benvento a Roma

It was long grueling trip. I sat next to a really nice young woman from Stuebenville University who made it go faster.

 After settling in our apartment we walked 10 miles.  We went to Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, and visited one of the dopple ganger twin Churches.  Inside the church was a vigil. It was in Italian. Many of the people were standing and singing, holding hands and even dancing in circles at one point. They were in front of the altar on which stood a Monstrance. It was very moving. It brought me to tears. Even though I didn't understand the language, I understood the love for God. I prayed for the intentions on my 2 page prayer list.

When we got to the Trevi Fountain it was packed..I tossed in a coin for me. And recalling in my mind the entire Iori Family including those who passed like my grandparents and Dad , I tossed another coin in.

We ate dinner at  Taverno Lino. I had a wonderful plate of Alle Vongole and tiramisu for dessert.  When we got home we were beat. Lights out.

Today is the DAY!

Shortly I will be leaving for the airport. First we fly from BWI to JFK in New York and then off to Rome. This is so exciting. Between the canonization of Pope John Paul II and the trip to  Fiuggi, the town in Italy where my grandparents were born, I'm just floating on a cloud!

Say a little prayer for our safety and look out for more blogs to come as I blog my way through Italy and my heritage! Hugs!

One More Day

Well tomorrow is the day. I'm not going to get much sleep tonight!!!! We leave from Baltimore and go to NY City and then off to Rome! It's a night flight but because it's not a direct flight there is a long layover in NY City. But that's okay.

When it is time to go to Fiuggi, my genealogist hooked me up with a cab driver in Sora. It's going to be a long day for him driving from Sora to Rome to Fiuggi! The drive to Fiuggi from Rome is a little over an hour. I hope that when we drive up I see this view of the city. I'd like to get a comparison photo.

As I was going through the post cards I saw this one of the lake. I don't remember reading about a lake and I was sort of surprised.  So being the Google Queen, I googled it.

According to an Italian website:  "Lazio’s largest karst lake, Lake Canterno, can be found in the heart of the Ciociaria area, at just a short distance from the town of Alatri, at the foot of the Ernici mountains, set in an isolated hollow encircled by oak trees and woods.
Situated at a height of 538 metres, it is surrounded by gentle, hilly countryside and protected by the Lake Canterno Nature Reserve. It occupies a surface area of 0.6 m2, has a perimeter of approximately 5 km and its depth ranges from 13 to 25 metres. The lake is approximately 2 km long and 1 km wide."

When I read this I thought hummm, Alatri. I have heard of that town. According to my genealogist, Ann Tatangelo, Giuseppi Iori (my 3rd Great Grandfather) came from Alatri to Fiuggi in the 1700s. I can't wait until Ann gets back to our family tree.....I would love to know what the Iori family (then known as Iorio) were doing during that time.


That was a time in history called the Enlightenment when Italy was under the Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II. This was the time when Napoleon Buonaparte was doing his thing in France and bringing the Renaissance to Italy . The Trevi Fountain was finished after 30 years in 1762. And Johann Sebastian Bach was making beautiful music. Exciting times....I can only imagine what my family was doing during this period of history.

Still Counting

TWO days and counting. It won't be long and the Pope that had been such a large part of my life, Pope John Paul II will be made a Saint. Was there ever any doubt he would be a Saint? Not for me. I am so delighted that I will be there to witness the canonization. It is something I have never been a part of and something I've always wanted to do. 

I was going through old photos, etc. last night and I found these old postcards. My Dad kept them for years. When Grandmom died they were going to throw these away and Dad said he would take them. Glad he did. Now they are safe forever or at least until I die. Many of them have messages from our family in Fiuggi from both the Iori and Pannone sides.  The hotel pictured is one that was owned by the Pannone family. There are pictures of people who also worked there with their hotel uniforms. I hope to find this hotel.

 I have always liked this postcard. It's of the fountain in the old part of town. I hope to find this fountain too.

The street pictured is typical of the streets in the old part of town. The two streets I am looking for (ones that  my grandparents were born and lived) look like this. My genealogist in Italy took photos of those streets for me. I want to find them and this one in particular.

