Sean Finelli, The Roman Guy
Italy is in Sean’s blood–literally. Sean has been passionate about his Italian ancestry since growing up outside of Philadelphia. After college, he moved to Rome where he became a tour guide before he started exploring his own ancestral roots by visiting the small town where his grandparents used to live. Now Sean helps other Italian-Americans (and even those with a taste for Italy) to connect with il bel paese through his tour company, The Roman Guy.
“You can bring home postcards, but you don’t have anything physical. You have to get that memory so it stays forever.”
Denise Hill, Visit Scotland
Approximately 25 million Americans claim Scottish ancestry, but not many could say what clan they come from. That’s where Visit Scotland comes in, encouraging travelers to track down their Scottish ancestry by researching what clan they’re a part of and capping it all off with a trip back home. Denise shares how and why rediscovering Scottish roots is truly a trip of a lifetime.
“We’ve just seen more and more people around the world looking to engage with their own ancestry, their own sense of belonging.”
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram
Dieter Gallus, Hotel Roter Hahn
It might be hard to imagine what traveling in the 14th Century was like, but Hotel Roter Hahn has been in the business since opening up in 1380. Though the property has been modernized just a tad since its Medieval roots, the hotel still offers a bit of a time warp in little Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Germany.
Photo courtesy of Hotel Roter Hahn’s Facebook page.
“Just when you enter town here in Rothenburg, you think you are in a fairytale. We keep this atmosphere, this ambiance also in the hotel.”
Mentioned on the Show
News
The Guardian: “The public’s fascination with ancestry has led to a boom in businesses specializing in DNA. The world’s consumer genetic testing market was worth $70m (£53m) in 2015, and is expected to rise to $340m (£261m) by 2022.”