Joe Troisi

Will be visiting Italy in March 2000. Does anyone have an idea if one can drive from Rome to Avellino and back to Rome in one day.How far is it and how long will it take to drive there. Also, I would appreciate any ideas on how to find some information on my grandparents who came from this are. There are no living relatives who can provide me with some information in the United States.

Rex

Joe, <BR> <BR>The distance is 252 km - - 2 hrs, 42 minutes according to www.euroshell.com - - you may do better ot worse depending on your leadfoot tendencies, and how long it takes you to get out of rome. Tip: leave early,; as has been pointed out by others on his board, it's not TOO slow getting out of rome early in the a.m. when all the rush hour traffic is headed IN. <BR> <BR>As a corollary, be prepared for a slow crush of traffic when you head back later that same day. Especially if you are the sole driver, you need to make sure you leave yourself enough energy and good spirits to deal with the traffic between 5 and 10 p.m. <BR> <BR>As for finding your roots, do you speak/read/write Italian? <BR> <BR>The following page has a listing under publications of the faculty of the Department of Philology (?) from the Università degli Studi di Napoli "Federico II" - - see Anna Maria DELL'AGLI CUTILLO (about one-third the way down) - - I'm not sure what this person may have done in connection with the listing there: <BR> <BR>C.1.5. Dante Troisi e noi. I paragrafi di un viaggio nella vita, in AA.VV.,Il romanzo difficile di Dante Troisi, Avellino, Graphic Way Editions, 1994, pp. 71-84 <BR> <BR>The URL for this is: <BR> <BR>www.unina.it/serverWWW/filologia/5.html <BR> <BR>There are also a couple of museums in Avellino - - see http://dns.emmeti.it/Arte/Campania/P...llino/Avellino <BR> <BR>and a general website for the "Comune" at www.comune.avellino.it

Al

I watch the Italian newscast on TV every day at 4:00 PM at home. I'm not aware if you know it, but for the past few days, the feature article on the newscast is the devastating mud slides in Avellino. Acording to the commentators, the slides have destroyed most of Avellino. I would check on this before I made any trips there. I've been to Avellino several times, and I found it to be a nice place. Good restaurants.

Rex

Al, <BR> <BR>I don't want to challenge your ability to listen and understand the newscast you heard, Al, but based on the following CNN story - - http://cnn.com/1999/WEATHER/12/16/bc...eut/index.html - - this damage was in the province of Avellino, but not in the town of Avellino. And the damage doesn't sound as bad as that experienced last May in a nearby town that truly was devastated (at least based on loss of life). <BR> <BR>I was just now planning to add a suggestion that in many parts of Italy, a town's lifeblood is its football (calcio) club, and there is a mailing list, a guestbook (with several signers form Australia and the US - - maybe some possible contacts for you, Joe) and more at www.agendaonline.it/avellinocalcio - - but maybe it's a little bit insensitive to be searching for ancestors if the communities in this province really are hurting from this natural disaster.

Jan

Hi Joe, I was just in Avellino this past November. We travelled from Sorrento to Avellino province to find the hill town my grandparents came from. We drove to Avellino (the city) and fromthere to Rocca San Felice. Had a wonderful time looking at the town and found relatives we did not know existed. If you have the names of your grandparents and their birthdates you can find out quite a bit from LDS church sources on microfilm. You can also write to the bureau of records in Avellino the capitol of the province for information. I did some research via microfilm before I left the US and met the town clerk when I got to Rocca and he was very kind and helpful. Good luck in your search. It is very exciting to see the place your family came from. the area is beautiful and the people are very friendly and helpful.

Al

Since it's not first hand knowledge, I'm not going to vouch for the accuracy relative to the damage created by mud slides. However, the Italian newscast shows pictures of "Avellino, Sarno and Nola". I don't dispute the severity of last years mud slide damage, I've seen it, having come back from Italy this past November after a three month stay, but piling up this relatively minor damage on top of last year's damage, especially in Sarno might be like adding the last straw on the camel's back. I saw Sarno this year, before the most recent damage, and the place was a disaster. Can you imagine what it must be with an added disaster?