Dear readers, this is a blatant Midge pats herself on her back post. Besides patting myself on the back, front and butt, I have been tossing clothes around in my closet, buying bling jewelry and generally acting patzo because I am going to the European opening of one of my plays. FOR THE FIRST TIME! Gulp.
Twenty-five years after the events of September 11, 2001, changed the world forever, E-mail: 9/12 – written by me and those who answered my emails – will make its European premiere.It will be presented by Our Way Productions at Amsterdam’s Polanentheater, on September 11, 12 and 13, 2026. In Europe? Hop over!
E-mail: 9/12 is kind of memoir-esq. It offers a deeply personal act of remembrance. Rather than revisiting the politics or the tragedy of September 11 itself, the play focuses on the ordinary moments that followed: parents searching for their children, first responders returning home, friends checking in across continents and strangers finding comfort in shared humanity. I pray, audiences find it full of humor, honesty and heart. t
For younger audiences who know 9/11 primarily through history books, I hope the play provides something increasingly rare: the opportunity to experience the emotions of that moment through the voices of people who lived it.
For me, the story began with something very real – I sent out an email that included something I learned in the brownies – “make new friends and keep the old, one is silver and the other is gold.” For me, sending an email to everyone I cared about was absolutely necessary. Witnessing the crumbling tower from the train sent me into an emotional tail spin. I couldn’t find Jack – he was working at Indian Point and fighter planes were buzzing the Hudson River. Fighter planes were zipping over our house in Flagtown. There wasn’t enough pot or scotch to take care of how I felt. So, I started writing.
The emails I got back were about checking on people, offering comfort, sharing memories and simply making sure someone else knew they weren’t alone. I saved those messages. They became the foundation for E-mail: 9/12, originally written for the tenth anniversary of the attacks. That sense of connection remains at the heart of my play.
Since dinosaurs roamed the earth, Our Way Productions founder and American theatre director, George Hansel, has been my pal and artistic parter. For the tenth commemoration of 9/11, George brought E-mail: 9/12 to the stage in Asbury Park, New Jersey. Now, at the 25-year mark, he was determined to bring the play to Amsterdam – where is lives with his handsome husband, producer, Evert-Ben.
A perk – a production meeting with George in a fancy Den Haag hotel. Hmm, my colors clash with the rug.
I heard George tell the actors, “E-mail: 9/12 approaches the history from a different direction, asking audiences to remember not only the devastation of September 11, but the compassion, courage and connection that emerged on September 12.”
People from the Netherlands were interviewed and their remembrances intertwined in the script. Happy to interview George, he too is one of the new characters specifically connected to the Dutch production. For its European premiere, a play born from my American emails hopefully has acquired a distinctly international perspective.
EUROPEAN PREMIERE! And I am shouting it from wherever I can. Thanks for putting up with me and my stepping into braggadocio.
Make new friends and keep the old, one is silver and the other gold. You my friends are all gold!
For ticket information or – since they are giving tickets to kids and folks who can’t afford them – buy a ticket as a donation, contact Our Way Productions, https://www.ourwayproductions.com/email-912.
Some days, disappointment and bewilderment emanate from the cars circling our iconic fountain and exiting town. It happens every year. Visitors to Pontelandolfo wanting to learn more about their ancestors hop back into cars having not seen, not heard or learned anything. COME BACK! DON’T GIVE UP!
As often happens, looking for help and information about his family, a Pontelandolfese from Connecticut texted me via Facebook. He said that the folks at Bar Elimar suggested he contact me. Sadly, I don’t have – nor will I ever – have notifications set up for Facebook Messenger. I saw the text later in the day. He was already gone. I hope he comes back.
I asked Giuditta and Marilina at Elimar Food about the researcher. They went off on a rant about people being screwed by false or terrible Pontelandolfo websites, our towns lack of tourism information and how sad it is that folks come for a few hours expecting to learn something and leave feeling it had been a waste of time. Apparently, this fellow came via a tour operator who didn’t do their research.
False websites? Did I hear that right? Could that be true? Cripes – artificial intelligence ain’t so intelligent.
I typed visit pontelandolfo in my Safari search bar and AI promptly spit out a blurb that makes our magical village sound – gulp- magical. Too bad it doesn’t tell you all you need to know. Though I must admit, I felt super proud to see this blog posted on the sidebar!
