 Head Coach, in the movie The Water Boy, the character of the Defensive Coordinator, Farmer Fran, was loosely based on DJ.
It is possible . . .
The view from Castello Digennaro
It took a few years but DJ built this amazing home himself I was told.
BEAUTIFUL!
Now, I said that today is a day for family and friends to join together and celebrate.
Thus I was not alone with Cinzia and DJ as more members of the Skorpion Family were in the castle.
We shared this glorious day with the Petrillo family (Enzo, Nency, Filippo and Emma) and the Nardi family (Giorgio, Santa Barbara, Federica and Raffaele).
We were one big, happy Skorpion family today.
DELICIOUS!
Nency made it and a few other dishes that we all enjoyed today.
Pepperoni to die for
In America, pepperonis are meat slices to put on your pizza.
In Italy, pepperonis are fantastic non-spicy grilled peppers.
Cinzia made these to perfection!
The humble beginnings of the
upcoming food orgy
Grill Master at work
Of course all of the men had to stay close to the grill to be sure that Enzo was doing things properly.
He was.
Official Buona Pasqua Food Taster
"To Protect and Serve"
With Rome on high terrorist alert this weekend, I volunteered to taste the food before the others ate as a way of insuring that terrorists had not tainted our food.
I'm happy to report that we were safe.
As I said, Enzo on the left
was grilling to perfection
With Enzo and Giorgio
Santa Barbara was happy
Nency, Emma, Cinzia, Santa Barbara
and DJ enjoying the appetizers
Pepperoni and Egg Plant in
a tomato based sauce
This was just the beginning, every time we finished one dish, Cinzia would magically appear from the kitchen with another that would pleasantly attack your senses of smell, sight and, most importantly, taste!
Precocious DJ entertaining
Santa Barbara, Nency and Federica
The meal from appetizers to main dish to cocktails to main dish to wine to main dish to more wine to yet another main dish to desserts to after dinner drinks to coffee lasted for about two hours.
Nency, Giorgio and Santa Barbara
had neared Food Coma levels
Only one thing to do to combat this potentially dangerous situation . . .
. . . A Forest Passeggiata
I said that the Digennaro home was in the forest so to combat the negative aftereffects of our sumptuous meal, we went for a walk in the woods.
Narrow path in the thick woods
Giorgio taking a short rest
Keeping a keen eye out
for possible bear attacks
"To Protect and Serve"
We strolled through the woods at a leisurely pace and enjoyed nature's beauty.
No bears spotted, I was two for two!
Once back at the Digennaro home, the athletic juices started to flow in DJ and Enzo.
Tennis Tether Ball anyone?
A rousing game between these two
former stars of the Italian Gridiron
was enjoyed be all of us
Once Were Athletes
We enjoyed it more for the
comic relief than for the
athletic prowess
What a BEAUTIFUL day for a gathering!
I am so blessed to have such great people in my life on a day when I was really missing being with my family back home.
It reminded me that this was not my first Easter Sunday spent in Europe.
Quickly, let's look back at the other wonderful six Easter Sunday's overseas . . .
2008 in Catania, Sicily
At the home of Concetta Giuliano,
the Mother of our HC Davide
2009 again in Catania, Sicily
with Laurie and Paul Pertrich
2010 in Hässleholm, Sweden
with the Palmbrink Family
In 2012, I was solo in Amsterdam
2013 in Lyon, France with
the Vilavella Family
Manue, Jacques and Angel
2015 in Murcia, Spain
with Laurie
These are all wonderful memories to be sure but on Tuesday night at practice, we must get back to work to find a way to somehow this coming Saturday . . .
BEAT THE KNIGHTS!
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