A recent acquisition for the Mascalzone Latino Sailing School, instructor Salvatore Ercolano accompanied the “expedition” to Boston and is, above all, a man of culture. He teaches at Naples University and recounted every day of this unforgettable journey in detail.
Day 3
On the third day the kids were allowed a temporary break from the alarm clock. A free morning and in the afternoon where the races at the MIT club, but this time we would be up against a higher level. So wake up call at 930, breakfast at Frank’s house, we packed our rucksacks and went off to discover this fascinating city. In fact after a first look around in the car with Giovanni Saraceno we now needed to breathe the air of the city with the subway and our feet. A look round the Prudential Center above all to take advantage of the many Internet connections available to communicate with home then to the Copley library to show the kids how different and more widespread the use of a library can be from what they’re used to.
For lunch we headed downtown, looked round the shopping streets, a barn and ships American-style and in the early afternoon we rested for a bit playing with the squirrels in the park on Tremont Street. After the rest we took the subway again, walked in the Cambridge area and after along the Charles River. When we finally arrived at the MIT club we immediately noticed new faces that look like sailors. Dinghy jackets, boating trousers, suncream as only an experienced sailor uses it and plenty of confidence as they moved away from the pontoon. I told the kids right away today was going to be tough for us and that’s the way it was. The races were very hard and extremely competitive, with a very high technical level. We raced against excellent dinghy sailors from all over the world who worked or studied at the MIT. Sailors with an IQ that was certainly above average. Despite everything the races work great fun and very stimulating. In the space of two minutes more than 20 boats finished, meaning the average level was decidedly high! But despite everything the spirit, despite the total competition, remained friendly, amused and calm. I was even more impressed by the formula the club used. Identical boats (they have 30 Techs maintained in excellent condition), very tidy sail lockers, simple and intelligent solutions, a practical and fast launching system. You could see we were in the club of one of the world’s most prestige universities. The racing formula was perfect too. Fleet races on a course that lasted about 18 minutes, continuous starts from 5 PM through to sunset. The racecourse was positioned perfectly and very quickly. They race at this level twice a week, from April to October. Everything without frills. A sheet of paper for entries where you write name and surname, club membership number, sail number, jacket, helmet and may the best man win.
After the races we thanked the organisers for the opportunity and return to land where our friend Frank was waiting to take us to dinner together with an Italian friend in an Asian buffet restaurant. Alessio showed a big appetite, eating away until the restaurant closed encouraged by the “all-you-can-eat” formula and, sated at last, we went back home for a well-earned rest at last. To recharge the batteries before the next day in Boston!
Day 4
They say the morning has gold in its mouth, but this time it would have been better to say it had English. In fact at 830 we had a date with Rosario, another member of the PIB Association, in a school of English for foreign students. So wake up at seven, breakfast at Frank’s house, a quick shower and off on the orange metro heading downtown. We met up punctually with Rosario on Tremont Street and followed him into this English school. We were welcomed by the staff and after a brief chat to understand what level we were at we were assigned to different classes. Yes, I too had the chance to spend a few hours in an English class! Incredible, I could hardly believe it. With the examiner we decided to divide the kids into two different classes to encourage them to communicate in English. We spent four very enjoyable and educational hours that certainly showed the kids how important it is to know English.
After school, Rosario took us to the MAST pizzeria. Yes, a pizzeria. The pizza was even excellent. Needless to say it was down to Marco and his staff from Naples, or rather, as he pointed out, from Secondigliano. Marco is very hard-working and likeable and showed the kids how rewarding hard work can be if associated with a great passion. When you talk to Marco you can’t help hearing the passion he puts into his job.
After the pizza we strolled round the Italian Quarter and at 5 PM went to the Museum of fine arts, taking advantage of the free admission the museum offers every Wednesday.
