Ep 13 - Ruth's Journal (w/guest Lisa Goodwin)

SPECIAL GUEST:  Lisa Goodwin, a Nicolai family member
This week we listen to Ruth's travel journal to hear first hand how happy the Nicolai family was to reunite in Italy.  So touching.

Transcript

Kim: 0:04

Hello everybody and welcome back to Chasing Hazel's Tales, a family history podcast. If you haven't heard Hazel's story, we invite you to check out the entire episode list. It is growing and we love the stories, but as we said last week about the Nicolai family, all roads lead to Rome, and we weren't kidding. I'm Kim McLaughlin. And for the record, my pie chart on ancestry has no Italian ethnicity whatsoever. big zip. But I can claim Juris matrimony if Andrew ever gets his citizenship. So then I'll be Italian. But Andrew has about 12% Italian ethnicity according to ancestry.com.

Laura: 0:43

And I'm Laura Ireland. I also have zip for Italian ancestry That doesn't mean I'm not a wannabee.

Kim: 0:50

Yeah, that's right.

Laura: 0:50

But we wanna welcome Lisa Goodwin back as we continue on with the Nicolai story. And Lisa, how much Italian ethnicity

Lisa: 0:57

do you have? Well I have about 5% and that fluctuates back and forth, of course, And I'm really honored to be back here and excited to share some of the memories. Welcome. All

Kim: 1:10

right. And yes, we've got things to get to today. Now comes down to the real fun part. We've come full circle. You'll remember that the four Nicolai children now have where their father was born and where his family lives. So last week we discussed how they connected via letters sent to the mayor of Montefiascone, Italy, and Bullseye. they found family after multiple letters with the Italian aunts and uncles issuing invitations to come over and meet them. What do you think Sibby she got her travel buddies and she planned her trip and her sister and Lisa's mother, Ruth McLaughlin and her daughter, Deedee Saunders, were her travel buddies, and they jumped at the opportunity to go a quote from the article that we mentioned last week. Said, Ruth McLaughlin will barely make it laugh. Sibi as Ruth has 10 children to think about while she's away for 17 days. So we're gonna go into detail about this trip the best way we can. It's gonna be a firsthand journal from Ruth and you're gonna love it. But first we won't tell you just a little something about Montefiascone and basically, can you get there from,

Laura: 2:16

Yeah, so I think we mentioned in, in a previous episode, it's somewhere in the middle of Italy, but to be a little more specific, it's about 60 miles north of Rome in Central Italy, and it does have about 13 and a half thousand people, and it lies on a hill overlooking Lake Bolsena or bol. I both or might be something completely different. I have no idea. I

Kim: 2:41

can tell you the truth. I'm not sure. But I think it's Bolsena. Is that right, Lisa? Or, yeah, I

Lisa: 2:45

think that's closer. That's good, Bolsena but the truth is I am,

Laura: 2:49

I Americanized it

Kim: 2:51

really good. The truth is, I don't know, I just, I'm guessing. So go ahead, continue. All right.

Laura: 2:56

And so, It's about 600 meters above sea level, so that's about 2000 feet. And it's a former Etruscan settlement, so, and it has an unmistakable silhouette with the remains of the roka

Lisa: 3:13

de poppi.

Kim: 3:14

Oh, that's really good.

Lisa: 3:16

I'm just winging it.

Laura: 3:18

Fortress settlement. and the impressive dome of the Church of Santa Margarita and the Roca de Papi is a former summer residence for the Pope. So that's pretty cool. Mm-hmm. So, and in looking through online, I, you know, there's some very nice information about Montefiascone. and it's described in a travel blog that I read as the Hidden Gem of Italy near Rome with numerous churches, cathedrals, and home to at least one winery. And this blog did happen to mention the one that you had talked about from your trip. Est Est Est. And it uses the grapes that are grown by Nikolai family members, which is very cool. And we wanted to ask you, Lisa, if you have any memories before we get into your mother's journal. Do you have any memories of your mom getting ready for this trip? You know, I would imagine she was pretty excited.

