Nicola was the eldest son of Giacomo Cassinelli and Pellegrina Garibaldi, a distant cousin of the great hero Giuseppe Garibaldi. Their 17th century rustic monastery/home was nestled in a wild chestnut forest and protected by three secret paths the Benedictines likely blazed up their mountainside. Curiosity from information found in old letters began the quest to explore the lifestyle of these hard working Ligurian people; their family traditions, friendships, secret meetings. and typical cuisine like trofie, pansoti, unleavened focaccia, pesto, and walnut sauce. They survived the continual turmoil and threats of war beginning with the 1848 European Revolutions, the Italian Risorgimento and the necessary ongoing expulsion of the aggressive Austrian Croates, who repeatedly seized Venetia and Lombardia 190 kilometers to the north. For years Nicola remained in hiding to escape the Kingdom of Sardegna’s mandatory conscription which began at age fifteen. He dutifully worked from sunrise to sun down. The family needed all their sons to tend terraced crops on their mountain to generate money to pay taxes or lose their precious land. Giacomo and Pellegrina refused to surrender their sons to become cannon fodder.