Arriving in Giulianova

The Appenines are a formidable granite mountain range along the center axis of Italy;  Italy, like California, is near tectonic plate boundaries, and earthquakes and vulcanism create its landscape.  The topography here does resemble the Sierra Nevada or Rockies of the United States, though the scale is a bit smaller.  Nonetheless it is quite fantastic -- this area has the highest mountain peaks of the Appenines and snow skiing is possible at two or three resorts.
 
 

If you travel to Giulianova (pronounced julia nova)along the A24 from Rome, a 10-kilometer tunnel (galleria) underneath the Gran Sasso peak (3228 m, 10,234 ft.) is remarkable part of your car trip; Italian road engineers have created hundreds of tunnels, some of them quite long, all about their country.
 
 

Giulianova has the ambiance of Santa Cruz or Monterey in California.    The home is located near the beach on Via Sorrento and the family has a three-story townhouse with an apartment on the ground floor where we stayed with Ada's and Tiziana's home on the second and third floor.

Ada, whom we affectionally called Ma after a couple of days, has three daughters -  Rosanna, who is married and lives in Liguria, several hours by car to the north.  Rosanna's daughter is now married and has a daughter herself  - unfortunately we only spoke by telephone during this visit.

Doriana lives in Giulianova and has two children -  Carlo and Relda.  Her husband Renzo was tragically killed in an automobile accident during a vacation in Cuba in 2002.  He was a professional photographer and the family owns a photo salon and processing shop in the town center.  Carlo and Doriana operate this business today.  Daughter Relda recently married Danilo and their family owns several stores and shops in town.

Tiziana is the third daughter and she has several university degrees, notably in Italian language, the classics, sociology and pedagogy (the study of education instruction).  She is currently an Italian grammar instructor at the local vocational school in Giulianova.

Franca Bonada Alleva is a relation of the family that was discovered by the recent visits to Giulianova by Rick's cousins in Ohio.