Italy -- Francesco Carpena

The male camp leader, the one who took care of us, answered our questions and most importantly WOKE us UP in the morning, was Francesco Carpena. A native of Bagnone, Francesco, he did a great job. Yes, waking up to the blaring sound of Dallas' Theme song or to 2001 Space Odyssey, was not fun, but it worked. We often went to bed so late and had to be up in the morning to go on a trip. Francesco is a very talented musician. He teaches and also plays in bands. He was in Vienna a few years ago for a gig and
we were able to see him again. His hair is a bit shorter but he has not changed much. He lived in England for a time as well. He travels to play at various events. He was in Hungary in the Fall. He recently sent me a link to his new page www.myspace.com/francescocarpena or to http://www.cescocarpena.it/ and to www.youtube.com/cescocarpena to read the latest news and hear some of his work.

Here are a few pictures of Francesco from our Campo days.

getting ready - INFO OVERLOAD

We got several letters from Italy before we left. All from Bruno Grandi.

Here are the letters:

Dear Lion Friend,
I have your letter dated 15 May '86 and I can confirm that all four young ladies have been accepted to attend the summer Camp in Bagnone.

I arranged for them to stay two weeks with Italian families after the Camp, and I look forward to receiving their trip schedules.

I also enclose the instructions sheets which please make copies for each of them.

Thank you for your good cooperation.
Yours in Lionism
Bruno Grandi

The next letter:
On behalf of the Italian Lions Clubs, the organizing Committee of this International Youth Camp is pleased to receive you, young guests who come from all over the world and bids you the most hearty welcome in Bagnone.

It will be our task to offer you the most open and sincere meeting possible so that a better understanding among you youths, participating in this Camp Italy, permits that new friendly ties may be strengthened, in the interest of the whole world.

However, for gaining such success, everyone, whatever his origin, must give his personal contribution of open-mindedness, enthusiasm, friendliness and desire to know each other.
What we expect from you is that you take part in all activities and that you take back to your home countries the ideas on which the Camp is based. Therefore, the Organization is very happy to welcome you to the 17th "Youth Camp Italy". Thanks to be with us to meet the world in Italy!

Next letter:
Dear Young Friend,
The organization committee is very pleased to inform you that your application to the "Youth Camp Italy 1986" has been accepted. The Camp will start on July th 4th (Friday) and you should arrive at "Villafranca-Bagnone" railway station possibly within 8 pm of the same day.

We send two riders:
the first is the "trip schedule" which states your trip programme and arrival times which you are kindly requested to return as soon as possible" the second is a little bundle containing all the information and recommendations we thought useful, including the programme of the Camp, too. Don't forget it at home!

With all the information you have received, please arrange a "telephone schedule" for your parents, so that they can call you.
During your trip, for any emergency. please cal the following number:
area codde 0187 phone no. 496448

And again you are kindly requested to return the enclosed "voyage slip" to Bruno Grandi.

We wish you a safe trip and are looking forward to seeing you at the Camp.
Yours in Lionism
Bruno Grandi

Next one:
Practical Information
address of the Camp:
XVII Youth Camp Italy
54021 Bagnone (MS) Italy

The staff for the camp: The organization of the Camp is led by the Chief of the Camp who is a Lion. He is helped in his work by the staff members, every staff member has his own job.

telephone:
It is possible to received calls during the meals when we are at the camp bu it is not allowed to call. the number is 0187/496448. Before 0187 prefix number of Italy. If you want to phone, you are pleased to ask at the secretary's office.

Money Exchange:
If you want to change your money you are pleased to apply to the staff member employed.

Food:
If you need a particular diet, you are pleased to inform the staff member employed.

Meals time-table:
Breakfast 8,00
Lunch 12, 30
Dinner 19, 45

For any kind of problems or for anything you may need you can apply to the staff members.

Next letter
VERY IMPORTANT INFORMATION

1 How...
....to reach Bagnone. Bagnone can be reached by car (going out of Leghorn-Parma A15 motorway at Aulla or Pontremoli toll station) or by train on La Spezia - Parma railway line. Getting off at the station of "Villafranca-Bagnone" which is a few kilometers far from Bagnone.

