NY Couple Find Ancestral Homes in Sicily: Seradifalco & Tortorici

NY Couple Find Ancestral Homes in Sicily: Seradifalco & Tortorici

B we’re going to go to s dealo in the province of Ceta Province we don’t go very often so this will be interesting then we’re going to go to Torii I just like to say that name in The Province of missina the ancestral hometown of our friends Tom and Karen you know Esther

Both these places are great places to go to if you are a billy goat because there’s not a straight Street in either one of these well Google Maps you know that’s a story for a little bit later you want to hear this but I want you to pay close

Attention at how everyday Sicilians stopped what they were doing and went out of their way to help people find their ancestral home it’s quite a story let’s go to calco in the province of Ceta once a very important mining center now it’s economy mostly relying on agriculture here is where we meet our

New friends [Applause] candles and here we go again with these Hills so we’re talking to these nice people I started talking and asking about Karen’s grandfather who left from s and it looks like lots of people from here left from the 1890s to about 1920 many of them left to the United

States including his uncle and his grandfather and now he’s thinking well maybe I know someone of the same name as well and I’m going to research her oops and Basta Basta Basta is a high school teacher and this is a ma the artan so these are the things that I do

Stop people in the middle of the street and uh ask about family and he’s going to look in the archives of the community because he loves doing okay let’s go find your grandfather’s birthplace and look at everyone following us trying to help us going to Karen’s grandfather’s home birth

Apparently this guy writes for laia oh my gosh and this guy is the head of this band over here get that the road we have to go up on here we go again here it is Ken ancestral home and no what was your grandfather’s name arango Angelo Ken that’s I never imagined that

We’ actually find where he was born let alone anybody who would know of the family cool see signif see cat cat cat oh cavalo was so when it rains the water would come here not on top of the old times this would say cool in the Heat and warm in the

So this was a big sulfur sulfur mining place just like montedoro lots of mining was very very Important this is so beautiful look at this this is where we started Journey see he’s saying that how important and how it makes them happy that Americans of Sicilian descent come back here and find their family a piece of your heart is here is that’s exactly what he

Said when you were near the house Em still can’t believe that we actually found his house that he was born in who have thought this is what I have children right now this is what you call a sicilian parking job the guy can’t even move Carmel is a school teacher he

Writes for ly Chile and he has a passion for researching and listen to this 36 hours after we met him he already wrote us some information about Karen’s family he was able to go into the argives and the most important thing that he said

Was a piece of your heart you you as a sicilian watching wherever in the world lies in Sicily and why don’t you come and find it right here in Sicily I had two Revelations okay the first revelation is what we already know that all these small little towns in the

Hinderland and believe you this places in the hinder lands the people like that are so giving and helpful that’s number one but number two which really should be number one I don’t think anybody in that whole town has ever played marbles cuz if they played marbles on a street

Like this forget about it you’re not going to be able to do it all right let’s go to tto in the province of missina now before we go let me just tell you that yes we put it into Google Maps because I had never been there they

Have never been there and it looked like we were taking the shortest and best route but boy the places we ended up but the good thing is We There were some out of the way streets like this and sometimes we wondered if we would make it but the views Ofna and these little

Streets were marvelous now let’s go to tortorich in the province of missina in the heart of the noodi mountains Google Maps took us through some back roads that lend to some magnificent views that is beautiful here’s the chantra T that is so cute found at least two ships manifest that’s it wanted

Sugar everything with hazel all the cheese and salami P that is pretty impressive and here are all the local products right in a basket of course hazelnut everything right There all the beans not for the faint of heart these streets that’s why people lift 100 in these small towns maybe right here we’re almost there what do you think Maria sanima 1800s very pretty s Franchesco 1500s that’s the dwo you know what it is about these little towns in the middle

Of nowhere that everywhere you turn there’s just something an awe in spiring scene oh there’s another little road over here another little road over here this is quite a little cute Town Jee and there’s the D mod that’s where we climb both your grandparents on your father’s side what does he think he’s

Like oh my gosh sport scar s you very very Lush with citrusy fruits for a quarter batch of the the main recipe that I can only contribute to my mother-in-law who created it many years ago it’s been a family favorite we all make it we all love it cinnamon

