WTI Magazine #61    2015 May, 29
Author : Umberto Mucci      Translation by:

Ciao from Rome! These last days have been very particularly busy for We the Italians: I have been able to celebrate in three different moments the bond that links Italy and the US. On May 18 Rome has hosted what probably has been the most important Italian celebration of the Italian American community in decades: Tony Lo Bianco's "The Little Flower" was a huge success, people and critics were enthusiast about Tony, and the story of Fiorello la Guardia is always a fantastic way to remember the great contribution of the Italian Americans to America's society, economy and culture. We are proud we were part of the organization of this epic event.

On Memorial Day weekend I was in Salerno, at Museo dello Sbarco that celebrates and describes the Allied Landings in Salerno in 1943. This is a wonderful way to remember how the American soldiers came to free our country: the museum has a video, photos, memorabilia and several panels about Operation Avalanche. A must see for anyone who wants to know more and celebrate the United States, in Italy, and understand how and why we will always grateful to them.

On Memorial Day I honored the 7861 American soldiers buried in the Sicily Rome American Cemetery and Memorial in Nettuno. As always a beautiful sun blessed this celebration in Nettuno, and as every year I attended to the ceremony standing just underneath the huge American flag, in the very shadow projected by it: it is a metaphor of how the United States has protected Italy in all these years, and I feel grateful and proud remembering the ultimate sacrifice of the American soldiers, among which many Italian Americans, a disproportionately high percentage of the total, like already happened during World War 1. For those who want to know more about the Italians who served in the defense of the United States, I suggest to take a look at Paul Basile's interview I did one year ago.

As always, also in our 61th issue of this magazine we will wonder through different Italian regions to take a look at some of the beautiful excellences of our beloved country. This time our trip starts from Tuscany, with the culture and history of the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, and then we move to Sicily for the land and nature of the coast of Trapani and the Egadi Islands; we spend some time in Piedmont reading about the handcrafts of Biella hats, and then we head to Lombardy for the old tradition of the contest of Legnano. Our next stop is in Basilicata, together with the protagonist of our IT and US column, and then we head west to Sardinia, where the recipe of Spaghetti with bottarga, the Mediterranean caviar, comes from. Forlì, Emilia Romagna is where this issue's Italian art is, and then we go back to Tuscany for the lifestyle of Pitticolor; we stay in central Italy, in the Marche region, to admire Rocca d'Ajello's garden and then we move north, back to Piedmont for the "little Italy", as to say the small town of Volpedo. Next to Piedmont is the Riviera in Liguria, with the flavor of their excellent olive oil; and we end our journey going back to Milan, Lombardy for another content of Expo 2015, and because Milan is where our great Italian of the past, Alda Merini, was born. That's just a tiny preview of all you will find in this issue of We the Italians magazine!

Before to say goodbye, let me remind you the awesome opportunity given by the partnership between John Cabot University and We The Italian: two brand new Italian-American Heritage Scholarship. You can find the specifics in this previous editorial, or you can contact admissions@johncabot.edu for more information.

That's all for now. So stay tuned, fasten your seat belt and enjoy the ride. The future's so bright, we gotta wear shades!