This is the second page of our trip to Verbicaro. If, somehow you missed the first page, click on the button to the right to go there. Button
Verbicaro
    

Our walk through Verbicaro. Continued from the first page.
 

San Giuseppe Church was established in 1897. This means that the church was relatively new when my grandparents immigrated to the United States. The church's frescos depict the life of San Giuseppe (St. Joseph).

This may be a little off the subject, but St, Joseph is very popular among real estate agents. Many agents bury a statue of St. Joseph in the front or back yard of a hard-to-sell house. They say the statue speeds up the sale. Lots of agents, including my wife, Roberta, really believe in it. I bought Roberta 30 small statues at the Vatican later on in the trip, and she has been very busy putting them to good use ever since!
       
 
Here are two views from the Church steps. We were in Verbicaro on a Sunday. It was very quiet. If you're planning a short visit like ours, you should plan to be there on a weekday.
 
 
 
     
         
In a little park, near the church, is a memorial to the fallen Verbicaro soldiers of both World Wars
 
 
   
 
  We stopped for a quick coke at this cafe', then continued our walk. The pictures below are of another small park near the old town, and the view from the railing. As you can see, the landscape is very, very green in late May. After our stop at the park, we walked into the old town and continued our exploration.
               
 
 
 
     
 
 
 
The picture on the right is of Madre dell'Assunta Church in the center of Verbicaro's old town. Chances are, if your ancestors were from Verbicaro, they were baptized in this church. It was established in the 1400's!
 
 
  Although we have some distant relatives living in the town, we didn’t want to burden them with our visit. We really only wanted to see and experience the town
                             
 
     
   
 
                   
   
                       
 
 
                       
                           
 
                           
                             
 
  Walking the streets of my ancestors was quite an experience; an experience I'll never forget. And, it was extra-special because I was walking the streets with my brother and my two nephews. My brother and I were very close to my grandfather Giuseppe Lucia, and traveling to his town was above all our tribute and memorial to him.
                       
 
                   
 
                 
               
 
                 

Here are my two nephews, Joe and Mark, in front of "Boutique Lucia", a small shop near the square. Unfortunately, we were visiting on a Sunday, and most of the shops were closed.

 

 

 

By late afternoon, we were ready to go, so we got in our car and headed back to Scalea. I took the following pictures along the way.
 
 
 
 
                 
 
 

We pulled off to the side of the road, high above the town to take one last look.

Mark put the video camera on top of the rental car and let it run. The video to the left was our last view of Verbicaro.

I hope that we return there soon...

  
 

Addendum....

During the summer of 2005, my cousin Dennis Fazzio visited Verbicaro. By researching the public records there, he was able to find the house where our grandfather, Angiolo Fazio, was born. Dennis took this picture of the house.

Dennis also found that our last name was actually spelled with one "z". An immigration officer at Ellis Island probably gave us the extra "z" when our grandfather passed through there.

Since creating my pages on Verbicaro, I've received e-mail from many people who have ancestors from this small town. Most of the people are from the San Francisco Bay Area.

I hope that you enjoyed my pictures. If you have ancestors from Verbicaro, I hope that you can go there someday too.

  
                     
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Italian Music Recommendation...

I've been to Italy four times, but the best Italian music I've heard is from Al Fabrizio and Hugo Wainzinger of HeartStrings Music, based in Mountain View, California.

My brother, Joe, heard Al playing in a San Jose mall. He bought one of Al and Hugo's albums and sent it to me. Since then, I've been enjoying their music, and I highly recommend their albums.

This is a picture of me, Al, and Hugo at my nephew Mark's wedding in October 2005. When Mark told me that he was getting married, I told my brother that he should get Al and Hugo to play at the wedding.

My favorite song is their rendition of "Summertime in Venice", from the movie "Summertime", starring Audrey Hepburn and Rossano Brazzi.

Their albums are available on Amazon.com and Cdbaby.com (search Fabrizio).