One can always explore the medieval center – that’s true and I think the tag line is one of mine. That means walk and look because there is nothing there to visit. The view over the valley, however, is spectacular. The historic tower is privately owned and not open to day-trippers. The beautiful Chiesa di San Salvatore is only open for mass on Sunday. You can always visit the small – not listed – historic chapel, San Rocco. Further down, AI lists dining at Landulphi – we loved this pub – loved being the appropriate word. It has been closed for years. The owner now has an upscale sushi restaurant on the piazza – that we adore – Tawā. I can’t complain about the urban trekking line. Quest for the Crests is my work and available. My point is, a point we all know – you can’t believe everything you read! You have to dig a little deeper.
Unearthed were other websites alleging they were Visit Pontelandolfo and steered readers to hotels, restaurants and events in other bigger towns. Has AI made it more difficult to unearth the truth????
Even the Rick Steves Community Forum offered misinformation about visiting Pontelandolfo. The Sorrento Review was better but hadn’t researched whether or not places were still or had ever been opened.
During an earlier administration, Visit Pontelandolfo was set up in two languages. It even had shared local recipes. A quick hop there showed it isn’t updated often. The FaceBook page is a wee bit better. (That reminds me I need to update the page Nonna’s Mulberry Tree has on visiting the village. I promise links are to real businesses.)
The town’s official website doesn’t really provide great information for visitors and it isn’t available in multiple languages. I typed “turismo” in the search bar and got bupkiss. Vivere Il Comune prompt yielded the monuments, the closed tower and churches. Wait – there is a way to get it in English. I tried the website again from google and the google translator asked if I wanted it in English.
That said, the official website is not all a waste of time. If you are searching your roots, YOU SHOULD USE THE WEBSITE AND MAKE AN APPOINTMENT! Start with “contatta il comune – prenota appuntamento.” Make an appointment with the Ufficio Anagrafe e Stato Civile.
The ancient books uncover family secrets.
Dearest Pontelandolfese of the world, please plan on spending more than an afternoon in ancestors village. Spend three or four days. Stay at an agriturismo, like Borgo Cerquelle, and get a sense of the food, history and culture of our community. Go to mass at San Salvatore. I spent some time searching for the parish website – even asking folks. All I found was a facebook link, which does have a phone number. Use WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger and call. The next day, meet with the Ufficio Anagrafe or the church archivist and search the ancient records for your past.
Learn more about Pontelandolfo by checking out the Pontelandolfo News. It offers a wealth of background and history of the paese. Gulp, I can’t believe I am saying this but put Pontelandolfo in the YouTube search line and tons of stuff comes up. Enjoy watching a game of Ruzzola – cheese rolling.
Pontelandolfese are a friendly bunch, if you discover something interesting don’t be afraid to e-mail the place or person. There are so many translator apps it is easy peasy to write something and get it translated. Take the time before you buy the plane ticket and you will enjoy our village even more.
The best advice I ever heard was from genealogist Rich Venezia of Rich Roots Genealogy. If you want to know about your ancestral home, search the attic, talk to your aunts and uncles. Before you drive into Pizza Roma, talk to the elders in your family and find out all you can about those adventurers who left Pontelandolfo looking for a different life. Then, if you have someone in your family who has an Ancestry DNA subscription, ask them to send you the links to those cousins 4X removed no one ever contacts. Contact them. Gather more data. Check out the free Family Search and come to Pontelandolfo with as much background on your family as you can. Trust me. It is worth it.
Fifty-six years ago, I visited Pontelandolfo for the first time. Stared at shuttered buildings. Walked around for an hour. Got back in the car with my cousins and left town disappointed. Thirty one years ago, I found family in Pontelandolfo that no one on our side of the Atlantic knew existed. It started with the basest of family trees scratched in a notebook. We too entered Piazza Roma not knowing what to do, where to look or really who we were. With feeble Italian, talking to older folks in bars. Reading the funeral announcements posted on walls. Discovering where the Comune was. Boldly entering the building. Having an amazing visit to the Ufficio Anagrafe with time spent pouring over the ancient books. That activity started the Pontelandolfo phone chain and brought us incredible assistance. We found my father’s first cousins. That long tale is for another day.
Come prepared, make an appointment, spend some time here and buy me un caffè in the piazza. You won’t be disappointed.
This September 19 – 26th we have two spots open for Cooking in the Kitchens of Pontelandolfo! This is a great way to learn, experience and be part of village life.