La Spezia is situated on the route: Genoa-Pisa-Rome. In the case you arrive in Italy by plane, you should land either in Genoa (or Milan) or Pisa (or Rome) for reaching La Spezia by train and then Villa franca, where (at last) some staff memeber will be waiting for you. If you have indicated in the voyage schedule a correct arrival time. Otherwise from "villafranca station" call Camp Italy. (no. 496448).

2. What.....
....to bring in your luggage.
The area of the Camp has an average temperature of 23 C. You have to carry along sportswear (swimming, tennis, soccer, gym activities, excursions etc) and a formal suit for official meetings. If you wish you can bring musical instruments or anything else you are interested in. You have to prepare a short outline of your country (geographical details demographic, political, social, cultrual, industria, etc) and if it is possible with photos, slides and films. You can in this way, show the other participants the features of your country.

3.) it's......
.......necessary that you bring along your medical and/or hospitialzation insurance policy or certification, in case of any emergency. If you come from a country belonging to CEE or associate (France, Belgium, Holland, West Germany, Luxemburg, England, Denmark, Austria, Greece) It is sufficient for you to bring along the form. Please do not forget that the trip expenses, including those to reach the host family hosting you, are on your account or of the club or district sponsoring you.

Signore Renzo Luigi

Mr. Luigi lived in Bagnone and was a local Lion who stopped by the Camp from time to time to check on things. The first night we were there, we went drinking at the Pizzeria. When we got back to camp, there was a part going on. Mr. Luigi had brought a big doll and was dancing with it. He was very nice. On one of our last days at the camp, he invited Alain (France) and me to his house. His daughter had just gotten married to Bruno Grandi's son. He had a lovely house. Franceso informs me that Mr. Luigi died a few years ago. Anyone have any good Mr. Luigi Stories? Here he is with Anat(Israel) and me. He wrote me a postcard after the camp was over. He said "maybe you will come back to Italy on your honeymoon." Well, he was not too far off. Remember that you can click on any picture in the blog to enlarge it. Ciao.

In the beginning....

Let's go back to how I got to be in Italy in 1986 in the first place. I grew up in a mainly Italian area of St. Louis, Missouri, USA. This area is known at The Hill. It is a working-class neighborhood with 1st, 2nd and 3rd generation Italians from both Northern and Southern Italy living in one neighborhood. In 1985, a group of kids were sent to Italy to learn first-hand about their heritage. They did not go to a Lion's Club camp but they were the first to be part of the "Youth Exchange" program. The following year the kids would be sent to the Lion's club camp in Bagnone. To decide who would go, first you had to write an essay saying why you wanted to go to Italy. Then you went on an interview. Of all the people who applied, 4 were chosen. A benefit concert was held to help pay for the tickets to send us. In 1986, 4 girls were chosen: Cheryl Imo, Angela Polizzi, Victoria Bottini and me, Margherita Lahrman. We all lived in the same area. Cheryl and Angie were in the same class,one behind me. Vicki was in the class ahead of me. We took some Italian lessons from John DeGregorio. We helped to make Italian Immigrant Statues which were sold to help pay for the cost of the trip. Here is a picture of the 4 of us at the cheese and wine reception after the concert. Then here is a concert ticket and the sash that I wore at the concert to designate that I was going to Italy. The last is a newspaper clipping from a local paper.
Behind me you can see the original Italian Immigrant Statue that is in front of our local Catholic church St. Ambrose.

Bruno Grandi

Ok let's start with the main man,the big wig, the top dog. Bruno Grandi. We all will remember him as the guy who left Ulf and the fab 5 in Florence. He never tried to get to know us. Anyone have a "good" story about this guy? I don't know if he is still alive or not. Here is a picture of him. He was the organizer of the camp and in the end responsible for all of us.

Here come the Italians!

The next 20 people are from Italy. I will need to work with Francesco Carpena and Elena to see if they can help me match faces. If anyone has any pictures of the following people please send them to me.

