In 2005, descendants of Vincenzo Di Giorgio spent a week in Sicily learning more about their ancestral homeland. I was only able to join for the first few days, but I brought my trusty camcorder to document that portion of the trip and record people’s thoughts and feelings.
We flew in to Palermo and spent a day there before driving to Cefalù, the original home of our branch of the Di Giorgio family. In Cefalù, we were given a special tour of the Artiginelli Instituto Di Giorgio, founded by Joseph Di Giorgio to help educate and train young Sicilians. We also visited Corleone (inspiration for the adopted surname of The Godfather) and Palazzo Adriano, where parts of Nuovo Cinema Paradiso were filmed, before I had to return to the States.
It was a fantastic trip, but the best part was connecting (or reconnecting) with relatives from all over the U.S.