Naples and the wines of Vesuvius
Half-past eight on a Sunday night in Naples and I was given a seat with a view. Across the room at the Ristorante Umberto, in the upscale Chaia neighbourhood, was a table of four consisting of an older couple and a middle-aged one. I presumed it was a family dinner of some kind. All but the elder gentleman at the table had finished what was on thei...
Norba, the city that wouldn’t surrender to Rome
Not many are familiar with the name Norba, and the history behind it. Once upon a time, Norba was a flourishing, wealthy Latin town, some 30 miles south of Rome, perched on the Lepini Mountains. Its origins, much like those of its larger neighbor, were steeped in myth: according to some, it was founded by the Cyclopes, giants with a single eye of H...
Great Foods of Italy: Risotto
Risotto is now one of Italy’s most appreciated dishes, but it is actually a quite recent culinary treat. Widely used in the East for millennia, rice was imported by the ancient Romans who used it as a medicine by drinking the cooking broth and throwing away the solid part; at the most, it was considered a bizarre food for the wealthy. Until the 14...
ITA Airways Launches the Summer Season in the American Market With Six Daily Flights Between the United States and Italy
At the Glasshouse Chelsea in New York, ITA Airways, the new Italian national carrier presented to representatives of the American and International press as well as business partners in the US market the new connections with the American hubs launched with the 2022 summer season. The Company aims at offering six daily flights between the United Sta...
The 10 most beautiful villages to visit in Umbria
Umbria is one of the smallest regions in Italy but at the same time one of the greenest. It sprinkles with a large number of small villages with characteristic charm. You probably have already heard of villages such as Assisi, Gubbio, Spello, Spoleto...places not to be missed during a visit to Umbria, but now widely known. Assisi alone attracts tho...
The 21 Best Frank Sinatra Quotes
Ol’ Blue Eyes. In many ways, Frank Sinatra was the musical voice of the first half of the 20th century in America. He was in movies, owned Vegas stages, and was your dad’s favorite (and likely your grandfather’s, too). But while we heard a lot from Sinatra in song—like the all-time classics, “My Way,” “Fly Me To The Moon” and “That’s Life”—what did...
The Best Food In Puglia
If you have been reading my blog for some time, you will know that while there are some ubiquitous dishes in Italian cuisine, food in Italy is actually very regional and in fact not only each region, but each city and even each village have their own special dishes – or their own specific (and usually secret) recipe to prepare a famous dish. The sa...
Caorle: Venice in miniature
Caorle is a small seaside resort in Veneto: the fine sand, clear waters and tourist attractions make this small seaside town a real Italian jewel. So, let’s see together how to spend your holidays in the best way possible! Caorle is a small city of Roman origins just an hour from Venice: a very popular tourist destination, today it retains the char...
Masters in Memoriam: Celebrating Rita Levi-Montalcini
Between today’s economic and political turmoil, tension between employees and employers and COVID-19 panic only just beginning to wane, it’s no surprise that the conversation about what makes a healthy work-life balance is rife with new ideas and controversial lifestyle ‘takes’. What seems to be missing, however, is anything that really addresses t...
Rome's Fiumicino airport to open major new boarding area with 23 gates
Rome's Leonardo da Vinci international airport, known as Fiumicino, is set to open a major new boarding area to travellers on 19 May. Airport management company Aeroporti di Roma (AdR) has invested €400 million in building Boarding Area A, a three-storey structure covering 37,000 sqm and linked to Terminal 1. Construction of the new boarding area,...
Taranta: from exorcisms to cultural icon
We most commonly call it pizzica, tarantella but it’s also known as taranta. It is the hypnotic, mesmerizing music of Salento, in Puglia, with varieties of its dramatic rhythm – and of the dance style that goes with it – popular also in other areas of our South, especially in Campania. While Italophiles and Italians all over the world are familiar...
Cycling-legend-turned-war-hero Gino Bartali
Life has peaks and valleys, happiness and sadness, good and evil. In the course of a storied career, Italian cycling legend Gino Bartali pedaled through countless highs and lows, both physical and emotional, battling more than his fair share of evil along the way. Gino was born to Torello and Giulia Sizzi Bartali in 1914 in Ponte a Ema, a small Tu...