Tracing our Roots - Italy with Nick Finelli

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Tracing your family roots back to Italian towns and discovering how a $12 Aperol Spritz can signal an expensive restaurant is a rare experience.

In this episode, Brian and Will are joined by special guest Nick Finelli of Finelli Ironworks. They explore what it's like to uncover your family heritage in a foreign country, with a focus on Italy.

Join us as we chat with Nick about what makes Italy so special, why its food is considered the best in the world, and the significance of Italian culture.

Book a trip to Italy with our travel agency. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
We're the travel agents coming to you with tips,
tricks, interviews and voyagesby cruise.
The travel agents bringing youthe latest travel news.

Speaker 2 (00:14):
Hey, I'm Brian and I'm Will, and we're your hosts
for the Travel Agents Podcast.
William, it's time for Italia.

Speaker 3 (00:24):
Yeah, we got a fun one.
Today we're doing something alittle bit different.
We're talking about our roots,but not just our roots.
Yes, we have a special guest.

Speaker 2 (00:32):
I found that like it started in my teenage years,
will that?
Like I would be talking with mybuddies and all of a sudden I
remember my buddy, pat him,being like I'm Irish, I'm Irish,
I'm like what?
No, dude, you're born here inAkron.
Like what the heck are youtalking about?
You know other buddies sayingthey're Italian, they're
Scottish, they're whatever,right.

(00:52):
And around that same time Ikind of started getting
interested in my roots.
I'm like dad, what are we, youknow?
And actually just like,probably 10 years ago, my family
, well, us kids we got the23andMe ancestry test for my
folks because we figured, well,if we're their kids, we can just
take whatever their results are, right, yeah, and that was
fascinating, right?

Speaker 3 (01:16):
So this whole idea of roots, I think, is really
prevalent.
I think it's a really coolconcept to really look back at
where you came from, where yourancestors came from, and get in
touch with that, because I thinkthat's lost in America heritage
.

Speaker 2 (01:27):
Absolutely.
I have been itching to talkabout Italy since we started
this podcast and I've beenlooking for the right angle for
it, and I think we found theperfect time to talk about Italy
.

Speaker 3 (01:38):
Yeah, that's a great intro.

Speaker 2 (01:39):
Yeah, I have a friend met him at a Bible study.
He's Italian.
Right away we clicked, rightaway we clicked.
And I was like man, if we everdo Italy, I want to kick it off
with getting him on our podcast.
Well, his name is Nick Fanelli.
He's here with us today and Iwant to just tell you a little
bit about Nick, because he is,yes, maybe he was born in Ohio,

(02:01):
but Nick is a true Italian Ohio,but Nick is a true Italian.
Nick's wife is nine monthspregnant with their new baby.
His wife could go into labor atany moment, but Nick is
choosing to push back the birthof his daughter tonight even
further than he greased back hishair.
Nick is a true.
Italian.
Nick is a true Italian.

(02:22):
Nick plays soccer, of course hedoes right.
His character on the field ismuch like the Italian drink he
brought Will and I tonight wine.
Nick wines and soccer so muchhis relationship to referees is

(02:45):
much like his favorite bandgrowing up Yellow Card.
Nick is a true Italian.
Unlike the capital of Italy,you'll never find Nick roaming
around Olive Garden.
Nick is a true Italian.
His tax reporting is much likehis nana's pasta sauce recipe
Secret.
And lastly, nick makes fun ofme for being Romanian.

(03:08):
But, nick, while you're makinghard earned cash at your family
business, I'll be right behindyou stealing it from your
pockets.
Thank you very much everyone.
That completes my set.

Speaker 4 (03:31):
Nick, welcome to the podcast.
I'm speechless.
That was a fantastic intro.
I will say one thing that youmissed.
To prove how italian I am,please, please.
I showed up a half an hour lateto this podcast.

Speaker 3 (03:45):
Oh, with the hand gestures too.
With the hand gestures, yes.

Speaker 2 (03:47):
Oh my gosh, Nick, when I started at Kima Travel,
our family travel agency, I hadno idea about Italy.
I've had the absolute pleasureof visiting Italy three times in
the past decade and I must sayit's truly an unreal country.
In the past decade, and I mustsay it's truly an unreal country
.
Everything from the food, thedrinks, the wine, the people,

(04:13):
the culture, the gorgeousscenery, the agriculture, it's
out of this world good.
I'm just curious.
Going back to roots, can youstart us off a little bit about
you and just what like was beingItalian?
Always something you knewgrowing up?
Was it ingrained into you ordid you get interested in it
later?
What was that like?

Speaker 4 (04:26):
Yeah, great question.
So, like you said, I was bornin Ohio, but I'm Italian.
I am the second generation ofmy family to be born in Italy,
so my roots to Italy are very,very close.
I would say, when I was a child, I was so interested in all the

(04:48):
things that we did as Italians,all the traditions we did, the
holidays, the get togethers, thespecial recipes which are all
secret, I would say.
Once I became an adult, onceentered into manhood, is when I
really started questioning whydo we do the things that we do
and where did we come from?

(05:09):
I mean, yeah, I know that we'reItalian, but what does that
mean?
Exactly One thing I love aboutItalians and the Italian culture
is that if Italy producednothing no great people, no
great food, no great cultureItalians would still think being
Italian is the best thing onearth.

(05:31):
So I started to trace my roots,very elementary, just asking
people Started off with myparents what were your parents
like?
I knew my grandparents, butwhat were they like growing up?
And then that went on tocousins no, not cousins my age,

(05:52):
my dad's cousins, my mom'scousins, people in their
seventies yeah, that extendedfamily, that extended family,
asking them what was your dadlike?
Do you remember yourgrandmother?
What about yourgreat-grandmother?
So once I became an adult iswhen I really started diving
into my roots and around thatsame time is when I met my now

(06:15):
wife, okay, and found out thatshe was Italian.
In fact, we met at the sameBible study Brian and I met at
and my little sister came up tome and goes Nick, I met this
girl tonight.
She's Italian, you got to talkto her.
That's all she said.
Yeah, so I thought, okay, let'stry it had you at Italian.

Speaker 3 (06:35):
What's that?
She had you at Italian.
She had me at Italian.

Speaker 4 (06:38):
I was like, forget about it Done.
So we found out that ourgrandparents' hometown, her
grandparents' hometown and mygrandparents' hometown was an
hour and a half away from eachother.

Speaker 2 (06:52):
Yeah, italy's huge, it really is.

Speaker 4 (06:54):
It is, but we stopped asking questions after that
because we don't want to know.

Speaker 1 (06:59):
Yeah, so we're like cut it.
I'm like, yeah, enough on theroots.

Speaker 4 (07:03):
Yeah, so long story like cut it.
I'm like that's enough on theroots.
So long story short.
I met her when I was startingto dig into where my family
really came from.
We ended up scheduling a tripwith some friends to go to Italy
, to go to her grandpa'shometown she still has family
over there and then we also tooka trip to my grandparents'

(07:24):
hometown.

Speaker 3 (07:26):
What year was this Like?
About what year that was?

Speaker 4 (07:29):
2017,.
I believe Okay.

Speaker 3 (07:32):
So pretty recently?
Do you remember, like can yourecall, what the name of the
town is?

Speaker 4 (07:36):
Yes.

Speaker 2 (07:37):
And how much Italian are you studying leading up to
this?
Are you trying, are youthinking I better speak some
Cause I'm going to these townswhere are you not sure how the
english english is going to bespoken?

Speaker 4 (07:46):
yeah, I would say I would do some duolingo type,
very, very elementary nothing,nothing great um, and it was
definitely not sufficient um toanswer your question, will?
Her grandparents hometown iscalled forley del sanyo.
My grandpa's hometown is calledroseto del val, feltore okay,
the rose of the valleys, andit's in southern, southeastern

(08:08):
Italy, nice, beautiful part ofthe country, very country, lots
of farms yeah, okay, all towns.

Speaker 3 (08:14):
So southern Italy, um , in reference point like, uh,
what's maybe the closest majorcity that maybe someone might
know?

Speaker 4 (08:22):
Isernia is a close city, okay, yeah but that's
somebody one might know.

Speaker 2 (08:26):
Isernia is a close city, yeah, but that's somebody
one might know that's a goodpoint.
Probably Campobasso, that'ssomeone might know You're right.

Speaker 3 (08:34):
Rome.

Speaker 4 (08:35):
Is that one of them?

Speaker 2 (08:36):
Yeah, that's pretty good, okay, no, but it's that
area south of Rome and south ofAmalfi Coast, south of Naples,
right where it's kind of like alot of residential it's, and
south of Amalfi Coast, south ofNaples, right when it's kind of
like a lot of residential it's,even south of Salerno, is it
somewhere?

Speaker 4 (08:47):
in here.
Yeah, if you took Naples andwent straight across.
Oh, is it in Puglia, it's nearPuglia.
My grandpa's hometown is innear Puglia.
Okay, it's in Puglia.

Speaker 2 (09:01):
Sure, which is getting more popular.
As people have already donetheir Venice, florence, rome,
they've already done their Milan, they've already done the
Dolomites, they've already doneCinque Terre, they're like, hey,
let's try something new.
We've already tried Sicily,let's go over to Puglia Love it.

