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Questione di Famiglia
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My aunt Rosetta informed us that we were invited over to tour the 'new house' later in the evening (if you recall, the 'new house' is the most recent construction on the property, and contains the residences of my cousins Paolo and Giovanni). There'd be light snacks, refreshments, and we'd get a chance to meet the newest member of the family, little Anna Laura, born to Paolo and Gael less than a year ago.

We had a bit of time to burn, though, and I thought it might be a good time to fit in a visit to another significant family location in Avellino: the cemetery. More specifically, the Perugini Mausoleum, housing the deceased members of my mother's family. I'm not sure if Elvira had ever visited it, and if she had, it had been a very long while ago.
Visiting the Cemetery
Italian (and I imagine, many other southern European countries') cemeteries are very different than North American ones. They are very dense, with very little to no open lawn space, and they are largely constructed of above-ground tombs. Many of these tombs take the form of fairly elaborate mausoleums, often with distinctive architectural styles. For that reason alone it can be quite interesting to visit these cemeteries.
To the Perugini Mausoleum
We arrived at the Avellino cemetery about thirty minutes before the 5:30pm closing time. The sun cast long shadows and the laneways between the rows of tombs were quiet - we could see no one else about. I did not have a precise set of directions to get to the Perugini mausoleum, although I did have a vague idea. We couldn't do an exhaustive search of the whole cemetery, since that would have taken a much longer period of time than we had available.

Very fortunately, my instincts proved to be correct, and we located the mausoleum within a few minutes after arriving.
Perugini Mausoleum
Perugini Mausoleum
My grandparents
The Perugini mausoleum is a narrow but tall granite structure, constructed in a modern, somewhat neo-classical style. It was built in 1967 by my uncle Alfonso, and it first housed the remains of my grandfather Gaetano Perugini, who died of an illness in 1940. Over the years, my grandmother, along with several of my aunts and uncles, have been interred here.
The lower chamber
Many interesting structures
After paying our respects, we took an extra ten minutes or so to walk around other parts of the cemetery, admiring the workmanship and styles of the various structures. It was a quiet and calming place, if a tiny bit spooky at times.

Returning back to my aunt Rosetta's house, we got ready for our visit to the new house. We made our grand entrance around 8pm, where my cousin Gael greeted us with the newest member of the Porcelli/Perugini family - little Anna Laura.
Waiting for Rosetta
Patience
My Cousins' houses
Meeting Anna-Laura
After some introductions (Gael had never met Elvira before) and a bit of playing and taking pictures of Anna-Laura, Gael took us on a short tour of her and Paolo's side of the house (if you remember, the larger building is split into two residences, one for cousins Gael and Paolo, and the other for my cousins Giovanni and Filomena).
Upper bathroom, Paolo and Gael's house
Although not fully completed and furnished, it was still beautiful, with high walls, large open spaces, and interesting architectural details. The castle-like turret at the front of the house served as the kitchen eating area downstairs, and Anna-Laura's bedroom and playroom upstairs.
Modern Decor
The gently-sloping roof conceals the fact that this is a two-story structure, and the upstairs rooms have long, sloping ceilings with either skylights or gabled windows. Ceramic tiles and hardwood floors abounded. I especially liked the very spacious main hallway and staircase, finished on one wall with a very bold and modern striped wallpaper. Had the feel of an upscale art gallery.
The living room
As is typical with Italian construction, the building superstructure was reinforced concrete.

After our tour, we sat down at the kitchen table, and chatted for a while longer. It wasn't long before everyone who had been at work began coming home (in Italy the afternoon work period runs from about 3:30pm to 8pm). First up was my cousin Gino - father to my cousin Paolo and grandfather to Anna-Laura. He was soon followed by Paolo, carrying a load of groceries and drinks, and soon after, Giovanni and his wife Filomena, along with their newest boy, Gian-Andrea.
Anna-Laura
Inquisitive Baby
Anna-Laura and Gael
Gino arrives
The gleeful dad
Giovanni and Gian-Andrea
A small side-note, if you haven't already noticed: Giovanni's son name, Gian-Andrea (or more accurately, Giovanni-Andrea), translates to english as John Andrew - which is exactly my name. I'm not quite clear as to whether or not my existence had any influence on Giovanni and Filomena's choice, but in any case... good call!

Now that Giovanni had arrived, we went over to tour his half of the house.
Giovanni's House
The Modern Italian Kitchen
The shoe closet
Although the two halves of the house have the exact same area and external layout (other than being symmetrically inverted), the interior was remarkably different. The location and layout of the living room, kitchen and bedrooms were all quite different. I especially liked Giovanni's kitchen, an upscale and modern white space with a minimalist design.

After touring the main floor and the upstairs, Giovanni took us down to the basement level, where both he and Paolo shared an immense garage space, with room for probably fifteen vehicles in total.
Spacious upstairs bedrooms
Living Room
An Italian dinner
With the tours now finished, we returned to Paolo's side of the house, where everyone had gathered for what was turning out to be a proper meal - Gael had taken it upon herself to cook some actual main courses. We finished off the evening with all of us gathered around the kitchen table, noisily talking, drinking and eating. Many thanks to all of my cousins for all of their hospitality and generosity!
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[ Return to "Questione di Famiglia" Home page | Introduction | 2 Days 2 Avellino | Trail of the Pilgrims | Tale of two Casertas | All in the Family | La Costiera Amalfitana | A Perugini Day | Puglia | The Island of Ischia | Operation Escort | Even More Family Images | Supplemental Images | GPS Data ]


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