Part 3 - Relaxin' and Ramblin' Around Reggio - People We Have Met Along the Way

 The People!

Places are wonderful to visit, to see, to smell, to taste....but it's the people you meet and interact with that leave the most lasting impression. 

The full-time missionaries serving here have won a place in our hearts this week, maybe because they help us feel close to our grandson Ethan who just arrived and started his mission in Brazil! 

Elder Dahlke from Woods Cross, Utah and Elder Grinceri from Perth, Australia. We have our fingers crossed that while they are serving in the Rome Mission, which covers all of southern Italy, Sicily and Malta, that they just might get assigned to the city of Rome and that we will get the chance to spend some time with them again. They simply shine!

We met Ambrosio in the English class we attended to support the missionaries. He doesn't look like a typical Calabrian but he is! His ancestors emigrated from Norway and brought with them the DNA for blonde hair and height. These characteristic have enabled him to "ho-ho-ho" in several Italian films as a very natural Santa Clause. You can tell by this picture that he is a Jolly Ol' Elf!!

This picture requires the telling of a story about a sandwich that we had on our first visit to Reggio in 2016.  We wandered into a Salumeria shop and asked the lady behind the counter to make us a sandwich, any kind, any ingredients. The results were so delicious that we took a photo of it.  Mortadella, provolone, marinated olives, crusty bread...mmmmmarvelous!

Fast forward to 2023...we found ourselves walking a street that looked familiar and thoughts of that sandwich came to mind. With a little luck we located the same Salumeria and...believe it or not... the same lady was behind the counter. We asked her to make us a sandwich and while she prepared it we told her and her coworker the Story of the Sandwich.  They were delighted to learn that we Americani came back to their little shop. We smiled and laughed together and snapped a picture of a fun sandwich friendship!!

As we got off the train on our day-trip to Scilla, we met Serena and Antonio, and shared a couple hours together chatting and seeing the sights. Their Italian parents immigrated to Australia in the 1950's. They speak both Italian and English which made our time together very enjoyable. They are visiting many parts of Italy during their 5-week vacation.