Claudia Melena

ALL TOGETHER NOW The Melena-Maci family, clockwise from upper left: Mauro Melena, Annalisa Maci, Claudia Melena, exchange student Rori Domenghini, and Federico Melena. (Photo: lawellphoto.com)

SWEET MOMENTS Claudia, Rori and Federico share traditional Italian Christmas cakes, the Panettone and the Pandoro; the Panettone is the original first cake from Milan, a sweet bread with candied fruit and raisins, while the Pandoro is a more recent version of the sweet bread, from Verona, taller than Panettone and shaped in eight-pointed star. (Photo: lawellphoto.com)

IMMERSED IN ITALY The Melena Family at Calascio, a small town in the heart of Abruzzo surrounded by the mountains of the Gran Sasso. Rocca Calascio is very famous for the fortress on top of the cliff used as an observation and communication point during 1500 to preserve the territory from brigand attacks. At its foot the church of Santa Maria della Pietà, an octagonal building, was erected in gratitude for a miraculous victory against a terrible band of brigands. The landscape has been the set of several movies, such as The Name of the Rose and Ladyhawke.