The museum impressed us a lot with its huge collection of works that range from ancient art to contemporary art. After initial reluctance from the kids, we read the works with fun and curiosity and this allowed them to interact with the various forms of creativity they were able to savour. We spent two hours in the museum and they flew by! However, at 8:30 we had an appointment with Giovanni and some other friends for a dinner of lobster (actually crayfish), crab, clams and oysters. As usual, as a vegetarian diet a cheese sandwich with salad and chips. Over dinner the kids listened with interest to the stories of Giovanni’s friends who explained to them that with commitment, passion and dedication you can make your mark both professionally and in human terms.
Full and satisfied we were taken back home where Frank was waiting to know how the day had gone. We chatted for a while then off to sleep. Tomorrow the alarm clock will be kind, but it will certainly be a busy day!
Day 5
Today started a bit later. The races were scheduled for the afternoon at the Courageous Pavilion, so I took advantage to let the kids sleep in. I woke them at 930, breakfast and then off towards the Aquarium. The day was decidedly colder and the storm was threatening. After walking round the Quincy market we went to the aquarium to watch the penguins, sea lions, tropical fish, sponges, crustaceans, turtles, rays and some small sharks. For lunch we went into the Quincy market to eat a hamburger with chips and I got the kids to try a baked potato. At 3 o’clock we went to the appointment with Giovanni Saraceno who took us for a ride in the warmth of this car. Unfortunately, at 4 o’clock we learned that the race had been cancelled because of bad weather. Giovanni took us to the Cambridge area where between a Starbucks and some souvenir shops the time passed quickly until dinner. Giovanni to kiss to his house where his wife Maria Luisa had prepared a decidedly Italian dinner. Bucatini, baked pasta, chops, cheese, spinach tart, sweet corn and pudding. Giovanni also gave me an excellent wine to taste, Malverno, which came from his native town we had talked about a few days earlier. It was ideal.
After the feast we chatted with Giovanni and Maria Luisa who were a fantastic and close-knit couple. We had a few laughs and then it was time to go home. Today too had been full and interesting but we needed to go to bed early. Wake up at six tomorrow because at eight they would be waiting for us at the Community Boating for a race on the Charles River.
Day 6
Today the alarm goes off early again. At 6.30 we had breakfast at Frank house, a shower and then headed out for the Community Boating where they were waiting for us at 8 o’clock for the “Community Boating and Mascalzone Latino” regatta. We got there a little early and introduced ourselves to Carlo, the director of Community Boating who gave us a very warm welcome. But above all she had some excellent news for our kids. This year the club had bought some new 420s, so the kids would be racing in a boat they were used to training on! A lot of kids started to arrive and we were impressed by the perfect organisation of the club. 20 instructors, a lot of Mercurys, some Rode 19s, twenty 420s, windsurfs and kayaks. A war machine for water sports. But the great thing was their philosophy of trying to get everyone interested in sailing and other sports. After a short briefing that gave us information about the regatta but also indications on recycling and other environment friendly behaviour, we went to rig the boats. These 420s have a simplified rig that disoriented our kids a bit, some bitts in place of jam cleats, simplified tackle for the backstay and a minimal vang. Anyway, with a little advice they managed to rig their boats and get out on the water in time for the start. The races had a practical and simple format and this time their adversaries were mostly of the same age. A lot of starts, short races on different courses, triangles and upwind downwind, and plenty of fun. Fortunately the wind was kind to us and we managed to finish eight races with our kids winning four of them, putting them at the top of the rankings. Back on dry land they helped each other to haul out the boats, unrig them and get everything shipshape. Still with maximum simplicity! There was just time to get changed, eat a hot dog (also vegan friendly) together and then there was the prizegiving. There was surprise for everyone who took part, but our kids, at the top of the rankings, received a certificate, a T-shirt, a cap and a club pennant. A group photograph with all the kids and the instructors who made this great event possible and we said goodbye promising to forge closer links between our clubs who had the same mission, introducing to this fantastic sport those who normally would not be able to do so by themselves.
But we didn’t have too much time because late in the afternoon they were waiting for us at the consulate for the prizegiving ceremony with the consul and all the PIB managers who supported the initiative. We arrived punctually at the consulate where the Saracenos were waiting for us and with Antonella we went to see the consul who welcomed us very warmly and the kids told him their impressions of this unique experience. It was good to feel at home even a long way from Naples, mixing with a lot of Italians who worked in Boston but maintained the values of their country.
