The following is an introduction for my book, Forty Days in Italy Con La Mia Famiglia.
And so it begins…
I was running as fast as I could pulling two suitcases on wheels, constantly looking back to make sure that the remainder of our family of five was close behind. My 10-year-old daughter Brianna, with two bags, was right behind me running swiftly. My 7-year old son AJ, with the look of terror on his face, was close behind her, and my wife Jill, was last in line strolling our 4-year old Penelope as fast as she could.
We were in the midst of the first leg of a long trip from our humble abode in New Jersey to the home of our ancestors and some newfound living relatives in Italy.
It was the beginning of what would be an unforgettable forty-day journey. Our first stop was set to be Lerici in northwestern Italy, close to Le Cinque Terre, but it was a very long and complicated 24 hours of travel to get there.
Our first mistake of the trip…
We were in the Florence train station and had arrived at Track 18 where we thought our 1 pm train was about to leave, only to find out at 12:57 that we had misread the board and our train was on Track 1A. I immediately started sprinting and the rest of the family followed.
My poor son AJ, who has anxiety, was crying the entire sprint, but there was no time to stop and console him. I was asking everyone I passed, as I was running, where this mysterious Track 1A was.
Finally, we found it, and just as we arrived to the train, before we could get on, the doors closed.
I stopped, as terrible thoughts of sitting in the station for hours with three young, upset, and tired children invaded my mind. Then all of a sudden, a homeless woman who saw us running, walked up to the train, pushed a button, and the doors opened.
My wife and I looked at each other with the look that screamed “we made it.” We all smiled, thanked the woman, and climbed aboard the train. As we unloaded our luggage and found seats, the dryness in my throat and tightness in my calves became more apparent. I sat down and tried to gather myself.
Little did I realize that the up and down emotional roller coaster that we had experienced over the last 15 minutes was only a small sampling of what we would experience over the next forty days.
From the planning stages, which included connecting with living relatives, through research and learning the Italian language to our very early flight leaving Napoli Airport headed back to New Jersey on day forty, it was truly an unbelievable experience.
I am excited to bring you along on this journey with us through these excerpts and eventually the full book, and in doing so, I will provide you with a blueprint and certainly some inspiration for taking a once-in-a-lifetime trip of your own.
Andiamo….
You can check out my book Forty Days in Italy Con La Mia Famiglia here.
Anthony Fasano
Co-host of The Italian American Podcast
Author of Forty Days in Italy Con La Mia Famiglia
Having taken a similar, but shorter, trip with my two adult children in 2009, I am looking forward to reading more.
One suggestion for your book: information about how to hire a driver if one is going to visit a small town. We visited Sicily, do not speak Italian, did not want to drive on unfamiliar roads and not be able to read the signs so I hired a driver (before I left the US). He was wonderful! He helped us find our relatives because he spoke the language (and he spoke English) and had excellent people skills.
Barbara perfect information – thank you for sharing this. You make a great point about the drivers!
Barbara how did you find this driver, through a travel agent while planning your trip?
Anthony
I planned the trip myself and called Rick Steves for some advice. I asked them about a driver and the person suggested I contact one of their guides who lives in Sicily (thinking he might know someone). This is what I wrote in my notes about the trip:
English speaking car and driver:
Salavatore Vaccaro “Salvo”
Elite Servizi
39 091 784 7340
(I also have his personal cell # and email but don’t want to post it here; let me know if you need it)
I found Salvo through contacting two guides:
Alfio DiMauro (a Rick Steves’ guide who lives in Sicily)
011 39 347 792 0686
Michele (Michael) Gallo
39 360 397 930
mgallo@sicilytravel.net
Please let me know if you have any other questions. I am happy to help you.
This is perfect — thanks.
Anthony, I’m eager to read more about your trip. If possible, please discuss the nature and extent of contact you made with your Italian relatives prior to the trip. Assuming you made such contact, please discuss how that helped, or hindered, getting the most from your trip including the period since you returned to NJ; and how you would approach this aspect if you were to do the trip over again for the first time. My wife, daughter and I spent eight days in Florence and Rome (plus some small towns in between) in 2006. We did not fit in a trip to my ancestors’ small town of Ripalimosani, Campobasso, Molise; but visiting them is a goal for the next trip (surnames are Trivisonno and Masiello). Grazie! Jerry
Jerry great point. i was able to connect with my relatives previously and was able to communicate with them for almost a year in advance and I believe it made the trip much more enjoyable. I will detail this in the book and some of the excerpts to come on the site…
Great. Looking forward to it. –Jerry
My brother and I and our spouses just returned from a “trip of discovery” to Calabria and the town of Paterno Calabria. We were fortunate to begin our journey with a wonderful guide / chef and culinary tour that specialized in foods and traditions of that region. It gave us a great perspective for an area of Italy we had never visited and acted to frontload us with lots of history and information. We were fortunate to have connected with relatives we had never met or had any prior knowledge of thru FB and the spelling of our family surname. We were able to secure the guide and driver we had with the cooking tour to accompany us to my father’s birthplace. That, to me, was the part we were most apprehensive about – how to get there, just showing up to meet relatives for the first time, none of us proficient in the language, and not knowing what to expect. And yet, our reunion was a very emotional and gratifying finale to our trip.