Speaker 4 (09:09):
Yep, yeah, that's an underrated.
So I always say that there'stwo kinds of Italy.
There's two Italys.
There's the Rome, florence,north, the classics, but then
there's the Forli del Sagnos,the Rosados, the Isernias that
no one knows about in Puglia,that are getting a lot more

(09:30):
popular, and for good reason too.
They're great spots to go to.
The South is interesting,because Southern Italy,
including Sicily, really missedout on the Industrial Revolution
.
There's not big cities downthere in the South.
Yeah, there's not, really not.

(09:51):
There's not.
There's not great highways,there's not a ton of industry.
So they, it was paused forabout a hundred years.
The benefit to that is it'sunlike anything that exists
anywhere else.

Speaker 3 (10:00):
Right, it's like a time capsule.
It's like you're stepping backin time.
Yeah, exactly, it's.
You know, if you compare.

Speaker 4 (10:04):
Yeah, exactly If you compare it to Rome.
You go to Rome and you see aboulder in the middle of the
street and a tour guide mighttell you where this boulder is.
There was a beautiful temple.
It was all marble and it wasgorgeous, and I can appreciate
that.
When I went to my grandpa'shometown, the house that he was
in looked the exact same when Isaw it, as probably when he was

(10:29):
born.
Yeah, wow, love that stuff.

Speaker 3 (10:31):
That's really cool.
Love that stuff.
That's super cool.

Speaker 2 (10:34):
Wow.
Did you feel they wereaccepting to you as a tourist,
or I suppose you're not atypical tourist?
You got the last name, theItalian last name.
You got the Italian.
Look a little bit, you evencoming to them with a little bit
of Italian.
I'm sure that goes a far way,just to be able to speak a
little bit of their language.
And you know, you even got thehand gestures.

Speaker 4 (10:50):
Got to do the hand gestures.
There's a word for that.
Do you know what it is?
No Gesticulation.
Speaking with your handsInteresting, yeah, fun fact for
you.

Speaker 3 (10:59):
There you go.
Hey, if you learn anything fromour podcast, take that.

Speaker 4 (11:04):
I'm glad I can provide some of that.
But yeah, I would say that theywere very accepting.
If you learn any Italian,italians will love that,
especially if it's politeItalian your pleases, your thank
yous, et cetera, et cetera.
So they were very accepting.
They knew that we were familyand that's really all they

(11:27):
needed to know.
There you go.

Speaker 3 (11:30):
I'd say with Italy.
It's one of those things wherethere's so much hype around it,
but it actually lives up to thehype.
That's probably the biggestthing I could say about Italy.
It's one of those rareexceptions where it meets the
hype.

Speaker 2 (11:44):
Will you're such a food critic?
I've had the pleasure andprivilege of eating your cooking
so many times.
Thank you, by the way, in caseI haven't thanked you enough.
You cook amazing.
You went to Italy.
You had high standards.

Speaker 1 (11:58):
You had set the bar high for Italy.

Speaker 2 (12:00):
This food better be good, and you were ready to be a
critic.
You know, you got to just visitItaly for your first time a few
weeks ago.
What were your thoughts on thefood?

Speaker 3 (12:09):
The food was incredible.
I mean, it was one of thosesituations where it was like
every meal that you had was.
I mean, it just blew my mind.
I mean I had a tomato salad andit was the best tomato salad
I've ever had.
I'm like what.
I don't even like raw tomatoes.
What is this?
What kind of what cocaine didthey put on?

Speaker 4 (12:27):
there.

Speaker 1 (12:28):
Secret recipe.

Speaker 2 (12:29):
Secret recipe.
I mean, it's so good.
Man is recipe secret.
Yeah, don't even ask, you'renot going to get it.

Speaker 3 (12:39):
So tracing your roots back to Italy.
How did you get started on that?
Did you have to sort of map outhow you're going to get to each
location?
Did you have to reach out to, Iguess, family members and say
hey, I'm going to?

Speaker 4 (12:49):
Yeah.
So how I started was firstgathering the info from my
family.
Now I knew that I knew where mygrandfather came from and I
work at we have a familybusiness, finnelli Ironworks.
Okay, and-great-grandfather wasa blacksmith and he shooed the
horses, fixed the farm equipmentin his hometown of Rosado.
His son, my grandfather,immigrated to America and

(13:20):
started Finnelli.
So I grew up working atFinnelli, sweeping the floors,
taking out the garbage, thingsthat.
So I was somewhat familiar withmy grandpa's hometown.
I didn't really pay attention,but but I remember him speaking
about it and he had passed away.
So the, the mapping out and theplanning was, like I said,

(13:41):
pretty elementary, but justtalking to relatives.
Um, you know, when mygrandfather when he passed away
and he had an incredible story,like I said, pretty elementary,
but just talking to relatives.
You know when my grandfatherwhen he passed away and he had
an incredible story, a very rich, rich story of how he came over
to America.
But when he passed away, thatkind of struck me as one
generation is dying off.
All of his stories are goingwith him, all of his memories

(14:02):
are going with him and I thinkthat was what lit the fire of
let's do a quick pause and saythose of you with grandparents,
go to them this weekend and sayplease, please, tell me stories,
tell me about your youth.

Speaker 2 (14:16):
Yes, Tell me about your grandparents.
Imagine asking yourgrandparents about their
grandparents, right?
So good things to just.
You think, well, what's theimportance of it?
It just, it's rich it's so,it's gold.

Speaker 4 (14:29):
It's so rich and no one thinks about asking their
grandparents that until it's toolate yeah, absolutely.

Speaker 3 (14:36):
I wish I could ask my grandpa stuff about you know
what it was like being in worldwar ii.
What was it like on mygrandma's side being in america
World War II and post World WarII, those kinds of things.
And yeah, absolutely, I mean,did you get a chance while you
were over in Italy to kind ofglean some of those stories from
some of your relatives, some ofthose good stories?

Speaker 4 (14:58):
Yes, I did.
However, it was tough with thetranslation.
Sure, yeah, my wife's cousinsdid some translating, but they
had very broken English.
I had a very limitedunderstanding of Italian at the
time.
I did gather some stories Oneof the relatives there.
So when we went to my grandpa'shometown I wasn't anticipating

(15:23):
meeting anyone because,according to all my relatives in
America, we had no morerelatives in Roseto and we could
only trace our roots back to mygreat grandfather, francesco.
And the reason why it only goesthat far back is because mafia
I get it, I mean it's.
I didn't want to say it, it'sthe elephant in the room, but

(15:44):
thank you for bringing that up.

Speaker 2 (15:45):
Go ahead.

Speaker 4 (15:48):
In Southern Italy there are so many towns that are
on strategic locations, like upon a hill or backed up to a
mountain, Because the realestate was so valuable there.
When tombs would fill up, theyget rid of of the bones and the
and the tombs.
So we could only trace ourancestry back to my

(16:11):
great-grandfather, francesco.
But when we went over to mygrandfather's hometown in rosado
I found his house.
I had looked up the addressbeforehand, got it, got the
address from some relatives andwhen I I went there it said A
Finelli on the door no way.

Speaker 2 (16:27):
Yeah, so I'm like whoa Were you shaking I was.

Speaker 4 (16:29):
I'm like this doesn't make any sense.
Everyone said we don't have anyrelatives here.
Yeah, so you know, I did thelogical thing knocked on the
door.
Yeah, so they did not know youwere coming they had no idea
yeah this is totally just, and Idon't have any social media, so
I didn't reach out to anyone.

Speaker 3 (16:44):
Even if.

Speaker 4 (16:45):
I did.
The relative there was AuntLucy, she was probably 90 at the
time.
Sure, yeah.
So knocked on the door and sheanswered and I just told her
sono finelli, I'm finelli, wow,and that kind of was somewhat of

(17:05):
the extent of my italian, yeah,yeah.
So my cousin, my wife's cousins, did a little bit of
translating.
We walked down to the piazza,had an aperol spritz, which is
the first time I've had anaperol spritz delish, oh,
fantastic so tasty dude?
yes, of course.
So quick tip please.
The way I gauge the prices ofrestaurants over in Italy is the

(17:27):
Aperol Spritz price.
All I look at is the price ofthe Aperol.
So let's say it's 12 euros.
Get out of here, I ain't goingthere Wow.
Let's say it's eight euros Ifthere's nothing else.
But if we're talking five euros, I'm like, okay, that'll be a
quick lunch.

Speaker 3 (17:42):
Yeah, that'll be pretty decent.
So what's going on in your mindwhen you see a 12 euro Aperol
Spritz?

Speaker 4 (17:48):
I'm probably not dressed accordingly.
Okay Okay, right on.
Probably need a reservation.

Speaker 3 (17:53):
Yeah, okay.

Speaker 4 (17:54):
It's not a hard and fast rule.

Speaker 2 (17:55):
You're doing it for lunch and dinner, or is this?

Speaker 4 (17:57):
just a lunch drink in your mind, a Aperol Spritz
lunch or dinner.
In my opinion, lunch or earlydinner.

Speaker 2 (18:04):
Yeah, it's refreshing .
It's so refreshing, maybe evenright before dinner.

Speaker 4 (18:09):
Definitely A little appetizer A little aper.
Could you Aperol app?

Speaker 2 (18:13):
Yeah, do you have a translation for the word
aperitivo, or does it not?

