Roccapalumba - Mafioso Centrale
Ah, the home of the Luchese's....I know, you all are thinking mafia, right....Well, maybe not...This part of the family isn't mafia, but I know I have some kneebreakers somewhere in the family (hint, hint)....
One of the best things that I did the whole time I was in Europe was to do some family exploring. So that is what brought me to this little Sicilian town. Located in the hills about an hour from Palermo, Roccapalumba sits in the hills and has a unique, small quality about it, that makes it feels like home.
Adventuring through this town was nothing more than very confusing, especially since my limited Italian skills meant communication would be hard. Thankfully, I met some young kids, who spoke some English, plus a bunch of others, who spoke German, including people in the Municipio (Town Hall/Rathaus). This made my communicating a whole lot easier, especially since I was trying to find a family member of mine, with whom we lost contact after my father untimely passing. But, I was persistent and I did find my relative, Concetta Genco (Pictured Below). She's the wife of my cousin Giuseppe Genco, who unfortunately passed away three years ago. it was easy to find her, especially when they started asking me questions about their last trip to the US, which occurred when I was around 2 yrs. old. The great thing was that I got to meet her brother, who works at the town hall and he brought me to see her.
We sat and talked the whole evening about family stuff and life in Sicily. Concetta even cooked me dinner (some Wiener Schnitzel (breaded veal cutlet), she lived in Germany for 26 years) and she even bought me some fresh canolis from the pasticeria (pastry shop), and damn, did they taste good!!!..The whole was porbably the most excited I was the whole time I was in Europe and it made the whole trip worth the effort and I'm glad I did it. Finding my family roots was important to me, especially since they moved to the US only about 100 years ago, and I feel very European because of that.
Please visit other exciting Sicilian locations, including:
Syracuse, Taormina, and Palermo.
And don't hesitate to visit other European Countries and see what I did there!!!!