Antonio Fidemi
Simone de Sio
Elena Palmieri
Paola Bianchi
Alfredo Forni
Sara Galimberti
Ilaria Nagliati
Evelina DaVini
Anna Maria Ravera
Maria Teresa Bicchierai
Andrea Zanotto
Emmanuele Lupi
Luisa Fantuzzi
Vincenzo Ferrari
Luigi Fontana
Luca Pierini
Paolo Fraschini
Ada Zanotto

I have lots of pictures but I am not exactly sure who is who. So I am looking for lots of help.

Homecoming for the 4 girls from St. Louis August 6, 1986

The following is the very last entry that I have in my journal. "Wednesday. August 6, 1986. Went to Walgreens to drop off all my film. I have 9 rolls. I could have taken 900. They will be ready tomorrow! I went around dropping off presents for people. I can drive again!!!!! It feels like a million years since I was behind the wheel. Mel called to tell me that volleyball is at 7:30. Aunt Mary called to welcome me back. Zio Pete came over to hear about the "old country". I lost almost 10 pounds on the trip. Amazing since I was hungry all the time and ate constantly. I called Angie's mom. Angie and Cheryl slept in the best hotel in Milan. They got a flight from Milan to Rome, Rome to New York and are in NY right now. They will land in St. Louis at 4:30 this afternoon. It is 9:03 am right now. I called vicki and she and I are going to the airport together. Mrs. Polizzi said that the airline also gave them $250 each in cash! We should have stayed with them!!! Ok, I need to sleep now. Suddenly it all hit me that I have not slept enough. I wore my new New York t-shirt to the airport. We met Angie and Cheryl what a loud meeting that was."

The picture is of Cheryl, Angie, Vicki and Me when we all met at the airport in St. Louis. Ok, that was the last thing I wrote. It was fairly typical of my travel journals. I have kept journals since I was about 12 years old. I always give the impressions of the places I visit and ALWAYS talk about food. What we ate, where we ate. Food is important to me. I am glad I had kept this journal because I really would not have been able to remember some of the things in it. I did not write it everyday, but sometimes filled in several days in a row. Sandy, I know that you had a journal. Want to share any of it? I am not sure how I will continue the blog. I have been alternating with a journal entry and a description of someone from the camp. I will keep this pattern for a while but it may be that I will just have a picture and description of one member after another.There are 44 more people to go. Silly me. I thought I could do this whole thing in a year. Here is it a year and even if I write and entry once a day, there are still almost 2 months of work to go. Maybe by March...I'd like to have it finished before my 40th birthday. I hope that you have enjoyed it so far and if you have journal entries of your own or memories and stories to share about the trip, please send them to me. Thanks. Ciao. Marg

Anat Kempler

Anat Kempler. She and I spent so much time together in the camp. She was such a sweet person. She really was a good embassador for Israel. She had so much info and kept telling people to take holidays in Israel. She is from Petah-Tikva. I corresponded with her for a long time after the camp was over. Then for the 10 year anniversary book she wrote to say that she is married now and working as an economist in the electrical company in Israel.
When I mailed the anniversary book to her, it was returned to me with invalid address. I wrote the one she gave me and since then I have not had any contact with her. She sent me so much information. She sent travel brochures and pictures. She tried to teach me some Hebrew words Degel means Flag. Ir means city. Kova means hat. In 1987 she too had to go to Military service which is mandatory for both men and women. I hope that we can find her. Anyone have any Anat stories?
The pictures are first from Flag Raising day, then one from a group shot with Nikki (England in the back), then the tall blonde Jaakko from Finland, then Anat and in the front is Francesco(Italy) our camp leader.The third picture is from the beach in Cinque Terre where we stopped to swim. The fourth picture is of Anat, Mr. Luigi and me. The last one is a clip from a group shot.

August 5, 1986 On my way back home.