Speaker 4 (18:19):
really translate?
It doesn't really translate, tomy knowledge, yeah, but
aperitivo.

Speaker 2 (18:26):
I'm really translate it.
It doesn't really translate, tomy knowledge yeah, but uh,
aperitif, I'm sorry.

Speaker 4 (18:28):
Aperitif aperitivo, no, aperitivo is okay.
Aperitivo, just like adigestivo.
Have you heard of that?
Yes, like it's after the littleokay.

Speaker 2 (18:33):
Okay, like a little bit of like that, uh like a
sherbet or something yeah, alittle pudding or something.

Speaker 4 (18:38):
Mousse bouge is what I uh.

Speaker 2 (18:40):
Yeah, it's ital, but the French I think aperitivo
might be like almost like horsd'oeuvres or something.
Say that again Like horsd'oeuvres.

Speaker 4 (18:50):
Oh, yeah, it's definitely a pre-meal.

Speaker 3 (18:53):
It's almost like appetizing.

Speaker 2 (18:54):
Yeah, it's something to Play.
What it is, but it doesn'ttranslate to that Does it really
?

Speaker 3 (19:01):
I just assumed that it did.

Speaker 4 (19:04):
That's how I understood it.
That's how I understood it.
Yeah, something that's abouthey, we're getting ready to eat.

Speaker 3 (19:08):
We're about to eat, yeah that's a really good uh tip
.

Speaker 4 (19:12):
I mean how to gauge, like, what a restaurant is going
to be like just by one item onthe, on the menu because you
know, when you walk in and yousit down you're starving and you
see the prices, you're like oh,no, um.
But I mean, if it's a $12Aperol Spritz, you're going to
eat some good food.
Yeah, oh for sure.

Speaker 2 (19:28):
Here's something interesting A lot of our clients
are going to Venice, florence,rome or Moffat Coast.
There's nothing wrong with thattrip.
I think we can all agree it'san amazing trip.

Speaker 3 (19:36):
I got to do it.

Speaker 2 (19:37):
Okay, yeah, everyone has to do it.
But in these cities, when yousit down and eat a meal, they
actually expect you to tip 10%because they know you're a
tourist in their city and thisis a city.
And even the tour guidesthey'll say, yeah, no offense,
you're not Italian, you are atourist.
You're in Rome, you're inVenice.

(19:58):
They expect you to tip 10%, nomore, but 10% they do.
The moment you get outside ofthat, you start getting these
hometowns.
I'll bet your family in RosadoValfatori Is that it?
Yes, I'll bet they're nottipping.
They might round up a coupleeuros, maybe A couple bucks, not
even not tipping.

Speaker 4 (20:17):
We had one guy.
He showed up to a restauranthalf an hour after close, got it
.
The guy let us in and made apizza for us.
Oh man, we tipped then.
But otherwise, yeah, that's notmuch, not much tipping but how
big was your hometown?

Speaker 3 (20:34):
I'm sorry, it's small very small.

Speaker 4 (20:36):
Um, if I had to guess population, uh, maybe a couple
thousand people.
Okay, yeah, I mean, it'sgeographically small and the
population is also with theirhotels with their b&b's, with
their air.

Speaker 2 (20:46):
But you have any idea , remember, you know that's a
good question.

Speaker 4 (20:49):
I did not look one up .
I'd be hard pressed if therewasn't one.
Yeah, um, but when we wentthere?
Anytime we go to italy, we staywith my wife's family because
it's free and, of course, it's afantastic time.
Yeah, I love it.
And why not?
Yeah, so we didn't stay.
Wine and not Wine and notClever.
So we didn't stay in Rosado.

(21:09):
We probably could have if wewanted to, but we stayed in
Forley.

Speaker 3 (21:13):
Sure Paint a picture for me.
What does it look like?
Is it a seaside town?
Is it farmlands?
Is it it?

Speaker 4 (21:24):
is it's farmlands.
But if you look at the town,your first thought would be how
in the world did someone put atown right there?
I mean, it is on the side of aI want to say mountain.
It's not, it's not technicallya mountain, but it is a large,

(21:45):
large Hill, beautiful viewseverywhere.

Speaker 3 (21:50):
So Brian's pulling up some pictures and uh, so right
there, and that's the piazzaright there.

Speaker 2 (21:57):
Piazza means oh, it's a good word.
This means like square, itmeans square.
Every city's got them piazza direpublica in florence or piazza
san marco, exactly.

Speaker 4 (22:09):
So right here is a sheer drop all the way around
the city.
Wow, I mean, it is built on acliff and that is not an
exaggeration.

Speaker 3 (22:19):
Yeah, it's a similar site location as to like maybe a
Siena or a San Gimignano.

Speaker 2 (22:26):
Yeah a cool little medieval town from the.

Speaker 3 (22:28):
Yeah, so if you look up pictures of Siena I think
that'll be easier to find kindof paint, a good picture of what
Nick's hometown looks like.

Speaker 4 (22:37):
The Italians were obsessed with the fence.
If you think of even littleItaly and Cleveland I don't know
if you guys have been, but itbutts up to lakeview cemetery
yeah, which is also gorgeous,yeah, incredible cemetery just
highly recommended which is soweird to say no, like if you
come to cleveland a greattourist thing to do.

Speaker 2 (22:58):
Yeah, it's going to lakeview, drive through it even
us locals.

Speaker 4 (23:01):
Lots of famous people buried.
The rockefellers are buriedthere, garfield garfield's
buried he was a president.
He was president.
Um, they have the hazard angel.
Very, very cool things to seethere.
They also have daffodil hill.
Have you heard of this?
In the springtime, okay, inlakeview cemetery in cleveland
it's a.
It's a whole hill, hillsidejust peppered with daffodils,

(23:23):
and when that is like a sea ofyellow, I mean there are there's
lines of cars that's.

Speaker 2 (23:28):
That's so cool to hear, because Will and I went
once in October, yeah, and itcould not have been a better day
for the tree color changing.
Yeah, every tree was orange,bright orange, and it was
gorgeous, beautiful.

Speaker 3 (23:39):
Yeah, but when you enter the cemetery, there are
these, would you call themfences?
I picture them like walls.
Am I thinking of somethingdifferent?

Speaker 4 (23:50):
It's both, is it both ?
There are some concrete wallsand there are some-.

Speaker 2 (23:53):
Did Finnelli do the?

Speaker 4 (23:53):
ironworks.
Hey, yes, no, we didn't I wishwe did.
It's a good account.
That was there long beforeFinnelli.

Speaker 3 (24:02):
So the Italians you're saying are obsessed with
the fence.

Speaker 4 (24:05):
So, Little Italy is butted up to what is now
Lakeview Cemetery, because it'sone side that they don't have to
worry about, always butted upto a hill.
I mean, if you look at thecoastal towns in Italy, and even
in the valleys and in themountainous regions, all the
towns are set up for defense.
I don't know why.

Speaker 3 (24:23):
That makes sense, sure yeah.

Speaker 2 (24:26):
I saw those towns in every little town I visited in.
Where was I?
What's that?
Orvieto is in Umbria.
Just got to go to Umbria acouple months ago.
Oh my goodness, really coolmedieval towns.
It looks just like this thatyou're showing me.

Speaker 4 (24:42):
It looks identical.
I love it.
And what's sad is those are thetowns that all the young people
are leaving.
Those are the towns that aredropping in population, like
Akron, ohio.
I'm going to.

Speaker 1 (24:52):
Columbus, I've seen.

Speaker 3 (24:56):
Detroit I hate it.
I mean, I've seen Granted, thisis like I think the last time I
saw this was probably height ofCOVID but Italy and Sicily
having offers where you couldcome in buy a house for like, I
mean so cheap I think likehundreds of dollars to buy a
house because they want torepopulate these towns Are these

(25:17):
the kind of the towns thatwe're talking about?

Speaker 4 (25:19):
And so what they do with those too, Will, is you
know you've probably seen itadvertised even as low as a euro
.
Yeah, there's many stipulations, like you have to use local
materials, you have to use localtrades, you have to use local
trades, you have to use whateverthe building codes are.
Yeah, it's got to boost thateconomy, Boost the economy
exactly.
So that is why they are runningthat promotion, which I mean,

(25:41):
if you can swing it.

Speaker 3 (25:43):
Swing that euro.

Speaker 4 (25:44):
I thought about it.
If you could fit it into thebudget.

Speaker 2 (25:47):
I want to go back to the language.
You're going to some areaswhere I just don't think there's
a lot of opportunity for thelocals to learn English, and
you're saying all the youngpeople which Will and I have
discussed in previous podcasts.
If you travel to a foreigncountry and you're struggling
with the language and you needsomeone to help you, I hate to
say it, but I don't hate to sayit, it's just truth.
Look for that person who lookslike they might be under 30

(26:08):
years old and there's a goodchance they have a better grasp
of English just because theyprobably learned it in school.
So if we're talking about thesereally cool kind of ancient
towns and parts of Italy thataren't so touristy, you really
need to have a little bit ofSpanish.
Now, I'm sorry, Italian.

Speaker 3 (26:25):
Or Spanish.
They would probably understand.
Spanish can get you halfway.

