Sunday, August 23, 2009

#244 Tricase Town

The town of Tricase is hundreds of years old with the buildings in the city center dating to the 1400s. The house in which my father grew up is located on the tiny street named Vico Torto (first picture above) and dates to this time period. Ottavio, his six siblings, so his family of eight people shared this two room house with a dirt floor and no running water.

The streets of Tricase are mostly stucco-faced row houses built to the edge of the street. When my mother first visited here in the 1960s there were no cars in town, only horses. The town seems to be more of a a tourist destination today than I remember. There are high end clothing and purse shops in town and the piazzas are busy with people day and night.

My father was very proud to give us this walking tour of his old stomping grounds. Multiple times, a person on the street would call out "Ottavio" and stop him to talk. My father has lived in the U.S. for over 40 years. It is astounding to me that so many people remember him from his childhood in Tricase.

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