The trip south to Puglia - San Martino in Pensilis

After a short stay in Semivicoli we drove south, first to San Martino in Pensilis in the region of Molise and then onto Trani in the region of Puglia. Each of these drives was brief, about an hour and a half.

Leo, the hotel manager

On one side of our family the grandparents emigrated from San Martino in P (as it is always abbreviated here.) We’ve visited the town briefly before and we’ve found friendly people, some specific information, but no relatives still living here.

The last time we were here, Leo, the hotel manager, knew that we must have been looking for information on relatives. He recognized the last name as being part of the history of the town. He asked his mother, who was in her 90s, for what she knew and shared that with us. Leo remembered us and welcomed us back.

The people in San Martino in P are proud of their town and its traditions. This is entirely normal, it seems, in Italy; the strongest possible attachment, after the attachment to the family, is to the town or city. But because the town is not prosperous, it is obvious that many young people have left and the population of the town is largely older people who’ve stayed and older people who’ve returned.

Dramatic scene; they must be friends

There is drama on the sidewalks of Sal Martino in P just as there is everywhere else in Italy.

Three local guys

As we about to step into a coffee bar, we met three men. One man spoke English well and asked us to wait on the sidewalk while he went to his car. His two friends stayed with us and the third man returned with a little booklet describing the towns annual Carresse, the 5 mile race of carts pulled by teams of oxen. Constantino, the man who had fetched the booklet, insisted on us keeping it. We were touched.

Constantino had spent years working as a hotel manager in St. Louis. His English was very good but his friends only listened. Perhaps he was showing off, perhaps he enjoyed speaking English to Americans. There aren’t many Americans who ever visit this town.

Leo walks with us down Via Puglia

We stepped into the bar, were recognized by the barrista from our trip years ago, and had our coffee. We were surprised when Leo, a man we had met years before, came into the bar. We told him that we had secured a grandmother’s birth records and that she had lived at 62 Via Puglia, the very street on which the bar was located. Leo said that he’s take us to the address.

The last house on Via Puglia was number 52

We walked down the street but the last house on the street was 52 Via Puglia. Beyond that was a park and perhaps the construction of the park years ago had involved taking down some buildings on Via Puglia.

We appreciated that we had been remembered by the hotel manager, the barrista, and another guy named Leo who happened to be walking by on the street. San Martino in P is rich, indeed, in its warmth and generosity.