Emails from The Mazzetta family

August 27th, 2009
Good morning Jean,


my father Alberto Mazzetta at Nerito has riceived your letter. We are very pleased to meet with you if you come to Italy.

I am Alfredo, son of Alberto who is your father's cousin and I live in Rome with my wife. My parents live in Abruzzo at Nerito. This note follows my previuos email in Italian that was written by my uncle Gino, but I am not sure if you received it.

My wife speaks English well so you can contact me for any help or information with your trip to Italy.

Looking forward to see you in Italy.

Regards,
Alfredo and Maura Mazzetta
 
 
August 28th, 2009
Alfredo and Maura,


I am so excited to have received your response. My friend Susie will be arriving in Rome on Sept 10 at 530 in the evening and will be in Rome for 3 nights. We will be staying at Hotel Marghera. The address is via Marghera,29. The phone is +39064457184. We would enjoy meeting you, your wife and any other family. Our schedule is open. Let us know when and where we could meet. How far are you from the hotel we are staying at?

At this time we will be traveling from Florence to Nerito on 18 of September by train, staying 3 nights. We would love to meet with your mom and dad while there. Do they speak any english or is there anyone there that could translate for us?

I did not receive the previous email that was from your Uncle Gino. I am interested in finding out how my father and your father are related. Can your Uncle Gino or your father explain how we are related? My father passed away a few years ago and always talked of his birth place and it was his dream to take me to Nerito. He told many stories of his childhood.

Since this is my first visit to Nerito, would you suggest a more direct route to Nerito from Florence via the train. We are scheduled to leave Florence at 10:30 to Bologna and continue down to San Denedetto?

I'm so looking forward to meeting you and our family.

Warm regards,
Jean Mazzetta Fantini

August 30th, 2009
Hello Jean


we have received your answer. My wife and I would be very pleased to come and pick you up at the airport on Sep 10th, if you send us your flight nbr and time of arrival. So we can talk about things you wish to do, based on your desires and plans. My wife and I can accompany you and your friend to Nerito. My wife and I can help you with the translation because my father does not speak English. To answer your question about the relation between your father and my father, they are cousins, because their fathers were brothers. In other words my granfather Alfredo and your grandfather Pietro were brothers. My father Alberto, who is 84 and my uncle Gino Mazzetta will be very happy to talk with you about what they remember about your father and grandfather.

Looking forward to meet with you soon.

Warm regards,
Alfredo and Maura Mazzetta



August 30, 2009
Alfredo an Maura,


We are thrilled that you have generously offered to pick us up at the airport.

Our arrival Air France AF1904 on Thursday 10 of September at 5:30 pm. Let us know where a good location would be to meet you. Our plans for Rome are very flexible, we would like to see the Colosseum and any of your favorite sites. We would like to experience Italy through your eyes. We have an American saying " When in Rome do as the Romans do".

Our itinerary takes us to Montepulciono on Sunday the 13 of Sept. through Tues. the 15 Sept., at which time we will be staying with Susie's relatives. Our tentative plans were to travel to Florence on the 16 Sept. and continue to Nerito on the 18 Sept. and continue on to Venice on the 21 of Sept. We would love to take you up on your offer to escort us to Nerito. We can return to Rome or if you can suggest an alternate place to meet we could take the train from Montepulciono.

I own a gift boutique and flower shop in our hometown that specializes in Italian tableware. The name of my shop is Donatello. I am in search of authentic Italian pottery or ceramics to ship back. If you or Maura know any local potters I would be very interested in seeing them.

I have also received a response from my fathers mothers family, the Ricciotti,s. I am so happy to be able to connect with all of my fathers family. This is going to make my first trip to Italy far more memorable then I could have imagined.

We are also looking forward to meeting you.

Warm regards,
Jean
 
August 31, 2009
That's great Jean


thank you for all the information. We can meet at the passengers exit point at Fiumicino Rome Airport (FCO) , terminal B exit, if your fight comes from Paris. I will have a sign with your name written. We'll accompany you to the Hotel Marghera. We'll also be happy to show you the Colosseum and other interested places in Rome.

