The spectacular Lame Rosse
The Lame Rosse ("Red Blades") are mountains and badlands in Marche, part of the Sibillini Mountains massif. Usually, travel guides describe the local landscape saying it looks like a place on Mars, Colorado's Grand Canyon, or some Saharan region. Those are indeed the closest comparisons. The red hue of the badlands and mountaintops, w...
WWII and the day Papa Vincenzo had to surrender his beloved radio
by Cookie Curci As a young Italian American, my childhood was filled with stories, stories that boasted colorful characters, lively dialogue, wonderful settings and, best of all, each story taught me a valuable lesson. Children's story books you say? No. Although I did my share of reading the fanciful illustrated fairy tales and...
Friends of FAI: Spreading Awareness of Italy’s Cultural Heritage in the U.S.
by Silvia Donati Italy has the largest number of UNESCO World Heritage sites - 51 - but that number doesn't even begin to quantify the immense (too immense to handle?) heritage of a country that, even in its most remote places, boasts some kind of historical or artistic treasure. The issue of how to safeguard Italy's - at times cr...
Here Are All the Roads That Lead to Rome
All road might not technically lead to Rome—but, if you happen to be in Europe, the majority of them do. In a new infographic, designers Philipp Schmitt, Benedikt Groß, and Raphael Reimann set out to answer the centuries-old question of: Do all roads actually lead to the Italian capital? To find the answer, the designers began by crun...
Venice’s Jewish ghetto is turning 500. Is it finally time to celebrate?
Campo del Ghetto Nuovo is the heart of Venice's Jewish ghetto, a quiet square just a few minutes' walk from the train station. It hosts the Jewish Museum, three ancient synagogues and the Jewish community's nursing home for the elderly. Not far from the square is a kosher hotel and a kosher restaurant. In the past two decades, Venice's ghe...
Limoncello – Drink of the Amalfi Coast
Almost synonymous with the Amalfi Coast is limoncello, the refreshing liqueur, aperitif, and digestivo made from the large lemons grown in Campania. While controversy exists regarding the origins of this popular drink, limoncello prevails as the drink of choice anywhere along the Amalfi Coast as well as Naples and Sorrento. Native Italians from Sor...
Meet Amaro: The Cocktail Ingredient You Need Now
My first book, Bitters: A Spirited History of a Classic Cure-All, came out in 2011, and whether it was a case of prescience or serendipity, its publication coincided with a bitters boom that was taking hold in bars across America. As with any popular resurgence, there's bound to be a backlash. Whether they were housemade blends or new releases...
Panorama d'Italia, un tour all'insegna della fiducia
"È un paese dove tutto funziona male, come si sa. È un paese dove regna il disordine, il cinismo, l'incompetenza, la confusione. E tuttavia, per le strade, si sente circolare l'intelligenza, come un vivido sangue": lo scriveva Natalia Gingzburg nel suo saggio "Le piccole virtù" pubblicato nel 1962, lo stesso anno in cui compariva in edicola la prim...
Imprese Italiane nel mondo - affrettarsi: scadenza entro il 23 agosto 2014 per riconoscimento crediti da pubblica amministrazione - nota Unioncamere
Il Ministero dell'economia e delle finanze ha chiesto ad Unioncamere di attivare la rete delle Camere di commercio sul territorio per informare e sensibilizzarte le imprese sulle opportunità oggi disponibili in materia di pagamenti dei debiti della Pubblica Amministrazione. Al riguardo, sottolinea una nota di Unioncamere, che è operativa u...
The Vatican Boldly Steps Into The Light
Fifteen years ago, I was fortunate enough to take a tour through the Vatican's Sistine Chapel and have the humbling experience of standing beneath Michelangelo's masterpiece, "The Creation of Adam". I could make out the figures of God and Adam all right, but the fresco lacked the 3-D effect other, less famous parts of the ceiling were able...
Winemaking on the Slopes of Sicily’s Volcano
VISITING FRANK Cornelissen 's winery means driving along a dangerously winding road that starts on the shores of the Mediterranean and ends high on the slopes of Mount Etna. Cornelissen, a wiry Belgian-born winemaker, has spent more than a decade in the volcano's northern valley, often sleeping in his cellar, always toiling in his vineyards and for...
Mura Aureliane, riemersi 80 metri di cinta durante i lavori per la metro C
A pochi passi dalla Basilica di San Giovanni, la cattedrale di Roma, un ritrovamento archeologico che gli addetti ai lavori giudicano eclatante: ottanta metri di Mura Aureliane mai viste, che si credevano perdute e che invece erano lì sotto, sotto l'attuale piano di calpestio, intatte, scoperte durante i lavori di scavo per la (futura) metro C. &n...
