Calabria: The Other Italy–Karen Haid

Calabria attracts visitors with its stunning landscape, spectacular ancient art and mouth-watering cuisine. Experience the heart of the Mediterranean with Karen Haid, author of Calabria: The Other Italy, recipient of the Premio Internazionale Calabria, as she highlights the beauties and wonders of this oft-neglected region of the Italian “boot” with its deep history blending the Mediterranean world.

Karen Haid will explore Calabria’s great diversity, from its broad-ranging history, art and culture to its bountiful agriculture and rich culinary traditions, all set in a land surrounded by five hundred miles of sparkling coastline and blessed with breathtaking panoramas, from Mediterranean to alpine. Calabria not only boasts many of Italy’s Borghi più belli, but inhabitants speak Albanian and a form of ancient Greek in several of said beautiful villages! Who knew that Italy owes its name to a late Iron Age Calabrian or that the bergamot orange truly flourishes only in this spot of the world or that the cleanest air in Europe is found within its mountains? This and more in an Italy way off the beaten path.

Karen Haid inherited her love of Italy and its traditions from her parents and studied the Italian language and culture at schools in Rome, Florence, Lucca, Sorrento, Taormina and Reggio Calabria, earning Dante Alighieri Society’s Advanced Certification of mother-tongue equivalency, as well as credentials to teach the Italian language and culture from Reggio Calabria’s University for Foreigners. Her first book Calabria: The Other Italy, grew out of a four-year immersion, living, teaching and traveling throughout this beautiful region. She continues her exploration of the bel paese with her My Italian Blog and in her second book Basilicata: Authentic Italy about the unassuming region in Italy’s “instep.” (More at karenhaid.com.)