I Had a 2 Hr. Conversation With An Italian WW2 Vet - And Couldn't Speak Italian!

The Craziest, Coolest Conversation I Ever Had In Italy...he couldn't speak English and I couldn't speak Italian!!  Imagine that!

Ripa, Italy
Ripa, Italy

1.  He Found Me.



I was just spending the day walking around the little town of Ripatransone, Italy with my brother.  We were not really going anywhere--just seeing what we could see.


When you travel to Italy, take a day just to do nothing.  I mean it.  You will greatly enjoy just walking around, nothing on your agenda....just letting the time pass by while soaking up Italy.  --It will mean so much to you!


While walking around, an older man stopped us.  He started talking to us in Italian to which my brother and I both shook our heads and said we didn't speak Italian.  This didn't stop the man from continuing to speak to us in Italian...he just kept talking!  As he asked us a question, he pointed to us and then motioned in a gesture as if to ask "where are you from?".  I answered (in English) we were from the United States.  He got what I said--cause really...if you are anywhere in the world and say "US of A"...people get it.


He waved for us to walk with down the narrow alleyway.


2.  The Old Shop.



While walking with this old man he began to speak about the town (Ripa).  I couldn't understand anything he said but he would point to a building and then say something like "400 old years".  My brother and I started to put the pieces together and then we really started to enjoy the tour of the town from our non-English speaking tour guide.


Finally we came to a rock building and he motioned us inside.  First, please let me explain that I would never just follow somebody I didn't know back to a building I didn't know.  My brother and I were in great fighting shape and the old man even asked if we were soldiers visiting the town--this was nothing like some movies where you get lured into a trap.  This was completely different and if you were there....you would completely agree and understand.  This is a good story from a trip in Italy.


As we walked inside the building we walked into a pottery shop.  An amazing pottery workshop with ceramics, raw clay, many tools, everything!  This guy was a potter.  By pointing to some pictures on the walk he informed us he was the 6th generation of a family of potters!  6 generations!  of the family business.


For nearly 2 hours this old man talked to my brother and me about almost everything.  We found out he was a soldier in the Italian army during World War 2...that was cool to know and we just played it cool cause we were/are Americans--which he knew only our grandfathers could have been in the war.



3.  Parting Ways.


At the end of the conversation, I was actually sad to have to go back to where we were staying--I was having such a great time!  This old man gave me a clay little owl as a thank you for coming and seeing his workshop.  What a great guy!

In the end, I am very happy that I bumped into this guy and am thankful for the conversation we had.  It is just crazy to think that you can still communicate and have a conversation without being able to actually speak the language.


However,

If you want to learn Italian...here is one of the best Ways:



Thanks for reading the post and please make sure to catch us on the next blog post!

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