Speaker 2 (26:29):
That's actually the connection I wanted to make,
because Italian is one of thefive romance languages.
So, just a quick recap.
The five romance languages areItalian, romanian, spanish,
french and Portuguese, andRussian.
No, so if you can go back toyour high school Spanish, your
high school.
I don't know French, or if youtook Portuguese, I'm sure no one

(26:50):
took Romanian, but hey, you cango back to it you will be
shocked that some of those wordswork out.
I want to do a little, just aquick little language thing.
We'll keep this quick.
I'll say a word in Romanian.
You say it in Italian, okay,I'm going to start with bread,
and I'm going to say paine, pane, great.
And I'm going to say milk,which is lapte, latte, amazing.

(27:14):
Now I'm going to say fish,which is peste, peste.
So this is going to be veryhelpful if you do, because if
you start saying words like fishand they don't speak a word of
English, but they might getpeste right, sure.

Speaker 3 (27:30):
I'm going to interject real quick because I
have a funny story about pache.
Uh, so brian and I we were insicily and I don't know italian.
I know a little bit of spanishand I was trying to order fish
and, uh, on the menu it'sspelled the same way as how you
would say it in spanish.
So I said, uh, pesce, which Ithink is the spanish, some
variation of that.
Well, whatever I said meantbitch in italian.

Speaker 2 (27:52):
Oh yeah, and it needs to be pesce so there is a very
clear distinction yeah, yeah,you gotta be careful, so don't
order the fish.

Speaker 3 (28:01):
yeah, don't order the fish.
Yeah, so I called this woman abitch to her face, yeah, and
she's just like okay, she's afish, yeah, yeah, yeah, that's
okay, will, just to complementwhat you're saying.

Speaker 2 (28:13):
I'm noticing.
You know, we're going to theserestaurants, will, and we're not
speaking Italian.
Yeah, and we're trying to orderthis delicious food some of the
best food we've ever had in ourlife.
Right, we want to get it.
Right, we want to get the orderright.
Now, they're kind enough thatthey have a menu that's in
Italian and English for us, sowe appreciate that.
But what I found you and I weredoing and I remember one

(28:34):
specific situation was we were alittle too conversational with
the server, you know, hey, wethink we're maybe going to get
something like that, right, andour English was going over her
head.
Yeah, and we thought we ordereda steak.
She had no recollection of it,right?
Yeah, which is a pretty big dealwhen you think you ordered
steak and there's no steak foryou.

(28:54):
So I think we learned the hardway, will?
I know it might sound likewe're being rude, but just
because of that barrier with thelanguage, it would actually be
better if we said I would likeone steak and one pasta and two

(29:15):
tiramisu.
It sounds almost a little rudeto the English ear, like wait,
no, you should add some morewords to make it softer.
It's like no, actually a littlemore directness would actually
probably be better.

Speaker 4 (29:27):
The important words Right, one steak Better, yeah.
The important words yeah, right, right.

Speaker 3 (29:32):
One, two three, Exactly.

Speaker 2 (29:35):
All right, Nick.
What else I'm curious.
Anything else More about thistracing your roots?
Any more thoughts or morestories or anything you?

Speaker 4 (29:43):
got.
Yeah, so some interestingthings.
I found out a lot just talkingto my relatives.
Yeah, one thing that's sointeresting about Italy from top
to toe, there are so manydifferent regions and,
specifically, dialects.
So everyone in the countryspeaks Italian, but everyone

(30:06):
also speaks the dialect of thespecific region that they're
from.
For example, sicilian is adialect, right.
So my grandfather, papi, and mygrandmother, his wife, nana,
who was from Sicily if theyspoke dialect dialetto to each
other, you can't understand it.
They cannot understand eachother.

(30:28):
That's how different thedialects are specifically for
sicily, because so many nationshave conquered it, uh-huh, and
it's been controlled by so manydifferent countries, yeah, that
their dialect is very, verydifferent, yeah.
So, um, one thing fun that I didtoo was my nana, who was from

(30:49):
Sicily.
So after that first trip totrace my poppy's roots, I
realized I didn't know anyItalian, and if I did, it would
have been super helpful, sure.
Or if I would have paidattention to Spanish in high
school, that would have beenhelpful too, at least.

(31:11):
So we lived in the same town inTwinsburg, ohio, and I would go
over to her house, herapartment, every single
Wednesday for about an hour, notmuch.
She would serve me an espresso.
She always had lemon cookies,and I would just ask her about
her roots, about her parents.
She was one of 12 siblings.
Wow, her mother received amedal from Mussolini because she

(31:32):
had so many children and it wasbuilding the Republic.
Yeah, so she got, I got receiveda medal for that, but um, and
then I asked her to teach meItalian.
So she taught me a lot ofItalian.
I love this she.
We ended up cooking together,so she showed me how to make her
pesto.
Cooking together, so she showedme how to make her pesto.
She showed me how to make herpasta con sarde, which is pasta
with sardines, which is a verytraditional Sicilian dish,

(31:56):
arancini, which I'm sure youguys had when you went to.

Speaker 3 (31:59):
Sicily.

Speaker 2 (32:00):
And I had no idea what arancini was.
It looks like you're holding inbetween a baseball and a golf
ball in the palm of your handand you're like how do I eat
this thing?

Speaker 4 (32:08):
What do I do with it?
They're like just go for it.

Speaker 3 (32:10):
In short, it's a very fancy mozzarella ball, but what
it really is is risotto, whichis a delicious dish by itself.
But they take the risotto, theytake mozzarella and they stuff
the risotto.

Speaker 4 (32:25):
I guess they kind of take the ball of mozzarella and
wrap the risotto around it and Iguess they kind of take the
ball of mozzarella and wrap therisotto around it and then they
fry that sucker and you can getcreative with what you put in
there.
You can put mozzarella cheese,you can get salmon inside it
Anything you want, yeah,anything you want.

Speaker 2 (32:39):
Nick, when you go to a restaurant in Italy, what are
you looking for with your order?
What's going through your mind?
What are you asking the server?

Speaker 4 (32:48):
What's going on?
First thing I always get when Igo to italy is a margarita
pizza.

Speaker 2 (32:53):
Okay, this is because this is like you know what it
should taste like.

Speaker 4 (32:57):
I know what it should taste like.
It's a staple, it's so simpleand I know it's going to be
delicious.
Specifically, too, they havedop.
Have you guys heard of this dopin italy?
They have DOP.
Have you guys heard of this DOPin Italy?
They have.
It's a certification.
So, for example, san Marzanotomatoes tomatoes.
There's a region where theycome from and you can get a San

(33:18):
Marzano from almost anywhere inItaly, but if it's a DOP, it is
certified by the country that itcame from.
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yes, yes,yes.
So there's a lot of timesthere's margarita pizza and
margarita pizza DOP.
I always get the DOP and that'smy first dish in Italy every
time I go.

Speaker 2 (33:37):
Because it's so simple.
It's so simple, it's delicious,well all the cooking in Italy.

Speaker 4 (33:41):
The beauty of the cuisine in Italy is it is so
simple.

Speaker 3 (33:44):
It's so simple.

Speaker 4 (33:45):
It's so simple.
It's the best ingredientspossible, but simple, few
ingredients, that's it.
I mean we had I had a dessertone time that was ricotta cheese
sprinkled with like a tiny bitof shaved chocolate.

Speaker 3 (33:57):
Who would?

Speaker 4 (33:57):
have thought cheese and chocolate as a dessert,
absolute banger.
And it was an absolute banger.
It was delicious, it's likesimplified perfection,
simplified perfection Exactly, Imean incredible, simplified
perfection.
Simplified perfection Exactly,I mean incredible.
What they do over there too,and I learned this cooking with
my Nana.
If French cuisine is a science,I mean they have strict rules,

(34:23):
everything is down pat.
And also really complicated,like you roast a duck and then
stick a snail shell on top of itand then order like a some
weird truffle that you can onlyget.
Yeah, italian is.
It's more like jazz and it'sjust simple ingredients, just
simple, good ingredients.
So when I was learning how tomake pesto with my nana, I asked
her how much basil do you putin?
She goes what do you mean?

(34:43):
This much?
I go yeah, how much is that?
She goes look at it, it's thismuch, yeah so they just kind of
eyeball it.

Speaker 1 (34:51):
You just got to feel it.
It's all by taste.

Speaker 4 (34:53):
So if you're not with , if I wasn't with her tasting
it and doing it with her at thetime, no way would I be able to
replicate any of her recipestoday.
Wow, yeah.

Speaker 2 (35:04):
Will.
You're going to be jealous.
A couple, I'd say.
About four or five years ago,nick sent me home with just this
jar of red sauce.
He's like just, you're welcome.
And I was like what, what eartham I holding?
You know, I think I should saythank you, but I don't know.
Yeah, exactly, he's like me andmy Nana, nana, nana, nana,
thank you.
We made this with you in mind,so just add it to whatever you

(35:27):
want.
It's going to blow your mind.
So I picked up some I don'tknow, probably some cheap pasta
at the grocery store, hooked itup, I added it to it.
It blew my mind.
It was so good I'm almostembarrassed to tell you this,
nick but there was about halfleft.
I just heated up and ate it bythe spoonful.