One possibility is for us to accompany you to Nerito from Rome on Saturday 19 Sep because we work during the week. The travel from Rome to Nerito is about 2 hours and half drive. In this case you can come back to Rome from Florence by train (2 hours by fast train). If you wish to stay in Nerito we can accomodate you in one of our relatives house. If you decide in a different way we are available anyway to come and pick you up at a different location in abruzzo on Saturday and accompany you to Nerito.

Congratulations for your shop. There are several famous places in Italy of Italian pottery. One is Castelli not far from Nerito. Another one very famous is Deruta, near Perugia and not far from Montepulciano. I am sure we can also find shops in Rome to show you the different styles and colors of the italian pottery.

Warm regards,
Alfredo and Maura
 
 
August 31, 2009
Dear Alfredo and Maura,


Yes our flight is arriving from Paris. Again, Susie and I are very grateful that you will be picking us up. We will be taking the train back to Rome early on 19 Sept. Please let us know what train station would be most convenient for you. Also what time would you like to leave for Nerito? We can be there anytime you would like. We are going to stay in Nerito but we already have previous reservations at Villa Susanna Degli Ulivi near Nerito. We do thank you for the offer to stay with relatives.

My family is very excited for my trip. I am married and have 2 sons. My husbands name is Michael and my oldest son is Thomas (named after my father) and he is 29 years old. My youngest son is Nicholas and he is 25 years old. Thomas lives in Los Angles,California and Nicholas is in Atalnta,Georgia. My mother Mary has lived with my husband and I since my fathers death.We live in Anacortes, Washington. I have one sister named Janet, who is married. She and her husband,Lial have one son who is 23 years old and his name is Lial. They live in Belleville, Illinois. I will bring many pictures when I come.

My friend Susie is not married and needed a traveling partner for her trip. Since I have always wanted to visit Italy and my fathers birth place it was the perfect time.

Please let me know if there is anything I can bring for you from America.

Looking forward to seeing you soon,
Jean


September 1, 2009
Dear Jean


we'll see you at the Rome Fiumicino Airport on 10th Sep. . On Saturday 19 Sept. we are free to leave to Nerito at anytime is convenient for you. If you are in Florence there is one train leaving from Florence (S. Maria Novella Statation) at 8:24am arriving Roma Termini (central station) at 10:00am (you must book your seats on this train). We can pick you up at the Termini Station, then drive to Nerito and be there for lunch time. If you need to look for other times or itineraries by train, you can find all the trains schedule on the Trenitalia.com web site. We will accompany to your hotel on Satuday evening, then you can decide for the next day.

Thank you for the information about your family. Maura and I live in Rome, we do not have children. I have one sister her name is Delia, who lives in Nerito, next to my parents house, with her husband Sergio and their 2 girls: Maria and Luisa, 15 and 17 years old. I work for the postal products of Italian Mailing Dept. while Maura works at the Rome airport for Boeing. We went to Seattle a few years ago and we really liked the U.S. and the landscape. We drove from S. Francisco to Seattle to see the coast! Maura went to Seattle again last June for work.

Thank you for offering something from America. Maybe if possible, one little bottle of maple syrup.
As we say in Italy, ciao


September 1, 2009
Dear Alfredo,


Thank you for the train information. It was very helpful and that is what we will do. It will be a week from today that we will be arriving. I was so surprised that you and Maura were in Seattle. So close to us. We are 1 and half hours North of Seattle. We live on one of the little islands. I was wondering how the weather was there. Being from the Seattle area we are use to dressing in different layers if need be. I will continue to let you of our plans. Looking forward to meeting all of the family. Ciao!
-Jean
 
September 2, 2009
Jean

ok for all what we agreed. About the weather it is still summer here, with mediterranean hot temperatures. But we are going towards the end ot the summer and there could be a tendency to lower temperatures. In Nerito is not cold yet but it is colder in the evening or if it rains, because it is a mountain village 850 meters high. The hotel you choose is close the seaside and the wather should be warm and nice there.

Ciao,
Alfredo

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