Here is my journal entry for August 5, 1986. " I slept well. I took my time getting dressed. I wore my new white Benetton pants, new Italian black top and my gold jacket. I had tea and biscotti for breakfast. We dd not take pictures. We did that when Sandy left already. Both the Mom and Dad were home. It was really sad. I gave them the present. And I left. Maria brought me to the airport. The trip there was long. It is amazing how differently you look at things when you know it may be for the last time. We got to the airport, got checked in. Then I saw Angie, Cherly and Vicki the other American girls from my town. The lines were very slow. It ends up that he other 3 can't board because the plane is overbooked. I was to fly alone. Shit. I had to run to the plane. We sat there a while and then I see Vicki board. They were able to get her a seat. But Cheryl and Angie were bumped and will fly the next day. NO!!!!! This really sucks. The flight is not too bad. My contact lenses hurt from the dry air. The food sucked. It was really bad. Now they are serving lunch and it is better than breakfast but still not good. The movie was "Back to the future" so that helped to pass the time. Vicki was sittting somewhere towards the back of the plane. i am not looking forward to New York and the customs. We have 2 and a half hours layover. i did not get to say good-bye to the boys..Maria's friends. They were fun. I guess I will read for a while. The customs were a breeze, not problem at all. Heck I could have taken anything back with me. They did not check at all. I bought a t-shirt in the airport. I wanted one of the Statue of Liberty (since they just remodeled it this year). But they were all sold out. Vicki noticed I was wearing a ring. (the one alain gave me on the last day of camp). We talked about it. I think that in a few months he will have totally forgotten about me. We boarded the TWA plane home. i drank 2 orange sodas in the airport. There is a 1 hour delay. we are in the plane. The floor is burning hot and there is ice cold air being forced into the plane. This sucks. Finally we got home. We were met by everyone. Elisa (my little sister), my mom and dad and youngest brother. We talked a mile a minute. My brother Louis has moved out to his own apartment. I got all the latest news.

When I got home I was wide awake. So I called Teresa (my best friend). She says "I'll be right over." She picked me up and went to Uncle Bill's. I had diced ham and eggs and lots of coffee. We cruised around the neighborhood and then she took me home. There was a huge storm during the night. I just layed in my bed and barely slept. My bed and my pillows don't seem to be my own. I got up and took a long bubble bath. That always helps. Tomorrow Cheryl and Angie come home. Vicki and I will be there to greet them. " The picture is our landing. One is of my dad and me. The group shot is of Vicki, her parents are behind her and some friends, then my dad and me.

Israel -- Danny Lichtenfeld

Here is what Danny wrote in the address book: "stupid dog giraffe elefant trip picture elevator road danny youth hospital father rice egg girl love envelope excellent tom money yamaha ape each horrible east ticket time everyone everything genius shit top postcard doll law word dick king garden nuts strawberry. " Amazing that he remembered that! It was a game we played in the bus. One person says a word and the next person says that word and adds one that starts with the last letter in the word before it. See the list above. What was more amazing is that they did this game in English, which was not their native language. Wow. Genius people. I got exactly 4 letters from him after the camp was over. He mentioned that he was going to school and then would have to to 6 years of compulsary military service. He was studying computers at the moment.
I will try his parent's address and see what happens. Does anyone have any stories? The only one I can think of is when we were leaving the boat ride from Lago di Garda and he touched a piece of coconut that was on a sort of fountain. The man screamed at him for touching it and not buying it. That was weird. But then I did not find that the customer service in Italy to be good. Most sales people were suspicious of us. I remember looking for some new trousers, the people in the stores were angry that I touched the clothes. How do I know what they look like? Everything was folded not hanging!

Holiday Greetings for you all!