Speaker 4 (35:44):
Nice.
So freaking good.
I would be disgusted if Ididn't do the same.
I spoon that stuff.
Freaking good.
I would be disgusted if Ididn't do the same thing.
I spoon that stuff, wow.
Now, another thing that'sinteresting is that so Will.
You talked about the tomatoesbeing fantastic.
I don't even like tomatoes, andI mean, in America we have a
tomato right and you can putthat tomato on whatever you want

(36:04):
.
In Italy they have a tomato forsauce.
They have a different tomatothat you eat raw.
They have a different tomatothat you eat with cheese.
They have a different tomatothat you eat with salad.
So again, it's simple, but justthe best ingredients possible.

Speaker 2 (36:23):
Yeah, you say tomato.
I say four different ones,exactly.

Speaker 4 (36:30):
Oh, that's awesome, bro.
Another thing I found that wasinteresting um, there's kind of
a cliche, or um, what's the word?
I'm looking for a stereotypewhich is so true for italians,
so true, every single one quick,quick side note.

Speaker 2 (36:43):
I was like you know what, when I get to italy,
they're not actually going tosay mama mia.
That's just a stereotype, it'suntrue and oh my gosh, I was so
pleasantly wrong.
I mean, in the same sense we'relike, oh my gosh, right,
they're saying oh, mama mia.
I mean, it was like every othersentence that I just ate it up.
I was like you guys, are youjust saying this because I'm a
tourist and I want to know, ifyou weren't here we'd be saying

(37:07):
it that's fine, yeah, that.
Yeah that's good I like that.

Speaker 4 (37:11):
So Italians are that.
There's a stereotype that theyall garden, which is so true.
Everyone, every Italian gardens, especially the ones in Italy.
Right, and my uncle Joe, who'snow gosh he's in his late 70s
now but back in the day,Italians were taxed on all of

(37:35):
the food that they produced intheir backyard garden.
Wow, yeah, so they got really,really good at growing as much
as possible so that they didn'thave to pay the tax on their own
food that they grew in theirown garden.

Speaker 3 (37:49):
Wow, wow, yeah, is this like going back to like
Mussolini days, or even laterthan that, even earlier than
that, wow.

Speaker 4 (37:57):
Earlier than that Wow .
Because Italy was not a unitedcountry until maybe like the
early 1900s.
Yeah, don't quote me on that,but it was a lot of different.
There were a lot of different.
A lot of kingdoms, lots A.
But it was a lot of different.
There were a lot of different,a lot of kingdoms, a lot of
kingdoms, many, many, so manykingdoms, so many, it's really
hard to like.

Speaker 3 (38:15):
I mean, after the fall of Rome it's like all right
, just pick a differentcivilization and then kind of
save 50 years and that's Italy.

Speaker 4 (38:23):
Yeah, exactly, which reflects in the architecture to
an extent which is beautiful,architecture to an extent which
is beautiful.

Speaker 3 (38:27):
Beautiful architecture.

Speaker 4 (38:28):
I mean there are some .
I've heard it said that Sicilyhas better Greek ruins than
Greece.

Speaker 3 (38:34):
Okay, wow, that's, that's incredible.

Speaker 4 (38:36):
Yeah, which is so interesting and you wouldn't
think that, but when you gothere, there are so many Greek
ruins there that are stillreally intact.

Speaker 3 (38:47):
There's Nordic castles down there and you know
kind of a a a sad story thatthey were conquered so much, but
a beautiful result, yeah, someway I feel like brian, correct
me if I wrong, if if you canremember this, but I feel like
when we were in sicily, someonesaid someone, maybe one of our
guides, or maybe, when we wentto mount etna, our guide there
had said something that Sicilywas one of, if not the most

(39:11):
conquered piece of land inhistory.
It's crazy, yeah, so manydifferent cultures from I mean
the Greeks, I mean the Bourbons,the Ottomans, I mean Nordics,
yeah.

Speaker 4 (39:24):
And even Africa.

Speaker 3 (39:27):
Yeah, insane, and you see all that.

Speaker 4 (39:29):
You see all that's uh , when you see all that, you see
all that and when you go there,you realize how rich the island
is in resources and it makessense.
I mean, it's the biggest islandof the mediterranean, the
soccer ball of the boot, if youwill yeah, yeah there's a lot
there.

Speaker 2 (39:43):
Never heard that I like it because italy.
I love it.
Quick little break just to talkabout tourism in Italy.
Okay, so right off the bat,population in Italy as of 2022,
about 59 million people livingthere.
But, guys, check this out 2023year end estimates 68 million
visitors.
Wow, and I heard the Departmentof Tourism in Italy is talking

(40:08):
about this, like, okay, hang on.
I heard the Department ofTourism in Italy is talking
about this, like, okay, hang on.
Do we have almost an ethicalstopping point where we need to
say, okay, guys, don't get uswrong.

Speaker 3 (40:19):
We can't take anymore .

Speaker 2 (40:20):
We love the visitors, but at some point right.
At some point you hit fullcapacity when the flights are
full, the hotels are full, thetrains are full, the tour guides
are full.

Speaker 3 (40:31):
Yeah, streets are full.

Speaker 2 (40:32):
I mean, it's great for the economy, I'm sure, but
at what point do you kind ofneed to stop?
But Italy holds so many of theancient wonders of our world.
Yeah, and I don't blame anyonefor wanting to go see it.
Remember what I told you?
This trip to Italy, Will I said, remember what I told you?
Or this trip to Italy?
Well, I said I think I have tocome here every year.
Yeah, Just somewhere in Italy.

Speaker 3 (40:54):
Yeah, I think I have to.
I mean, uh, from our businessperspective, it's our number one
seller by like, like a lot.

Speaker 2 (41:02):
It's like number one two, three, four.
We do a lot of Cancun andCaribbean.

Speaker 3 (41:06):
That's for sure yeah, yeah but okay, put that aside.

Speaker 2 (41:10):
Italy, To the point where Will?
You once came in my office andyou were like Brian do we only
get Italy?

Speaker 3 (41:15):
requests.
Yeah, it's like we got to studyup on this country, that's such
a funny thing.

Speaker 2 (41:21):
When I started as a travel agent I'm embarrassed to
say I didn't know anything aboutItaly.
I'm like Italy, what Rome?
I don't know what's there.
I started getting Italyrequests after Italy requests.
I was like it's thehomeschooling.

Speaker 3 (41:33):
I had to go.
What's that I said it's becauseyou're homeschooled.
Well, there's a lot of issues Ihave because of that.

Speaker 2 (41:41):
This is just one of them.
So change your topics aboutBrian's issues.
Childhood wounds no issues.
Childhood wounds um no, I.
I love my childhood.
Shout out to my mom and dadmother's day coming up, thanks,
mom.
I, uh, I got to go to italy thefirst time.
I was like I get it.
I kind of get it.
This city's incredible.
This country is incredible.

(42:01):
I'd like to come back.
I went to italy a second time.
I went to italy now a thirdtime and now I I can't wait to
go back it really has somethingfor everyone.

Speaker 4 (42:10):
It's yeah, it's got mountains and skiing in the
north.
Yes, it's got modern, please,history, history.
It has modern cities.
It's got coast, oceans, artistsartists art.

Speaker 3 (42:22):
It has leather I mean their valleys cooking classes
probably one of the mostimportant cuisines, like what
French, mediterranean andItalian I mean.

Speaker 4 (42:33):
Chinese Italian first , obviously, but then I mean
there's like in the top five,the Mount Rushmore is a food
Italian is George Washington.

Speaker 2 (42:40):
And I have cool news for those who are foodies, and
particularly about eating cleanOrganic farming is there's a
huge push in organic farmingrecently.
They, you, you may have someeuropean friends who are talking
about, oh no, europe is fallingto the way of america with more
pesticides and chemicals, butI'm like, proud to say, my most

(43:05):
recent trip to umbria there hasbeen a push from ministry of
tourism and I think it stemsfrom just keeping the business
in the family and those fanthose stories and keeping the
cultural heritage, thetraditions, the cultural
heritage.
Well, I could not agree moreyeah of like nick, in the same
sense that you and your brothersare faithfully taking over your

(43:26):
family business, there's thosecore values that your father and
grandfather put into place.
Look at me talking with myhands like I'm an Italian.

Speaker 4 (43:33):
That line is getting to you.
Is your hair curling?

Speaker 2 (43:40):
Can we turn on soccer ?
Hey, there we go.
Will you're going to have togive us a quick little Italian
soccer, just a quick little quipabout Italian soccer in just a
second.

Speaker 1 (43:49):
So I'm prepping.

Speaker 2 (43:51):
Because we can't talk about Italy without at least
mentioning soccer.
Okay, so you're on deck, okay,but that family tradition, which
I love, coming from a familybusiness, and I love talking to
you, nick, about your familybusiness and you mentioned to me
recently about family pillarsor company pillars and

(44:11):
foundational stones for yourfamily business, and I thought,
man, I want to do that with myfamily business.
What are our values, what areour heritage stones that we can
kind of build on and make surethat whoever this gets passed
down to, whether family or not,they're going to keep it running
.
And I think it's so encouragingwhen you go to Italy and you
find out this vineyard, thisorganic farm, has been the
family for four, five, six,seven generations and they are

(44:34):
doing their due diligence tokeep it pure, keep it clean.
So I have story after story ofpeople who they drink wine here
in Ohio and the sulfates get tothem or they're eating bread and
their face breaks out with acne, like me in 2017.
And then I go to italy in 2017no, 2013, I'm sorry I start

(44:58):
eating organic bread and my faceis fine and I'm like what the
heck is happening.
My buddy steve, who's been onthis podcast and I'm like steve,
I'm not breaking out he, likethis is called organic eating.
I mean, this stuff is soexciting.
I get actually excited aboutthis subject that I'm not
normally excited about?

