[TI] TI in October, need suggestions please.

[Corie Lindemann]

Patti,
The "soup nazi" waiter was at the Grand Hotel del Terme restaurant, where 
they ran out of burra and thought we were heathens for wanting some 
parmigiana to soften the strong fish taste to the pasta. Ah, such wonderful 
memories!!!! Really! Your email brought me back to the streets of Termini 
and I wish I was going back there with you!
I heard the La Laterna restaurant down by the piers was very good.
The stairmaster from bassa to alta is any one of a number of streets that 
lead from the lower area, where the train station is, to the upper, where 
the duomo is. You can't really see any of that from the train station, as I 
recall, but there are several streets with stairs that go up. We did the 
stairs from the Grand Hotel up to the duomo every day. Via Roma was another 
street that led from lower to upper.
As far as getting from Palermo to TI...a bunch of us took a crazy bus ride 
from the airport to the train station in Palermo, then took the train from 
Palermo to TI. Watch out for the ticket sellers in Palermo...if they sense 
you are a tourist, they may very well overcharge you for the fare (I think 
Paul Caito just didn't look Sicilian enough!!!) When coming from Palermo to 
TI, watch the stops. I think Trabia is the last stop before Termini. Some 
trains don't stop in Trabia, so look for the signs on the side of the 
tracks.
The "tourist office" was quite small and didn't have a ton of information, 
but they did have nice booklets about the town. They had pretty limited 
hours, as I recall. They are up a few blocks from the Duomo.  There was a 
wonderful gelato shop near that piazza too. I think it was at Piazza 
Umberto. Can't remember the name of the gelateria, but the price of gelato 
kept going up each day we were there. Simple law of supply and demand, I 
suppose!! The hazelnut gelato was amazing! If you figure out a way to bring 
that back, I'll take some!
Enjoy the views from the Belvedere by the Duomo, and if you are so inclined, 
go to mass at the Duomo. I was very nice and gave me a wonderful sense of 
the way my great grandparents worshipped.
The cemetery is amazing! Spend some time there, but watch open/closing hours 
as they are somewhat sketchy sometimes, and you don't want to be locked in 
there after hours! I took a lot of photos of headstones with family names. I 
especially looked for names with birth years in the late 1800s to try to 
connect them to family members whose birthdates I had from the database. Now 
I wish I had taken more!
I didn't connect with any relatives there, but there were several on the 
list who did, so maybe they can help you make a connection. If you do, be 
prepared to be treated like famiglia!
Sharon Reif and I had lots of fun tracking down the houses where our 
ancestors lived. I found some addresses in some of the microfilm records. If 
you tell some of the native Termitani your family surnames, they will 
sometimes be able to tell you if that family lived in the alta or bassa. 
That was fascinating...that families generally stayed in one part of town.
I don't know if you speak Italian, but learning some would be a good use of 
time! You get a little more credibility if you attempt to speak Italian, 
even if you butcher it!

Hope that helps! Have a wonderful trip!!!

Corie





----- Original Message ----- 
From: "patti covert" <gelatopatti at att.net>
To: <terminiimerese at comunesofitaly.org>
Sent: Saturday, September 13, 2008 11:21 PM
Subject: [TI] TI in October, need suggestions please.


> TI Family,
>
> I will be in TI the last week of October and would appreciate your 
> suggestions of where and what to see, do, eat, etc.   I remember reading 
> notes from those who went to the reunion in TI but, I don't remember what 
> everyone said about places of interest, eating, gelato.  I do recall the 
> 'soup nazi' story and no burra! ?? but don't know what restaurant that 
> was?  The stairmaster from bassa to alta (oh...can't wait to do that!). 
> Is that near the train station?
>
> We will be arriving by train from Palermo, how do you get from the train 
> stop into TI?   Last time, travelling from Palermo to Bagheria, when the 
> train stopped at TI, I couldn't see where to get up to TI because the wall 
> was too high to see into the town, and I didn't see any stairs...Please, 
> can someone give instructions, much appreciated :)
>
> Is there a general tourist information center near the entrance to TI?  I 
> recall one of the reunion pictures with many of the group outside & inside 
> the tourist center (or something like our chamber of commerce ?? )
> Would this be a good place to research some family contacts?  I really 
> don't know how to start and maybe this isn't the place.  I think Kathy 
> Kirkpatrick had some contact information, but I'm not positive.  I'd 
> appreciate anyone's assistance, thanks :)  Also, I think Kathy had a 
> contact name for day tour to Trabia or ??   Would you be able to share 
> this persons contact informatio?
>
> I'm hoping to make or attempt to make contact with family connections with 
> family name(s) of Gentile, Piraino, Longo, Mercurio, Rini, Palmisano, 
> Sansone-Chiari, Culota, D'Attilo, Trentanella, Rocca, and Badali.   I 
> don't know where, except at the cemetary!
>
> A while back Paul Caito sent (or I sent to Paul?)a note about a family 
> connection we have.  I don't recall the family name and I've misplace that 
> note.  Paul, if you recall the name could you contact me on the list?
>
> We are staying at Il Gabbiano II.  I don't know how far this is from the 
> main piazza, part of town or the train station.  Does anyone know how long 
> it takes to walk there from the train station?
>
> OK, too many questions, I'd appreciate anything from anyone :)
>
> Now, is there anything I can bring back for the list?
>
> Thanks!   Patti
>
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