10/01/2019
Cristiano Ronaldo will open a hotel with a famous Italian chef in Calabria - the poor cousin of Italy but one of the most beautiful and untouched regions of Italy.
Not only has Cristiano moved from Real Madrid to the Italian giants Juventus but he will also open a hotel in Tropea, Calabria, by March 2019.
As reported by Ansa news agency, the hotel is part of the Pestana Cr7 group that has other facilities for high-end tourist accommodation in many other European countries and beyond.
The Portuguese champion, in partnership with the Pestana Group and the Proto Group of Alessandro Proto, has chosen to establish one of his new hotels on the coast of the "pearl of the Calabrian Tyrrhenian See" after making several other assessments.
A restaurant run by chef Carlo Cracco will also be operating inside the hotel.
This is really good news for the region of Calabria, the toe of the boot, the extreme south of Italy - as it is a very poor region and does not have the respect of most Northern Italians in general - other than for seaside holidays - and it is not very well-known to foreign tourists. However, the area offers a glimpse of a very different Italy, as well as memories of more illustrious times over two thousand years ago. Calabria was part of Magna Graecia, the site of rich and powerful Greek colonies, recorded by artefacts such as the famous Riace bronze statues, recovered from the sea and now in the Museo Nazionale of Reggio Calabria.
The area is mountainous and full of remote villages (with something of a history as nests of the local Mafia, the still-powerful 'Ndrangheta). The region's larger towns are mostly modern and unappealing, but the smaller towns and villages and rural areas have a lot of historic charm. The great cities of Magna Graecia have all but vanished: fighting and conquest, followed by malaria and earthquakes saw to their destruction. Among the region's remaining curiosities are Greek-speaking villages, and an Albanian community dating back five hundred years.
It's the seaside that attracts most of Calabria's summer visitors nowadays: the region has 780km of coast, facing onto two seas, the Tyrrhenian and the Ionian. The regional capital is Catanzaro.
Calabria is lapped by the splendid crystal blue Ionian and Tyrrhenian Seas and separated from Sicily by the Strait of Messina. The warm climate, the beautiful colours of the sea, rocky coasts that alternate with sandy beaches, a nature that is wild and mysterious, the strong and genuine flavours of local food and the vestiges of its ancient origins make Calabria a unique place that vacationers can enjoy in both winter and summer.
Any wish can be fulfilled. Those who love nature, its scents and mysteries, can explore the Calabrian hinterland, discovering pure and unpolluted sceneries, where huge green belts alternate with blue lakes and waterfalls.
On the other hand, those who prefer basking in the warm rays of the sun and dive into a crystal-clear sea can choose from the many charming localities along the long Tyrrhenian and Ionian coasts.
Instead those who prefer to learn about the region's past, Calabria, the cradle of Magna Graecia and land of ancient settlements, is full of splendid churches, monasteries, castles, palaces and towns where age-old traditions still survive.
Hopefully with the help of such well known names as Rinaldo, Calabria will become a great destination for tourists where they will see the real Italy of many decades ago and the Italian government will spend some money to make it more accessible to tourists by building a better public transport network.
