The Sweet Way the Bryant's are Honoring Kobe on Their Latest Vacation
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If there's one thing that sets the Bryant family apart from others is their love and devotion to each other.
This unwavering philosophy continues to shine during the family's latest trip to Italy, where Vanessa Bryant and her three daughters, Natalia, Bianka and Capri visited Reggio Calabria, a city in southern Italy where their late husband and father, Kobe Bryant, lived during his childhood.
Vanessa shared several photos of Capri and Bianka strolling through the seaside town as part of their yearly European trip.
Vanessa Braynt/Instagram
"Visited Reggio Calabria," Bryant wrote on the post. "A city my husband lived in when he was about 8 years old. ❤️"
According to NBC News, the late NBA star moved to Italy in 1984 with his parents when he was 6 years old when his father joined the country's basketball league. Two years later, they moved to Reggio Calabria, then Pistoia in Tuscany and finally Reggio Emilia.
Sports journalist Andrea Barocci, who authored An Italian Named Kobe, said "Aged 6, Kobe would often jump off the balcony of his parents' house, cross a busy road and run to a church playground, where he would spend hours throwing a ball in the basket."
Vanessa Braynt/Instagram
Adding in an interview, "It became clear very early on that he knew he was the best."
After his passing in a tragic accident in January 2020, alongside his daughter Gianna and seven other passengers, the mayor of Reggio Emilia, Luca Vecchi, honored his memory on Facebook.
"Kobe Bryant grew up here and was, for all of us, a 'Reggiano,'" Vecchi wrote.
The Italian Basketball Federation also mourned his passing for a week, with every basketball game in every category observing a minute of silence in his honor.
Vanessa Braynt/Instagram
"It's a small but heartfelt and deserved gesture to honor the life and memory of Kobe Bryant, an absolute champion who always had Italy in his heart," the Italian Basketball Federation shared. "Kobe was and will always be linked to our country."
During a 2011 interview on the popular Italian radio show, Radio Deejay, Kobe spoke of his love for the Mediterranean country in perfect Italian, "I grew up here in Italy, it's a country that will always be close to my heart. Always."
