L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 2019 www.italoamericano.org 18 L'Italo-Americano T he Asiago Plateau in the Veneto region of I t a l y i s a w o r l d apart, the opposite of the grandeur of Venice or the Palladian ele- gance of Vicenza only 30 km away. WWI brought sorrow and devastation to these green velvet mountains that even today still bear scars. At the site of the Battle of Asiago, nicknamed the S t r a f e x p e d i t i o n , o r p u n i t i v e expedition, by the Austrians you can trace grass-covered trench- es, pockmarks from exploded b o m b s h e l l s , c o n c r e t e w a t e r tanks and see the many testi- monies to the battle the local museums collect. It was an unexpected attack between May and June 1916 on the Italian side of the border between the Kingdom of Italy and Austria-Hungary. The land shook in a crescendo of explo- sions, quakes that consumed the mountains and the lives of sol- diers. An entire platoon piled up in the resulting pit. Today this lush grazing land composed of seven municipali- ties carries on with cattle farm- i n g , o r d e r e d t r a n q u i l i t y a n d birdsong. I drive through the charming village of Breganze, w h ich p r o d u ces s o me o f th e most palate-challenging dessert wines on the planet. Lusiana at 752m in altitude is my destina- tion. The road is rife with sharp, h a i r p i n b e n d s , e n o u g h o f a steep, tortuous climb uphill for 30 minutes to give a sense of a c h i e v e m e n t . O n u n d u l a t i n g slopes all around the varied col- ors of early spring are particu- larly rewarding. The name of the village is derived from the Latin Lucus D i a n a e , t h e f o r e s t o f D i a n a , because during Roman times the summit of Corgnon Mountain right above Lusiana was a place for worship of the Italian god- dess of the hunt and fertility. The inventor of hypertext Roberto Busa was from here. A Jesuit priest, he was a pioneer in the usage of computers for lin- guistic and literary analysis. In 1949 Busa met with the founder of IBM Thomas Watson and that meeting led to the hypertext project that las ted 30 years : developing a system for sharing and linking information between different sources through links. Entering Lusiana I spot the Busa family home which is marked with a plaque. A local tells me Hemingway stayed in Lusiana in 1918 when he was on the Alpine front serv- ing with an Italian ambulance unit iN nearby Schio. We do k n o w h e w a s a t F o s s a l t a d i Piave when he was wounded on J u l y 8 a s r e c o u n t e d i n A Farewell to Arms. I am heading to the Trattoria Al Colonnello da Elide, in the hamlet of Vitarolo di Lusiana to gather memories from Sonia Gandhi's relatives, the Lupato family. The former president of the Indian National Congress was born 72 years ago in that tiny contrada, or hamlet, in a house on Maini Alley. When I a r r i v e , t h e t r a t t o r i a ' s w h i t e - washed façade and bizarre inte- rior jolt me back in time and space. The walls are covered with varicolored sacred images, pho- tos and newspapers clippings about Sonia Gandhi. There are tiny shrines and icons painted on w o o d : M a d o n n a a n d c h i l d , J e s u s , t h e S a c r e d H e a r t , t h e Saints.  The trattoria was founded by the Lupato family in 1921. It offers an excellent range of tra- ditional fare such as homemade gnocchi and typical baccalà alla vicentina, a complex dish made of dried cod that takes hours of preparation and is served on a bed of creamy polenta. Stefano Lupato, a 75-year- old gentleman with blue eyes, sits at one of the tables. He is Sonia's cousin. It takes me a while to convince him to join me. Today the family-run opera- tion is managed by Stefano's sister-in-law Elide who is a sort o f a h e a l e r i n t h e c l o s e - k n i t community. She devotes herself to praying for others. Born Edvige Antonia Albina Maino, Sonia Gandhi was four when her family moved with her to Orbassano, Turin. "They left because there were not enough work opportunities here," says Stefano, who is related to Sonia through her father's side. Sonia spent every summer here until she got married in 1968. "And even after marriage, she visited several times. We often dined t o g e t h e r w h e n h e r h u s b a n d Rajiv was not yet prime minister of India," says Stefano. Then, he gets emotional. "The moment I heard that Rajiv was assassinated that hor- rible day in 1991, I began crying i n c o n s o l a b l y , " h e s a y s , h i s throat tight with emotion, his eyes still filled with tears. "He was like a brother to me." Elide enters silently the din- ing room with a bundle of old photographs. She is in her sev- enties but still magnetic, her hair d y e d v e r y d a r k . I t a s t e h e r s w e e t n e s s o n h e r f a c e a n d I immediately spot a photo of the Lupato family with Sonia and Rajiv around a table. "Rajiv here was still an airplane pilot," Ste- fano points out. " W h e n I v i s i t e d S o n i a , I brought her the only "authentic" Asiago cheese produced around the alpine area of the Asiago Plateau along with krauts she is very fond of," he says. The moment I say goodbye to Stefano I realize the village is m a d e f o r t h o s e w h o a r e n o t afraid to be alone with their thoughts. I walk out and watch the black and white cattle lying down on green open field. It is peaceful, an antidote to war, the ugly beast that seems to forever wander the Earth. MARIELLA RADAELLI Lusiana velvet mountains @Artefoto Abriani Francesca The road where Sonia Gandhi was born @Artefoto Abriani Francesca ALL AROUND ITALY TRAVEL TIPS DESTINATIONS ACTIVITIES Lusiana: the wonder of being alone with your thoughts

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