Copertino, Italy

Myself, SS and IM eating Carbonara with "bastoncini"

As I revealed in my last post, I've made some Italian friends here in Rome....somehow I've fallen into a crowd of phramacists.  Two of my friends are SS and IM pictured above.  IM is from a small town in Puglia called Copertino (seriously, Google map this to see where we were!), and this past Saturday, September 18th, was the day of San Giuseppe born in Copertino and the patron saint of air travelers, aviators, astronauts, people with mental handicaps, test takers and weak students.  Just like Viterbo has its Santa Rosa, Copertino celebrates San Giuseppe.

IM invited myself and my colleague, and proclaimed work spouse, DD, down for the weekend.  This was Wednesday of last week, DD and I sitting out for our usual leisurely lunch start talking about actually going to Copertino for the weekend.  Oh, the dangers of a laptop, wireless Internet, and Facebook.  We sign on to Facebook, and IM is online.  We confirm we have a place to stay at his family home, we research all variations of transportation options and with few credit card numbers and 40 minutes later.......we've booked ourselves a flight from Rome to Brindisi, have a car rented and plan on returning to Rome by driving through the night Sunday to arrive at work in time to teach on Monday morning.  CRAZY.....but this is what live is about.  Carpe Diem!

Pranzo!  Amazing food cooked by IM's Dad dishing out the food.  That's DD on the left, IM's brother center and IM sitting right.

After starting with mussels, an a primo of spaghetti with "vongole", next was a fish stew....

...followed by an herb stuffed fish called "triglie." No dinner was needed after this AMAZING meal.

Late afternoon was spent swimming in the beautifully clear waters of the Ionian Sea, near Porto Cesareo.

The night before San Giuseppe's day, the town is LIT up in these massive light displays.  It's like Las Vegas has been transported to this town of 30,000 in the heel of Italy!

The entire town was out, music, vendors and of course....food.  We were out until 2AM, as IM, having grown up here, knew everyone and since he lives in Rome, everyone wanted to hang out!

Sunday......I slept in, while DD and IM went to watch the parade in town.  Then, of course, another amazing Pranzo.  Mortadella wrapped around peppers, fresh mozzarella and prosciutto crudo around figs were just the starters.  Fresh pasta for primo, then stewed baby goat and roasted goat for the main course!

IM, myself and DD at the beach Sunday afternoon.

The festival ended with a fireworks show, "fuoco artificiale".  I post this picture to remember how amazing it was to be standing in a field in southern Italy with friends watching fireworks.

So it is a weekend like this that encapsulates my living here in Italy.  Great food with friends and getting to meet locals completely off the tourist track.  The fact that DD and I then drove back to Rome (6 hours) and arrived at school at 5AM, took a two hour nap in the car and then taught all day is just part of the great adventure!  Here's to more experiences like the festival of San Giuseppe and places like Copertino.