There’s something about the southern part of almost any country that rouses mixed feelings in people. An overweening sense of pride in those who live there seems to be set against a particular kind of bias from outsiders. I have friends who live in Italy who talk about a common phrase uttered by those who live in and around the northern city of Milan. The phrase is, “There’s no life south of the Po.”

In terms of geography, the Po River runs roughly west to east across northern Italy. At its closest point, it streams less than 50 miles just south of Milan – meaning that the Po sits some nearly 800 miles from Palizzi, Italy’s southernmost city.