I hope they still look like this so I can take photos for later paintings.

For those of you who never heard of Fiuggi, it's a mountain town noted for it's mineral water. Way back in time, even the early Popes would go there to drink & bathe in the water. It is said that the water is healing and helps break up kidney stones.

The hotel we are staying in is a newer one...resort spa conference center. I'm hoping it's not too far from "Old Fiuggi"

Count Down

THREE days and counting. So the last time I took this photo  with me

 The photo is of my grandparents Giovanni and Beatrice Iori (Nee Pannone) and Zio Nazzareno Pannone .

The reason I did that was because my Dad told me that his Dad (Giovanni) would cry every time he heard the song Arriverderci Roma because he was home sick.  So I decided maybe I couldn't take them back physically but I could in spirit. So in 2008 they went to Rome and Assisi.  I took pictures of them all over both towns and even threw a coin in the Trevi Fountain for their return (I guess it worked huh?)   This year I am going to Rome and Fiuggi, the town they were born. 

Taken the day of my parents wedding

I'm also going to take this photo. My Dad (2nd in from the right) always wanted to go to Fiuggi. I wanted him to go with us in 2008 but my Mom didn't want to go and wouldn't let him go. I remember how he teared up as he fought back tears. He said, "I should have gone with Fausto. He always asked me and I never went."  

Well Dad now, I'm taking you and your brothers and Aunt Nat (and Aunt Phyl not pictured here) all back in spirit. I love all of you and I hope you all enjoy your trip with us. For Uncle Vito the first

one from the left, it will be back to the town he was born. Since he is in the photo, I am also taking my cousin Sonny (the little kid in the middle). He wasn't Italian (he's Polish on Mom's side) and he's also in heaven with Dad but I figured Sonny might enjoy the trip anyway. Maybe one day, Sonny, I'll take you to Plock, Poland where our grandparents on that side were from.

In the meantime I'm really excited about going to Fiuggi (not that I'm not excited about the canonziation of Pope John Paul II and Pope John XXIII). 

 I cannot wait to walk the streets where my grandparents were born and to visit the church where they were married. It's been a lifetime dream for me as I have worked on my genealogy over the years. My dream come true in 3 days and counting......

come with me on this journey as I blog along the way. Love you all.....

Best Laid Plans!

It has been fun. I put a weather app on my phone and added the weather of Rome and Fiuggi along with my location (Pasadena, MD). Every now and then I check on it. For a while the weather in Rome was always 5 degrees cooler and Fiuggi 10 degrees cooler (it is in the mountains) than here.

Today I checked it out. It is 41 degrees here 62 in Rome and 52 in Fiuggi. It looks like the forecast for this weekend is in the 60's here, in the 70's in Rome and in the 60's in Fiuggi.

 I thought I had this all figured out so I would know exactly what to pack.

It's the "best laid plans of mice and men" as they would say.

Suitcase is packed!

It's 10 days away and my suitcase is packed....I've been watching the weather in Rome and Fiuggi. Rome has typically been 5 degrees cooler than here and Fiuggi has been 10 degrees cooler.

The challenge is packing light because I am a clothes horse when it comes to packing. Well you know I might decide I don't want to wear that particular outfit or it might get cold or warm or whatever. I always have an excuse and end up with 2 outfits per day. But I have restricted myself to 1 outfit per day that's it. So if it's cold or hot well I guess I'll have to deal with it.

I remember the last time I was in Italy that everyone was dressed up. Even if they had jeans on, everything else on them was dressy so I'm leaving home blue jeans and tennis shoes. I hope I don't regret leaving those tennis shoes home since Fiuggi is on a mountaintop!

Googled what not to wear in Italy. I had no idea that Purple was insulting and bad luck. I had to go remove an item out of the suitcase.

I was thinking today that I'm so glad I didn't buy purple luggage. Recently my husband and I bought new luggage and I said to him we should purchase something other than black because every time we fly and try to find our luggage it blends in with everyone elses. So this time I bought a dark teal luggage but we almost bought purple....I would have been tossed out of the Rome airport! LOL