Christmas in Italy

Christmas in Italy has already changed a lot during the years. Many years ago there was no Christmas tree tradition, and a nativity scene was the only thing that was done. For some reasons, maybe the pro-American feelings that undoubtedly pervade the whole country, or maybe because is an easier decoration to prepare, the tree has become one of the most poignant Christmas images in Italian peninsula. Nowadays in Italy you most often find a nativity scene besides a Christmas tree. Spending Christmas in Italy means to discover many traditions of the past, mostly tied to the countryside and the Catholic religion. These Holidays are paced by the...

Read More

Comacchio, The Small Venice

Comacchio is the most original and fascinating historical center of the mouth of the Po river. Its history is inextricably linked to the flourishing of activities such as fishing, lagoon fish breeding, processing of sugar cane and the production of salt, which is still well developed. Its hallmark is the Trepponti bridge in addition to other important monuments such as the San Cassiano cathedral, the Portico of the Capuchins and the ancient Sanctuary of Santa Maria in Aula Regia. Comacchio is also called the small Venice, because the city was founded on the canals of the mouth of Po River Park, famous for the Lidi of Comacchio, which are very...

Read More

Trieste Guide

Trieste is one of the most beautiful Italian cities. It is spectacularly placed in front of the sea, nestled foothills. The beautiful nineteenth century buildings that line the waterfront testify to a past of great maritime traffics with the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Trieste has always been, and still is, a frontier town, both culturally and geographically: Slovenia is not far from the Carso heights leading there, and from where the Bora wind sweeps the city. It is the capital of Friuli Venezia Giulia with about 210,000 inhabitants. Trieste is a fascinating and aristocratic city. It is the last city of northeast Italy, the extreme southern part...

Read More

Tuscan Villas

I love Italian villas. They are so charming and full of romance. I am sure you know what I am talking about. The clean and fresh Liberty style of the Twenties, the earlier Neoclassic with its sweeping heights protruding to the sky, the Renaissance with its pastel colors and Italian gardens, the Medieval period, with its brick and stone walls all have a great charm. But there is a kind of villas that I love the most. Perhaps it does not belong to any specific architectural style, or perhaps to the rural one, if such style exists. At any rate, I am talking about Tuscan villas, those rising in the middle of the luxuriant countryside on top of...

Read More

The Day After....Berlusconi

Traveling through a country does not only involve the often superficial activity of moving from place to place watching the world around you as if you were in a zoo. The real traveler, though short his visit may be, always tries to get to the ore of things, and however a hard job this is, it rewards her much in the end. Traveling through Italy, or any other country for that matter, also involves talking about its political happenings. Even more so if you are armchair traveling while reading my subjective and instinctively written articles. It is the right way of traveling as it adds a third dimension to your point of view, giving you the instruments...

Read More

All Saints Typical Italian Sweets

All Saints Day is celebrated on November 1 around the world the. It is a big celebration for Christianity, followed by November 2, the All Souls Day, a Christian event that traces its roots in ancient times. Talking about seasonal cooking, every Italian region has tied these two celebrations to the table. For the most part these are recipes based on seasonal produce such as pumpkin, chestnuts, cabbage, pork, vegetables - especially beans and peas and and dried fruit. In Liguria, the custom is to eat chicken for All Saints to live up to the proverb "All Saints without beak, Christmas will be poor", probably tied to the fact that if you didn't...

Read More

The Flood in Lunigiana and Cinque Terre

It is such a disastrous sight to see such a lovely place like Cinque Terre being damaged by a massive amount of mud, debris, and water. The little borough of Manarola got almost completely destroyed by the avalanche that slided down from the mountain into the sea. The characteristic colored houses now all lay lifeless and gray of mud. It will take time to bring them back to their life, but the dead ones, buried under meters of sludge, will never be brought back again. Aulla in Lunigiana is just one of the Tuscan cities to have been hit by the water wall. Each passing year I hear on the Italian news that such disasters could have been avoided....

Read More

The Riots of Rome and The Cloudburst

One might think that some sort of religious punishment hit Rome after so much violence struck the city during the "black-block" protests. The water that came down, a staggering 170 millimeters in just few minutes, was not absorbed by the sewage system, and washed away the memories of the riots altogether with the lives of two people. I do not believe in anything like a superior punisher, even because those that needed to be reprehended for their nonsensical acts were far away from Rome during the cloudburst. To tell you the truth, the cloudburst was quite manageable, and it resulted in much greater issues than it should have just because the...