When we return to the USA, Jack and I obviously go through a bit of culinary culture shock. Well Jack really doesn’t, he is the zen dude, but I get INSANE. Since I am a lazy working woman, I cook only when it is necessary. In Pontelandolfo we can enjoy a wonderful lunch for €14. That is fourteen euros for two people! Imagine lunch that is home cooked in New Jersey for less than twenty dollars for two. I can’t. If you know of a place message me.
Cooking in the Kitchens of Pontelandolfo participants enjoying adult beverages and charcuterie for about €10 a person. What does an Aperol Spritz cost at your local bar?
Forget going out to dinner near our condo in Ewing, NJ and having a drink – boom there goes a quick $150. How much for a glass of wine? WHAT, I screech at the $15 to $20 charge. In Southern italy where the wine is incredible we pay less than $5 a glass. Dinner for two in our favorite restaurant – which has linens on the tables, great food and exceptional service – with a bottle of wine may cost us about €60.
One of the reasons we spend half a year in Southern Italy is so that we can save up enough to spend half a year in New Jersey. I’m not kidding. Everything is less. Again, we live in a little hill town not a bustling tourist infested city. I complain about the cost of living in New Jersey – well not a lot because you could have a brain explosion if you thought about it and complained about it too much.
BUT WHAT REALLY PISSES ME OFF…..
Every year I take my Goddaughter to tea for her birthday. This year was no different. Since we are adults who not only know how to raise our pinkies when drinking tea but how to delicately hold a champagne flute, I made reservations at an incredible place for tea with sparkling wine. Everything was perfect. The service, the setting, the food was incredible. They even made accommodations for my inability to climb stairs and had a handicap bathroom. I have been happily raving about the place since we went. Ok, ok, I’ve been raving – so why am I talking about it in this blog/rant?
Like I learned from my Dad, the bill comes and you plop a credit card down. They take it, bring it back, you add a tip and sign. I did. We got in the car going on and on about how wonderful the place was. When I got home, Jack wanted to hear all about it. To jog my memory, I got out the receipts. Looking at the receipt I let out one of my usual FFFFFF bombs. I spent close to $300 and they charged me a $7 + service charge for using a credit card. Unacceptable. Every time we eat out in New Jersey, I complain about the credit card surcharge. I called this fabulous restaurant, told them how much I enjoyed the tea, service and ambiance and asked why they cheap out and add the surcharge. “Corporate policy.” Everyone does it. In my snootiest voice I replied, I live in Europe and there no one does it..
Hey New Jersey restaurants, I do not want to hear everyone does it!!!
California: Prohibits surcharges on credit card transactions.
New York: Bans businesses from imposing credit card surcharges.
Texas: Does not allow credit card surcharges under state law.
Illinois: Prohibits credit card surcharges in retail transactions.
Massachusetts: Bars businesses from adding surcharges for credit card payments.
Surcharges are banned in the entire European Union!
Card surcharges are not allowed! You’re not allowed to charge your customers extra for using a credit or debit card. This applies to all card purchases (in shops and online) made throughout the EU.
Here is what we have in New Jersey. In 2023, Governor Murphy signed P.L. 2023, c.146 (N.J.S.A. 56:8-156.1 and -156.2) into law, which, among other things, prohibits sellers from imposing a credit card surcharge that is greater than the actual cost to the seller to process the credit card payment.
Big freaking deal. I voted for Governor Murphy and this piece of legislation – which includes the fact that businesses have to post a sign alerting customers to the surcharge – is a big piece of bullshit. Why not have the balls to tell VISA and the other credit card folks that they shouldn’t be putting surcharges on the businesses that accept their cards. Or make the charge nominal. I mean just how many FU&^%ING billions of dollars do you need to make? The Bs bellow stand for billions!!!!!
GAAP net income of $6.0B or $3.14 per share and non-GAAP net income of $6.3B or $3.31 per share
Net revenue of $11.2B, an increase of 17%, or 16% on a constant-dollar basis
Growth in payments volume, cross-border volume and processed transactions was strong
Thank you for listening. If the surcharge pisses you off too, send an email to your state legislature. It may do nothing, but you might feel better. I know I will.