Ricotta Cherry cream nuts nuts chocolate okay and a little confectioner sugar for sweet so now we’re just breaking up the ricot how much ricot did I put in a cup about a cup chopping up the cherries yep next we’re going to chop up some nuts M and cinnamon and save shave shave some

Chocolate that’s a winner wow everything mixed together different but we didn’t have the whipping cream we had cream no whipping cream all right let’s do it okay let me it when when you put it in the hot oil it kind of bubbles because of the liquid in it so it makes

It very light what’s what are the ingredients in your uh flour sugar eggs whiskey whiskey and there might be something else that I’ve forgotten right now I use small tubes so you get a small canoli but after a big meal you don’t necessarily want a big canoli so to fill

Want those things that go like this right exactly exactly but when you’re are so small when you’re only doing a few I found that you lose more in the piping Piping Bag I don’t like losing stuff like like that I can lick a lot of things but licking a piping just doesn’t

Work so here we go what this is uh regot this is C this is Tom’s Family Recipe totally different which I discovered she created I did not know that until this Christmas the only thing my mother ever made the same each time love excellent it’s true my mother never made

The same thing twice I don’t care if it scrambled eggs she would she make this the same every time that’s the only thing she ever did was make this the same every time Alfredo don’t you have an announcement about our Sicilian project which by the way is our

Nonprofit uh yes I do listen uh this week we kick off our 2024 teaching uh thing so we decided to have a fundraising raffle to help the defer some of the expenses right now we have actually two one in Connie k and as esta mentioned we’re kicking off in uh AA so

Here’s what the story is first go to www.the project.com go to where it says donate and donate $50 or 50 or $100 Etc and in return we’re going to send you for every $50 that you send a entry number for our raffle it’s going to be a

6040 raffle 60% for the cean project because after all we’re trying to raise money and 40% 40% for the winter we’ll draw it right around Easter and by the way Max of four so max of 200 you get four numbers for $50 you get one number

Right and there’s only going to be 200 chances and we’re going to keep it going till at least Easter if we don’t sell sell them out by Easter whatever we have we have but that’s hugely important for the sustain project so we can get it going because right after that come the

Springtime father Camelo is going to war us us to help him with the big somach program over there and that’s going to mean raising more money so Now’s the Time to do it so please give us a hand www.the Sicilian project.com and when you go to the Donate if you don’t want

To use the online uh icon you can send a check and the information is there and the information is there okay what do it feel like walking on the streets touching the house where your great-grandfather your great grandf father was born there too yes uh my grandmother grandmother grandmother was

It’s wild you don’t think cuz I never knew a family being here we assumed everybody went to America and there was no relationships back here now I’m convinced there might be somebody left it’s just they didn’t write I mean I think once they got to America that was

It they had to survive and they survived but they kind of lost contact with who was left behind and now we’re trying to find them re some recipes have been passed down oh yes like what uh my grandmother used to make my my mother would always say that she wanted her

Vision and she prayed to St Lucy that she would keep her eyesight and every day on every year excuse me on St Lucy’s day she would do the boiled wheat that’s all she would eat because that was her which is December I’m not sure what the

Date is okay but she would always talk about her grandma eating The Boiled wheat and that she had as far as I know she had her eyesight but she had a brother who was at the blind school so so we know there was some Vision issues

In the family so we have all four of your grandparents cilian correct correct from two from toori one from sanro p and one from bageria this was the first time it was first time correct oh my gosh the ride getting there that was half the fun yes what was

It like walking on the footsteps your family well first of all it was a surprise because everybody told us it was mountainous and we ended up in a valley it was mountainous to get there yes we went up the mountain through the rivers but it was it was in a valley and

I found that the town was open nice quiet clean did it feel like to walk on the footsteps here it was like a it was like it’s about time if that makes sense uh not emotional as an oh my gosh as much as I’ve been to Italy a number of

Times I’ve been to Sicily a number of times and had not taken the time to go there and Esther made it work and we got there and so this was your grandfather correct and grandmother and grandmother because they both went there corre gootti and Muro Muro was my grandmother

Went to New York yes they did yes they my grandfather so what did they do my grandmother worked at the worsted Mills in Jamestown and my grandfather worked at uh a local Furniture Factory as a sprayer he lived about a half mile from uh the factory and I think this is the

