reunion for all Calabrese

Hello all you Calabrese.
If any of you are interested in a trip to Calabria in 2010 LETS ALL MEET IN CALABRIA!!!!
If you have never been and want to find your roots this is perfect for you.If you have been and want to go back and be with all your Calabresi piasani from Massachusetts or anywhere in the USA I am willing to put together a trip for all.
I think it would be great to share stories and to meet. We can invite others and show off our beautiful land. Travel through all the different regions. Can you imagine ?
When I was a little girl and would tell people that I was born in Calabria Italy they would say WHERE IS THAT?
Today however it is a different story. Now I take friends and family with me and they all say WE WANT TO GO BACK THERE.
I do have a website. www.ionianjewel.com . I must admit I do take my clients all over Italy.

I will reserve 2010 for Calabria only.
VIVA LA CALABRIA!!!!!!

Calabrese people I meet

I have been home one  week now. I miss Calabria. I miss the walks I would take with members of my husbands family in the mornings and stopping at the end of the road to chat with an elderly man . He told us his name was Silvester. He was the only one in town with that name. He was a very young 87 years. Everyday we would learn more about him as would would speak to him through the mesh fence surrounding his garden. He spoke to us of his capture during the war in Tunisia by the Americans and sent to Kansas to work on the corn fields. He said it was difficult but never uttered a bad word about America or the Americans. 
There is the little market we would go to in the mornings. The woman who got to know me so well that she wrote down a wonderful recipe for me on making eggplant balls in stead of meat balls. Her conversations everyday telling me how she admired the fact I loved Calabria so much that I returned every year and this time with my husbands family. It made her orgogliosa!!! Which means proud. This trip was not just about the beauty of the sea and the little towns . This was also the beauty of the Calabrese people.

Capo Vaticano Calabria

After  all the trips I have made to Calabria, taking one day excursions to Tropea and Pizzo Calabro I finally made this area my destination point for a vacation and  was not disappointed. The beauty of this area has to be seen by ones owns eyes. It was better than I imagined. The sunsets over the island of Strombli with it's beautiful pink sky every night was just the invitation we need to visit the Aeolian Islands . 

The cooking school with Marianna and Franco and our host Tania was  a setting I can not forget. The rustic setting is what this area is all about. The wonderful dinner prepared for us by Rosanna at her and Roberto's  resort was also amazing. The wines of this area are a compliment to the Calabrese cuisine 

 Scylla a picturesque fishing village where today some still fish for swordfish the old fashion way. The boats are called passerelle. This town is also the home of the Odyssey.

Calabria is a hidden gem. It must be toured with people who know here well.

The say Rome is the soul of Italy. I say Calabria is the heart.

I will post pictures soon.