Speaker 4 (45:17):
Yeah, absolutely.
Can I share a quick story, oneof my?
Well, first of all, about thefamily business and your
ancestors.
It's so important to do thatbecause the business is made in
the image of its founder and tocontinue that business you need
to carry on that vision.
So I completely agree andsupport what you're saying now

(45:38):
about the food and yourexperience with eating organic
and the push for organic and nopesticides, no herbicides, et
cetera, et cetera.
One of my colleagues that Iwork with, she is an
ex-executive chef from Americaspecialized in Italian food.

(45:59):
She went to Italy for the firsttime last year.
Now she is celiac, gluten-free,dairy-free.
She can't have any of thatstuff.
And she came back and when Igot the chance to talk to her I
asked her you know how was itover there?
She goes, nick, I ate as muchcheese as I wanted to.

(46:20):
I love it as much dairy as Iwanted to, amen, and as much
gluten.
I had bread yeah, pastas, and Iwas fine.
I had no issues whatsoever.
Do you know why?
That is Partly so.
When you're making pasta andquick, quick, uh, a little bit
of history here.
Yeah, way, way back in the daywe're talking.

(46:42):
Centuries ago, flour organicflour would go rancid very, very
quickly and it would invite alot of vermin.
So you had rats, mice moles,moles, et cetera.
So the Italians figured outthat the best way to preserve
the raw flour was to bakenoodles and then dry the noodles

(47:02):
.
And it's the slow fabricationof the noodle that lets the
gluten build properly.
See, when you mass producethings, when you mass produce
pasta and you dry it quickly,you're basically rushing nature.
It doesn't come out correctly.

(47:22):
If you talk to small pastamakers in Italy, a small pasta
maker might make in a year asmuch as a big pasta maker makes
in a week.
So the process is slow.
I mean starting with greatingredients, obviously, but the
process of letting the pasta dryout, letting the gluten form

(47:44):
and letting it build is is huge.
And if you're in it for massproduction, you're not, you
don't have the time, it'sinefficient to let it, let it
dry out long.
So you just you know, flash letit dry out long.
So you just, you know, flashflash, dry it and then box it
and ship it, sure.
So that's part from my limitedunderstanding.

Speaker 3 (48:01):
That's partly.
I get that because I make pastamyself too, and when you take,
when you let it take its timeand you let the science do its
thing, the pasta is incredibleand it is.
I'm not saying that I make asgood pasta as they do in italy,
I'm not saying that.
But you can see the resemblance.
You can see like, okay, thereis a clear difference.
Uh, and it all starts in thiscare, and this is you.

(48:23):
You can go to an Italianrestaurant here and I don't
think you get the same kind ofpasta unless you're going to a
very top shelf Italianrestaurant.
Yeah, um, it's like sourdoughbread.
Yeah, restaurant, yeah, um, it'slike sourdough bread.

Speaker 4 (48:35):
Yeah, it's like so many people who have bread or
who are celiac can't have breador um, but you have sourdough
bread.
You can have it, probablybecause it's fermented and
probably because it takes tomake sourdough bread takes a
long time.
Yeah, yeah, we make it at home,just because it's delicious.
We don't have any any issues oranything, but it takes days.
Yeah, a lot of care, any manyhours, like having a pet,

(48:58):
exactly exactly.

Speaker 2 (48:59):
It's like having a pet.
We need to talk about soccerand coffee, sure also, do you
want to do soccer now?
Sure, yeah, we can talk about Ihave no idea what on earth is
italian soccer.

Speaker 4 (49:10):
You know the italians .
They don't say soccer, they sayfootball, football, hey.
Or they say From here on out,socher, oh, that's new.

Speaker 1 (49:19):
Interesting.

Speaker 3 (49:20):
Okay, okay, well, italy, the football soccer in
Italy is one of the biggest Imean cultural aspects of the
country.
Right, it's also one of thebiggest leagues in Europe, one
of the most historic and one ofthe most respected leagues in
Europe.
So when you go to Italy, theyhave what's called a football

(49:42):
pyramid and essentially whatthis translates to, and this is
the same for Spain, england andthings like that.
It's really big in Europe, butit'll really help you understand
soccer as a cultural phenomenonin the country.
The football pyramidessentially allows you, uh, as a
town so let's say you're in umPalermo and Sicily, you can have

(50:03):
a club, a football club that'sin just Palermo, filled with
Palermo kids going up in Palermofootball club Academy uh,
competing all the way from thelowest ring of the the pyramid
to all the way to the top of thepyramid, um, so that's like um,
your farmers league and minorleagues, baseball, all of a

(50:24):
sudden growing in popularity andgrowing in talent to a, to a
degree that they can compete inthe mlb.
So what this means in in in thesport and what it means on like
a cultural level, is thatthere's a more of an
appreciation for who is wearingthe kit, the jersey the shirt.

Speaker 2 (50:45):
Kit means jersey yeah .

Speaker 3 (50:47):
For that club and it also just means more on like a
community level, it's like acommunal thing, almost.
Your town is going against theother town and it's just this
incredible aspect and you have acool thing.

Speaker 2 (51:01):
I know you're a big fan of fc barcelona, uh-huh, but
would you enjoy an italiansoccer game?

Speaker 3 (51:08):
absolutely absolutely , yeah, yeah, and I think I
would, almost I would enjoy anygame, but I would almost want to
go to like those lower.
I mean, when we were in Palermo, we were like I was like, dude,
we should go to a Palermo matchand had they not been away, we
probably would have and it wouldhave been an incredible
experience.
Yeah, Like totally different.

(51:29):
It's like okay, it's theclosest similarity and this is
going to might sound cringy toanyone that doesn't understand
this.
You're not going to get thisbecause you're homeschooled.
Nick might get this because hewent to an actual school.

Speaker 2 (51:44):
This is all fair, I'm not tracking with you.

Speaker 3 (51:46):
Go ahead.
It's almost like going to ahigh school football match on
Friday night.
That's the closest thing I cancompare it to.
Friday night lights, I get it,but your high school team can
compete with the Browns and theSteelers and all that stuff.
So that's the disparity.
Very nice.
So that's why it's really cool.

Speaker 2 (52:03):
That's really neat.
That's football.
I want to talk about coffeethen, when I get back to your
Italian roots, because I havesome more questions for you,
please.
Okay, coffee, nick.
Here's my story.
I go to Italy, I order a coffee.
They pour me this tiny littlecup like I'm at my niece's tea
party, right, I go to sip it.
It tastes like dark sludge.

(52:24):
I can barely get it down mythroat.
I feel like gagging.
But I sit there and we don'teven sit down, by the way, we
just stand at the bar and wejust sit there and what?
I'm used to coffee.
I'm used to sipping on it, forDon't even sit down, by the way.
We just stand at the bar and wejust sit there Very quick, yeah
, and what I'm used to coffee,I'm used to sipping on it for
two hours, from 9 to 11 am eachmorning at my desk.
They do it in two sips and thenthey leave.

(52:46):
Yes, and I learned.
What I really want is a cafeAmericano or, thanks to Will
will, a cappuccino.
Now I got embarrassed when Iorder because the cappuccino,
when I order it it's absolutelydelicious.
11 am, I heard I ordered acappuccino after 11 am and I got

(53:07):
scolded and they said the theguy family-owned business.
Cool guy, really cool guy.
But he said I had a translatorwith me.
He said listen, when I come toyour country you serve me
whatever you want, but at thismoment you're in my hometown and
I can't in good conscienceserve you a cappuccino after 11
am.
Yeah, you're going to drink anespresso and you're going to

(53:30):
like it.
Whether you like it or not, Idon't care.

Speaker 3 (53:36):
You're going gonna drink it.
I can't make you a cappuccinois it anything that's not an
espresso that you can't haveafter 11.
Like could you have a cafemacchiato or an americano or an
americano?
An americano is just more wateradded to right.
Yeah, it dilutes the basicallysyrup.

Speaker 4 (53:50):
It's almost, yeah, like the closest thing I could
compare it to is like a syrup,right and it's funny because
they think that italian I'msorry, they think that american
coffee is complete trash oh I'msure eat trash I think it's
delicious, but yeah yeah, it's.
I don't know if it's anythingexcept for cappuccino, or yeah,
how did you rephrase?

Speaker 3 (54:10):
that, uh, like I know , macchiato is like a nice
alternative too for folks sorry,sorry to butt in.

Speaker 2 (54:16):
I heard that milk after 11 am is not good for your
digestion Before 11 am it'skind of that.
It's like McDonald's breakfast.
Hey, we're not going to serveit after 10.30,.

Speaker 3 (54:24):
Right, it's like the same thing, so kind of going
back they do have McDonald's inItaly, sadly, I mean, it's
everywhere.

Speaker 4 (54:33):
But to go back to the aperitivo and digestivo.
Italians are obsessed with thegut, good, obsessed with it.
So having milk sitting in yourstomach with potentially a steak
or pasta, it's just not a, it'sa big no-no over there.

