As the Genovesi and the people of the Cinque Terre mourn their dead and shovel out the mud, the Torinesi keep a watchful eye on the Po, il Grande fiume, up 4.5…
“Center of the Adriatic, center of Italy, center of the heart,” reads a brochure at the Sirolo Tourist Office. Sirolo certainly has a place in our hearts. When we have a free…
More than anything, the island of Ustica evokes images of colors: bright intense colors, muted pastel colors. First of all the blues, the greens: The translucent acquamarine and emerald brilliance of the…
Arab influences are strong in Sicily, from the architecture to the sweets, from the underground Arab acqueducts of Palermo to the granulated-ice dessert, la granita. The Arabs brought their sherbert to Sicily,…
“A blood relative or not, he’s my relative. Pasquale’s everybody’s relative: he’s “il nonno di Ustica.” Nonno Pasquale’s blue eyes – the same color as Ustica’s sea – twinkle at friend Gaetano’s…
Fast food? Invented by the Palermitani centuries ago. Palermo’s streets have always teemed with the carts and kiosks of street vendors – the mensari – calling out their wares in Palmeritano dialect…
On a hot day, at the end of an Umbrian tour – after taking in the art and history of our medieval hilltown gems – I’ll often say to my tour guests,…
The Moto Gran Premio draws motorcycle buffs – and not only – from all over the world each year to the glorious Mugello valley in northern Tuscany. One of them is my…
Bolsena’s many treasures keep luring us back to this Latium lakeside town: the imposing fifteenth century gray tufo rock castle of the Monaldeschi (powerful Orvieto family) towering over the medieval town and…
Certamente, the brutality of the martyrdom of Bolsena’s Santa Cristina in the fourth century contrasts dramatically with the serene bucolic beauty of the Lake Bolsena area. The fifth century text of the…