What do you think? Is there a likeness?

I often help our Experience Sicily clients conduct heritage research in Sicily. When I’m with them (which I love!), or we connect them with locals to assist at the municipal offices of vital records (Anagrafe). Well, this week, I turned the tables on myself. I’ve been staying in the village of my grandfather’s birth, and by recommendation, I introduced myself to the owner of Scaru – Restaurant fish& wine, in Porticello, owned by Sebastiano Scola. Once I explained my heritage, we deduced that we were most definitely cousins, probably sharing the same great, great grandfather. We think our great grandfathers were brothers. He explained that there are only a handful of Scola’s left in Porticello … and with that, I went off to the Ufficio Anagrafe, where I spent a couple of hours with a very patient director. What I found was a lot of information that I already knew from research on Ancestry.com and a few additional nuggets (mostly confirming that I come from centuries of professional fisherman). Meanwhile, last Sunday, I spent a couple of fascinating hours with Nino Scola (pictured, Sebastiano’s cousin) and therefore probably also my distant cousin, and his wife and daughter (Amalia, pictured), who has many of the same characteristics as me. Conclusion: you have to go and you have to talk to people, if even with a patient translator. And you too should have patience and should plan to stay in the village or town and spend some time. That’s how you discover your personal history.

What do you think? Is there a likeness?