La Alcaldesa comes home from first trip abroad to Italy with Jose “Pepe” Diaz

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Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava is one her way home, arriving Thursday evening — after a brief layover at JFK Airport in Queens — from a weeklong jaunt to Italy. It is her first international trade mission as mayor.

La Alcaldesa left last Thursday with Chairman Jose “Pepe” Diaz to promote bilateral trade, economic development, culture and tourism. Also on the trip: PortMiami Director Juan Kuryla, Maria Dreyfus-Ulvert, interim president of the International Trade Consortium, and Veronica Pizzorni Rossi, the mayor’s operations manager (and maybe translator?).

Unlike her predecessor, Levine Cava did not take her husband, who happens to be Italian-American. But she has been there at least four times already so maybe that’s why.

The Miami-Dade delegation visited the port cities of Viareggio, an important yachting hub, and Genoa, to promote cruising and tourism in Port Miami and build back the economy from the pandemic, bring more tourists, expand economic opportunities related to cruising and cargo, and promote shore power, said Rachel Johnson, the mayor’s spokeswoman.

“The trip will explore expanding other industries at the Port including ship-building and repair,” Johnson said, adding that the mayor paid for her own flight. The rest of the costs — hotel, transportation and in-country incidentals — come out of the PortMiami budget for the mayor, her staff member and the port director.

On Friday night, according to an itinerary provided by Johnson, the Miami-Dade officials went to a welcome dinner hosted by Viareggio Mayor Giorgio Del Ghingaro — who looks a little bit like Commissioner Rene Garcia — at the beautiful and posh Principino Eventi exhibition center.

On Saturday, they visited shipyards and met with Valter Alberici, Councilor for Maritime Policies. At night they went to some carnival themed event and had dinner with Tourism Councilor Alesssandro Meciani. All week, they visited shipyards and met with the CEOs and principals of major cruise and shipping companies.

On Monday, Levine-Cava and Diaz signed a Sister Cities agreement with Viareggio “to further solidify and strengthen the relationship between our communities and usher in a new era of cooperation and collaboration – more important than ever to our growth and future prosperity,” La Alcaldesa tweeted.

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On Tuesday, the Miami-Dade delegation was in Genoa — known as “the gateway to Europe” — where they took a COVID test and signed a sister seaport agreement between PortMiami ad the Western Ligurian Sea Port Authority to promote each other and collaborate on ventures.

They got a tour of the Fincantieri shipyard and a sneak peak of the anticipated Virgin Voyages Resilient Lady, expected to debut in 2022.

“Our partnership will further strengthen our port-to-port ties and help revitalize our economies as we emerge from the pandemic,” Levine-Cava said.

Later in the afternoon, they visited Palazzo Rolli, a UNESCO World Heritage site comprised of several streets and palaces in the center of the city.

On Wednesday, the mayor and Miami-Dade officials met with the president of the Regional Council of Tuscany and other local leaders to expand opportunities for trade, investment and cultural exchange, she said. Her schedule also shows a trip to Florence and a visit to their historic town hall, Palazzo Vecchio.

They also met with Deputy of Florence Alessia Bettini and Mayor Dario Nardella to discuss views on the environment and solid waste, Diaz told his followers on Facebook.

According to her itinerary, La Alcaldesa and her entourage are leaving bella Italia shortly after 11 a.m. and arrive in Miami around 7:30 p.m. There’s a six hour time difference, so she might be a little jet-lagged.

  Daniella Levine Cava, Jose “Pepe” Diaz