Traveling often focuses on sights to see, restaurants to sample, and negotiating crowds. Staying in Latera for two weeks, however, gave us a chance to get to know a few of the 770 people who call the quiet town of Latera home.
Lulzana welcomed us each day with a big smile as we ordered our “due cappuccini, per favore.” The local bar/cafe (above, right) is the center of town geographically and relationally, with friends gathering throughout the day.
Early in our stay, Lulzana asked Frederica Pancrazi to translate a phrase for me. And just like that—we became friends. Co-owner of Fit Foto, Frederica made us a delicious ragu and her father even picked up a cake for us.
Over dinner, we learned that Frederica and her husband Riccardo are members of the “proloco,” a group that promotes events, art, and business in Latera.
Angelo’s charming flowerpot garden is an iconic scene in Latera. He advised me to move my basil plant up from street level to avoid dogs “watering” my basil.
A different Riccardo, a talented chef, runs a superb weekend restaurant, La Cantina del Mago, in a cool grotto-like atmosphere.
Riccardo’s mom, Nadia, grows many of the vegetables served at the restaurant. To explain a dish, both Riccardo and Nadia came out from the kitchen with garlic shoots, hooting with laughter.
An artist and photographer, Zehava Perez is Dutch but calls Italy home and is the creative who started the Residency.
Chatting over coffee or apertivo, I learned how the EU allows Europeans to live in a different member nation.
Walking around the quiet, south end of town, I passed by a gentleman sitting at a table in front of a doorway. Lo and behold—behind him was a tiny bookshop! A Dante reader and once a volunteer calligrapher at the Vatican, Gianni wrote our names in beautiful script.
Here, Gianni reenacts a famous image of Dante with a laurel crown, signifying Dante’s status as a revered Italian poet.
Shop Owners: Three women were part of our daily life in Latera: at the forno (bakery), home goods store, and grocery/ magazine shop. They waited patiently as we fumbled with euro coinage to buy fresh bread, a lemon squeezer, or a kid’s magazine (to learn Italian).
In all, the shops in Latera comprise the bar/cafe, a butcher, grocery/magazine shop, a home goods store, bookstore, hair salon, pharmacy, and the Cantina. A few other shops are on the periphery of the village.
A Residency suggests a different way to travel: stay in one place, learn a few phrases, let friendliness and curiosity— for both travelers and locals—blossom.
Our front door at La Casa Etruria.
In addition to the warm hospitality, Latera is reinventing itself as a town that embraces art. See next post!
Grazi, Latera!