Speaker 3 (54:49):
What about?
I mean, obviously Parmesan is akey ingredient in a lot of
meals and cheese really as awhole Ricotta.
I mean a lot of folks are goingto have tiramisu cannolis.
I mean cannolis are incredible,but I mean that's a staple just
as much as coffee would be.
So is that a hard or fast rule,or is it maybe more directed

(55:11):
towards that raw like milk?

Speaker 4 (55:13):
kind of component You're saying is it a hard and
fast rule for the the 11 o'clock?
And like oh yeah, I, I foundthat pretty much everyone, yeah,
even my italians, my italianteacher, even people who were
people in my italian club yeah,they like no cappuccinos after
afternoon.

Speaker 2 (55:31):
Nick is so italian, he belongs to the local Italian
club, actually three clubs.

Speaker 4 (55:37):
Wow, it's a fun.
That would be fun Going back tothe very beginning.
The Italians think that theItalians are the best because we
are.
It's just a fun.
I mean, we have bocce ballleagues together, whiskey nights
, clan bakes For the meetings.
All old italian women come in.

(55:58):
They cook phenomenal food forour meetings.
Wow, it's just, it's fantastic.
It's perpetuating the italianculture.
Yeah, that's awesome.

Speaker 2 (56:07):
All, all italians there's something about italians
and I mean this in the mostloving way possible I I've never
heard someone come into a groupand be like I'm croatian and be
proud of it.
It's no offense on croatia here, it's a lovely country, but but
anywhere, right, like I'mscottish or I'm danish or I'm

(56:27):
from kazakhstan, like sure,maybe they say it, but wow, the
pride of italians.

Speaker 3 (56:33):
Yeah I don't think there's a culture that has not
seen it.

Speaker 4 (56:39):
When I was dating one girl who was not Italian, I
introduced her to my Nana and Isaid Nana, this is I won't use
her name but Nana, this isso-and-so and not like a hello,
nothing like that.
She goes you Italian, yeah, andshe goes no, but I'm polish and
irish and you know whateverelse.

(56:59):
Whatever else, she was my nana,yeah, my nana.
She goes, uh, says no words,just waves her hands and goes,
yeah, it wasn't even worth thespit for her to say anything,
just uh, that is uh exactly whatI would expect.

Speaker 1 (57:22):
Italian mothers and grandmothers, if you know any.

Speaker 2 (57:24):
they don't like anybody.
Shout out to your in-laws,though at your wedding I should
have introduced myself as BrianChimiani or something, but I
said Kimo and I said it's.
Romanian, but then I but I saidwhich is, you know, good
evening in both.

Speaker 4 (57:43):
Romanian and Italian, by the way.
Wow, look at that, I speak.

Speaker 2 (57:44):
Romanian now.
Yeah, there you go.
Yeah, they were extremelypleasant to me.

Speaker 4 (57:47):
And your Nana was super, super pleasant to me.
My in-laws are fantastic.
I love them.
They're really great people,absolutely.

Speaker 3 (57:54):
Wow, there was something about Rome that I feel
like we'll probably talk aboutthis in every podcast related to
Italy, just as a warning toanyone that's listening to it.
But 2025 is the year of theJubilee for the Catholics,
correct?
And Rome is going to be packedfor lack of a better word Disney

(58:17):
.

Speaker 2 (58:17):
World.

Speaker 3 (58:18):
Yeah, disney World.
To such a degree it's almostlike, hey, unless you're
Catholic, maybe reconsider Romefor any other year.
2025 is going to be that packedwith Rome In that expensive I
heard of the Pope and this is.

Speaker 2 (58:34):
Some Catholics might cringe, so I apologize but the
Pope is going to open a door andif you're Catholic you get to
walk through the door.

Speaker 3 (58:43):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (58:44):
And that door is this is only on the year of Jubilee
and so this is very special.
So the pilgrimage you know youmay have on a Monday, you may
have 14 flights coming fromGreece with those people making
their pilgrimage.
The next day, you might have 15flights coming from Hungary
making their pilgrimage, and soit's the amount of traffic going

(59:06):
to Rome for this.
It's going to be insane.
So, like you said, if you'renot Catholic, it's 2025.
Just to save Rome for the nextyear.

Speaker 3 (59:16):
But Italy is one of these countries where you're not
going to see all of it in onetrip and it is very much a
country that you need to do inpieces, or do the classics and
then do it in pieces, right ofwanting to really explore Italy
and go multiple times.
This would be a great chancefor you to do either Northern

(59:39):
Italy, or do Southern Italy, ordo just Sicily, or do various
parts.
We're not saying don't go toItaly in 2025.
Just know that in 2025, rome isgoing to be very, very, very
busy to a point where it's justgoing to be really packed and
hotels are going to be sold outand things like that.

(01:00:00):
That's a great tip.

Speaker 4 (01:00:01):
I had no idea and I'm Italian, so that's a great tip.

Speaker 2 (01:00:04):
Yeah.
So I want to go back to roots,because I love it when clients
come in.
They sit at my desk, they saywe want to go to Italy.
I say, great, where?
And they go.
We want to go to Milan, venice,florence, rome and Rochella.
And I'm like, okay, one ofthese is not like the other.
What on earth was that last one?

(01:00:25):
And it's always well, we didthe 23andMe or this person's
great-grandfather and whatever.
And then we traced it back andthen there's heritage there.
We just want to see it Like,okay, awesome, you know.
Hey, we want to go to Rome, theAmalfi coast and Frozen, or you
know something like that.
I said, oh, that's awesome,great, why?

(01:00:46):
Well, we just want to go trackdown our roots.
So, how cool to have someonehere.
You had the same passion, thesame desire and I get it.
I have full encouragement yes,go.
Because in 2012, I went to someobscure town in Romania to track
down my family roots town ofCinca Nova, which, if I ask

(01:01:08):
Romanians today who are fromRomania, they're like I've never
heard of it Exactly.
It's that small of a town.
Right, you went to a town totrack it down.
I just want to know, like whenyou think back to that, what
makes you proud?
Was there anything maybe youhad wished you had asked or done

(01:01:28):
or said?
And lastly, and I don't mean tothrow too many questions at you
, we can go over them each bypiece, but if you met someone
who also wants to go track downtheir family whether it be Italy
, whether it be Slovenia,whether it be Morocco, it
doesn't matter what would youencourage them to do beforehand

(01:01:50):
and how would you encourage themA few things I wish I would
have done differently.

Speaker 4 (01:01:54):
Yeah, I wish I would have done differently.
Yeah, I wish I would have donemore preparation.
Okay, I wish I knew moreItalian.
The first time I went there tomeet my ancestors I guess I
didn't know I was going to meetthem, but I think being able to
have a basic understanding ofthe language, basic
communication Sure, I reallywish I would have done that of
the language, basiccommunication Sure, I really

(01:02:17):
wish I would have done that.
Yeah, or at least taken somelessons Now.
I take lessons now, but inhindsight, if I would have had
more ability to communicate,that would have been a lot
different of a trip.
And then, what were some otherthings that I would advise to
someone who's doing it?

Speaker 2 (01:02:35):
So let's say someone wants to go track down their
family.

Speaker 4 (01:02:39):
I would say that that's a good point, or a good
question.
I would say that do as muchresearch here as you can,
because there's probably so manyresources here that you can
exhaust before you go there andkind of figure it out, even if
you do the 23andMe orMyHeritagecom, whatever those
are and let's just say you getan address before you shoot over

(01:03:01):
there, definitely talk to allof your relatives beforehand and
, key tip, write this stuff down, because no one writes it down.
I haven't written it down.
So guess what, when I'm agrandparent, I'll be, you know,
maybe the only one with theknowledge of my great, great
grandparents, so documentingthat information to preserve it

(01:03:24):
for your posterity.
They will thank you for it.
Yeah, they will thank you forit.
Did you bring any gifts, uh, toyour relatives, to your
relatives?
No, I didn't bring any to myrelatives because you didn't
know.
You're gonna see him.
I heard that there was nonethere and it turns out that
there was a strainedrelationship and the person
who's there my relatives overhere don't consider that person

(01:03:45):
part of the family anymore.
Oh wow.
So yeah, there was a.
It was very interesting, so Ididn't bring a gift to rosado
when we went to my wife'shometown.
I mean, my wife is fantastic.
She brought a gift for everysingle.
Wow, that's another tip Getmarried before you go, cause
your wife will think of all thethings that you don't think of

(01:04:06):
that's so good.
I don't know how you've done itfor so many years.
Yeah, when it's time for myRomanian roots podcast episode.

Speaker 2 (01:04:11):
When it's time for my Romanian Roots podcast episode,
you will learn how I screwed uproyally.
Yeah, subscribe, no, no.

Speaker 3 (01:04:23):
I did.
It was pretty bad.
It's going to be fun though,but that's why I'm so excited to
talk.

Speaker 2 (01:04:28):
But I guess one thing I would say, and I think you'd
agree with me so shoot me downif you don't.
But trying to communicate withthese people in these small
towns maybe they don't even haveWhatsApp or email or cell phone
, maybe they don't speak a wordof English Like there's a chance
, you can do as much research asyou can, but you might hit a
ceiling where, like you justcan't.

