This year’s Biennale di Venezia,  which lasts until the month of November, shows animpressive lineup of diverse and dynamic women artists, reflecting a profound acknowledgment of the pivotal roles women have played in shaping the art world.  Curated by Adriano Pedrosa under the theme Stranieri Ovunque,  Foreigners Everywhere, la Biennale emphasizes...

More than 20 Vanderbilt engineering students recently visited Italy during their spring break to not only see some iconic structures, but also learn the engineering behind the Pantheon and Venice’s sophisticated floodgates so they could apply that knowledge to future engineering projects of their own. The trip was part of an inaugural class taught...

Five-year-olds are an unpredictable bunch. We were hurtling across Venice lagoon in a water taxi when suddenly the engine cut out with a loud bang. While I was scanning all directions trying to decide which offered the best chance of not drowning, my particular five-year-old was giggling and loving every second. The engine re-started, we shot off a...

When: Wednesday, May 29 - 6:00pm - What: A lecture about Venice, its culture, history and ecological problems
 of today. Presented by Prof. Elisabeth Carroll - Where: Museo Italo Americano, Fort Mason, Building C - 2 Marina Blvd, San Francisco, CA 94123 Dr. Elizabeth Carroll will share her insider's perspective of Venice as a former resident of la...

Venice is a city that has fascinated many for centuries, a city completely man made, transformed into one of the most beautiful in Italy. Visitors come to wonder at the beautiful architecture and churches, to delight in a little spritz and cicchetti, to gaze at the stunning views over the Adriatic and perhaps take part in a tour of Venice to see th...

John Steinbeck once observed, “People do not take journeys; it’s the journeys that take people.”  Marco Polo embodies “The Journey”—a life-altering path with an unknown destination, personifying initiative, courage, and encounter. In the year 1271, a young Marco Polo embarked on what would become a legendary expedition to China, joining his father...

But how sweet Venice is! The knowledge of a place also passes through its gastronomic culture, you know. And when we talk about Venetian cuisine we always think of salty dishes, wines, often forgetting about pastry. But the Venetian pastry shop is full of preparations and products that come from very ancient traditions, some even dating back to the...

The key speaker at the Foreign Press Association’s first official press conference in its new home was Luigi Brugnaro, the Mayor of Venice. He came to explain to the world the new tax for tourists visiting La Serenissima “because, yes, Venice is in Italy, but she belongs to the world.” The plan to charge an entrance fee to day-trippers was first pr...

The delights of Italy are universal: clinking Negronis in Rome, spinning a Riva through Venice’s Grand Canal, island-hopping off the shores of Sicily, all interlaced with hefty doses of wine, mozzarella, and art. It’s this limitless allure that has travelers from all over the world descend on the boot with near insatiable fervency, and often all at...

The history of mirrors dates back thousands of years, when our ancestors would use natural bodies of water, like lakes and ponds, as the first reflective surfaces, intrigued by their own images seen in these transient reflections. Curiosity led to experimentation with polished stones and metals, such as obsidian, copper, and bronze, to create rudim...