Welcome back to Abruzzo.......
La Grande Quercia
Bed & Breakfast
Italian arrivals at Ellis Island 1910
During the late 19th and early 20th centuries many millions of Italians left their homeland in search of a new and better life in the USA. 100 years on, descendants of these brave pioneers come back to Italy in search of their roots. Below is the touching story of Mary Smith of Shepherdstown, West Virginia, who came to Abruzzo in December 2009 in search of her grandfather, Nicola di Paolo......
Take me home country roads.........
... to a place, where I belong. However, not West Virginia, but a small hilltop town in the Teramo region of Abruzzo, Italy.
For Mary Smith of Sheperdstown, West Virginia, USA, a collection of old crinkled sepia photographs, a few letters and a copy of her grandfather's passport were the only remnants of a past largely unknown to her and her extensive American-Italian family. At family gatherings when talk would turn to Nonno Nicola it seemed more questions were created than answered. Why he travelled by ship, from a little town called Tortoreto, Abruzzo all the way to New York City, arriving at Ellis Island in 1913, at the tender age of 16? Who was his travelling companion named on his passport? Who were his siblings? Nicola died in a tragic accident when he was only in his 40's when some of his children were still too young to think to ask questions about his life in Italy. Everyone would try to glean from their memories different things they recalled hearing older family members saying ....like little puzzle pieces that did not make a whole picture.
During 2009, Mary, her husband Dave and son Eric, started to make plans for a trip of a lifetime to Italy. The Amalfi Coast, Naples, Pompeii and Rome were all on the itinerary, but the town of Tortoreto, held a special fascination for Mary and to visit the place her grandfather had left almost 100 years before, would fulfill a lifelong dream and help bridge a gap between the past and the present.
Mary set about finding accommodation in the Teramo region, as she wanted to add a couple of days on to their 2 week vacation to take a trip to the Tortoreto area. An internet search led Mary to a bed & breakfast just outside of Teramo, called La Grande Quercia which she decided was the place they wanted to stay
............... next page
Phone : +39 086 1211 323
Fax : 1997 07075 7019 (Italy only)
Mobile: +39 320 822 2215
E-mail :
Book Now! Click here
