A place near and dear to my heart. Both my grandparents grew up in the small towns of the Abruzzo region. My grandfather was from a small town called Alanno-Scalo near Pescara and my grandmother was from the small town of Vasto in Chieti. After they both immigrated to the United States with their families, some years later they met in Philadelphia and grew their Italian-American family. They made some trips back to Italy together but their last was in 1994.

22 Years later I went back to my grandmother's hometown of Vasto and met her cousins. They were exuberant and hospitable. We reunited the family in the summer of 2016. I want to share with all of you how Abruzzo can feel like home just as it did for me.