We hope you have a healthy and peaceful new year and that 2007 is filled with contact between friends! hint hint.
Danish - Glaedelig Jul og godt nyter
Dutch - Vrolijk Kerstfeest en een Gelukkig Nieuw Jaar
Dutch - Prettige kerstdagen en een gelukkig nieuw jaar
Egyptian - Colo sana wintom tiebeen
English - Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year
Finnish - Hyvää joulua ja onnellista uutta vuotta!
Flemish - Zalig Kerstfeest en Gelukkig nieuw jaar
French - Joyeux Noel et Bonne Année!
German - Frohe Weihnachten und ein glückliches Neues Jahr!
Greek - Hronia polla kai eytyhismenos o kainourios hronos
Hebrew - Mo'adim Lesimkha. Shana Tova
Icelandic - Gledhileg jsl og farsflt komandi ar!
Irish Gaelic - Nollaig Shona
Irish Gaelic - Nollaig faoi shean agus faoi shonas duit agus bliain nua faoi mhaise dhuit!
Italian - Buon Natale e Felice Anno Nuovo!
Modern Greek - Kala Christougenna kai evtichismenos o kainourios chronos!
Norwegian - God Jul Og Godt Nytt Aar
Portuguese - Boas Festas
Portuguese - Feliz Natal e um Prospero Ano Novo
Swedish - God Jul Och Ett Gott Nytt Ar
Turkish - Noeliniz kutlu olsun ve yeni yilinis kutlu olsun!
Turkish - Noeliniz Ve Yeni Yiliniz Kutlu Olsun
Here's a picture of me, my husband, Bernhard and kids Leonardo and Annabella on our trip to Croatia this summer 2005.

My last night in Italy -- Alto Adige/Trentino

Here is what I wrote in my journal for August 4, 1986: "I slept fairly well in the big bed alone. Sandy should be home by now. I left the window completely open last night. No shutters. It was nice to get the fresh air. I woke up early but just stayed in bed thinking. I finally got up after 10! I took a shower and had some cookies and tea for breakfast. At 11 we are leaving for Trento. Last night the band in town played "ma la notte no" Wow how that reminded me of the camp. I can see Mr. Luigi dancing to it now. The trip to Trento was fantastic. What scenery! What history! What mountains! We met my cousin, his wife and kids. Then they said that we are going to dinner with them. First we saw a bit of Trento. We went to the top of a mountain on a cable car! That was scary. For dinner we drove to a town that is only 30 KM from the Austrian border. It is in Italy but the people speak German and the architecture already looks Austrian. I gave them my presents. What I did not expect is that they would give me presents to bring back to MY family. Oh, I was counting on that extra space. Oh we it will work out. We got home late and I went to bed. Tomorrow I must be up early to go to Milan for my flight home."

We met with my cousins and had a great time together. Maria Victoria stayed with me the whole time but I think it was not too bad for her. We saw a lot that day.There was a castle with a pit in front of it. Down in the pit lived 2 brown bears. That was strange. From there we took the cable car over the river and up the mountain to a great view of the area. It was spectacular, very different. I can't believe that I did not have any pictures of this day. I think that I ran out of film or something.So this picture is from our trip to Italy just before Easter 2005. It is of the right area, close to the Austrian border. It is good to have cousins in Northern Italy. One more reason to go there. Of course when I was there in August of 1986, there wasn't snow..but it was cold at night.

Johanna Lara Palsdottir --Iceland

The second girl from Iceland is Johanna Lara Palsdottir. She and Kristin were often together at camp although she is from Sauoarkroukur. Not close to Kristin's home town.
We too wrote to one another after the camp was over. She is a wonderful person. For the 10 year anniversary she told me that she was living in the Netherlands and going to the University to get her Master's in Spatial Science. Ok, I wrote that and then needed to answer just was are "spatial sciences"? Well Johanna started out with a degree in Geography. Then moved to spatial science. She can tell you for example, the location of a city by citing the longitude and latitude. She can tell you what type of soil is located there. She can tell you how the geological environment of the area effects that city and also shows how the size and lay of that city compares to others in the world. She is certainly involved in GIS (Geographic Information Systems) which is a computer system that takes geographical information and can make associations depending on your needs. It manipulates a collection of data to create maps that are more detailed than before. Ok, what does that have to do with Campo Italia? Nothing. Just very cutting edge and interesting. Johanna Lara, who now goes by Lara. Where are you? I did find you from the info you gave me 10 years ago. But we lost touch again. Once this is posted I will write to you again. I don't know anything about what has happened in the last 10 years. A lot I am sure. In this picture she is with Mika (Finland), Johanna is in the middle and Kristin (Iceland) is on the right. They are in the parking area of Castelnuovo.

Sunday August 3, 1986 Good-bye Miss Canada!

