Ambassador Castellaneta enjoys an espresso while attending to business in his den.
The Castellaneta’s Bijon Frisee, Cocolino Picolino.
Later, sitting in his wood-paneled study, the Ambassador shares his wife’s enthusiasm. “Americans are so charming,” he observes, “and very open to discussion and to sharing different views, so it has been a great pleasure for us to be here. This is especially true in Washington, where so many doors have opened to us, even more than I could have expected.”
This was exemplified when Castellaneta’s presented his credentials to the President, a ritual that marks every new ambassador’s official acknowledgement by the government of his host nation, but one which is often fraught with delays. “We arrived in Washington from Italy on a Saturday, and we were staying in a hotel, because our things had yet to arrive from Italy and my predecessor had only left on Friday, but to my surprise, first thing on Monday morning I was invited to present my credentials to the State Department, and then, late Monday morning, to present them to the President, whom I like very much. That was the warmest welcome I could think of!”
