A tremendous response from across the globe

It’s been five months since I began chronicling our historic trip to Sant’Andrea, and while I’ve stopped writing about it — saving some stories for a larger project about my grandparents — I’m amazed at how this blog has grown beyond it’s original purpose as a way to share our experiences with family and friends.
With [...]

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The cheese saga finale: Did the pecorino pass?

I can’t tell you whether we got the cheese into the country. We may have simply shipped it over. We may have left it for Dino and the family. We may have even left it for Nino’s consumption.
I CAN share a could-have-happened, might-have-happened, would-have-been-nice fictional story that the U.S. Customs office would probably object to [...]

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The cheese saga: We got it!

It was the night before our departure for Rome and there were two things on our minds:
1. We’re going to sorely miss our Sant’Andrea family. The took such great care of us, and we shared many laughs. It was heartbreaking to know we wouldn’t be able to see them often. It seemed as if we [...]

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The cheese saga: Round and round we go

One thing about Italian drivers — they’re nuts. And if you abide by the rules, they think you’re nuts.
We quickly learned in our 10-hour trip from Rome to Sant’Andrea to move out of the left lane if anyone was behind us, because no matter how fast we were going, they wanted to go faster.
We were [...]

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Some random videos

Here are some extra videos:
The view from Nino’s house
Something else, huh?
Chiesa di Matrice: Inside the church
This is the remake of an ancient church. Just about everyone in town is ticked off that the Powers That Be decided to time rebuild the church rather than repair it.
Rome from Garibaldi Square
One of the highest points in the [...]

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The cheese saga continues: Nino fakes us out

I remember meeting Nino once or twice as a kid when he visited by grandparents’ house. They called him “Travolta” because he often boasted about his dancing skills. His hair was also usually combed in “Saturday Night Fever” style.
That was a long time ago, and Uncle Bruno reminded me to nix any thought of calling [...]

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The cheese saga begins

This pecorino has a past.
In the late ’60s, Uncle Al, hoping that he could tame the odor, wrapped and rewrapped several round slabs Poppy had requested and stuffed them in a bag. The cheese went through Customs safely. His clothes that shared the bag, however, had to be thrown out. No matter how many times [...]

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Walking tour of the town

If you’ve never been there, or would like a refresher, here’s what it looks like. I’m not the best photographer, but it gets better after the first minute.

Part I (YouTube only fits so much stuff)

Part II
See more Sant’Andrea videos on my playlist.

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Yes, we’re related to him, too

After Graziela gave us all the time she had available, she brought us up to meet the mayor, Maurizio Lijoi.
Maurizio took one look at the family tree and said, “I think we’re related.” Of course we are, I thought.
At first, I thought we might be connected through Nanny’s paternal grandmother, Maria Vittoria Lijoi, who [...]

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Geneaology jackpot

One of the greatest parts of the trip for me was getting to see the our family’s civil records up close.
After years of research online and through interviews with family members, Angela and I compiled a tree of more than 600 people (let me know if I haven’t invited you to Geni.com). But I had [...]

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