Planning for Spring Trip !!
As always, my trip (see www.gentracer.com/lastrip.html) to Italy in November was wonderful! I'm looking forward to returng in March 2010 (see www.gentracer.com/nextrip.html).
Monday, 2 November 2009
I continued the work I’ve been pursuing at NARA II (National Archives in College Park) regarding Camp Monticello and the Italian Generals held in the US, as well as POW camps in Utah.
Since it was Monday, the building closed at 5, giving me the perfect opportunity to catch the Metro to Washington to see some sights. Of course, the museums I’d love to view were all closed when I got there, but just walking the Mall and walking around some of the buildings there while viewing the lit Washington Monument and Capitol Building was a thrill.
Tuesday, 3 November 2009
Flew from BWI to JFK for my flight to FCO (Rome). All went well…
Wednesday, 4 November 2009
Arrived in Rome and waited for my flight to Palermo (should have booked an earlier flight) in the new EasyJet terminal. Picked up the rental car (EuropeAuto, good discount when I made the EasyJet reservation). Drove down to Bolognetta before stopping for the night.
Thursday, 5 November 2009
Drove about an hour to Alia to arrive in time for Mass. I’d worked with that priest for three mornings last March. He fetched 4 baptism books for me and told me to go ahead and research while he took care of other business.
Drove down to Selinunte and couldn’t find the hotel I’d reserved on Expedia. I found another hotel after 3 hours. The next day I found the first hotel at venere.com and learned that it was in Triscina, not Selinunte. I drove out there and it looked OK, if desolate.
Friday, 6 November 2009
Drove up to Vita in a light sprinkle of rain and arrived shortly before the offices opened. The clerks there were very friendly and helpful and allowed me to work alongside them as they compiled family charts for the many children in this family. Wonderful!
Stopped by the cemetery on my way out of town and found the grave of a cousin who had died just last year. Then the sexton advised me that he needed to close and followed me out.
Back to Selinunte where I did some internet work and ended the day with a delightful seafood antipasto accented with a local white wine, nothing like eating seafood at the marina!
Saturday, 7 November 2009
Arrived in Sambuca di Sicilia, but the town offices were closed, and the church offices, and Mariella’s house was still closed, so I stopped at my favorite pastry shop. Just as I was finishing this decadent pastry, there was a knock at my window and there were Mariella and Franco who had parked next to me! They were headed for her uncle’s funeral so I joined the party and we walked the block to the church.
Drove to Bianco Gelso, a rest stop with a nice hotel and good Wi-Fi for the night.
Sunday, 8 November 2009
Knowing I had all day to get to Vibo Valentia, I back-tracked to Agira to visit the Canadian War Cemetery there. The cemetery has a lovely view with the town on the hilltop above and the lake below.
Then back toward Catania and the Catania War Cemetery (Commonwealth). This is right off the freeway and they’d placed a gate on the road leading to the cemetery with a combination lock. The combination is posted on the Commonwealth website and they advise you to park inside to avoid vandals so I did. Also a very well tended place and wreaths from the local city organizations placed on the 4th.
Then I drove off to Messina and the ferry to Villa San Giovanni and up the coast to Vibo Valentia. Stayed in Bivona in a new little family place with poor wireless. Oh well…
Monday, 9 November 2009
Arrived in Tropea before anything opened. Had a nice cappuccino while waiting. The folks at the Pro Loco (tourist office) gave me directions to the Stato Civile offices. They advised me that the family I was seeking had a lot of folks living there, but they weren’t from there. I was concentrating on a 1796 birth or his marriage, so you can see the extended view of time they have. The Stato Civile told me that their older records had been moved to the library and the library was closed for renovation so I was out of luck. They were annoyingly non-sympathetic. Frustrating when institutions don't place information like this on their websites.
I drove over to Mileto in hopes that the current Diocese archives would have the records I was seeking. I’d gotten the contact information from their website, but it didn’t say that the archives was only open on Wednesday, although it could be opened on Tuesday or Saturday for an appointment. Of course, it was Monday, so there was no opportunity. I’d sent them an email two weeks prior but still haven’t received a response.
Now another three-hour drive up to Benevento (actually San Giorgio del Sannio) where I’d be staying at an affordable hotel I’d used before. Wireless was good and I did some catching up before falling asleep.
Tuesday, 10 November 2009
It only took an hour to get to Santa Croce del Sannio, better than I’d expected. The offices were just opening and they were most helpful and friendly. They even made photocopies of the first documents I requested. After that we started collecting all the children in the family and I was reduced to notes, but it was an overall very good experience! I then headed for the next town.
Jelsi was another hour down the road, but a more disappointing experience. The Stato Civile office had their records in storage and the man at the window couldn’t leave his post, although he was very sympathetic to my situation. The church was closed (with no times posted for Mass) so that appears to be normal for that town, like the town before.
With no hope that things would be better the next day, I pointed my car towards Rome. I stopped at the Venafro Free French Cemetery. It's amazing! The front (south) half is Christian with crosses marking the graves and a chapel a the center. The back (north) half (divided by a wide walk, French flag, and monument wall describing the history and giving the numbers is Muslim with a tower, crescent moons on the headstones and palm trees and cactus in the landscaping.
Drove into downtown Cassino in hopes of finding a map showing all the assorted WWII cemeteries in the area, but they weren't on the map I found outside the Municipio. In the same area were two monuments to the war, one with wonderful photos you'll see on that town's page on my website.
Stayed at a hotel in Fiumicino to avoid hauling my stuff on the train into and out of Rome again for the flight home the next day. It was a short trip with lots of driving, but rewarding all the same.
I'm offering professional research services in Italy and Sicily on my next trip in March. The completed report includes a log of locations and records searched, an analysis of the information found, and copies or extracts of the documents located. On-site research can also include extracts from local phone books, and/or photos of the area. In some cases, I can accompany a client to view their ancestral town and meet (and translate) with Italian cousins. Please reserve your time soon, since it fills quickly. Future trips are planned for each spring and fall. More details are available at my on-site research page at www.gentracer.com/onsite.html. To see some comments from clients, please see www.gentracer.com/references.html.
So far...I'm planning to research in Lucca, Florence American Cemetery, Roma, Cassino, and Nicastro on the mainland, and Sambuca di Sicilia, Motta Sant'Anastasia, Siracusa, and Ragusa in Sicily. I'm looking forward to meeting with both American and Italian friends (old and new), as well as returning to favorite places and visiting towns I haven't seen before!
My latest book on CD is titled Sicily, Part 1 and Part 2 is now available on 2 CDs. With a file for each town (plus many other files), it relates the history of Sicily as reflected in the photos, records and festivals of its towns. It contains over 2500 text and photo files and can be ordered at CD order.
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