First of all with this blog let me thank all those people
who have encouraged me with my blogging, you know who you are. I don’t think I am a natural blogger, I only
started it because some of my Twitter followers suggested it and I never cease
to be amazed that people read my inane rantings but I am more than thankful
that you do.
One barrier that I encounter in relation to blogging is
finding a topic that I think people will be interested in and that is the case
with the topic for this blog, but on reviewing my past blog I did notice that I
had promised to recount my ongoing relationship with Italy. This together with @edanaming who comes from an
Italian family herself asking me about it has finally prompted me to commit my experiences to print. As my relationship with Italy covers some 40 years I have a lot to
say I’ll split this blog in to two so not as to bore you too much, first I will
tell you about the Welsh Italians and then I will tell you about my
relationship with them.
You don’t need to have followed me for long on Twitter or
read many of my blogs to know that I am a product of the South Wales Valleys.
Now you may or may not know anything about the South Wales valleys or the
people who live in them but you may be surprised that we are a pretty varied
bunch. Prior to the industrial revolution the valleys of South Wales were one
of the most sparsely populated areas of the United Kingdom so when coal mining
and iron production developed in the area people had to move in to work those industries. While some moved in
from elsewhere in Wales, particularly the rural, agricultural West, others
moved from further afield.
My own surname is testament to the Irish contingent of this
immigration but growing up in the valleys in 60s and 70s I was surrounded by
immigrant families with their roots in Poland, Spain and of course Italy. The Italians were an integral of any valley
community at the time as illustrated by the character Bella Lasagne in Fire Man
Sam.
Every valleys community had their Italian café serving frothy
coffee (cappuccino type concoctions made with Nescafe instant coffee), steamed
pies (a strange South Wales delicacy),”singles” (cigarettes sold individually
for the cash strapped) and of course that Italian staple, ice cream.
If you are interested in reading further about the Welsh
Italians there is a good book out on the subject called “Lime, Lemon and Sarsaparilla”
http://amzn.to/1LzIKad .
Another
interesting fact that you probably don’t know about the Welsh Italian community
is that the vast majority are from in and around one town Bardi in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy.
Over the years I have visited Bardi many times and it is an amazing
place, a valleys town itself located in deepest rural Italy and where on market
day on a Thursday in the main piazza you will hear Italian being spoken with a
distinctive South Wales accent and where when I meet people there and I tell
them I am from Merthyr the first thing they will say is “So you know the
Viazzanis and the Fulgonis” which of course I do.
Another useful link
if you want to know more about the Welsh Italians is The Amici Val Ceno http://bit.ly/1LkTVpc
Anyway, I digress,
to be continued ….
