Sunday, July 18, 2010

Bertolotto Cova Apartment, Levanto
1521 EET

Had another sound night of sleep and I awoke on my own and sometime before Mom at 0700. Lazy morning that picked up pace with my preparation of breakfast, toast with jam, yogurt, and juice, and meeting up with Zia Michela, Zio James, Nichola, and Eliza for the ten o’clock service in Chiesa dell’ Annunziata. First though we walked through Levanto’s cemetery, where we were shown different wall niches where Zia Michela’s relatives are buried. As here, spaces are rented and bodies removed when the fee is not paid, which usually happens when a family line dies out, the niche is reused. The view was fantastic of Levanto as well and me be me set loose in a cemetery, went click happy with the camera.

Chiesa dell' Annunziata.

Outdoor frescoes on Chiesa dell' Annunziata.

Outdoor frescoes on Chiesa dell' Annunziata.

Levanto cemetery and view from the top gate.

Wall niches in Levanto's cemetery.

Wall niches and ground burial in Levanto's cemetery.

It was also when I learned the significance of the Cova surname in the Bertolotto family. Ambrogio Cova was of the ten thousand soldiers that marched under Giuseppe Garibaldi when he united Italia. Zio James believes that he was rewarded with property which eventually passed into the Bertolotto line via matrilineal decent, as the Cova line in Levanto died with Zia Michela’s grandmother, for they own the top and bottom floors of the building we are staying in, and an apartment in the building across the way. Any genealogist would be happy in an Italiano cemetery as while their niches may have been rented out again, all the markers have the woman’s maiden name and makes reference to their husband’s name. The men of course did not seem to refer to their wives.

Origins of the Cova surname in the Bertolotto family.

The service in Chiesa dell’ Annunziata was lively as Zia Michela promised and remarkably short compared to my expectations. The church is a 15th-century so not very ornate in exterior or interior but with some very modern looking stain glass windows that when queried, Zia Michela reported she always remembered them being there. After the service, I also noticed that the podium and altar stand seemed to match the stain glass design. After service, we were shown some exterior frescos and Mom purchased in support of charity, t-shirts for Amber and Mike. While waiting for Zio James to return, as he had not attended service with us five, was when I went click happy in the cemetery. But obviously wasn’t fast enough with the shutter finger because I didn’t manage to get pictures of the scurrying lizards.

We were invited to lunch, which we eagerly accepted and feasted on Betta’s hospitality. The large meal was seafood pasta, cutlets, beans, salad, peaches from neighbours, more gelato, and in my case, lots of water to drink. Mom tried the espresso which Zio James recommends one should regard as a dessert and at a certain temperature, coffee naturally foams, but I have not yet gotten a report on the beverage from Mom.

After our fulfilling lunch and conversation on various topics, Mom and I retired to our apartment for the afternoon, which we spent mostly napping. Around 1730 Zia Michela and Eliza fetched us for an afternoon on the beach. This time the beach was a sand one, and after locating Zio James and Nichola on the beach (well, more their towels first) joined them. After sunning for a bit, we joined them in the swell and water. By them, I am also including Giovanna and Anna, who had gone to the beach even earlier than the Carswell males. While I enjoyed the water and the swim after a bit it feels too much like exercise for me so I headed back onto the beach. Thus, once again a majority of the time was spent enjoying the sun and admiring the sights, landscape and human. No David on the beach, but the ocean haze had lifted a touch and across the sparkling water could be seen the mountains of France. Zia Michela is also correct in stating late afternoon is super beach time and to make it even more enjoyable there was a cooling breeze off the ocean.

A street of Levanto.

We started gathering our things after 1820 and all proceeded back to our places. We made another €2.00 [$2.7229] pastry selection at Pasticceria Bianchi and upon entering our apartment Mom made her way straight into the bathroom (have to wash off the sand and sea salt even though there are rinse off stations at the beach) and I began fixing supper. Which was more ham filled pasta, ham slices, and the last of the Swiss cheese. Afterwards Mom and I went for an evening stroll, which included a trip to an instanteller before retiring for the night, as we need to rise early tomorrow for our first train to Venezia.