We recently spent a week in Italy and the highlight of our week was a trip to the village of Riccia, the home of my Great Grandparents and their families. After much research we chose Rome Private Excursions to help us with our journey.
On Friday morning August 19th our journey began at 7 a.m., our driver Max picked my father, brother and I up at our hotel in a minivan. The ride was peaceful as most of the local Italians were on their holiday and we had no traffic. Max was very kind and offered bits of information along the way about things we were passing. He also shared a story regarding his Grandfather and the fact that he was an American Soldier and that he grew up in Pittsburgh, PA. We laughed as we were all born in Altoona, PA very near Pittsburgh. Along the way Max made a comfort stop for us in a tiny town at a little store. What a treat to get to see some of the quiet side of Italy having only been in the big cities on this trip.
We arrived in Riccia about 10 a.m. and were greeted by the Mayor, this is where our perfect day began. Max became a wonderful interpreter for us as the Mayor explained he could not find any family in the village but that he did have several things to show us. He then presented us with signed documents of our family members births and showed us the actual ledgers from the 1800's where their births were recorded. The books were so fragile we were afraid to touch them. I was delighted, and hugged the Mayor, I am not sure he knew what to make of that. :). Soon after he took us on a tour of the village explaining how life was at the time they lived there, why they would have left and the hierarchy of the village at the time. We toured what was left of the castle, and spoke to a few local ladies who were excited to see who was speaking English in the streets below their homes. Ohhhh and the delightful smells coming from the windows! It made the mood even better, just wondering what they were cooking. After about 2 hours with the Mayor he introduced us to the Parish Priest. The Priest was so excited to meet with us and talked a million miles an hour, what a joy! He took us on a tour of the church and explained to us that the baptismal font was the actual font used in our families baptisms...at this point all of us were in tears...imagine we were standing where they stood, seeing what they saw, touching things that were part of their lives. I still get goosebumps. Even our tour guide was moved, I am terrible at writing and I will never be able to explain how amazing this was. The Priest spent quite a lot of time with us and showed us where our families records of baptism and marriage were stored at the church. He presented us with a letter and copies of their baptisms. We also signed a letter saying we were there, in case someone else came to the village searching for the family, they would tell them we were there. After our time in the church we met back up with the Mayor who took us on a tour of the old prison, a museum full of items from the time period of our ancestors, and then he rode around the village with us and showed us the street they lived on. What a day! We were treated like family, nothing will ever top this. Our final moments were spent in a small Trattoria dining on homemade Ravioli, best meal of our trip, even Max agreed the food was top notch! Real Italian food from a local family with Momma cooking in the kitchen...needless to say the trip home was filled with the three of us nodding off and dreaming of returning again to Riccia....
Thank you to the Mayor and the Priest...and to Rome Private Excursions for contacting them on our behalf and making our trip to Italy one of the most memorable vacations ever!