Casgliadau Arlein
Amgueddfa Cymru
Chwilio Uwch
Recordiad sain / Audio recording: Mario Cicigoi
Oral history recording with Mario Cicigoi. Part 3 of 5 (AV 11379, AV 11380, AV 11381, AV 11382, AV 11383). Recorded as part of the Italian Memories in Wales project (2008-10), delivered by ACLI-ENAIP and funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
00.01 Mario started work in the Iron Ore mines as soon as he arrived in Wales. The most difficult thing for him was getting used to the food; it was impossible to find a plate of pasta he says. He recalls the hard work they carried out in the mines, for long shifts at a time, hundreds and hundreds of metres underground.
05.36 The interviewer asks Mario to explain how he met his wife and he explains that he saw her for the first time on the bus. He sat down in the only free seat which was next to her, and they started to talk, then to see each other and eventually they got married.
10.30 Having left the mines Mario went to work for the Railway as a waiter on the first class carriage. The interviewer asks Mario if he has children and he replies that he has three children, nine grandchildren and two great grandchildren. The interviewer then asks Mario if he feels more Welsh, or more Italian and he clarifies that he simply feels European. Every time he returns to his home in the valleys, Mario feels at home, but he stresses that he doesn’t feel strongly attached to the Italian flag.
30.00 With regards to his social life, Mario talks about his great passion; golf. Whenever he has a spare moment, that is what he will be doing.