Italian Christmas Lights in Squillace, Calabria Italy Christmas traditions are a little different from the ones we have in the states. In addition to the less-obvious decorations and Christmas cheer, they also celebrate key dates we tend to overlook. The Italians began their Christmas season this week by celebrating the Feast of Immaculate Conception (of...Read More
Having a Calabrian father-in-law takes some adjustments. – No matter how much you eat, it is never enough. – You have to learn a new language to communicate, and I’m not talking about Italian. – And no matter how hard you try you might never-ever!-decipher his hand gestures and grunts. But all that aside, having...Read More
A few weeks ago I asked where all of the good customer service guys had gone? I lamented the lack of a customer-service oriented mentality in south Italy and wondered how businesses could remain open with the attitude they have towards their customers. Well today, I have that answer. photo credit: Gudlyf But before we...Read More
American tourists often get a bad rap. We are stereotyped as being loud, single-language slobs who are demanding, obnoxious and egocentric. And sometimes they are right. For a long time I’ve wanted to write a post about American tourists in Calabria and how 95% of the time, they bust that stereotype wide open. Then, a...Read More
I’m going to let you in on one of my tightly guarded morning ritual secrets … You ready? Gulp. I’m a junkie. An online magazine junkie, that is. Or actually, to be more specific … a Real Simple magazine junkie. The worst part is, I’m not even sure how it started. You see, somewhere in...Read More
Sometimes I feel like a kid in a candy store around here. I get to meet new people, speak a new language-sometimes!-and learn fun, interesting things about a new country. But some of these things are just. plain. odd … for my American born-and-raised-mentality, that is-especially when it comes to the school system. Here are...Read More
photo credit: Pudpuduk I have to admit, it can be a little intimidating to walk into a new restaurant, in a new city, in a foreign country. You may or may not speak the language and although it is probably your overactive imagination- you are sure half of the room just turned to stare...Read More
photo credit: tore_urnes An Italian friend of mine was recently at a pizzeria in Naples and caught the following scene … The restaurant owner, a stocky, slightly-above-middle-aged man from Naples took the bill to a table of about 20 Americans. “Can you divide the check for us?” the American spokesman asks. The owner whips...Read More
Welcome to Settimana dell’ Amore. In anticipation of the impending lovefest holiday this week and because I am anxious to share the love with My Bella Vita readers, this week is all about love. To kick off the event, I’d like to congratulate the winner of the book giveaway … NYC/ Caribbean Ragazza I hope...Read More
As an American expat in Italy who married a descendant of the Roman gods a guy from Calabria, I had the luxury of a ready-made wedding theme when we tied the nodo in 2007. Although we got married in Texas, we looked for ways to infuse his southern Italian culture into our Big Day and...Read More
