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A Carnevale Ogni Scherzo Vale
ItalyDuring Carnival, everything goes! The weeks leading up to Carnevale (today!) are filled with mischief. Carnevale marks the day before Ash Wednesday and has traditionally been an outlet for tension before 40 days of the restrictions during Lent. Children fill the piazzas on the weekends (parents in tow), and blast each other with silly string… (more)
Singing Olive Tree?
Castelnuovo di Farfa, LazioThere is absolutely no telling what you will find in the small towns of Italy. In the tiny village of Castelnuovo di Farfa, north of Rome in Lazio, there is the most sophisticated celebration of olive oil and olive trees in Italy. Along with the usual displays of centuries-old oil presses and containers, there is… (more)
Agriturismo
ItalyAgriturismo may sound like an opportunity to rise with the larks to milk cows whilst paying for the privilege, but in Italy agriturismo has been adapted by intrepid farmers and land owners who want to ensure that their guests enjoy a taste of their particular part of Italy. You could choose to stay at a… (more)
Buona Bruschetta!
Tuscany, ItalyFrom mid-October to the end of December everybody in Tuscany gets ready for their first bruschetta (pronounced “broo-SKET-ta“) of the season. Hard to find a simpler dish than an autumn bruschetta. At this time of the year you won’t find any fresh tomatoes or basil on it. Just the essentials: a slice of bread and… (more)
L’Arte della Bottega
Montottone, La MarcheThere are moments when traveling that are so rare I hesitate to breathe in too deeply for fear of breaking the spell. My day with Annamaria in her pottery studio was one of those times. Located in this lesser known region of Le Marche, La Bottega dei Vasai has been using traditional techniques here since… (more)
Bike Tour… to Civitavecchia
Civitavecchia, Lazio(…cont’d from here) About mid-way, there is an abandoned water tower, empty of water but full of trash. The skeleton of a rusty ladder leads to the center of the tank. The 10-meter climb was far less scary than the mystifying eeriness of the vacant and seemingly bottomless water tank. A glimpse into the tank… (more)
Bike Tour from Capranica to…
Capranica, LazioThe 52-km bike tour starts at Capranica in the hills and ends at Civitavecchia on the coast. The majority of the trail is an abandoned railway with the rails removed. There are eleven tunnels along the way, several of which are completely deprived of light, one of them as long as a mile. Aside from… (more)
Queen of the North
Trieste, Friuli-Venezia GiuliaNestled in the curve of the Istrian Peninsula on the northernmost shore of the Mediterranean Sea, Trieste is a city of grand palaces and fortresses. It became Roman during the 1st c. BC, but continued to use its pre-Roman name, Tegeste. From 1382 until 1918 Trieste was the most important port of the Hapsburg Monarchy.… (more)
Liutaio Stefanini
Bologna, Emilia-RomagnaStradivarius may still be the most famous name in violins – making Cremona a household word even in the United States – but Bologna’s luthier tradition is actually even older. There are approximately 300 professional liutai tucked away in workshops all over Italy, and one of them is proud of his local tradition, explaining that… (more)
Liguria Floods
Monterosso, LiguriaMany of you have asked for more information concerning the floods that hit Liguria last week (thanks again, Andi for yesterday’s note!). Your best bet at the moment is to follow the blogs and blog posts by people on the ground. These include: Christine is over at lifeinliguria.blogspot.com. She lives in Monterosso, and writes live… (more)
Cinque Terre Floods: Disaster Relief
LiguriaJust one week ago Vernazza and Monterosso of the Cinque Terre along with several lesser known villages were devastated by massive flooding and mudslides. The region had been experiencing tremendous rainfall but no one expected such destructive results. At the present time the railway has been cleared, the river has been re-directed to its original… (more)
Trekking the Abruzzi mountains – with religious fervor
Monte Viglio, Civitella Roveto, AbruzzoRacy Italian trekkers unveiled a virgin with unusual fervor. When the cord was cut festive blue and white helium-filled balloons tugged off her veil and sailed away with it. The bronze Madonna del Monte Viglio was revealed on her stone pedestal 2156 meters above sea level. From there she oversees the Liri River as the… (more)