Lisa: 4:12

Yeah, she was. She was very excited. I was only eight years old at the time, so I have minimal memory. So I don't remember much about the preparation other than her getting her photo taken for the passport and getting some new luggage. I'm not sure where she had that photo done, but I, it became a framed photo in her house, so I'm thinking it must have been done professionally. Mm. I do remember going to the airport when she left. We all. It's a little entourage of people. Cause nobody, nobody in our family had flown. Mom had never been on a plane to fly. So it was pretty exciting for everybody. And at the time the passengers would just walk out a door onto the tarmac and board the plane. I mean, there's no security that we have nowadays. So we were able to stand right inside the door looking out all these big windows and watch the plane, taxi down the runway and take off. It was, I do remember that vividly.

Kim: 5:04

Hmm.

Lisa: 5:05

her travel journal that she kept, which I am so happy and I'm sure all of us were very happy about it. She travels to Italy with her sister and her niece, and she gets to meet four to five of her paternal aunts and uncles. One of her uncles went to Argentina, if you remember Kim talking about that, right? let's go and get right into this journal. I invite you to sit back, put your feet up, cause you're gonna hear a long story. So it started in Bangor, Maine on June 17th, 1971 at 4:00 PM. So these are my mother's words in her journal. About seven minutes ago, we took off from Bangor International. What a thrill. The captain just informed us that he had leveled off at 1600 feet. It's unbelievable. The site from up here. We hardly seem to be moving it all. We are out over Penobscot Bay. It's too beautiful to describe. We are over land again now. The houses are just small, white, square. The streets look like rope crisscrossing everywhere. Right now we seem to be following 95, which would be Interstate 95. You can see the clover leaf interchanges. The clouds look like billowy soap. Suds, so white. We are now over water altogether, the captain just informed us to fasten fastener seat belts. Now we are overland again. We must be close to Logan. There are just miles of sandy beaches just below. The view of Boston from the air is really something. Everything looks so neat and square. The sand traps on the golf course look like giant foot tracks. The plane has just landed so smooth. It's hard to believe that anyone could control such a large plane going so fast. Walking in on the enclosed ramp, look like it did in the movie airport. Everything covered with thick carpeting. I just went into the coffee shop and had a sandwich and coffee. A gray-haired man with a foreign accent. Tried to make conversation but didn't encourage him, so he kept still

Kim: 7:13

Don't talk to me, but I got places to go.

Lisa: 7:17

It's quarter after five. Still have an hour to go before Sylvia lands. I guess I will just people watch for a while. I had quite a long wait at Logan. Sylvia and Deedee arrived at six 30. They were so excited about flying. Sylvia talking a blue streak, and any of you know, my Aunt Sib you know, she could talk. I nobody else It took quite a while before we could get aboard our TWA flight. We had to wait in line to get our seat numbers. Then we had to wait in line to be checked by security to see if we were carrying guns and so forth. This flight is hard to believe. We are traveling on a 7 0 7 Star Stream. We will serve cocktails and then dinner. I had roasted chicken and burgundy sauce with broccoli and al grauten potatoes and a seafood salad roll, crackers and cheese and apple pan dowdy and coffee. times have changed. they,

Kim: 8:11

that would've cost you more than the ticket these days. here's

Lisa: 8:15

your bag of peanuts. the co-pilot came around with earphones so we could listen to music. Whichever type we preferred, we could tune. They haven't started the movie yet. Sylvia and I have talked steady I believe they did The restrooms are all stainless steel, very clean and compact. You would not believe the size of this plane. It makes the northeast yellow bird look like a toy. So that's the plane that she flew from Bangor to Boston on the wings. Yeah, they're not in existent

Kim: 8:50

That didn't even ring a bell with me.

Lisa: 8:53

The wings spread is enormous. I have not been the least bit nervous. My ears keep popping now and then, especially on takeoff and gaining altitude. It was so strange to look down and see the sunset. Tried sleeping, but no success. Guess I'm too excited about everything. Everyone back home is sleeping. It is 10 0 1. Here it is 10 0 6. Our flight took us over Nova Scotia, the North Atlantic, England English Channel, and Paris. The sun has come up, a fiery red below us. The clouds are all white, like the ripples and drifted snow. Just unbelievable. We caught a glimpse of the British island, Ireland, the coast of Normandy. The farmland across France was so beautiful. The fields were so flat. Every field was outlined. Each seemed to be a different shade of green, some yellow and brown. I noticed many large houses with orange tiled groups. They were built in a square with a large courtyard in the middle. Coming in over Paris was fabulous. So many beautiful rivers and bridges. I was amazed at the large highways with overpasses. Some sections in Paris is just like I pictured. It's so old world like and other sections so modern with tall skyscraper. Many large country estates with so much forest all around them. I noticed a lot of large industries. One large steel plant seemed to cover a block. We made a beautiful landing coming into Orly airport. Even the captain complimented himself on his landing Good job I say. So

