My last on-site research trip was in November 2007 and included these adventures:
Monday, 5 November
Started in Artena, discovering that civil records in that office were only available from 1871. I got an 1890 birth record. They didn't know where the earlier records were stored. At Segni, I was told the records were all archived, so I needed to write. Unfortunately, they hadn't been answering my letters so this was very discouraging. Overnight at a lovely little hotel/restaurant in Segni (45 Euro).
Tuesday, 6 November
Parked at Latina Scalo and took train to Roma. This location has frequent trains to Roma with a faster time than some other locations nearly. I found a location near the Spanish Steps to catch up on E-mail and worked in the provincial archives for the province of Roma (Archivio di Stato). They had no town records, but they had some good reference material including information on the holdings of diocese archives. Overnight at Excelsior in Latina Scalo.
Wednesday, 7 November
I took the train to Roma, and worked again in the Archivio di Stato. Met with with Lt. Col. Parri & Professor Pignato for lunch. Dr. Pignato is an expert in mechanized warfare and says the US Civil War was the first mechanized war. He has written 30 books and with his wife invited me to work in their library on my next trip. They invited me to a conference the next day where Lt. Col. Parri was presenting on Gen. Parri's World War II diaries (his grandfather, captured by the British in North Africa and held in Arkansas for the duration of the war). I had to decline because my schedule required me to be in Benevento that day. The Italian Officer's Club (where we had lunch) was in the guest house of Palazzo Barbieri (the main palace is now the National Gallery). It was Very elegant with original antique furnishings and 7-foot portraits of historic Italian generals (including Napoleon and Andrea Doria). Their old yearbook (1940) included photos of their old Officers Club in the main Palazzo, complete with statuary and paintings and furnishings that are now included in the National Gallery there. They had obtained that prime space after conquering Abyssinia (Ethopia, 1935) and the yearbooks showed a map of their empire including Albania, Libya, and Ethopia (during World War II). Lunch was not only excellent, but it was unexpected that I was the guest of honor and the service started and ended at my pace. I stayed overnight in San Giorgio del Sannio at the Ricci Park Hotel, right off the autostrada (45 Euro) to work in that town the following morning.
National Gallery, Roma
Thursday, 8 November
First thing in the morning I drove to the middle of town and walked around taking photos and discovering that the Municipio was in a new building several blocks over from the main street. Locating the right clerk, and working with him, was like pulling teeth. The clerk kept saying how difficult it was and showed me correspondence from my client about this family. It didn't help that the books weren't in order on the shelves, in fact some were stacked on each other and we had to pick through them to find the years of interest to me. We were able to find several documents, much to his surprise and in spite of his lack of energy and interest. When we quit, we went back and added part of the information to the correspondence waiting for my client on his desk. At least we now have enough information to work in the earlier microfilmed records. In Paolisi, a very helpful and friendly clerk worked with me to find some documents. What a contrast to the previous town! I spent the night in Mileto, in a charming new place at a bargain price, delightful!
Friday, 9 November
This was a travel day, with the drive down to Villa San Giovanni where I took the ferry to Messina and drove on down to shop at Auchon (major French discount warehouse store) in Misterbianco (outside Catania). This store is great for fresh fish, cheese, meat, and good prices on other foods and liquor, not to mention some household goods, appliances, and electronics. I got lots of my gifts for family and friends here and at Brico (Italian discount home appliance and decor store) next door. That afternoon in Aragona, I met with the priest who advised me that I could meet with his secretary on Monday at 10 and she could assist me with the records. On previous trips I'd been able to work with him in the afternoon, so this was a disapointment. I had other meetings scheduled for Monday so I need to schedule Aragona on a weekday next trip. I stayed overnight at Hotel Hamilton in Racalmuto (35 Euros, outside Agrigento). Their WiFi (wireless internet) wasn't working as it usually has for the last couple of years, leading to a retreat to my room to write up reports to keep at least a portion of the trip on schedule.
Saturday, 10 November
Started out in Agrigento, searching for internet (down in two locations) and some gift shopping. Spent the night in Sciacca to be close to Sambuca the next morning.
Sunday, 11 November
Went to Sambuca di Sicilia to visit with friends (cousins of client). Mass there was at 11:30 and Padre Pino wasn't there at 10, so research in the church didn't work out as planned. Had an interesting conversation with my friends about the US presidential race. I was amazed at how closely they were following the event and how much they knew about the large number of candidates in the race at that time. Another overnight at Hotel Hamilton so I'd be centrally located for work in Enna and Bivona for the next couple of days. I try to stay at the same hotel for a few days at a time to cut down on the hassle of shifting locations. That was harder this trip because of so much distance in so little time.
Bivona
Monday, 12 November
Started the day in Bivona where I found the church closed at 8 am. While it usually works to get to Mass at 8 and set up an appointment with the priest for work in the church after Mass or later in the day, some towns have evening Mass instead and a closed church during the day. You never really know, so flexiblity is an asset. I drove to Enna and got there before lunch to be able to place an order for documents for another client. This is another location where all the records are archived and not open to public access. They deal with it in a better way than some, with a clerk accepting orders for records that can be picked up first thing the next morning. Then I drove back to Bivona and found church open at 4. Kids there for catechism, but the priest made an appointment with me for after 6 (Mass at 5:30). I was there for Mass. Afterwards, when we found our first document, he tried to photocopy a page from a book and I tried digital photos. Neither worked because the ink was too faded so I ended up making lots of notes for each record we found. We found several records in the 90 minutes he gave me, making it all worthwhile. Another overnight at Hotel Hamilton so I'd be close to pick up those records in Enna in the morning.
Tuesday, 13 November
Picked up documents in Enna, everything I'd ordered, wonderful! Drove to Terrasini to be near the airport for the next morning. Overnight at Terrasini at a nice beachside hotel with WiFi in the lobby to catch up on email. Spent the entire afternoon and evening catching up on email, watching the water out the windows (a little too chilly to sit outside to work, maybe next time).
Wednesday, 14 November
Returned car at Palermo Airport and flew to Roma and then to Frankfort (on Ryanair). Nice affordable hotel (40 Euros) with WiFi across the street from the airport in Hahn (Frankfort) that night. Took the bus to main Frankfort airport (nearly 2 hours drive) early the next morning (in VERY cold weather with a little snow on the ground) where I caught the flight home. Roma has gotten very difficult to fly in and out of, this has been a good alternative.
That said, I saw a billboard outside the Palermo Airport advertising TUIFLY flights from Palermo to Stuttgart for 20 Euros. Of course, once you get the flight you want, it may be as much as 50 Euros, but that's a whole lot less than the 200 Euros the major carriers are charging to get to Germany or France. Stuttgart has both the little airlines and the big ones out of the same airport, so that makes it easier to make the connections. I'll be going that way in March since it's too close to Easter to get a flight in or out of Rome once my schedule is set.
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Italian Prisoners of War in the Continental US on 31 March 1945, A-B
My latest book on CD entitled Italian Prisoners of War in the Continental US on 31 March 1945 is now available on 6 CDs. More details at POW CD.
My next trip is scheduled for March 2008.
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