You could easily guess - whether from the first part of the trip or from any stereotype you might have - that family is a crucial issue in Italian life. It's very important in general, but when a holiday hits all hell's breaks go loose, and everyone is fixated about ho...

I'm probably the luckiest guy in the world. Not only (*cheesiness alert*) I happened to find wonderful V. to be my companion, but she's also from Calabria, one of Italy's "deep-south" regions, not only on the map but also for its mentality.

As in any other holiday, summ...