Kim: 10:28

I said, holy cow. I really landed this thing

Lisa: 10:32

We had one hour and 15 minutes stop over in Paris. We were allowed to leave the plane. I don't do that now. No. And it is 20 after four in the morning in Lincoln. We are getting ready to take off of Rome. It will take us one hour and 30 minutes to get to Rome. There's a six hour time difference between Rome and home. I am really enjoying the flying. The plane is moving now. Goodbye. Paris. Hello to Rome. Just finished having lunch. Not too good. went to the lady's room, put on fresh makeup. Feel much better now. We just passed over the Alps. What a beautiful site they are. All snow covered just like you would see on a postcard. We are less than 30 minutes from Rome. This leg of the journey is real rough. We have run into so much turbulence. The day is bright and. I cannot see the ground below. There is such a lot of thick, fluffy white clouds. This has got to be the roughest ride of the trip, just like riding in a truck. We landed here in Italy at 12. Going through customs was nothing. They never even opened our bags. Just asked about cigarettes and liquor. Marked her bags, and that was. The whole clan was there waiting outside the gate at the customs, waving their arms and carloads of them came in to meet us. We each had to ride in with different ones. what a wild ride. We went most of the way to Montefiascone on a four-lane highway. Wild drivers in those small cars. They were so afraid that I would be called that they kept the windows rolled. They thought yesterday was cold. It was beautiful and warm. I have never been kissed so much in all my life. Kisses on both sides of the face, so many hugs. Everyone crying and so happy. There was a man here all day who spent many years in Chicago. He speaks English real well. My books were such a help. Mom had some books that she could t. Okay. From English into Italian. Mm-hmm. So that's what she was talking about there. And they are just fascinated by her books. Young boy, Massimo can understand a little English. He is my constant companion. The first meal was something else again. They keep wine on the table and three or four big jugs,