Next fall, easels, pochade boxes and artists focusing on la bella vista will be popping up in the hills and historic centers of Morcone, Casalduni and Pontelandolfo. An En Plein Air workshop, organized by artist Steve Duprey and Midge Guerrera (that’s me) of Literally Italy LLC, is scheduled for September 2026. (And you thought Cooking in the Kitchens of Pontelandolfo was all I was up to.) Steve’s enthusiasm for the Sannio Hills and his expertise as an artist was all it took for this new cultural initiative to percolate here.
By Steve Duprey
Eight artists will have the opportunity to leave the four walls of their studios behind and paint the landscape, streetscapes and people of small southern Italian villages. On this blog, you’ve seen photos of our little piece of Italy and can imagine the paintings that this group will create. Some of the sites to be visited include Roman ruins, vineyard, olive groves, farms and medieval village centers. Steve particularly wanted us to take painters to Morcone’s hill top historic center. The group will be shuttled in Api Cars converted to navette – mini shuttle buses -to the tippy top of historic Morcone. That in itself is a cultural experience. The vista of the valley is amazing.
According to our delightful local organizer, Annarita, Pontelandolfo’s traditional folk dance troupe will have members in historic costumes living life in the village’s historic center. If an artist falls in love with the setting and wanted to place a person in the painting, they have models available.
A flock of sheep crossing a rural road in the hills of southern Italy, reflecting the spontaneous moments that artists will capture during the workshop.
Participants will share large double rooms in La Locanda della Presuntuosa. I love this villa. Last October our playwright’s retreat used the space and participants really enjoyed it.
Happy writers and one writer/painter. Can you find Steve?
Located in Pontelandolfo, the property is in a wonderful park filled with olive groves, orchard, pond, swimming pool, tennis court and woodland trails.
Writer/Artist Steve Duprey on a terrace of La Locanda della Presuntuosa.
Dear easygoing Jack has one giant quirk. He hates birthday parties, birthday hats, birthday presents – just about anything that has to do with birthdays. Now, me, I adore all the bellowing, trimming, gifts, chaos and energy of everything birthday. Since Jack’s birthday is mid-August, we have developed a compromise. Simply called, “Jack’s Birthday Staycation.” There are no gifts, no whistles no party favors. However, the staycation is not at home but fifteen minutes away at Hotel Ristorante Il Grottino.
Jack may hate birthdays but he loves cake from Pontelandolfo’s Diglio Forno!
Why drive a scant few kilometers up another mountain for the staycation? The place is fabulous. There is a beautifully landscaped pool surrounded by mountain vistas, an outdoor seating restaurant area with linen tablecloths – OMG I sound like a snob – comfortable rooms with balconies, and the food is terrific. For the past few years, to celebrate another trip around the sun, we have booked a room for a few nights at Il Grottino. Michele and Giovanna, our hosts are friendly, accommodating and love what they have built. In other words, it is perfect for Jack. (Is it too self serving to say it is also perfect for Jack’s adorable wife?)
Each morning we got up promptly – ha ha – slowly, tossed on a bathing suit and wandered downstairs. The hotel has an elevator so folks in their second and third acts can easily get to the upstairs rooms. There waiting for us was a set table with croissants and the smiling Giovanna. Soon cappucini ( no spell checkers it is not misspelled – that is plural for cappucino) arrived with whatever else we wanted. The blue sky over the mountain, cool mountain breeze and lovely piped in music made the morning bright. We wandered to the pool and did what we do best on vacation.
Read! For me, read and wrote. This book is fabulous and written by my pal Adele.
I am working on a couple of plays. ‘I’m Ann” is about a Sicilian woman’s experiences in the USA. “Born to the Sea” is an exciting new musical about the Swedish VASA ship. And – this is super exciting – my 9/11 themed play “Email: 9/12” is being produced in 2026 by a company in the Netherlands. I am creating a monologue or two that takes place in Den Haag. All projects needed a breath of fresh air and Il Grottino provides just that. Jack read, snoozed pool side and smiled a lot.
Each day between snoozing, reading and writing we ate seafood lunches outdoors under the pergola. I love impepata di cozze, mussels steamed and served with a dash of pepper and their own juices. Giovanna served me an enormous bowl and I grinned bigger than Jack grins. Our New Jersey friend Maryann C. was visiting so she got to come to Il Grottino too. She had what I thought was a riff on my favorite dish, La Zuppa di Cozze. The mussels were steamed with tomatoes and served with points of focaccia. It too was exceptional.
