Did you spend time during the lockdown researching your family heritage? I did and had some new and interesting discussions with my mother about our Native American family history. If so you are not alone many found that they finally had the time to do something they had always wanted to do. Hopefully you enjoyed the research and learned about some distant family members that were maybe only old family stories that are now more meaningful to you?
So many American’s have Italian roots including my husband who’s grandfather was born in Chieti, Abruzzo, Italy which is located in central Italy on the eastern Adriatic Sea.
Italy has always been one of the most popular international travel destinations for American leisure travelers, with more than six million arrivals in 2019 (pre Covid of course), and roots tourism is a strategic sector for the Italian economy.
Since there are between 60-80 million descendants of Italian emigrants worldwide, many of whom embrace the role of “ambassador” for Italian regions where they have family roots. If you happen to be one of them then you might be interested in a couple different books "Discovering Your Italian Ancestors" and or "Finding your Italian Ancestors".
When we set out to find and purchase our Italian Stone Farmhouse 8 years ago we looked basically from one end of the country to the other. We ironically ended up purchasing a home just 2 hours north of Chieti the birthplace of Rick’s grandfather Alfred Luciani. We did visit there first but realised our future guests might not be as excited to go there since it’s up on top of a large mountain and not so easy to get to. But we ran into an Italian gentleman who looked so much like Rick’s uncle Al (named after his grandfather) it was uncanny. He swore they were not related but they had to be. ❤️
Refurbishing the 350 year old Farmhouse in 6 months was such an undertaking we barely survived but are happy that we had the amazing experience. Having build our home in Costa Rica 18 years ago we were somewhat prepared for the adventure but of course there were so many unforeseen surprises. Some of you have stayed with us there and heard some of our stories and those that will stay in the future we hope to share some of those stories with you. 😃
After entertaining personally our guests for more than 6 years we did move back to the US, Florida this time (another new adventure) due to Rick having some serious health issues. I needed to be here for awhile and not have language barriers when dealing with doctors and hospitals. As we all know that is stressful enough in our native language.
It was just coincident (or God’s timing) that brought us back end of 2019 just before the Pandemic hit Italy. On the outside we look like geniuses especially having chosen Florida over California and not having to experience the severe lockdowns in either place. Our poor Italian friends where stuck inside their small homes for months on end it was so difficult to hear what they were going through from our Sunshine State here in Florida.
We even got to spend last November at our home in Costa Rica because their government figured out ways to open up the country quickly and get much needed tourists back on the beaches. It was glorious by the way!🌟🌊🏖
Now that the world is slowly opening back up for travel and we already have our tickets for Italy booked for the summer. I thought it was a good time to reach out and see if you have any ancestry plan for Italy in the near future. Having lived there we consider ourselves experts on the country and would love to offer advice and suggestions. Our Italian Farmhouse is centrally located in the region of Le Marche just 2.5 hours north east of Rome and 3 hrs south east of Florence (my favorite city in the world).
I am currently planning our road trip for next month, we are going to land in Barcelona Spain and drive to our house in Italy. It will be the perfect time of year to see the lavender fields in bloom in southern France. So excited…
What are your plans for the summer? Drop us a note and let us know what you have been up to during this last horrible year. Looking forward to a much more positive year ahead.
Till next time, enjoy our journey wherever it maybe leading you.
Susan, Rick, Justice and Sunny 🐾
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Mother's Day on Venice Beach in Florida
P.S. Still working on our story about our 21 Day RV Road Trip in March visiting 9 different states it was quite the adventure for us all. You can see our pictures from the trip now on our Instagram Page click here.