Laura: 13:00

our kind of people,

Lisa: 13:01

they are The first part of the meal was chicken soup. Then we had chicken and greens. We thought they were finished. Then they brought in noodles that they had made themselves. They were delicious. I was full by that time, but they cleared the table again and brought in more chicken and salad. I had four glasses of wine with my dinner and I would've loved to have been there cuz my mother wasn't a drinker. After dinner, the women all took a walk around to all their houses. They are all very neat. Everything is of stone and lime, all dirt roads around here. Everyone so friendly. We were celebrities here after supper. Vero played the accordion. He plays real. The children are real sweet. They like to have you make of them and hold onto their hands. You should see them with Sylvia. When Sylvia gave them Tootsie Roll pops, they really thought they were something. Sylvia talks steady, they point to their tongue and to Sylvia, and then laugh I told you she was a talker. It was a long day. We lost most of it with the time change, six hour difference. So I was tired when I went to bed. So now we're onto Saturday, June 19th. We get up the next morning. The sun was high. The women were waiting for us to see what we wanted for breakfast. They are so gentle and kind. Each of them wanted to give us eggs Assunta. Finally cooked them in an open fireplace. They do all their cooking on the open fire in a fire. Their stoves upstairs are hardly ever used. They live most of the time in a big room on the ground floor. Their houses are spotless. The floors are covered with beautiful marble tile. The family is very close. The children eat with their parents, the younger women fixing the meals after breakfast, we went out of doors, thought we would write some letters. The sun was so beautiful and hot. I got a sunburn started in less than an hour. I would love to put on my shorts and get my legs tanned, but I don't think the married women wear shorts and slacks. We tried to explain to them that in America we wore them. All they would say was, no, no laugh and shake their hands. We went for a walk with Uncle Giuseppe over through the fields. He and his daughter Lucrezia owned so much land. None of it is, wasted. It's all hills, all terraced with grapes, figs, olives, and vegetable gardens. We went down to Lucrezia wine cellar. It's a big cave dug out of the side of a hill. They are immense and so cold. They even have an electric light line running into their grotto. The wine barrels are so big, the grape presses are all operated by hand. It is as cold as a refrige. We walked up to La Greta's house, had some wine with her. Then we walked back to Aunt Syria's house. We wanted to go in town to the bank, but it was closed on Saturday at four. We went into town with Bruno to get some stamps. Everything closes up from two to four for a siesta. They stay open later in the evening. We then started our long walk up through the town of Monte PIs. Straight up all the way. The town is built on a mountains. I cannot explain here, it would use all my paper. On the top are immense buildings. Some of them are still being used for living. Some are crumbling down in ruins. The Church of St. Margarita, I have never seen anything so beautiful in all my life. The paintings on the ceiling are hard to describe. The altar is gold with figures painted around everything. So elaborate. It was built in 1676. The underneath sections of the church were built earlier. They are about 500 years old. We continued our walk up and took pictures. We came down and went to Aunt Filomena's house. She gave us lunch. We had bread, wine, roast pork. It was supper time, and we thought that was it. I was so full. When we got home, there was another meal waiting. I could hardly eat. I was so stuffed. Then onto bed Sunday, June 20th. I got up quite early this morning. The little children were dressed up in their Sunday best. We were not going to church until 1130. Bruno took us for a walk through his field. He and his wife Assunta own a lot of land. The fields are all on the, on the hillside. There is no flat land here. Everything, terraced on the hillside, he too raises many grapes, sweet oats, figs, and olives. Everyone has his own garden. They raise the same things here that we do in our gardens at home. I never saw anyone who eats as many fresh fruits and vegetables as they do here. They pick fresh cherries, peaches, and apples every day. That is what they put on the table for dessert. He showed us a big grotto in the side of the hill that the family used to live in years ago. The cave is over 100 years old. We went back to the house. The family was preparing a feast for Sunday dinner. Felicia was making noodles. What an art? Assunta was cooking chicken outside in another building. They don't do cooking in the house. She was cooking chicken over an open fire. She was basting it with oil. She uses leaves off the trees to baste with Bruno. Took us to church about eight miles away. What a huge church. We did not attend mass in that one because it had suffered a lot of damage in the earthquake. Last year, mass was set in a smaller building. The priest took us all through the church. What a beautiful place. His living quarters were on the third. everything is done in the most beautiful tile in marble. He took us up two more flights of stairs with him while he rang the bells. Seven giant bells in the top of the church fell during the earthquake, but they have gotten them up again. The church is being all restored back the way it used to be. The people here are quite noisy in church. I guess it's hard to shut up in Italian The priest was fascinated by my Polaroid camera. He took three pictures with it. He got a beautiful picture of the church. I gave it to him. He was so pleased. What a nice looking man. This place is full of good looking man. Come up here looking for a good look at me, and now you know where to go. after mass, we stopped into restaurante and had a cold drink. The place belongs to one of my cousins. What a big, beautiful place. They took us all through it. The kitchen was something else. What food? He let us sample the food. It was delicious. We came home and had another one of those big dinners. Then we all got into the cars and took off to the big church high up in the mountains. In the town of Bagnoregio, it is called St. Bonaventura. What a tremendous place, such a long walk up the mountain. Besides the church, there are other buildings and people live up there. After that, we drove to Lake Bolsena. What a beautiful lake. All sandy beaches around it. It looks like ocean water. It's so green, but it is not. We drove to another place that the Italian government maintains. It is a cemetery for servicemen that were killed. Beautiful flowers, planted roses everywhere. About five different shades of roses, beautiful trees and shrubs. Then on home to another meal, then to bed So we got a theme here, wine and food Monday, June 21st Monday, we went into the bank and got our money changed. We called our Aunt Fina for a while. Then we drove over to the lake with Pierro and Salvador and Felicia. We had a sandwich and talked we really got to know quite a bit about each other. The language is getting easier to understand. We drove back home and spent an easy afternoon walking around observing how they do things. That evening we went into town to Aunt Filomena's. What a time they had planned. I never laughed so much in all my life. For supper, there was 23. Besides we 3. Can you imagine the noise of that many Italians all talking all at once?

