Welcome to my little corner of Italy.
We eat a lot of Italian food in the United States and feel at home with foreign names of foods and dishes. Pizza and pasta are as common as hotdog or apple pie. We order spaghetti alla carbonara with confidence and scratch our heads at “noodles with bacon and eggs” on English-language tourist menus. But sometimes we get it wrong. Read More
If you build it, they will come… Funny thing, or maybe not so funny, tourists continue to pile on the Cinque Terre and the Amalfi Coast. Gorgeous locations, to be sure, but Italy is bursting with beautiful spots. Basilicata, located in the instep of the Italian boot, is full of them, but the tourism industry pretty much focuses on Matera. Interestingly, as if the natural landscape and culture weren’t enough, several towns in the region have installed special attractions to entice visitors. The latest in Maratea is the Skywalk. Read More
Once upon a time, the hills and mountains of the Calabrian Serre were abuzz with an activity that today may be characterized as a form of industrial archeology, an out-of-doors cottage industry of carbon production. Woodsmen practiced the artisanal craft for millennia. In our times, the labor-intensive process is almost extinct. However, in Calabria, a handful of men still carry forth the tradition, transforming trees to charcoal in a mountainous zone between the Tyrrhenian and Ionian Seas. They are called carbonai, charcoal makers or charcoal burners, and their work is fascinating. Read More
This month, I had the opportunity to speak with students at the Liceo Scientifico “Leonardo Da Vinci” in Reggio Calabria as part of the program for their 100-year anniversary celebrations. When teaching in Reggio, I had several students in my classes who attended this science-focused high school, which is recognized for excellence, boasting numerous students who have won national awards. I prepared a presentation entitled The Grand Tour in Calabria, from Past to Present, highlighting the region and Reggio Calabria in particular. Read More
It seems like a lifetime, yet it’s been just ten years since I published Calabria: The Other Italy. My intention was to shine a light on an area that seemed to have been left in the dark – the tree that fell in the forest with no one around to hear it. I found that there was an audience out there, eager to listen, from those with Calabrian roots searching for an English text about their ancestral homeland to Italophiles and other curious individuals looking for a “new” place to explore, familiar yet different, the “other” Italy. Read More
Beautiful to behold and delightful to eat, peperoni cruschi are Basilicata’s “red gold,” the pride of Lucanian cuisine. What’s so special about the peperone crusco? To start with, these crispy peppers are unique and irresistible. They’re a true Southern Italian regional specialty! Read More
A monumental discovery of Etruscan bronzes hit international headlines in the fall of 2022: Ancient statues pulled from the mud in Tuscan spa town! The Bronzes of San Casciano dei Bagni were immediately compared to the Bronzes of Riace, found off the coast of Calabria 50 years earlier. Read More
When I sat down to write my first blogpost 10 years ago, I wasn’t even sure what a blog was. I knew I had visited blogs on occasion, searching google for various topics, but I would have had to stretch my mind to picture someone on the other side of the earth doing the same thing and ending up on my blog. However, that is exactly what has happened! And for my 10-year blogging anniversary (aka blogiversary), I would like to focus on my readers and share just a few comments that demonstrate how important these connections across the miles can be, the memories they spark and the feelings they evoke. Read More
The British Museum houses a treasure trove of riches from all over the world. I had visited the venerable institution on several occasions many years ago, enjoying its vastness. But on a recent trip to London, I returned with a purpose and headed straight for Room 73. I wanted to see the collection from the ancient Greek settlements in Southern Italy, what’s known as Greater Greece. I could write a lifetime of blogposts with what was on display, but for this post, I would like to focus on the Treasure of Sant Eufemia. Who would have thought to find Calabrian gold in London? Read More
How many days in Calabria? People are always amazed when they come upon my tours and realize that the entire program focuses on one lesser-known region. Discerning individuals, however, are rather delighted, not concerned with mass tourism’s raised eyebrow at the idea of a third itinerary in an area used by industry behemoths as a pass-through for their big bus tours traveling to and from Sicily. Really, Is There Anything to See in Calabria? Asssolutamente, sì! With that, I would like to tell you about my third itinerary, Castles and Wines of Calabria Easy-Walking Tour, and its successful inaugural journey this past June. Read More