I was born and raised in REGGIO; once I had traveled to 55 countries, I returned here as my wife fell in love with Italy after visiting the area. My family comes from the island of Ischia and the coastal town of SCILLA, from where some of my relatives migrated to the US in the 1930s. My grandfather was the honorary president of Scilla Hospital and a street in the town is named after him; my father (an architect) designed a couple of houses in Scilla.
Despite living abroad (in the Mediterranean, South America and Northern Europe) for some years, I am truly a LOCAL: I wrote a BOOK and a BOOKLET regarding the history of Reggio, published by the local UNESCO Club, which we personally shared with some 50 countries. As my specialisation is the History of Science and my main profession is TEACHING, I keep studying the HISTORY of Calabria and latest research in the field. I hold a passionate LOVE for the city where I was born.
Please take a look at the tours I offer, along with their reviews, and read the description below for further details.
REGGIO lies at the centre of the Mediterranean area. This is where I was born, in May 1983. I am originally from southern CALABRIA, facing Sicily, and from the NAPLES islands area.
I have a degree in ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE, a Master’s in the HISTORY OF SCIENCE and have completed several additional academic courses. Since 2021, I have worked as a TEACHER of Italian as a foreign language, mostly at the Universities of Reggio, Messina, and Palermo.
ITALIAN is my mother tongue, and I speak SPANISH (DELE-C1) and ENGLISH (CEMS-B2) fluently. This is due to my academic education abroad using the Spanish language, as well as my personal life; in fact, my wife and I speak English to communicate with each other. Furthermore, I have a basic knowledge of several other languages.
También puedo acompañar a los visitantes que prefieran un guía en idioma castellano.
I am often engaged in VOLUNTEERING for cultural organisations, having volunteered for several environmental, artistic, and cultural NGOs in Italy, Spain, Turkey, Chile, Germany, Russia. As a student, I lived for three years in Spain, and later, around 2015, my sister and I spent a year in South America.
I have worked as a professional Tour Guide in CHILE and ESTONIA, and I have also guided in a voluntary capacity in several other countries. I am highly experienced in travelling around Calabria with relatives and NGO members. Furthermore, I am responsible for international relations at the "Re Italo" UNESCO Club of Reggio.
In 2013, I wrote a BOOK in Italian concerning the HISTORY of Reggio, as well as a booklet about the Reggio province, which was translated into English with accompanying text, captions, and photos. Both works were published under the patronage of the Province of Reggio and personally distributed to 78 libraries, universities, schools, and institutions across 41 countries worldwide.
I love discovering new places and cultures, and I deeply appreciate landscapes, sensory experiences, aromas, and local flavours. I genuinely enjoy meeting travellers and talking with them. I am also a fan of paper maps! To date, I have taken part in 62 international meetings and have visited some 55 countries across the globe (between 43° South and 69° North).
People usually consider me an ADAPTABLE person who CARES about others. I am FLEXIBLE and able to CUSTOMISE TOURS according to travellers' needs.
The area where I offer my tours is the southern province of CALABRIA, the 'toe' of the Italian peninsula, facing SICILY. It corresponds to the present-day Metropolitan Area of REGGIO, the place where the ASPROMONTE Mountain meets the IONIAN and TYRRHENIAN seas.
Reggio AIRPORT (REG) connects three times a day with Rome-Fiumicino and has weekly connections with several cities in Europe; nearby airports are located in Catania (CTA) and Lamezia Terme (SUF). Reggio is served by a PORT (with alternative nearby ports at Villa San Giovanni and Messina), by several RAILWAY stations, and by the A2 Salerno-Reggio MOTORWAY, as well as the SS18 Naples-Reggio and SS106 Reggio-Taranto national roads.
Despite the earthquakes that Reggio has suffered throughout history (the most destructive being in 91 BC, 1562, 1783, 1908), it still maintains picturesque buildings, many archaeological sites, and beautiful landscapes. The area was inhabited by Ausonian-Italic peoples before the Greeks arrived in the 8th century BC, when it became a crucial commercial and cultural region of Magna Graecia. The famous Riace Bronzes can be enjoyed by everyone inside the National Archaeological Museum of Reggio, and the Italiot-Greek language is still spoken on the Ionian side of Aspromonte. The entire province boasts historical sites and cultural influences from the Italic, Magna-Grecian, Roman, Byzantine, Arab, Norman, Swabian, Aragonese, Angevin, Ottoman, Spanish, French, and Bourbon eras, often representing a historical link between the Neapolitan and Sicilian kingdoms, even though it also features plenty of modern architecture today.
REGGIO, THE PLACE WHERE SOME 3,500 YEARS AGO THE NAME 'ITALY' WAS FIRST USED, IDEALLY REPRESENTS THE BEATING HEART OF THE WHOLE MEDITERRANEAN AREA.
