My beloved Italy.

[Spino]

Do be aware, however, that the extreme north of Italy (Bolzano, and most of the rural regions where the mountains start) is more German than Italian. Ironic as it is, the actual Italians (as in Italian speaking, with Italian speaking heritage) there are the minority, and seen as inferior. To get the real Italian culture, you need to venture to the places from Milan southwards, bearing in mind that everywhere south of Rome is known as THE South to Italians (and they are inferior to everyone else, descending in status the further south you get until you reach the Sicilians - who I am reliably informed "are not Italian" hmmm - Africans maybe?).

Sicilians have always been considered 'Sicilian' or non-Italian by Italians since... well, since anyone can remember. Italians don't think of them as Africans (some perhaps think of them as being North Africanized to a degree) but the average Italian seems to understand that Sicily was conquered and colonized by the Greeks, Carthaginians, Romans, Moors (Berbers), Arabs, Normans, etc. Genetically speaking I believe the native peoples that lived in Sicily before the previously mentioned peoples arrived were their own distinct ethnicity but it's safe to say they probably had more in common with mainland Italians than anyone else.

Keep in mind that there are still Italians who live in denial about all of southern Italy having strong Greek roots (Magna Graecia... Naples = Neapolis, Taranto = Tarentum, Capua, Croton, Bari, etc.).

On a humorous note being of Greek & Italian ancestry I've run into more Italians who dismiss the 50/50 split as being a mere technicality, having heard "Una faccia una razza!" more times than I care to count. On the flip side I've received more dismissals from Greeks who disavow any such genetic relation to Italians... lol!