Many of you know Antonia from her blog posts on this site. With myself and Barbara Catino we have started “The Genealogy Detectives” to research and translate civil and church records in Italy MY RELOCATION TO ITALY From a very early age I remember my mom talking about her beloved hometown of Caramanico Terme in Abruzzo. She  would delicately describe everyday chores with a certain amount of romanticism and nostalgia. These lovely stories, told in her still soft-spoken voice, instantly captivated me for life. So, for a few decades I would tell anyone and everyone how much I wanted to move to Italy…without a single plan in sight. THEN CAME THE INTERNET I first checked the Italian Consulate website in Los Angeles to find out if I was qualified for dual citizenship. The short answer is yes…through my paternal grandfather. GETTING ALL YOUR DOCS IN A ROW The long answer is this: about sixty-two documents later, with steam rising out of my credit card, my search for birth, death, marriage and citizenship documents were needed from my paternal grandfather, father, mother and my own birth certificate. Any documents in English were to be translated into Italian and then receive another document called an Apostile ( similar to a notary public.) Most importantly the dates must match up, and if they don’t, you get to fix it officially and then come back when you have ‘all your docs in a row’ (yes, that’s original 🙂 Because I had to go as far back as my grandfather for dual citizenship, it took longer and the whole process of document gathering took about six months, then a year’s wait for the appointment, then another eighteen months waiting for approval once I submitted the final documents. Making the entire process take three years. I STRONGLY RECOMMEND IF YOU PLAN ON BEGINNING YOUR DOCUMENT SEARCH, TO CHECK WITH YOUR LOCAL CONSULATE AND MAKE AN APPOINTMENT AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. Four and a half years ago, I had to wait a year for my appointment, and I’m sure it’s longer now. At this point, I had been living way too long in Los Angeles, tired of the traffic and car culture in general.  So, rather than waste another trip being indecisive about where to live in a Italy, I received  a small scholarship to attend an Italian language school in Salerno. The plan was go and see if I liked it and then if I did I would stay.  So, I stayed, enjoying the small city and looking at it with a new perspective. I walked by the water every day to school and kept saying (probably out loud) I’m finally living in Italy!!  But almost three months later, I still didn’t receive my dual citizenship. What to do?? And just like that…luck was on my side. One week before my tourist visa was about to run out I received a very short and unceremonious email saying I had in fact become a dual citizen. Yippee!  I was now eligible to vote, buy a house, a car, and open a bank account without any major hassles. So here I stay, three years now enjoying my life in Italy.  Even during the pandemic, I managed to do some domestic travel: Cinque Terre, Trieste, Verona, Caramanico Terme (of course), Milan, Rome, the gorgeous Puglian peninsula, Amalfi, Sorrento, Capri, Ischia, many day trips to Naples and various other long weekends to the Cilento coast.  I still can’t believe I live here and can travel so easily to places I only dreamt about. Acquiring my dual citizenship took a total of three years requiring unlimited patience and determination.  But I can tell you even without making My Big Fat Move to Italy, putting all the pieces of my family’s history together opened up a window to the past that I would never have known about had I only gone to Sunday family dinners. Even though some of the facts were surprising and some sad, I highly recommend this arduous project as it will enhance your life as well as the lives of future generations in many ways, the least of it possibly living in the most beautiful country in the world. Per piacere, contact The Genealogy Detectives to make your dream come true of being a dual citizen or just learning about your family’s history. Maybe your first name came from a great-grandmother or your last name was picked up from your family’s town when they passed through Immigration on Liberty Island. Or, maybe you would like to give the gift of ancestry documents to the person who has everything.  (Just think…no more useless ties or ugly Christmas sweaters!) Plus, we can save you the time and trouble of doing the complicated and overwhelming search on your own. Whatever your reason, your customized search will be fascinating and possibly a treasure trove of information. Make Genealogy Detectives your first stop towards starting a new chapter and fulfilling your dream. Buona fortuna! Contact information Email: ompinfo@gmail.com Phone: +39 392 226 5304 Facebook: The-Genealogy-Detectives  

Oria — from 7seas vessels Visit Our Shop On Feb. 12th 1944, the Steamship Oria carrying over 4,000 Italian POW’s captured by the Nazi’s sunk in a storm off the coast of Greece. Damian De Virgilio tells his story about the search for his grandfather Damiano and how that led to his connecting with the families of other victims and the creation of a memorial in Greece. You can contact him at mailto:informazionioria@gmail.com if you think you have and ancestor that was lost in the wreck or want to learn more. Or visit his blog Knowing Nonno. Podcast Click here to join our group on Facebook Video