Kim: 21:58

Well, yes, we can imagine Yes, I can

Lisa: 22:02

The food was excellent before we had our supper, Salvatore drove us out to Viterbo to see the sulfur springs. What a sight the ground is all white and yellow with the water bubbling out of the ground so hot, it would burn your hand. So then now we're onto the next day, Tuesday, June 22nd. In the morning, we washed our clothes. What an experience out in front of the house is a big stone watering place with three compartments. All the neighborhood women washed there. You ought to have heard the talking when they saw our clothes, especially our underwear, All they could say was bella bella, bella, Which means beautiful We took a walk to Lucrezia'a house. We had some wine and bread with her. We came home to another big meal. Then Salvador took us sightseeing. We went to an arena that was almost 2000 years old, ruins from the Roman civilization all over the place. Then we went into another place to see a mineral spring. It came out of the side of the mountain, came down over a large water. The ground was orange. Wherever there was water, they just loved the taste of the water. To me, it tasted awful, just like Iron We then drove into Viterbo to see the beautiful church. It was built in 1546. What a beautiful church. The ceiling was something to see all carved out of gold with blue around it. The altar was so beautiful. There was a large courtyard to one side of the. At least as big as our whole house lot. We came home, had supper. Then Bruno came in and he Alvero, Sylvia. Joann and I took a walk over to Pierro's house. It's so dark outdoors with no street lights. We took the shortcut across the fields. Then we came home and to bed. I was bushed Wednesday, June 23rd. Today we walked into Montefiascone. All the women go to the market on Wednesday. There was one street they used for an open market. It's about a mile long. It's very colorful. They were all under bright colored tents. They sell clothing, hardware, dishes, all sorts of food, including fish. We came back home, had lunch, and spent the first part of the afternoon, just leisurely Lucrezia came over and we took a walk over to her cousin's. What a beautiful place high on the hill overlooking Lake Bolsena. Their house was very beautiful inside. We came home and had supper with Uncle Giuseppe's family after supper. We all took a walk over to Lucrezia'a house for just a fun evening. I was quite tired when we went to bed. We walked about 20 miles Thursday, June 24. I get up early and washed and set my hair, had breakfast. Pierro came over ready to take us on another trip. He said I would have to take my rollers out and put on a pretty dress. They love for us to dress up. My hair was wet and a mess, but I had to go anyway. He took us to an ancient town high in the mountain. What turns on that road? All the streets aligned with these beautiful trees with pale yellow blossoms that give off the most heavenly aroma. The town is called Orvieta. It's hundreds of years old. First, we visited the most beautiful church. We noticed Oliver Church in beautiful Yeah,

Kim: 25:47

well they are

Laura: 25:50

and all the meals are big Yes.

Lisa: 25:52

And

Laura: 25:52

delicious

Lisa: 25:53

Yeah. The outside was completely covered with carved figures. The most beautiful stained glass windows. A miracle took place in the church. A priest from the Bolsena area did not believe in God, and when the mass was said, the host bled and drops of blood, fell on the vestments. the vestments are hung in the tabernacle for people to see. It was a very moving experience. One, I won't forget from there, we went to the well of St. Patrizzi, which is St. Patrick. It's a great stone. Well, we walked 240 steps to the bottom of the well. And just as a side note on this, I did a little research on this. I, I looked it up and there's actually 248 steps here. Okay. but if you wanna get technical, she missed one So there are two sets of stairs and the way they described it, it was like a Oh, I forget the words now. Double helix. Yeah. A DNA helix. Mm-hmm. is what they, what they called it. So, you know, here we are. We're talking genealogy dna. I just thought it was Yeah. Kinda all together.

Kim: 27:04

Yeah.