Here is my journal entry for August 3, 1986. "Her plane left at 8:30 am. We were supposed to wake up at 4:30 to get there in time. We woke up at 6:30!!!!!! Oh no. We thought we would miss the plane for sure. I stuffed her last minute things into her suitcase while she dressed. We all jumped in the car. Maria Victoria drove so fast. She was whizzing through the little towns along Lake Garda. Luckily it was early in the morning on a Sunday and there was no traffic. Sandy was flying from Verona airport. We got there at 7:25 and checked her in. As soon as she got there, they started to board. We cried and said good-bye. There was no time for anything drawn out. The plane was already boarding! So all of a sudden she was gone. Enrica was with us and we drove her home. She has a lovely house and we sat in the garden and drank espresso. She claimed that this would be a real Italian coffee not like the kind in the USA. She was right! Erica was leaving for Las Vegas in a few days. That will be a real shocker for her. We went home. I drank some tea and had some pastries that were left over from last night. Then I layed in the sun and relaxed. I took a shower and made some spaghetti. It is very hot again today. I was waiting for Tarchizio to take me to visit his sister. Then Tar called and cancelled for the day. He said he "wasn't feeling well." So I went swimming and layed in the sun some more and read. Then I walked to town alone. I called Alain and we talked for a few minutes. I really need to get another job. Either one that pays better or a second one so that I can save enough to come back to Europe soon. Back home one of Maria's friends named Claudia came over with some friends. 4 guys. One was her fiancee. None of them spoke English so I didn't talk much. We are to meet Maria's parents at the restaurant Darsena. I am not hungry. I just ate some bread and good cheese. But it is early and we don't meet them until 8 pm. I am a little bored. I feel like going out. Tomorrow Maria is taking me to my cousin's in Trento. I don't think I will see Enzo and Tarchizio and the boys before I leave. I go to Trento all day tomorrow and the next day I fly home. That is too bad. They were fun. I am tired. My legs hurt because I exercised them in the pool this afternoon. I am laying here in bed. The music down in the town has started up again. It is sad. It is like we are just waiting for the next day to pass and then I will be on my way home too. I don't want to leave. Sandy is in the air on her way home right now. It is strange not having Sandy here. With the two of us together we always had someone to talk to.
Maria likes doing her own thing and was tired of English. I am sure she will be happy to have her life back to normal too. She was very kind but two strangers for two weeks of her summer holidays was a lot. Good night Sandy. You will be home in a few hours."

The pictures are of Sandy with the host family. Maria Victoria in her pink swim suit, Francesca (Frankie) the mom, Sandy and the Marsilio the dad. The other picture is of the steep path we climbed from the town to the house each day. We got nice leg muscles from that!

Iceland --Two Warm Hearted Girls

Next on our list come the two girls from Iceland. First in the address book is Kristin Vilhjalmsdottir from Vogar. Kristin and I have kept in contact off and on over the years. We were together a lot during the camp. We played cards in the bus on the long trips to different places. She is a lovely person not only to look at but also in personality. She is married now and just started a new job as the personal assistant to the mayor in Reykjavik. It has been a few years and we somehow lost one another but I hope that once the crazy holiday season is over, we can write to each other again. Ten years ago she was also a professional dancer in Latin American and Ballroom dancing. I don't know if she still pursues this. I don't have any real story about her but know that she is a friend even when years go by since we last talked.The pictures are 1) where she is holding a piece of white paper, that is from a group shot in Rovereto in front of the cannon. Then she is posing with some wine at a factory we visited. The last picture is from a group shot in La Spezia. She is standing with her sunglases on and Guido (Germany) is next to her. Kristin. I hope we find time to write. Love to you! Ciao.

