In 2016, Alessandro Verratti and Matteo Murone finally returned home from Genova, crushed, thinking all hope was lost. ‘I didn’t want to do anything but play soccer,’ Alessandro says, ‘I couldn’t accept that it was over.’

So far, all of my past articles have been surprisingly easy to write. That may be because I’ve been writing about my own experience as part of the Italo-Australian youth, as well as gli italiani anziani, the elderly Italians (or Nonni) with whom most of us Italo-Australians grew up with. (Photo Courtesy of Natalie Di Pasquale)

“Are you Italian?” “Yes, but I was born and raised in Australia.” “Well, you’re Australian then.”

Homemade lunch at Nonna’s, Italian school on Saturdays, traditions of sauce making season, salami and olive. These are a few of the precious memories each founder and member of VITA share and hold dearly. Although each born in Australia, VITA representatives have Italian background.

Buon appetito, buongiorno, grazie, nonna, nonno, Pasqua, Natale… If you are born into an Italian family in Australia, these words become part of your vocabulary. They were so imbedded in mine as a child, I didn’t realise there was an English equivalent.

The Roman forum was a public space: the key political, ritual and civic center. If I were to compare it to a modern day equivalent in Melbourne, then Cafè Brunetti in Carlton meets the criteria. It is my third year working at Brunetti and it has been more than a part time job while attending university.