Lisa: 27:05

So the country around there is so beautiful. We came home and had supper with Bruno and his family. Afterwards they played music and showed us how to do some Italian dances Then to. Friday, June 25th, we got up, had breakfast, and after breakfast we watched Aunt Siria and Severina make bread. What a job is. Such hard work. After that, an American from Chicago that we met in Montefiascone came over to see us. He stayed, had dinner and we had a long visit. He is a retired restaurant owner. We were able to talk much better and we were able to make them understand quite a few things that we could not. We went for a swim in Lake Bolsena. The water was so warm afterwards. Salvador took us for a ride around the lake. It took about two and a half hours. What a beautiful trip. These people are so kind, they can't seem to do enough for us. We went home, had supper, went to bed early because we are going out in the fields. Help them tomorrow. So they've been there for a few days, now they're putting'em to work. terrible thunder shower. I never seen such lightning. It rained so much that it finally drove us home. We got a lot done. They were real pleased because we got so much finished. but after that, they seemed to make so much work for themselves. They stacked the grain and long bunches. We would have to carry it three or four bundles at a time, from one end of the field to the other. We could not work as long as we planned to because we had a terrible thunder shower. I never seen such lightning. It rained so much that it finally drove us home. We got a lot done. They were real pleased because we got so much finished. we came home, cleaned up and had a nice social evening with Aunt Siria and her family. They are such gentle people. Sunday, June 27th, we slept a little later this morning probably cuz they

Laura: 28:59

worked hard the day. sore muscles, no

Lisa: 29:04

one was going into church. But we had to go into Montefiascone to Filomena's because she wanted us to have our pictures taken with her at the photographers Pierro took us. Then we went and had a small lunch afterwards. We went out to Pierre's house and spent the afternoon with them. Uncle Giuseppe's family were all there. Later on in the afternoon, we walked Alex home. He's the American that we met there. We walked back to Pierre's house for supper and a social evening. Then came home Monday, June 28. Everyone was kind of mad at us today. mostly Giuseppe's

Laura: 29:44

family.

Lisa: 29:48

We planned a trip to Viterbo, a large city, about a 30 minute drive from here. They did not want us to go. We were going in with our American friend, Alex. He has been such a help to us, translating for us and helping us with our money to see that we are not shortchange. Salvador took us to meet Alex. We had to go in about three quarters of an hour early because Salvador had to go to work. We took the bus to Viterbo. It is so nice to travel here. Everything is so beautiful, so many flowers. Pit Turbo is such a beautiful city. It is very large. Alex's nephew helped us all day. He was just a young man in his twenties. His name was Enzi. He would dicker everyone down on the price. I guess they are all over. They will all overcharge if they can get away with it. We shopped all morning. Then we went into a small restaurant and he treated us to dinner. After dinner at one o'clock, all the shops closed down for two and a half to three hours for Siesta. During that time, we went to the park. What a lovely place. Everything is so well kept. So many trees, flowers, and shrubs. They had a large pool there with swans, ducks and fish. All in all, it was a very pleasant day. We came home, cleaned up and just relaxed for a while. Then Aunt Filomena came out, she had two people with her from Australia. They were in-laws of her son that lives there. We had supper talked a while, and went to bed Tuesday, June 29th. We get up this morning, had coffee, picked up our rooms, did our washing. Then Sylvia and I took a walk over to Alex's. We had some things to discuss with him about our trip to Rome. We came home, had lunch and sat around and talked. Then Vero and his mother took us over to Tuscana. It is a very ancient town. It is the place where they had the big earthquake last February. The buildings were very old and it really damaged them, some are fenced off to keep people away from them. Aunt Siria has a younger sister that lives. We visited her for two or three hours. Her husband walked around with us, treated us to some pizza and ice cream. We came home and had a social evening with the family. I was quite tired, so went to bed about 10 30, not going to bed early. Wednesday, June 30th. Got up as usual. We did our washing. Aunt Siria told us to do it in the kitchen sink. She doesn't want us to wash our things down at the fountain where this neighborhood does. That's interesting.

Laura: 32:35

didn't want

Lisa: 32:36

em looking at their underwear.

Kim: 32:37

That's right. All that pretty underwear that they mentioned before causing, causing

Laura: 32:41

too much talk in the in the town. who's pretty

Kim: 32:47

underwear, is that up there?

Laura: 32:49

Did you see the Nickers? Those Americans brought Okay. After

Lisa: 33:00

that, we just visited between the two families. Then we went into Monte shopping. I, I think we should probably just say that where they lived was a little bit outside of the town proper, so that's why they're always saying that they went into

Laura: 33:13

the town. Right. They had farms, right. Basically out

Lisa: 33:17

there. Yep. Right. Afterward. We went with Severina and Domenico to the lake and had dinner with him at a big outdoor restaurant. It was very nice. They took us to the place where he works. He works for a musician who travels all over the world. We went through the, through his villa. It was like something you would see in the movies. I wonder who that musician was. That's kinda interesting. Mm. I'm still laughing over the knickers.