As they spoke the kids underlined the things they will take home from this experience, while the consul, Giovanni Abbadessa and Antonella urged the kids to become testimonials and ambassadors of the efforts and the values they had learned during their adventure.
After the ceremony we all went to dinner in a sport pub in the new quarter of Boston, not far from the consulate, and then we all went to bed. Today was very satisfying but also very intense for our kids, but tomorrow new experiences are awaiting us here in Boston. Above all we’ll be leaving for a weekend on the ocean at Cape Cod!
Day 7
After the busy day yesterday I let the kids sleep in a little longer and after the inevitable breakfast at Frank’s house, we have a short visit with Antonella to the laboratories where our friend works. After a brief problem with the burglar alarm at Frank’s house, solved in a few seconds (but it brought the police out anyway!), we first strolled through the South End quarter and then reached the laboratories not far from Chinatown. Here the kids could see our laboratories organised and how a researcher spends her day. Antonella explained very clearly her main lines of research in neurosciences and let us watch some of her experiments. The kids were extremely curious about something they had never even imagined! After an hour we said goodbye to Antonella, had a bite in a fast food restaurant downtown and took the subway to the Science Museum.
During the visit the kids had the chance to satisfy their curiosity about a host of different fields, many of them relevant to their studies and their sport. The difference between the Mercator projection and gnomonic projections, experiments on frequencies, on electricity, binary and continuous systems, Pythagorean laws, the golden mean, the laws of probability, Kepler’s law and many other experiments! The museum is extremely interactive and could absorb you for days on end! But at 530 we have to go back home where Frank is waiting for us. We are all leaving for Cape Cod. We load up bicycles, rackets, baggage and into the car heading for Falmouth! Here waiting for us are Frank’s sister Carol, Antonella, Francesca and Craig with whom we share an excellent dinner prepared by Carol. Our room is in perfect nautical style and everything seems hardly real. But the kids are feeling the call of the sea and together we go for a walk on the beach.
We feel the temperature of the water and it seems much warmer than we expected. In fact the shape of Cape Cod allows the warm currents to remain in this big natural bay. Obviously we can’t wait to dive into the ocean, and we all return home to rest before the new day tomorrow.
Day 8
Wake up this morning at 8 o’clock for a delicious American breakfast prepared by Frank. The kids have fun cooking scrambled eggs and preparing some excellent pancakes under Frank’s direction. We all feel we are in an American film because the house at Cape Cod is exactly like one in the films were used to seeing at the centre are and on television. After the big breakfast we get everything ready for the beach. Looking at the boot of Frank’s car we seem to be setting off for an Easter outing. Cool bag, beach umbrellas, seats, rackets, inflatable mattresses, Frisbees and the rest!
When we get to the beach we plunge right away into the ocean, it’d been a while since we smelled the salty odour we find it hard to do without. Hearing and speaking Italian, many American tourists of Italian origin come over to ask questions.
In the afternoon we all return home before the sun burns us completely, and after a quick shower in the garden Frank prepares a gigantic barbecue. We all eat together, then we decide to go and see the beautiful lighthouse of the city, built on a small promontory from which we can enjoy a fantastic sunset and then we walk round the small centre of Falmouth.
Back at home in the evening we say goodbye to Antonella, Francesca and Craig who are going back to Boston and decide to watch a film together in Frank’s comfortable living room! At 11:30, satisfied but tired we say good night and go off to sleep. Tomorrow we have another day at Cape Cod.
Day 9
Today we wake up in Cape Cod, have an American breakfast with Frank and Carol and then the kids take the kayaks and explore the stream that leads from Frank’s house to the ocean. Meanwhile I relax in the shade of a tree with a good novel. Towards lunchtime we return home, wash the canoes, tidy everything up and with Frank and Carol go to lunch in an Irish pub to eat hamburgers and fish and chips. After chatting and a short stroll we say goodbye to Carol and get back in the car heading for Boston. The kids fall asleep in the car while I had a long chat with Frank about America today and the difficulties of integration from the point of view of Italo Americans over the generations.
