Insights

Photos by Rebecca Branconi A century after his great-grandparents left a small Laziale town for America, Steve Decina has reversed the voyage, choosing to raise his children in the land of his forebears. I will never forget the first time I saw San Donato. I had just crossed the Apennines from Pescara and descended into the Val di Comino. I drove, awestruck, into the gently lit village nestled into a notch between two snow-dusted mountains. It was incredibly beautiful — it reminded me of a presepe, the elaborate Italian Nativity scene that often sets the Holy Family among life in …

Bracketing the northeast corner of Italy, the Dolomites are known for breathtaking vistas that make it an alluring wedding destination. Each year, 2.2 million Americans visit Italy. Of course, we haven’t spoken to all of them, but our informal survey tells us that many of them never heard of the Dolomites and even fewer would be able to point them out on a map. Nonetheless, the Dolomite mountain range, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is arguably one of the most beautiful places in the world. During World War I, Italy and Austria fought over the Tyrolian region, a section of …

As an Italian American, I know that our story is one of perseverance, passion and a relentless pursuit of excellence. It is a legacy of individuals who, despite challenges, have built thriving communities, contributed to society in remarkable ways and remained deeply connected to their roots. My father emigrated from Brienza, Italy, located in the province of Basilicata, while my mother emigrated from Catania, Sicily. They and their families arrived around 1920 and settled in one of Chicago’s thriving Little Italy neighborhoods. My father, Roy, worked for 50 years at the well-known Chicago retail department store Carson Pirie Scott & …

by Judge Megan Goldish and Michael Cabonargi While so many towns in other European nations were sending their Jewish neighbors to the Nazi death camps, the residents of Pitigliano sheltered all of theirs from harm. Perhaps, as you’ve strolled through the streets of Rome, eating gelato and trying to navigate cobblestones, you may have noticed small, polished brass plaques embedded in the sidewalks in front of doorways. These “stolpersteine,” or “stumbling stones,” contain inscriptions: They are intimate memorials commemorating individual victims of the Holocaust at their last place of residence before they were deported or killed by the Nazis. Each …

After six months of conspiring to surprise my father, Mario, in his birthplace of Sant’Andrea Apostolo dello Ionio, a medieval town overlooking the Ionian coast of Calabria, the final stage was set. It was late June, before the summer crowds made their pilgrimage to enjoy the white beaches of the crystal-clear Gulf of Squillace along with the delicious fresh food and laidback lifestyle of southern Italy. My daughters, Charlotte, 18, and Catie, 17, and I were en route to meet Dad and my co-conspirator and stepmother, Roberta, as well as Dad’s brother, Bruno, and Uncle Bruno’s wife, JoAnn. This was …

There is no doubt that locating long-lost relatives in Italy has its obstacles. For example, time is a factor because memories fade and people pass. Another force to be reckoned with in Italy is World War II, which destroyed many useful municipal and church records. Some seek their family name at local cemeteries, but that’s usually a dead end — pardon the pun. Finding relatives in Italy can indeed be difficult, but don’t give up. It does happen. Here is a true story of how things worked out for our friends from Chicago who recently visited us in Umbria. The …

Even though only 25 percent of my DNA leads back to Italy, I have always considered myself Italian. Given my surname, everyone assumes I’m pure Italian. (Everyone except my Irish mother who always reminded me that the majority of my roots lay in Ireland.) The fact that I grew up in a part of Illinois inhabited by few Italians did nothing to separate me from my heritage. Whatever everyone else was, I was Italian! On my first trip to Europe when I was 23, I discovered I felt more comfortable in Florence than in any other city I had visited …

I’ve traveled extensively throughout mainland Italy over the past 20 years. I love the subtle and sometimes not-so-subtle differences in the regions from north to south and east to west. However, my trip to Sardinia this past November was my first encounter with the island. Italy’s second largest island after Sicily, Sardinia is best known for its beaches and emerald coast. I visited for a completely different reason. I was on a mission to see as much of the interior of the island as possible. In particular, I wanted to visit the villages that comprise the island’s “Blue Zone.” What …

Similar in spelling but different in meaning, false cognates can be sources of embarrassment and laughter when unleashed. As I work on making travel reservations for a coming trip to Italy, I’m reminded of a verbal blunder I once made while corresponding with the proprietor of a bed and breakfast. After agreeing on the dates and cost, I asked how I could send the deposit. I didn’t know the word for deposit and didn’t want to take the time to look it up, so I just called it the deposito, because I was pretty sure I had heard that word …

Both a haven and a springboard for exploring Italy and the rest of Europe, Loyola’s Rome Center has been attracting generations of families like the Turanos since opening its doors in 1961. Ivy League schools are known for their legacy enrollments: students who attend because their parents attended and so on through the generations. It’s a point of pride for the families and a tribute to the quality of the institutions they attend. But East Coast powerhouses like Harvard and MIT don’t hold the patent on generational devotion. The John Felice Rome Center has been inspiring family loyalty since Loyola …