August 2, 1986 Vacanza Romana

Here is my journal entry for August 2, 1986: "I woke up long before the others today. Once Sandy got up we went to town. Some friend of Maria Victoria's is staying with us too. I don't know her name. We went to the bar in town to make some phone calls. One to Alain--no one home. One to John DiGregorio's friend --no answer. One to my cousins -- nobody home. We need to be back home by 1 pm. We got some thing to eat and drink. I ordered a piece of that cake with all the fruit on top. Then who happens to be there but that cute Italian guy that we talked to before --Armando. He got a coffee and talked to us a while. We forgot the time and suddenly it was 12:30! Said quick good-byes. Oh he has beautiful eyes. When we got home the mom and dad were about to leave. The were going somewhere for the weekend. Sandy was returning to Canada before they got back so we took some pictures and then Sandy breaks out presents for them. My oh my. She had so many presents to give them. A bag full for each. Mine, that I will give them when I leave in a few days, will look pitiful in comparison. She had pins, T-shirts, baseball caps, ties, beads, collector spoons, decorative plate and little flags. Everything had Canadian symbols on them. Wow.
I cooked spaghetti with some sauce I made up. Then we layed in the sun for a while. It was very hot. Tomorrow I am supposed to go to Tarchizio's sister's house. I hope that he does not try anything romantic. I am not interested in anyone but one Frenchman right now. I think I would like to live on a boat. (Here I had sketched a picture of what the boat should look like.) When I get home I will make a cassette of music to remind me of the camp. I think the song "I honestly love you." and "The way we were" Then The Cure, Bronski Beat, The Communards and so on. Ok, the friend's name is Erica. For dinner we ordered pizzas. Maria and Erica went to pick them up. We stayed home tonight and watched TV. An old movie was on "Vacanza Romana", or in English "Roman Holiday". It was with Gregory Peck and Audry Hepburn. I have seen it lots of times and love that movie. We drank some wine. It was only ok tasting. We sat by the pool and drank wine and talked. There was a band playing down in the town. They played till midnight. we could hear it well at the top of the hill where we lived. It is Sandy's last night. She and I layed in bed and talked and talked. I told her to try to get some sleep and then she fell right asleep. It was a lovely evening. We watched a romantic movie, sat under the stars and drank wine. I think it was a nice end for Sandy's Italian vacation."

Once again our ignorance of wine shined brightly. We bought a big bottle of Lambrusco at the shop in town. We put in in the refrigerator to "chill". Our Italian host family must have thought we were crazy to chill a red wine. We drank it nonetheless. Lambrusco is a sweet cheap wine that should be slightly chilled 20 to 30 minutes, but we deep chilled it. It was warm enough that evening that it warmed up quickly. You can see the sweat on the bottle in the picture.

Stephen Cronly --Ireland

Stephen Cronly. When I googled him I got some surprising results. He won "escort of the year" in the Rose of Tralee International Festival. It is some kind of beauty pageant and the winner gets a handsome man to escort her to events. Stephen won in 2000. The most recent Offaly Independant Newspaper has a picture of Stephen, again involved in the Pageant. The small picture on the left is from 2002. The one here with lots of ladies show Stephen, wearing the dark suit, surrounded by this years' candidates for "The Rose". Here are a few pictures that I took at the camp. Most are from group shots where I had to enlarge the pictures so they are not so great
The one where you can see his whole body, is one of I took at "the richest man in Bagnone"'s house. I have not had any contact with Stephen over the years. I did get one letter from him right after the camp was over. I assume he still lives near his home town, so I will send a postcard
to the address that I have for his parents and see what happens. Anyone have any Stephen stories? You can see from all the pictures where he is laughing and smiling that he likes to enjoy life. Here he is as one of our stripping "ladies" at The Show. I guess he could have won the Title of Rose and Escort in one fell swoop!

pictures from Nikki UPDATE

Nikki from the UK has sent me lots of pictures. Thank you so much!! I have inserted some of them in with the appropriate post. The rest I will use in future posts. For you who have read the blog already, I will place the link to the new pictures here.

the Show http://campoitalia.blogspot.com/2006/04/picture-from-nikki-cooper-england-show.html
the awards ceremony at Maria Dolens bell http://campoitalia.blogspot.com/2006/07/pictures-from-awards-near-maria-dolenz.html
The flag raising ceremony http://campoitalia.blogspot.com/2006/01/pictures-from-nikki-cooper-flag.html
Florence http://campoitalia.blogspot.com/2006/07/various-pictures-from-florence-1986.html
Handsome Italian http://campoitalia.blogspot.com/2006/03/handsome-italians-cinque-terre-and.html