Kind of things that we get lost he would go and walk to work every day with a with a basically a white shirt and a tie he’d get to church he’ get to work he would take off the white shirt and the tie put on his coveralls he’d do his

Work then before he came home he take off the cover I put on hist days when people did things right he had dignity he was he was proud of himself even though he spoke no hardly any English he definitely didn’t write English and his family he knew there were certain things

That were important to make them successful what did he call you tamitu tamitu tamit and what are your memories of your grandfather my greatest memory is I can still smell him rub in his cheek against mine all the whiskers I can smell the coffee and I can smell the

Cigarette it just it’s it’s right there it’s Grandpa Grandpa my grandpa and he was with us on that trip the other day yes he was you know he was smiling and saying good job yes good job nepot what do you um say to people who are perhaps thinking of coming and visiting their

Ancestral home you got to want to it can’t be something that’s casual it’s got you’ve got to want to uh usually it is a Trek it takes time to find out where you’re going to go um and then to get there depending on where your your ancestor unless it’s one of the larger

Cities it takes a while to get there toich was an interesting ride which Esther will tell you T andco I’m happy that Tom and Karen got to see their ancestral homes it’s an experience that is so important and one of my favorite things to do you know

Karen’s a retired pharmacist and Tom is a retired optometrist they’re from the state of New York and they came with us to our uh new year new year oh and did you see they dancing oh boy the’re ballroom dancers aren’t they these people know how to trip the light

Fantastic I don’t mind telling you so anyways they’re wonderful people and I’m thrilled to death that Esther was able to escort these people to you know both sides there of uh the family and give to their children some good video work uh you know for the for the cultural

Heritage that’s what I want to say so listen besides these videos we have a new thing going on we have our newsletter going to be starting this month uh if you’re watching this in January and if you want to sign up for a newsletter uh www yancy.com it has a lot

Of the news of what’s going on and what is going on Al it’s January I’m playing My Cello I’m cooking we have the Sicilian project going on of course we have these videos Alfred’s working on his screenplay what else are we doing we keep first of all let me just push push

Let me go back for one second her cello she’s getting better and better and better and better every week you know we have she has now a private lady coming in here uh to teach her uh stuff and remind me of stuff remind her of stuff

Okay but let me say this to you every time I hear Esther play she’s getting better and better and better and I really want to compliment you for your stick to of I guess you can say but then again that’s how Esther is for those of

You who know Esther know that she’s like a pitbull she doesn’t give up so I’m happy that you’re doing that I’m writing a screenplay and at some point in time I’ll give you a little bit more information about about it I’m actually going to be collaborating with a couple

Of my friends uh who were in The Foreign Service to get accurate information about it it’s a pretty good one pretty good so that’s what we have going on thank you so much for watching and of course we’ll see see you on another video VI me and Sicily ciao see you Bill b

Bye

We go to Seradifalco in the Province of Calatanissetta and Tortorici in Messina to find the ancestral homes of a NY couple. For more Sicilian experiences join our channel group here:
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Watch as Sicilians help us find the exact home in Seradifalco, an area once full of miners now mostly relying on agriculture. In Tortorici we find narrow cobble stone streets and beautiful churches. Remember to ask locals what the typical products are for the area. We also have a cannoli stuffing recipe for you that is simple and delicious!
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Enjoy more videos from across Sicily here :
*Province of Messina: https://youtu.be/lRxCrBxtqWg
*Province of Catania: https://youtu.be/S0NQV7EhV7A
*Province of Siracusa: https://youtu.be/1YYzQwfCRtE
*Bagheria: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUQD2…
* Cefalu: https://youtu.be/Srny9YLr4g0​​​
* Trapani: https://youtu.be/6OHBV_01TYs​​​
* Castelvetrano and Selinunte: https://youtu.be/p2jQ5Hv2MBU​​​
* Cianciana: https://youtu.be/jg3nz1eXge4​​​
* Cerami: https://youtu.be/VSlvVIdf6aU​​​
* Road Trip to ancestral homes: https://youtu.be/racC39xw23M​​​
* Ragusa and Modica: https://youtu.be/2JVGKFF4o7E​​​
* Palma di Montechiaro https://youtu.be/BNfdaGNJFlA​​​
* Isola delle Femine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GX6Ja​​​…
* Trecastagni: https://youtu.be/5fZSfUPulsQ​​
*Aspra https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AoldZ…