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How, you ask? Well, first you need to visit the Ciao Bambino! page on Facebook, become a fan, then vote for my photo of Lucia & Mark by leaving a comment. If you do not have a Facebook account, you must first create an account in order to vote. I am BEGGING everyone to please vote for my photo! You all know how important travel is to me and my family, and how we love Italy and being Italian-American. We want to pass this on to Lucia. Thank you!!
I did a Google search for the phrase testa dura which, in Italian, means “hard head”. It should come as no surprise that the search lead me to a site dedicated to the culture of Calabria, for the Calabrese are the original teste dure. The name of that site is Il Circolo Calabrese, and its goal is “to become the worldwide focal point for all information concerning the history, culture, language, and genealogy of Calabria–the southernmost region of the Italian mainland.” Cool enough… Well, there is a link on that site to Calabria 2010. It looked interesting so I checked it out. Calabria 2010, or il ritorno (the return), is a campaign to increase tourism in Calabria, a region visited annually by only 3% of Italy’s 45 million tourists. To jump start the flood of tourists to Calabria, the organizers are encouraging people from around the world with Calabrian roots to travel to Calabria in 2010 between June and September. More info from the Calabria 2010 website:
There are millions of Calabrese around the world who can trace their ancestors to Calabria. But…even though Calabria is bred in their bones, many of the children, grandchildren and great grandchildren of those who left do not know much about the fantastic, complicated, beguiling, difficult place they and their ancestors have come from.
The Calabria 2010 Homecoming is an invitation to Calabrese everywhere to “come home” and celebrate the history, culture, art, music, food and stunning landscape of this veritable paradise on earth.
When thousands of Calabrese visit in 2010 it could begin an economic chain reaction that will bring confidence and prosperity to Calabria. Thousands of Calabrians will tell their friends and neighbors about their trip to Calabria, travel agents around the world will learn about the Region, and media organizations of all kinds will report on the event and about the Region generally.
Sounds like a fantastic idea to me! So, uh, Dad… shall we go?
Posted by Francesca
Dad sent these pictures to me to scan, upload, and post here on the blog. They are from Sambiase, the town in Calabria where our family is from. Dad says a lot of Folinazzos ... [Continue reading this entry] 
This is one of my favorite photos from Italy. I took it on our first night in Venice. We were walking from our hostel back to ... [Continue reading this entry]
