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

Children Travel Free in Italy

Just a quick post on this great news. Trenitalia, the Italian train company, offers summer discounts to travelers during July and August 2011. One of the best offers is free travels to all children under 12 that are accompanied by an adult (which should always be the case). This discount applies to groups from 2 to 5 people, so an adult with 4 kids is the only passenger to pay the fare. There are other great discounts during the same period, such as Freccia Rossa and Freccia Argento discounts (one million discounted tickets between July and August) are offered online by selecting this option. Moreover, on Saturdays two people travel at the price...

Read More