Laura: 33:47

sorry, I need to get over that. I had to move on. Kim. Time to move on. I'm glad they

Kim: 33:57

didn't ask us to

Laura: 33:58

our, oh, that been pretty all. I'm done. All right. I think I might have to mute me.

Kim: 34:08

Go ahead. I'm, I'm serious now. Okay, go ahead. Okay. All

Lisa: 34:10

right. Thursday, July 1st. We had to get up quite early this morning because we were going to Rome today, and it was the highlight of our trip. It is the most beautiful city I have ever seen. First we went to a big terminal where one of twa s offices are and reconfirmed our flight. There was thousands of people there in that one building. It covered acres of ground. Sylvia and Joanne, Alex and myself, were the only ones that came on this trip. Plus Nino, our driver, he really knows this city. He brings people here on tours all the time. The old section of Rome is still surrounded by a stonewall. It is really something to see. The fountains here are a work of art. Our first big stop was at St. Peter's. I shall never forget that place. It is unbelievable. I never knew anything could be so beautiful. It is huge. It's hard to comprehend. The ceilings are carved with real gold and with other colors on every portion of it. The ceilings are all painted with beautiful paintings. I don't have words to describe the many altars there. They were all so beautiful. The popes were all represented by huge white marble statues. We were all just spellbound. Then we went down underneath St. Peter's to where the popes were buried. They are all in separate sections with an altar for each one. Many people were kneeling and praying at the tomb of Pope John on the 23rd. He was very popular here, much more than the present one,

Laura: 35:48

I have to look that up and see who was the Pope then

Lisa: 35:52

From there, we went out to. It took about an hour and a half to eat. Nothing much is cooked ahead. It's usually cooked to order. The Italians eat a lot, but slowly and in different courses. From there, we went to the coliseum. The pictures of that place doesn't do it justice. I could put at least eight houses the size of mine in that place and still have room to spare. We had a very large house. I still can't comprehend how a place so big and tall was ever built so long ago with no tools to do it with. We visited many ancient places after that. Then we went underground through a huge six-lane tunnel to the new Rome. Everything so modern and beautiful. We visited the new Coliseum, which is square, but patterned after the old. The buildings are real, really something in America. They were. They are so plain, but here they are really art. This part of my trip, I will never forget when we got home. They were all here waiting for us with another big feast.

Laura: 36:59

To eat

Lisa: 37:03

Friday, July 2nd, we got up and did a small wash. Then we walked into Montefiascone, shopped for a while. Then went up to Aunt Filomena's and had dinner with her. We spent most of the afternoon with her. We walked home with Lucrezia. We had a very nice visit with them. We had supper that evening with Bruno and the family, and we were quite late getting to bed. I was tired and slept real well. Saturday, July 3rd, got up, had breakfast, and we began the task of packing. What a job we had. P picked up so many extra things. We spent most of the day just horsing around. The women were all very busy getting ready for our final fiesta. Alex and Joe came out later in the afternoon. Everyone just sat around and talked. Just a quiet day. All in all. Sunday, July 4th. We get up early and done our hair. Then Pierro came over with wine for us to bring home good old Pierro. He makes good wine.

Kim: 38:08

Is that who made the wine? Yes.

Laura: 38:13

That's another story. That's

Kim: 38:16

alright.

Lisa: 38:18

We didn't need the extra weight. but you just can't say no to these people. Yeah, sure. I'll say no to that wine. Yeah. not the women. Were all busy preparing a feast. There was 27 there for dinner. What a day. So much laughing and fun and loads of wine. Alvero played his accordion and everyone danced. Some of us went into our cousin's restaurant and had ice cream. Later on in the evening we went into Aunt Filomena's to say goodbye to her family. So many tears of emotion then back home to say goodbye to Severina and Domenico and the girls, and also Lucrezia. What a hard job. Everyone was so sad. It seems like the end of the world to them. I dread tomorrow. I hate to leave them. They are such wonderful people and they think so much of us. We finished our packing and went to bed. I just twisted and turned all night. I was so tense. I didn't sleep hardly at all.