Join Us Live Feb 6th 3PM ET Dr. Ed Iannuccilli is the author of several books on growing up Italian-American and The Italian-American Experience. Join us for to learn how to document your family history. View on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dwGkTUXT40 Dr. Iannuccilli (Dr. Ed), a retired gastroenterologist, has had extensiveexperience in academics, management, governance and entrepreneurialendeavors. Former Chairman of the Board at Rhode Island Hospital and aformer member of the Lifespan Board, he is a Clinical Professor Emeritus atThe Warren Alpert Medical School at Brown University.As a founding father of Ocean State Physicians Health Plan (UnitedHealth Care), he became the third chairman of its Board. He was the founderof CME Consultants, a national physician and professional educationcompany.Dr. Ed is a graduate of Providence College and AlbanyMedical College.He is a published author of medical articles and of stories of hischildhood. Dr. Iannuccilli has been on numerous boards and was honored asthe distinguished alumnus of Albany Medical College in 1991.He is the author of the following books: Growing up Italian, Grandfather’s Fig Tree and Other Stories What Ever Happened to Sunday Dinner and Other Stories My Story Continues; from Neighborhood to Junior High SchoolAnd his eBook, Growing Up Italian: Collected StoriesDr. Ed writes a weekly column for an online newspaper, GoLocalProv Click here to join Italian Genealogy Facebook Great Reads from Dr. Iannuccilli

Visit Our Shop Joe Giordano was born in Brooklyn and grew up in Queens NYC. His father and grandparents immigrated to New York from Naples. He and his wife Jane now live in Texas. As a former 3M International Executive Vice President, Joe experienced the global cultures and locations he writes about. Joe’s stories have appeared in more than one hundred magazines including The Saturday Evening Post, and Shenandoah. His novel, Birds of Passage, An Italian Immigrant Coming of Age Story (2015), and Appointment with ISIL, an Anthony Provati Thriller (2017) were published by Harvard Square Editions. Rogue Phoenix Press published Drone Strike in 2019 and his short story collection, Stories and Places I Remember, in 2020. Joe was among one hundred Italian American authors honored by Barnes & Noble to march in the 2017 Manhattan, Columbus Day Parade. Joe-Giordano.com   Podcast Click here to join our group on Facebook Video

Corona, Queens The Layout This is my grandmother’s house in Corona, Queens that she shared with my Uncle Frank and Aunt Dolly. The  two windows on the lower right were the kitchen and every summer grams would have one tanned arm as she would sit with her left arm leaning on the sill. As I remember, the kitchen was about ten feet by 12 feet with the stove, sink and refrigerator along one wall. There was room for a nice sized table and you could fit about six comfortably. Grams was stationed at the back wall. During parties, seating was usually reserved for her and my oldest uncles. I remember fondly removing the eights, nines and tens from the deck of cards and playing Scopone and Briscola with her for hours.  Now in the very back was a small toilet and sink with a sliding door without a lock. As a boy it used to freak me out because I always thought someone was going to walk in, so I would usually sneak upstairs to use that bathroom.  Click here to join Italian Genealogy Group on Facebook The Food I am still amazed by the food that would come out of that kitchen. My grandmother was beyond her cooking years, so most of the food was produced by Aunt Dolly and Aunt Mary. Naturally, there was always a pot of sauce “aka” gravy bubbling on one burner. One of my aunts would be frying meatballs, eggplant or chicken, for one of my favorites, “Lemon Chicken”. Click here to try it yourself. Every Easter Uncle Frank would take out the big pasta board and dowel to make ravioli. He could roll out a sheet of pasta in minutes. I would get to cut the ravioli’s out with a glass and move them to the sheet draped sofa to dry. One Easter, my cousin Frank sat on the Ravioli, about ten years ago I wrote the Ravioli song below to commemorate the event. For many years, during the late 1950’s and early 1960’s I would spend every Thursday in that kitchen as it was my mom’s turn to care for my grandmother. Pasta and meatballs, with a dollop of ricotta cheese. The photo below is my mom’s brother Frank and sister Mary in the kitchen, with the dreaded bathroom in the back.  For more recipes from the kitchen click here. Aunt Mary Uncle Frank Grams Get the entire story in my new book! Click the photo.