Il Grottino is known locally for its metre long pizza. The place was packed one night with whole families there for pizza. What else could we do but order a three foot plus long pizza. Cleverly, the super charged pizza is divided by toppings. Jack loves pizza Margherita, Maryann wanted vegetables and I only eat pizza con tonno. The thin crusted mammoth pizza arrived with sections of each topping. All three of us dug right in and enjoyed each bite.
One of the reasons we come back each year is that the food is great. We also come back because the staff and owners are willing to go the extra mile to make guests comfortable. The real reason – being there makes Jack smile.
Happy Birthday Staycation to Jack. Thank you to Il Grottino, Giovanna and Michele.
This journey has really been revealing. Actually, no mysteries about the Atlantic Crossing were unveiled- except I did see a whale and it seems that only American Men deem to wear baseball caps to the dining room. The reveal, was personal, very personal. It helped me appreciate my grandmother even more. The revelations started when I discovered SS Madonna, the ship Maria Rosaria Solla, Caterina Guerrera, Nicola Santo Pietro and Salvatore Guerrera took across the sea.
Even though both were built in Europe, SS Madonna by Swan, Hunter and Wigham Richardson Ltd on The Tyne in Northern England and the Queen Mary 2 by STX Europe in Saint Nazaire, Brittany, they had nothing in common. SS Madonna was built specifically to carry cargo and 1,650 emigrants in steerage between Liverpool and New York. (I’m thinking the emigrants were considered cargo too.) There were accommodations for 54 first class passengers. The QM2 carries 2,695 passengers in luxury.
SS Madonna left Napoli on December 3, 1920. A scant 17 days later it arrived at Ellis Island. The Queen Mary 2 powered out of Brooklyn, New York on the evening of May 23, 2025 and will dock in South Hampton seven days later. What a difference one-hundred years of design innovation can do.
Queen Mary 2 – Stunning ship.
The class system on the Madonna was very clear. Fifty four people crossed the Atlantic in cabins, with access to the outside deck and real meals. The hordes of emigrants down below were given bread. Aunt Cat said, they had carried cheese with them and would have starved without it. As I researched this, I couldn’t help but think of the slave ships also built in Europe to carry human cargo. Cripes, the things humans do for profit.
We will never starve on the QM2. Actually, every meal except the over crowed first night buffet has been exceptional. We were assigned – based on our ticket class – the Britannia Dining Room. Others, with more expensive tickets go to the Queens Grill or Princess Grill. That said, we all meet and mingle in lounges, bars and entertainment venues. Frankly, we haven’t had one bad day of eating. Please do not tell anyone, but we never get up in time for breakfast and are addicted to room service. Sigh, does that make me a princepessa? I hope so. My room service eggs scrambled with salmon are light fluffy and downright heavenly. I order them daily.
Find Solla and Guerrera. For a challenge find others from Pontelandolfo.
Studying the SS Madonna’s manifest, I was smacked again with the constant disparaging of Southern Italians. Southern Italians are farmers, stupid, lack initiative – all stereotypic BS. The Northern Italy versus Southern Italy conflicts were intensified during the unification of Italy. Pontelandolfese remember the summer of terror. On August 14, 1861 rape, pillage, murders and fires consumed Pontelandolfo – all in the name of unification. Nothing like genocide to get one to agree to a concept. It all still angers me.
Therefore, I was horrified to see the classifications on the List or Manifest of Alien Passengersfor the United States. There was a category for nationality and one for race. My family was listed as Italy for nationality and – gag me now before I scream – SoItalian for race. What race is SoItalian? The green people? My grandmother had blue eyes – the blue eyed people?? As opposed to NoItalian for race – the fancy people? Guess what, on this manifest I didn’t find anyone whose race was NoItalian. Maybe if you were from the north you could afford one of the 54 first class tickets.
Rosaria Solla’s occupation is listed as peasant. Peasant is better than bonbon eater. Other trades I found were tailor, laborer, housewife.
Accompanied by a 9, 7 and 16 year old, my nonna was rejoining her husband, my grandfather Francesco Guerrera. It was a treacherous experience. The December sea pounds all ships. I can imagine the wild ride my family had on the SS Madonna. The contemporary design of the QM2 keeps it stable.
We easily adjust the thermostat in our cabin. My grandmother, freezing was saved by the generosity of strangers sharing their coats.
