Northern Italy 2

Today Michael and I made the short drive north to the small town of Cloz where his great grandfather, Giovanni Pietro Floretta, emigrated from to go to work in the mines of Wyoming. The drive was amazing, as the narrow roads meandered up the mountain. We passed orchard after orchard of apples, which is the area's primary export. And each town overlooked the beautiful valley, bordered on all sides by the dramatic green mountains.

Upon arriving in the town, we noticed a small cemetery and decided to walk around and look at the tombstones. Incredibly, almost a quarter of them were Florettas! We then headed for town hall and inquired about the Floretta history. The secretary called the mayor, Maria Floretta, and she came down to meet us. She was extremely welcoming and gracious to us, and her assistants helped in the Floretta research. Though the name is very common in Cloz, they were able to track down information on Giovanni and his relatives....which even showed Michael's relation to Maria! Maria also took us to the house that Michael's family used to live in. It was a wonderful and extremely educational day.

We returned in the late afternoon to Trento. We had a delicious dinner outside in the town square at an Italian/Austrian restaurant, where we had pizza and bratwurst.