Caught up in a Festa
Copertino, PugliaRoaming the beautiful towns of Salento is heartwarming. The people, the food, the land are all rich in beauty. One such town we crossed almost by accident, as our GPS led us down some very small back Olive grove roads and we being leery of the coarse, took off on our own ending in Copertino.… (more)
Sgraffito…
Casoli, TuscanyGraffiti as a work of art? Amid the complaints of tourists and locals alike that graffiti is an eyesore, there is one place where it is considered a treasure. Casoli is a small village carved into the side of a steep ravine in Northern Tuscany. Each year a contest is held in June for examples… (more)
To Pad or Not to Pad
ItalyAs a Catholic, churches take on special meaning for me. Not only are they beautifully ornate and a testament to lifetimes of dedicated workmanship, but they are also holy buildings. Each time I enter one, after marveling at the incredible artwork, I will sit down in a pew and say a few prayers. And in… (more)
Villa Valmarana ai Nani
Vicenza, VenetoDown a walking path from Palladio’s famous La Rotonda, just outside the city of Vicenza, is a jewel of a villa that although may not be as impressive as its better-known neighbor is nonetheless a delight. Villa Valmarana ai Nani (Villa of the Dwarfs) built by Antonio Muttoni and his son Francesco is actually three… (more)
Maremma National Park Cycling
Alberese, TuscanyDriving and cycling in Italy is not everybody’s cup of tea. Nevertheless most visitors venture for renting a car when visiting the Tuscan hinterland as public transport can often be worse than the chaotic driving! Talk about cycling the Tuscan hills, however, and most people will wonder whether you’re slightly insane…understandably! In a country lacking… (more)
More Positive…
Rome, ItalyThe Eternal City was once again in the spotlight this month as it played host to the International AIDS Society (IAS) Conference for 4 days at Rome’s Auditorium, July 17-20. The Geneva-based IAS hosts conferences around the world to unite doctors, researchers, and diagnostic companies to share advances in the fight against HIV and AIDS… (more)
The Mysteries of Monte Nerone
Apecchio, Le MarcheIn the 1980s a group of young men from the small town of Apecchio near the border of Umbria and Le Marche became fascinated with the huge, spiral-shaped fossils they found on Monte Nerone, the massif east of town. The locals had always believed they were petrified snakes, but the truth was more intriguing. Identified… (more)
The Brenta, Villas… and Branzino
Mira, VenetoThe northern Italian town of Vicenza has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage site yet it still is on the road less traveled for most Italian tourists unless you happen to be an architectural enthusiast. Then the city becomes your classroom and you become the pupil of Palladio. Andrea di Pietro della Gondola (aka Palladio)… (more)
Italian Wines Rule
ItalyNewsflash! Italy has surpassed France in production of wine, according to Coldiretti, the organization of Italian farmers (Confederazione Nazionale Coltivatori Diretti). What does this mean to the traveler who loves wine? Cantine, where you may taste and purchase wines, are numerous and many more labels are exporting abroad. Italian wines are classified at three levels:… (more)
The Craftsmanship of Cotto Tiles
San Vito di Narni, UmbriaTerra cotta tiles, so Italian! (An IN note on their production here.) Yet like many things Italian that seem so natural and relaxed, a lot of skill and attention to detail make a pleasing cotto surface. If you lay a new cotto floor, the next step is to get the floor finished by a skilled… (more)
Under Circe’s Spell
Parco Nazionale del Circeo, LazioIn Homer’s Odyssey, Ulysses sailed along the Italian coast from Sicily, where he encountered the Cyclops and the Sirens, up to Latina, where he almost fell under the spell of Circe, the sorceress. Who wouldn’t be tempted by the stunning view of the Mediterranean from Mount Circeo, which rises above the old Pontine Marshes? In… (more)
Look down… what do you see?
Rome, LazioHave you ever thought to climb all those steps and have a look from the top? What do you see? I am talking about the Spanish Steps! This beautiful piazza has been the destination point for centuries for pilgrims and foreigners who arrived in Rome from the north – Piazza del Popolo – before finding… (more)
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