The more I researched the ship, the prouder I was of my grandparents. Both went on harrowing adventures, holding their love strong until they could be reconnected.
Jack and I are rejoining our Italian family of Pontelandolfese. I’m proud of us for discovering this transportation solution to the current chaos of air travel. Will we cross the Atlantic this way again? We shall see. I know my nonna felt that once was enough.
Sigh, I can see the steam floating up from my perfect cappuccino at Cafe Style. My wallet is thrilled that we can go to Bar Elimar for a scrumptious homemade lunch and spend a scant €15 for two people. Jack’s nose is yearning to smell the bouquet of the featured wines at Ponte Simone. We both have saved up our pennies for a night out at Tãwa, the glorious sushi restaurant, in Piazza Roma.
Do I sound homesick? I am, I am! Soon we will be back home in Pontelandolfo and I can’t wait.
Will we see you there? In 2025 we have two incredible opportunities for you to become a part of our village. Cook in the Kitchens of Pontelandolfo – May 17th to the 24th or September 6th to the 13th! This yummy program has been bringing smiles to the faces of culinary adventurers since 2016. (Not bragging, but last year we got a tourism award.) Check out the videos on the website – lots of food, laughter, and community. Then register and join the fans.
Follow your Creative Muse to Pontelandolfo
Our newest adventure is literally literature. Toss your laptop in a bag and participate in our 2025 Writers’ Refuge in the Sannio Hills. This Writer’s Retreat runs from June 21 to June 28th. Authors can soak up the atmosphere and work on their craft with Amy Scott of Scott Editorial.
All of the adventures start with a bar crawl. ‘Midge, Midge,” you are thinking, “a bar crawl is soooo sophomoric.” Nah! It is anything but sophomoric. What an incredible way to explore different parts of the village, meet locals and gain an understanding of village life.
Our very first group of writers joined the village in 2024. Playwrights organized by the New Jersey non profit – Write Where You Are. They wrote. They flourished. They conquered.
In the spring, summer and fall of 2024 our house in the hills was rocking with out of towners. For ten years, we asked, cajoled, begged and pleaded family and friends to please come and visit us in Pontelandolfo. Hardly anyone did. As years passed, no one did. This past year everyone did. We were so booked that we had a paper calendar on the kitchen wall with days blocked off and names scribbled in, scribbled out and new ones scribbled in. I felt like our door was not just revolving but always open.
Shut the door you’re letting the flies in. Shut the door you’re letting the cold in.
That said, we were happy to have a full house. We saw people we hadn’t seen in years. Catching up is always fun. I hope this summer we get just as many guests.
What an enormous bugia! Most days I was happy to have a full house. Other days, I took my computer and hid in a bar.
Come on Midge, every experience no matter how frustrating is an opportunity to learn. I learned that there is a lot to learn. Having all these folks passing through and me shaking my head like an insane Auntie M, I realized that there were things that guests, retreat participants, culinary tourists and everyone who visits us needed to know.
One of Jack’s cousins suggested I was doing my readers a disservice by not sharing my incredible knowledge of random and useless facts about traveling. She encouraged me to come up with a list of Ten Things Tourists and Guests coming to Pontelandolfo need to know. This suggestion was given after I looked at her with a raised eyebrow and said, you don’t have a debit card? How could you come to Europe and not have a debit card? Gulp, I need to work on may people skills.
Deciding to take the task seriously, and with her input, I riffed on things I noticed people having a problem with. Ta, da – Here is my arbitrary and lightly sarcastic list of Ten Things Tourists Need to Know:
No one here wants your American dollars. Even the local banks don’t want to exchange your dollars for euros. Unless you are washing your cash, why would you bring a sack of dollars? Bring a sack of euros. Stuff them in your bra. That’s what I do. When in Italy use euros. The 1950s ugly American idea that the entire world craves “American Money” is over. About 25 years ago, my father joined us on an excursion to Pontelandolfo. He knew that the kids in our extended family were in college so he brought a stack of $50 bills to give as gifts. Every single kid said thank you, looked at the bill, looked at me and raised an eyebrow. Unless you were in a big city there was no way to change the dollars.