Having said that, it would have been very helpful to have read someone else’s experience beforehand to gain a sense good travel etiquette and showing “la bella figura” – how small town travel experiences compare to that of larger cities – the travel logistics getting to small towns – to drive or not to drive and all that goes with it.
We are heading to Sicily in the fall, so I look forward to being more at ease and informed as I read about your own experiences.
Nancy, first of all…wow. Sounds like an amazing experience!! You make some great points here about the transportation and language, but this last point about the etiquette and the difference between the big touristy towns in Italy and the small southern towns is dead on, and thanks to you I will elaborate on this in the book. Grazie mille!
Great info! I, too, connected with my Abruzzese relatives in ’06 and then again last year. They live in a beautiful town in the Peligna Valley. They were so accommodating and loving. They treated us like royalty. Luckily, I will be headed back there this year for Easter. I definitely remember the apprehensiveness, logistical worries, etc. This year, before going back to Abruzzo, we are going to rent a car at Rome’s airport, drive to Sorrento for our first night to break up the drive, and then venture to Calabria to see where my grandfather was born. We’re looking forward to it!
Driving is the ultimate adventure and makes you feel as though you are really a part of it all. After our time in Sicily, we are heading to Florence, renting an apartment for a few weeks to just spend time exploring – a new experience for us in contrast to previous trips that were planned down to the minute. I am sure you will find Calabria amazing – the landscape, the beautiful small towns and of course the foods and wines of the region. If you are interested in an in-depth culinary tour of Calabria, you might find the following link intriguing. Rosetta is an Italian American from Calabria and her husband from Sicily. They are passionate about their heritage and are great ambassadors for their regions.
http://www.cookingwithrosetta.com
Enjoy your trip – Easter is not that far off!
That sounds wonderful Marc, it’s really an amazing feeling isn’t it. Good idea on Sorrento, it was there that I fell in love with mozarella di bufala! Ciao!
Hi Anthony. Love the podcast. Any recommendations on restaurants in Sorrento and Positano?
Grazie. Il Ritrovo in Positano — a must.
Hi, cousin. Before taking a 10-day tour of Sicily in May of 2009, which began and ended in Catania, I made arrangements with the Italian tour operator, Blue Stone Sicily, to provide me with a driver to take me to the little town of our ancestors. They charged me about $300 or so (not bad). I had researched our relatives before going and would recommend this to your readers/listeners. Since most Americans of Italian descent have relatives who came from small towns and villages, they must have not only the name of the small town, but the province and region where it’s located (i.e., Sortino, province of Siracusa, region of Sicily, or Roseto Valfortore, province of Foggia, region of Puglia). Also, it is helpful to go on the websites of the corresponding Comune and sent an email to them, in Italian (or broken Italian) if possible. Most of these townspeople are very accommodating and willing to help. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/79a4ef6fafb979482abd64f895b76543b27886a6eaf13ad3aa7efef226e6e51f.jpg
Hi, cousin. Before taking a 10-day tour of Sicily in May of 2009, which began and ended in Catania, I made arrangements with the Italian tour operator, Blue Stone Sicily, to provide me with a driver to take me to the little town of our ancestors. They charged me about $300 or so (not bad). I had researched our relatives before going and would recommend this to your readers/listeners. Since most Americans of Italian descent have relatives who came from small towns and villages, they must have not only the name of the small town, but the province and region where it’s located (i.e., Sortino, province of Siracusa, region of Sicily, or Roseto Valfortore, province of Foggia, region of Puglia). Also, it is helpful to go on the websites of the corresponding Comune and sent an email to them, in Italian (or broken Italian) if possible. Most of these townspeople are very accommodating and willing to help. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/50731b478d868223964e4a411dfe226473733477290e18a272a0f9bb99d5a2ce.jpg
Thanks Roseanne you were a big part of me being able to connect our family and I will be forever grateful for that, Baci xoxo
I wish I were there with you! I promised Nunzia I would return someday with my husband! BTW, I am going through some old photos. Here is one of me, my twin sister, and your mom! A long time ago! https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/ccff55c46de92effcbd6c077dd88ad97c86af286469d25be000a4982707b832d.jpg
Wow – I will return there too no later than 2018 – for sure!
Awesome book Anthony! I couldn’t put it down!! Going to Italy end of August. Meet family first time for me. Again great book!! Lots of info!!!
Thanks Pete, you are going to have an awesome trip!