Antonella is waiting for us for dinner in her lovely house close to South Station where she has prepared an excellent dish of pasta (very Italian!) with courgettes, a dish of asparagus and to finish an ice cream the kids appreciated very much. After dinner Riccardo, a very likeable kid we met during the prizegiving at the consulate, joins us. We all go out together for a walk along the waterfront and then back home. There is another day tomorrow and if the weather doesn’t lettuce down perhaps will manage to race at the Courageous!
Day 10
Early wake up in Boston this morning, a free morning which we devote to a long walk through the streets of Boston that even the kids are getting to know by now. We look around the shops thinking about presents to take back to Italy – by now the day of our return is getting inexorably closer.
We visit the Quincy Market where we find a group of breakdancers cheerfully entertaining a crowd of curious passers-by and then we go into Boston Central Market where we have an excellent stuffed bagel for lunch. After lunch we take a long walk towards Charlestown where the Courageous is, but before arriving at the club we feel we have to visit the Constitution, the ship that played a central role in the history of the American Revolution.
At the club we receive a warm welcome and quickly board one of the many Rhode 19s and get on the water for the racing. Unfortunately it’s not the best of days and after the second race, where we come forth, a violent downpour forces us to return to the shore. We cover ourselves as well as we can but a shower is guaranteed! We unrig the boats and spend some time with club members chatting about races and telling them a bit about our adventure.
After a while we take a taxi and head for the Aquarium area where Frank is waiting for us with Franco and Rosetta. We eat an excellent pizza at the Pasta Beach (I would never have expected to eat a good Neapolitan pizza in Boston but I was wrong!) and then we head back home for our last night at Frank’s house. We present our guide with an excellent bottle of Beneventano Aglianico which I was sure he would like and a card of thanks the kids wrote for him. Then everyone to bed because tomorrow would be a long and endless day.
Day 11
Last wake up in Boston. After a big breakfast we packed and with our rucksacks on our back we went to buy presents to take back to Italy. After two hours the rucksacks were full of gadgets, T-shirts, baseball caps, plaques, magnets and what have you. We had a quick lunch near Washington Street; the kids decided to taste a real American hotdog (though they weren’t sure about the sauerkraut) while I had an excellent falafel. After lunch we walked all down Washington Street to the Tufts Medical Center. Here we met up with Antonella to say goodbye and thank her for the perfect logistic organisation she had always ensured and for her great kindness. We were almost ready to leave, but we couldn’t leave Boston without visiting a famous countryman of ours. For a day ago the Amerigo Vespucci had arrived in Boston and we decided to take advantage for the kids to greet our training ship. When we got to the quayside it was a big thrill to see the sailors on the Amerigo Vespucci and for myself, who is from Castellammare di Stabia where the ship was built, it’s always a bit like meeting up again with a part of yourself. I still remember with great emotion the time many years ago when we welcome and the ship to Castellammare with our little Optimists. We looked around the splendid training ship and I tried to explain to the kids how they manoeuvred ships like this and we chatted with a lot of cadets who were curious about our Mascalzone T-shirts with the Italian flag on the back.
We said goodbye with great respect to this splendid vessel that still sails the seas and the oceans and went back home to pick up our luggage and head for the airport. After we had packed the various presents in our cases Francesca, who works not far from Frank’s house, arrived punctually to drive us to the airport.
We checked in, went through passport control and were ready to board. Luckily, this time we were all sitting in the same row so we were a bit freer to move and stretch our legs. Between films and games, shaken up by a bit of turbulence, we quickly arrived in Munich. From there it was a quick descent towards Naples where in the arrivals area the kids’ parents were waiting anxiously to embrace their children again. For me the adventure was officially over when I handed the passports back to the parents. The kids and I hugged, aware of the splendid experience they had shared and that will leave each of us enriched. Now our job is to make sure that this adventure and all the stimulus we got during the trip becomes part of us. And to transmit to the others all the positive feedback from this exciting experience.