2. Make sure you have a working debit card. With a debit card you can go to any automatic teller machine and get the best exchange rates on the currency of the country you are visiting. I take that back. Only go to bank automatic teller machines not the ones named after someone’s pet cat. When you get a debit card or if you have one but haven’t used it out of the country, call your bank and make sure it works abroad. I had a panicked cousin who had just gotten a debit card and discovered it would’t work anywhere but at her bank. An irate call to the bank unearthed that the card didn’t work because it wasn’t a debit/credit card. She ended up borrowing euros.
3. Beware of the seemingly friendly offer to charge you for your purchase on line, in a store and/or at an automatic teller machine in US dollars. You will be screwed on the exchange rate. Make sure you click euros. Your bank will do the exchange at a better rate.
4. Use your credit card not your debit card to buy stuff. Credit cards in a store or restaurant provide a more secure way to shop. Credit card companies will usually refund, cancel and harness the creeps who steal your info. This advice does not come from me. I can barely add. It comes from my banker and numerous articles I’ve read from credible sources. And, some cretin did steal my credit card number and used the card/number to buy breakfast everyday at the same bar in Campobasso. Yes, they were caught and yes, my bank handled everything.
5. Please don’t be a creepy traveler (especially in Pontelandolfo where I know everyone) and use a credit card in a small local caffe or shop for a cup of coffee and a biscotti. My personal guideline is if it is less than €25 I pay in cash.
6. Double check all the adapters for your electronic devices. Not every country abroad has the same plug configuration. “What, I used this in Germany, why the @$#% doesn’t it work in Italy.” Because you are in Italy not Germany. Depending on where you are, it might be difficult to get the correct adapter.
7. Make sure your bags make it directly to your final destination. Airline and airport blues make the beginning of your trip a nightmare. Guests have told me that they missed flights to Naples because they had to get their checked bags in another European country and go through control again before boarding their flight to Naples. I then ask the same question. Were you flying on two different airlines? Don’t. For example, we would fly Lufthansa from Newark, New Jersey to Naples, Italy. We changed planes in Frankfurt. Our bags came all the way through to Naples. If we had flown airline A from the USA to the EU and then a different airline to our final destination, the odds are we would have had to get our bags and schlepp them to the second airline. Double check when booking your flight. I always ask, ”the bags go all the way through, correct.” Yes, I book flights on line but being anal, I also call the airlines.
8. Pack less not more. Jack just asked, how do you know what you need until you get there. Jack also said, if you forget something you can buy it. Sigh. I tend to overpack or rather over pile stuff on the bed and then toss out half. Packing cubes are incredible. I’ve got both compression and regular cubes. Sorting your clothes can be particularly useful if you are moving from city to city. I sort, because my type A personality likes clothes organized by type. Ladies, gulp, maybe it is because I am in my third act, but I discovered that sanitary napkins are a life saver on many counts. I am able to wear a pair of trousers more days using sanitary napkins. (Shhhh, that is a secret.)
9. Make sure you have a working phone. Don’t cheap out and think you can just keep your phone in airplane mode and/or just use wi-fi. We have had folks stranded at the train station with no way to contact us. When you are in a Wi-Fi zone it is easy to use free services – like Apple to Apple texting and FaceTime. Many Italians, us included, use WhatsApp. WhatsApp is even used by doctors and businesses here. For clarity of sound, I’ve discovered that Facebook messenger is incredible for calling pals in the USA. Again, don’t only rely on Wi-Fi as your only means of communication. Pay the fee to have international access or buy a SIM card wherever you are. A digital warrior who lives here has another hack. She bought a rechargeable portable hotspot. Hence, WiFi everywhere she goes.
10. This is a biggy. Make sure your passport is up to date and doesn’t expire within a three month window of your trip. I have no idea why that rule exists. Could someone explain it to all of us? It seems to me, something expires when it expires but who am I to have an opinion. A young relative of mine slated to visit us last year, discovered his passport would be in the unusable two month window. He had to fly to another state to go to an in-person passport center and get his new passport in one day. Yikes! Though, thinking about it, not being able to get home might start a new adventure.
NOW LET’S TALK ABOUT COMING TO PONTELANDOLFO THIS YEAR!
Cooking in the Kitchens of Pontelandolfo is a magical experience that started in 2016. Last year we even won an award. We have a session in May and another in September.
2025 Writers’ Refuge in the Sannio Hillsis our second writer’s retreat. Last year Pontelandolfo hosted playwrights who raved about the experience. This June, creative writers are encouraged to spend time with us.
Nonna's Mulberry Tree 