(01:04:48):
You actually just have tophysically go, yeah, and just
kind of show up, absolutely, butthat might seem rude, no, but
just do it, yeah, because weonly have one life to live.
Just go.
You are 100% right.
You're going to be so gratefuland you're only going to regret
not going, absolutely.

Speaker 4 (01:05:02):
When I met the relative that I wasn't
anticipating, she took a coupleof hours out of her day just to
hang out with us, absolutely.
We walked down to the pia, likeI said, we got some Aperol's
and some gelato and she didn'thave to do that, you know, but
she did and it was so funny.
When I saw her I thought tomyself that looks like my cousin
Frankino.
Oh, my goodness, theresemblance was.

(01:05:25):
It was weird, it was very.
It was like I'm halfway acrossthe world, but this person looks
like my cousin.
Yeah, cause they're.
They are in a roundabout way,yeah, yeah looks like my cousin.

Speaker 2 (01:05:35):
Yeah, because they're .
They are in a roundabout way,yeah, yeah, if I could throw in
a quick another, another tip youknow, don't let your trip be
purposeful.
Go, try to track down familyabsolutely, but also don't don't
plan on staying with them for aweek.
Sure you know?
I tracked down family inromania and I stayed with them
for two nights, which was threedays, and I was so eager to

(01:05:57):
leave after the three days youhave no idea.
Yeah, and if it had been onemore night I think I would have
asked.
Just tried to like escape, yeah, yeah.
So, as cool as it is, justremember you're a guest, be
polite, bring gifts.
You're going to eat with them,you're going to go over stories.
Hopefully that's great.
Maybe they even have picturesto show you.

(01:06:18):
That's incredible.
But also don't expect thatthey're going to host you for
seven days.

Speaker 4 (01:06:22):
Yeah, yeah, you make me feel guilty because we do
that exact same exact thing inmy wife's family.
But yeah, no, I think that's.
I think that advice is spot on.
I really do.
I think that is.
I think you're speaking a lotof truth.
Right advice is spot on.

Speaker 2 (01:06:36):
I really do.
I think that is.
I think you're speaking a lotof truth, right, a lot of truth
there, nick, do you have anymore things to share about it
whatsoever?

Speaker 4 (01:06:48):
So much, so much.
But you know, I'll just saythat, italy, if I could, if I
could do one sales pitch forItaly, please, yeah, italy, I
don't care who you are or whatyour tie is to it, but it
captures you.
I mean, you fall in love withthe country.
Yeah, I think that if you'refrom Italy, you you already love
the country, but once you gothere, it's almost a divine

(01:07:09):
experience.
It's something about thecountry, the rich history, the
incredible culture, um, and ifyour roots are there, my
goodness, you will be captivatedby the place.
Yeah, I mean, like you guys saidit's, it's one of your top
sellers for, absolutely for avery good reason, for a very
good reason.
So yeah yeah, it's.

(01:07:31):
It's interesting that I wouldsay too, for any of your
listeners who who are Italian,my wife just got her Italian
citizenship, which is a very,very cool, yes, very cool.
It's a very, very arduous andexpensive process.
It's ironic because thepopulation of Italy is

(01:07:53):
decreasing, right, thereplacement rate is below what
it should, be Sure, but theymake being a citizen very
difficult.
What?

Speaker 3 (01:08:02):
kind of benefits does having an Italian citizenship
grant?

Speaker 4 (01:08:07):
I would say the biggest benefit, the biggest
realistic benefit, is probablyjust preserving your heritage.
Okay, but small things like you, you know easier access to
travel over there.
I mean, we, we could have gonethere during covet if we wanted
to.
Yeah, when everyone, everyonewas on lockdown and everyone was
shut down, we could havetraveled to italy, no problem,

(01:08:31):
stayed somewhere very remote.
That would have been a viableoption.

Speaker 3 (01:08:35):
It's so cool, it would have been so cool, we may
not have came back.

Speaker 4 (01:08:38):
If we did Easier travel, you could live there,
you could work there, you couldbuy property there, and the
citizenship is interesting.
So, if you're Italian, how itworks is you already have
citizenship?
Okay, because once you're anItalian, you're always an
italian, but what you have to dois prove your citizenship to

(01:09:01):
the country.
So, delena, even myself, theywould say I'm an italian citizen
.
But unless I can prove mycitizenship to the nation, right
, I won't, I won't be recognizedas a citizen.
Oh, interesting, okay.

Speaker 2 (01:09:17):
Gosh.
Now I want to go back, I know.

Speaker 3 (01:09:19):
We just got back.
What a great part of Italy.

Speaker 2 (01:09:22):
It's actually a year-round destination.
Yeah, that's a good point I dowant to stress.
I mean there are some touristyareas like Cinque Terre and the
Amalfi Coast, where, if youwould go there in January, all
right, maybe the restaurant,maybe the hotel is closed for
the season, for good reason,that's okay.
Like Bellagio, like Como area,these fancy hotels close from

(01:09:45):
November to March.
They're seasonal locations,exactly.
Yet cities like Rome, florence,venice, you can actually go
there.
The sheer fact that we went toSicily in february, I mean it
tells you something yeah, it's.

Speaker 3 (01:09:59):
It was so comfortable in february, 65 high yeah I
love that which was insanebecause all like the italians,
were wearing like winter coatsand parkas yeah, we were like
wearing shorts and short sleeveshirts and we're like, how are
you guys like not like dying ofheat exhaustion?

Speaker 4 (01:10:16):
yeah, yeah, it's tough traveling to italy in the
peak months, uh-huh, withoutbeing near the water.
Oh yeah, I bet it's.
Yeah, I mean, if you go inaugust, august is an is an
interesting time to go becausethey have their holiday for
august, so august is feast ofassumptions, august 15th, yep,
and so they took the month off,so getting a rental car tough.

Speaker 2 (01:10:38):
I've had Italian tour guides.
Tell me, brian, don't send yourclients to Italy in August.
Yeah, particularly that thirdweek.
Second and third week.
If it's August 31st, all right.
Yeah, sure.

Speaker 4 (01:10:50):
Sure.

Speaker 2 (01:10:50):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (01:10:53):
We went to Italy in August, my wife and I, for our
first trip, and we were going togo on a hike.
Yeah, it was like 11 am andthere was like an entrance to
the path and the lady who Iguess was manning the path she's
like you can't go.
We're like well, is it closed?
She goes no, it's too hot.
We're like thank you, but we'llbe fine.

(01:11:15):
She goes no, it's too hot.
We're like oh, thank you, butyou know we'll be fine.
She goes no, you're not going.
And good thing we didn't,because it was.
It's just, it's sweltering,swelter.

Speaker 3 (01:11:22):
Wow.

Speaker 4 (01:11:22):
July and August hottest months in Italy.

Speaker 2 (01:11:24):
Yeah, yeah Makes sense Well.
Will.
We have broken the cap, theseal on Italy.
I've been talking to you foryears do Italy, but I'm almost
intimidated, where do you start?
And it was like, well, we haveto start somewhere.
So, nick, I'm thrilled you gotto join us for our first Italian
episode.
We've broken the seal.
I'm ready to do Rome, florence,venice, amalfi Coast, lake Como

(01:11:48):
, sicily.
It's going to be exciting.
We're going to talk about howwe the food we ate, the wine we
drank, the driving we did, tourswe've done.
I mean I can't wait to continueItaly with you.

Speaker 3 (01:12:01):
Yeah, we have a lot in store, especially with Italy.
We're going to be breaking itdown into parts, because you
can't do this country in oneepisode.
We didn't want to, yeah, wedidn't want to.
So we're going to be talkingabout Sicily, probably next up,
and our experience on the islandand what that was like.
So stay tuned for thatSubscribe, if you haven't
already.
But, yeah, I think that'sreally it.

(01:12:23):
I mean, do you have anythingelse, nick?

Speaker 4 (01:12:25):
No, I just am honored and really grateful that you
guys had me on the show.
I'm a huge fan of the show.
If this is anyone's first timelistening, the shows are worth a
, are worth a re-listen.
I actually listened to yourguys's how travel agents plan
their travel multiple times andI'm not just saying that Wow, we
actually incorporated a fewthings that you guys suggested.

(01:12:47):
One of them being getting awhite hard case suitcase Wow,
One of the best decisions ever.
And my wife travels a lot.
When we were dating shetraveled 25 weeks out of the
year and she loved the tips thatyou guys had there Thrilled to
hear it.

Speaker 3 (01:13:04):
Thank you, that means a lot.
It means a lot, yeah, but thankyou guys for listening.
I think that's really it.
If you are interested in Italyand you need any help with it,
we are travel agents.
Shameless plug you can reachout to us at chematravel.
That's our website.
It's going to be linked in thedescription.
So if you need some help withItaly, feel free to reach out to
us.
If anything, we can bend yourear about some things and see if

(01:13:27):
we might be a good fit for you.
But until next episode, brian,do you have anything else for
our listeners?

Speaker 2 (01:13:33):
Ciao buongiorno, grazie mille.

Speaker 1 (01:13:36):
We're the Travel Agents.
That's the end of our show.
Make sure to comment andsubscribe before you go.
We're the Travel Agents.
Thanks for listening.
I'll book your trip and packyour bag and do some traveling.