Tuesday, 6 October

After a good nine hours of sleep, I was still up before seven. I think today’s challenge will be to go get that pizza at eight and head to bed a little later than I have been.

I left the apartment at 8:30 in search of Via Vittorio Emanuele. Many of my more recent (1872-1906) family records list addresses on this street. House numbers change frequently so the most I can hope is to look for some of the older buildings on this street. I was able to take some photos on one end of the street. This afternoon I will see what the other end holds.

I headed to the square and Caffetteria Gelateria Pasticceria F.lli Laginestra. An espresso and a pastry for 2.5 € (euros) or about $2.85. Pointing got me a delicious pastry filled with jam. 

From there I was ready to check out the municipal office. I had no idea what to expect. I had printed an Italian translation of my request for certified records of my grandfather’s birth and his parent’s marriage records. The receptionist read my request and motioned for me to wait for five minutes or so I thought. About thirty minutes later a woman who spoke some English showed me in. It turns out that her mother was a SETARO so we may be related. Rocco Motta, the Civil Status Officer, already had copies of my grandfather’s record. With the help of Google Translate I found out that each certified copy would be 300 euros ($340). Since I was hoping to get two copies of each record that would total 1,200 euros ($1,350!). He asked if I had cash! I said not that much. I decided that one certified copy of each record was enough and asked if I could pay with a credit card expecting the charge to be 600 euros ($675). He decided he could give me one certified copy of each record and a second uncertified copy for 300 euros total ($340). Somehow that seemed like a deal. Next it was to another office to pay. After two tries paying online did not work, an invoice was printed that I could take to the post office where I would be able to use my credit card. Over to the post office for a short wait in line. One tap with my phone and all was taken care of. I returned to the commune office and dropped off the receipt. 

I have spent 25 plus years trying to get a copy of Luciano’s birth record. Previous physical mail correspondence with Anzi resulted in a copy of his sister’s (Maria Carmela’s) record but a note that Luciano’s record was not found. I have searched online for years trying to locate Luciano’s birth record. I was finally able to track it down earlier this year. The two complicating factors were that his record is missing from the yearly index and he was born illegitimate, Luciano RUBOLINO in 1882.

I wanted the marriage record of his parents because it contains a note that legitimizes Luciano and Maria Carmela’s birth by their parents marriage in 1899. Luciano’s father, Francesco Maria Carmelo MARTOCCIA, was married at the time of my grandfather’s birth. He married Maria Teresa RUBOLINO, my great grandmother, shortly after the death of his wife. You may need a piece of paper to diagram this out. There are a lot more details but this is already complicated enough.

Unlike the online record of Luciano’s birth, the certified copy includes a notation of the legitimization and a notation of his marriage to his first wife.

This is important to me because I am eligible for Italian citizenship by descent (Jure Sanguinis). Luciano was never naturalized as a US citizen retaining his Italian citizenship. According to Italian law, Italian citizenship is passed by descent. Luciano passed his Italian citizenship to my mother who passed it on to me. I was concerned that Luciano’s birth record would use the surname RUBOLINO and not MARTOCCIA making it more difficult to substantiate the lineage. Earlier Italian law would have allowed me to apply for citizenship and pass it on to my son. Recent changes have limited the number of generations to only grandparents.

Will I apply for Italian citizenship? It takes a couple of years and can be expensive. Probably depends on how long and cold this winter seems whether or not I start the process. After receiving Italian citizenship you can apply for an Italian passport. There are only a few advantages that I see, shorter lines for European passport control, longer stays in the European Union, the ability to work in the EU and the ability to purchase property. I think the downside is you have to file Italian income tax forms. No tax is due but filing is still required.

After all that I then went for a walk to find Salone Dell’Annunziate but unfortunately it was locked. I followed the signs further uphill to the observatory. My observatory visit will be either Friday or Saturday eventing. Back down and it was getting close to lunch time. Off to the bakery again for two slices of pizza that I had seen in the display case this morning.

I took advantage of riposo (siesta) time to relax. I did check to see if the grocery was open, no. I did visit the other end of Via Vittorio Emanuele. The grocery opened again at five thirty. I picked up a couple of things so I could make dinner. There is some rain in the forecast and I may not want to go out.

It appears my plan may have failed. It looks like the pizzeria is closed on Tuesdays. I did get a short evening walk in before having some dinner. I knew I should have a few supplies in the refrigerator. It seems the food businesses rotate on closing days. I will try for the pizzeria again tomorrow!

Church photos are from Chiesa di Santa Lucia, not the mother church