August 1, 1986 Florida and steak

Here is the journal entry for August 1, 1986
" Got up early. I slept badly again. We took the bus to Salo. First we did not know where to get tickets, then we could not figure out how to make the bus stop. We observed the others and just off. It was a funny adventure. We walked a lot. Finally we found some shops to get the things we needed. I got some presents for people at home and then bought a black lace top and some black shoes. We had to climb the gate again when we got home. We layed in the sun and got really red. For lunch we ate spagheti with peppers and tomatoes. We were going to Enzo's for dinner tonight and then to a disco. We got dressed to go. I wore my hair up, my new black shirt and shoes and my pink silk skirt. Sandy wore a white skirt and her patterned turquoise shirt. Maria Victoria wore white pants with a tank top and a big jacket. We all looked great. We took pictures with Francesca, the mom. We bought some ice cream to bring to Enzo's a a present. We got lost on the way there. There were 8 people: Tarchizio, Enzo, Sergio (a different Sergio than before), Antonio with Linda, Sandy, Maria and me. We had white wine Pino something from Santa Margherita. Pasta with mushrooms that they called Panni. Then HUGE steaks that were first grilled then topped with that oil, garlic and parsley. YUM. And a salad. After dinner we went to a disco called Florida. It had 2 swimming pools and 2 dance floors inside and outside. Unfortunately it was in a farm area and the air smelled like fertilizer. I drove there with Tarchizio, Antonio and Linda. Unfortunately I think Tar has a crush on me. Ever since he found out I had a French boyfriend he has been angry towards me. Like tonight. He said "eat some pastries they are FRENCH" stressing the word. Then he asked if I liked his car.He said "you should it is FRENCH." He wants me to go with him to meet his sister tomorrow. Just me and him. Oh boy. I am not homesick but it is time to go. I feel like we have been here a long time. I could not help but compare the disco tonight to the ones we went to at camp. I know why it was not so much fun. Something was missing. Or I should say someone."

I was such a baby when it comes to wine. That was a pinot grigio Santa Margherita. One of my favorite wines. Then I had no idea about wine, since you are not allowed to drink any alcohol in the USA until you are 21 and I was only 19 then. I was naive in many ways.

Our girl from England -- Nikki Cooper.

As I began working on this Blog, I got out the letters people have sent me over the years. I have all the letters from Campo Members in a box. It has come with me over the years. In all the times we have moved. they have been across the USA twice and have gone across the Atlantic Ocean 4 times! (once when you sent it to me and then 3 times when we moved to Europe and back and then to Europe again). Anyway, I was looking to find people on the Internet. Sometimes when I put in a name, I got too many responses. So I looked in the old letters for clues to narrow the search. In the last letter I got from Nikki, she mentioned that she was starting at university and would be studying French. So when I Googled Nicola Cooper I added French to the search. I came up with a Doctor Nicola Cooper, associate professor of French at Bristol University, specializing in French Colonization. There were links to Amazon.com and other book sites. Then I found a site with her picture and knew this must be our Nikki. I sent an email and was very happily surprised to find that indeed, Dr. Copper is our Campo Italia Medallion Winner. She is in the picture with Beth(USA), Alain (France)and Nikki is in the pink and white. She sent me lots of photos and I am very happy to have found her again. Here are some pictures she sent. The first on is a recent photo of Nikki and her daughter,Ruby, who is now 3 and a half years old. She is good friends of Paulo and Luigi who were at the camp with us. They even visited her in England. This is a picture of them in England.

Here is one of Nikki and Paulo at the second disco we visited.
This picture is of Saskia (Netherlands, Nikki and Paulo (Italy) at the nature park near Pisa where we had a picnic lunch.

This is a picture from the flag raising day. She is in her signature hat and loop earrings and is standing next to Karl from Sweden. Nikki, you sent me lots of info in recent email but I will leave it to you to post any comments or memories. Baci!