Read More

Termoli in Molise: A Short Overview

Termoli, a well known tourist resort on the coast of Molise, is an industrialized city that continues to grow. At the same time it preserves many elements from the past, an important witness to a historical reality of great prestige. The town has numerous treasures belonging to an ancient past as the imposing Cathedral, the ancient village, dating from the Twelfth century and showcasing a Romanesque-Apulian style, and the Swabian castle of Frederick II. The watchtowers along the beach, recalling the ancient Saracen invasions were reconstructed according to their original design and this is now a typical meeting point to taste the delicious...

Read More

Anchovies to The Rescue: Bagna Caoda (or Cauda)

Today we are in Piedmont. It is a northern region of Italy, near Liguria and Lombardy, and one rich of many strong characteristics. Its distinctive dialect, rich of French influences, its important historic role, with Turin as the royal headquarters and the first capital of Italy, and its cuisine, so rich of surprisingly tasty dishes. Today's trip will let you discover one of the most famous dishes of Piedmont and northern Italy. I am talking about the Bagna Caoda (or Cauda), a very simple dish of peasant origins. It consists of a thick anchovy sauce placed in a casserole in the middle of the table and eaten with fresh vegetables or on bread...

Read More

Venice: Fun, Romantic, Inimitable

Elegant, precious, unique, fun, romantic: this is Venice, jewel of the Italian tourist scene. Here churches, palaces, ancient bridges, monuments and squares, tell the tale of great artistic and cultural vibrancy that marked and still marks the history of this city. The heart of Venice is the beautiful Piazza San Marco, the most elegant drawing room of Europe, surrounded by works of unquestionable value: the imposing bell tower and the Basilica with its five portals decorated with marble and mosaics anticipate the luxury and richness of the interiors. The Palazzo Ducale, symbol of the golden times of the Serenissima, as Venice used to be called,...

Read More

Sardinia Beaches near Nuoro

The coastal area of Ogliastra is located in the central-eastern part of Sardinia in the province of Nuoro. Departing from Olbia you can reach it driving along the scenic ss125 ss131 or the highway to Nuoro, built in 1997. Other access points are Tortoli airport, which connects the island to the main seasonally national and European airports, and the port of Arbatax. To the north of this area is the magnificent Sisine Coast, which with its nearly two thousand feet of cliffs is considered the highest in the Mediterranean. Impressive cliffs of bare stone suddenly appear, covered with luxuriant vegetation. Hidden and mysterious fractures and cracks...

Read More

The Thermal Waters of Ischia to Relax

Ischia is a small island of Campania, in southern Italy. It sits in the Gulf of Naples, and is very famous for its tremendous scenic impact, natural environment, clean waters, good fish and cooking, characteristic towns, and lastly, but most importantly, its thermal baths. The thermal waters of Ischia are well known and used since ancient times. The first Euboeans settlers in the Eighth century BC appreciated and used hot springs waters on the island. The Greeks used the thermal waters to restore the spirit and the body and as a remedy for healing the aftereffects of war wounds. They attributed supernatural powers to the waters and vapors that...

Read More

Puglia, Apulia, and the Fabulous Gargano Region

A set of rocky mountains on a promontory extends into the southern Adriatic sea, forms one of the four subregions of Apulia, the Gargano. The highest peak is Mount Calvo with its 1056 meters. The promontory is bordered by the Gulf of Manfredonia, Vieste, Peschici, Rodi Garganico to the south and the Adriatic Islands of Tremiti to the north. The Gargano, is occupied almost entirely by mountains and large plateaus, the most famous of all is the Umbra Forest. But the Gargano is not just mountains, indeed it is certainly best known for its nearly two hundred kilometers of coastline. The coast is made of beaches, pine forests, creeks, cliffs, dunes,...

Read More

The Charm of Tuscan Villas

I have recently traveled to Tuscany, and what stroke me most about it was the splendid yet simple architecture of some of its rural houses. My tour brought me in the provinces of Siena, Florence and Lucca. While the latter area hosts many upscale properties, especially near the town of Bagni di Lucca, I liked best the stone wall rural houses. Those sun-baked walls surrounded by quiet, lovingly tended to gardens with blossoming flowers and bees hopping from roses, to dandelions, to fluffy geraniums talked to me of old people sitting outside, working the fields, enjoying the simple things in life. How peaceful it made me feel! Nowadays the...