Kim: 39:28

And that's it. That's the end of her journal. So what do you think of that girls?

Laura: 39:38

I think that she did a really good job of, you know, things that people don't usually do. You know, documenting all the, all the different interactions and the, you know, what it meant to her and the,

Kim: 39:50

what it was like and the family

Laura: 39:51

there. Right. To reunite. Yeah. That's really something.

Kim: 39:55

They were very, very happy in a emotional to have them there.

Lisa: 40:01

Yeah. And I think she did capture some of that and you know, just when they were leaving that sadness that came over all of them. Yeah. Because they did have that instant connection with them. Right, right. So

Kim: 40:16

mm-hmm. lots of things to unpack in that story, but you know, we could, we could have a whole different podcast on just that, but so there was, so a couple of things that were mentioned that I wanted to just. because when one thing that they mentioned was the cave, and that to me was like so fascinating. And so I had to say, what, what cave and what are you talking about? And it was mentioned in the journal. So she of course was more, was more closely related to the story, I would say. What was the cave for? And some people just shrug their shoulders and they didn't really know. The story wasn't very clear, but I think it was very clear in Ruth's journal.

Lisa: 40:55

Yeah. I, I remember mom telling me that they used to live in caves over there. You know, they didn't have homes like they had when she was there. The caves were their home. They didn't call them caves. They were grottos, but mm-hmm. I can remember when I was little and she told me that. Yeah, when she came home from Italy and I was, I just thought we were cavemen. Yeah.

Laura: 41:16

I was like, yeah, that's so cool. My grandfather was born in a cave

Kim: 41:20

We were closer to cavemen than we thought, but I, for some reason I thought it was for wine, but like everybody over there has their own wine cellar and it is, goes right down into the ground. It's almost like a cave. But I thought, you know, was it a bomb shelter? You know, but no, it was. It was places that they had used as dwellings in the past.

Lisa: 41:38

Yeah. And, and they converted them into wine cellars later. Right,

Kim: 41:43

right. It was very interesting. Yeah. They had really good, they had really awesome wine cellars, Yes, they did.

Laura: 41:50

As they should

Kim: 41:55

if we didn't have so much granite here in Maine we too could have some really great, great wine sellers. Yeah.

Lisa: 42:04

I, I liked her story, especially like when she's talking about them out in the, in the middle with everybody at that fountain washing their clothes. You've seen that in movies, so you can kind of picture it in your head. All of them doing that, right?

Laura: 42:21

That's with their beautiful underwear. Oh God. So the you know, the one they didn't get to meet Ruth and Sibi did not get to meet was Consalvo. Nicolai, who was in Bueno Air's Argentina. So they had just missed him when he traveled to Italy. So he went, he's the one who went to Argentina when he was about 16, but was still Italian in his heart. I think that must, that must stay for the lifetime, I would think. But he made the, he made his family in Argentina with the love of his life. And I think we could say that for all of the Nicolai descendants,

Kim: 43:02

right? You make, they made family wherever they went. But I think their, their hearts are still in Italy and mm-hmm. and really the base, the base of the family is in Italy. And so once I think si Sylvia and Ruth and the siblings all figured that out. Their heart was in Italy too. once they learned all of this family history, right? How could you not, how could you not have your heart in Italy? So anyway That was, that was a really great reading from Ruth. And but can anyone say road trip or That's what I Plane. Plane trip. Yeah. That's true. we'll use a Planes, trains and automobiles. Yeah. So the next generation is what I'm talking about. So when I said that last week that Sibby had blazed a trail for her for the rest to follow, I wasn't kidding. Next week we're gonna discuss how the next generation is keeping the connection alive and traveling to do it. And it's a lot easier now these days when you have social, social networking that kind of thing where you can go ahead and you can just communicate that much quicker. We'll talk about that next week. So for this week, if you get a minute, check out Montefiascone, cuz I really think you should put that on your bucket list. I mean, if this, if this little letter didn't, you know, put put that into your mind, it should. It's truly beautiful, and they have really great wine, really good wine. think I'm ready to tag along on you next trip. Okay, next time. And and if you can please rate review our podcast and you can email us at chasing hazel tales gmail.com. But until next week we'll again, say at Italian goodbye, we'll say Chow Chow Chow Have a good week.