Read More

Italy Eco Friendly Aperitif: Sugheritivo

Since 2011 there is an interesting news regarding aperitifs in Italy. It is the sugheritivo! Aperitif is a very popular dolce-vita-style moment of the day in Italy. After a day at work, and before returning home for dinner, Italians often stop at bars, wineries, and cocktail bars to have a drink munching on something while entertaining into pleasant conversations with friends and coworkers. It is a very old tradition in Italy, so much that Crivel, an Italian composer and songwriter, in 1932 wrote the song "L'Ora del Campari", or "It's Time for Campari", the still nowadays very popular vermouth. The song states that after a tedious day at work...

Read More

Pictures of Italy

Some pictures of Italy: Rome, Sardinia, Florence, Tuscany, Sicily, Cremona, the Alps, Genoa, Urbino, Matera, Umbria, Monteriggioni are displayed below. You can play at recognizing these landmarks, or just admire their beauty. Enjoy! Click on them, they are quite large in full view. ...

Read More

The Last Glass of Wine

It does not have anything to do with Italy, or maybe, somehow, it does. Amy Winehouse died today, and this saddened me. I am not a big fan of her, and I personally could do without with all this Sixties revival. So why am I writing about this? Simply because this 27 years old girl died in a way that shows a life of suffering, lots of it. I am sure a lot of people die after suffering. I do not know them, but I knew Amy Winehouse because she was famous, and so do you. So I am writing about this. I have no idea why these kids become famous and then trash themselves to death. Kurt Cobain did the same, like others. Their solitude becomes amplified...

Read More

Transportation News in Italy

There are some nice and important news for those that will be moving around in Italy in the future. Whether you are coming to live in Italy (as I did), or are just visiting, you should be aware of them. Some are temporary changes for the summer, some other are transportation laws that are here to stay. Let's start with the summer news. If you are moving around inside Italy using a train, the Italian train authority decided to increase the number of fast train availability with 16 more trains each day. The Freccia Rossa, this is the name of the high velocity trains in Italy, will provide 16 more high speed connections throughout the territory...

Read More

Matera's Sassi

Matera is in Basilicata in the Southern part of Italy. It is famous for its cave-town with houses built in the stone walls of rocky hills. These houses are called Sassi (stones). When you get on the spot is like being in the most classic nativity scene, and observing the beautiful Paleolitic age houses you realize their hut-like appearance adds to the fascination of this unique setting. These houses are still inhabited, but have not always been famous. There was a time they were considered an infamous state of living symbol. The poorest people lived here, not even the faith in God had reached these places up to not long ago. Animals and people...

Read More

Godfather Movie Sets in Sicily

Godfather movie fans all over the world are always eager to see what the real places where the movies were shot look like. Whether you are a moviegoer, a Godfather trilogy fan or just saw the movies, this is going to be interesting. Let alone that Mafia is a totally different thing nowadays from what the movies portray (including the Sopranos). Some details still apply, but mostly that is a romantic portray of reality. I have no understanding for those fascinated with Mafia. Again, forget about movies. Feeling in constant instability cancels your right to live. No white dresses or "gessato" style. Just nitty-gritty, plain-old street muggers...

Read More

Sicilian Cassata

Looking for the Sicilian Cassata recipe? As I found on http://www.academiabarilla.com/italian-recipes/step-step-recipes/cassata-siciliana.aspx, among the many regional Italian recipes Cassata is a typical Sicilian dessert with a long history and flavorful. It is a medium difficulty recipe, guided step by step. In no time you can learn to prepare this crown jewel of Italy and Sicily. This dessert is more for winter days, during which you can achieve a better preparation of it. Moreover, it is a rich recipe that will give more nutrients during colder months. Grab a baking pan of 7 to 8 inches in size. Here the ingredients: 5 oz marzipan, 1 lb...

Read More

Touring Rome

If you are traveling to Rome then you need to take into account several aspects. The first thing is to plan right, then you'll have a fantastic time in what is the most amazing locations of the world. You must plan your means of transportation to get there, how long you want to stay, the hotel where to stay, what to visit, and other things. If you want a fantastic journey in Rome, you need a clever planning. How to get to Rome Rome can be reached many ways. You may fly in to Fiumicino or to Ciampino airports. Fiumicino is much better serviced though, and you will get a train directly into town. Cheaper flights get to Ciampino, which does have...

Read More

My Take on the Palio of Siena

The Palio of Siena on July 2 was run after a long day of heavy downpour that almost flooded the city and turned the Piazza del Campo into an enormous sludge field. So much water threatened to make it impossible for the Palio be run on that day. It would have been quite tragic for many tourists that usually book until the very day of the Palio and leave the day after. This did not happen and everyone could enjoy the Palio. In this edition, however, there was an event that cast a shadow over the event. It was something quite different from last year's accident that saw a French tourist killed by a piece of stone that detached from a terrace during...

Read More