francesca bezzone

In the 21st century, protecting our homes means, more often than not, installing a top notch alarm system, one of those we regularly set off by mistake in the morning when, before our first coffee, we open the kitchen door …

Italians and Americans have plenty of things in common, but there is one they don’t share: Father’s Day.  To be truthful, it’s not only the US and Italy that celebrate their dads on different times of the year, because Father’s …

When I used to live in Liguria, there was a place I loved particularly. It wasn’t a beach, nor a promenade, as you may expect, perhaps, in a region known for its seaside beauty. It was a convent. In Loano, …

Minister of Culture and Heritage Dario Franceschini announced it just two weeks ago: Procida, one of the pearls of Campania, will be Italy’s Capital of Culture for the year 2022. The island was chosen among a selection of 10 candidates …

When I was  a teenager dreaming to travel to the US,  I admit Buffalo wasn’t on my list: admittedly, my knowledge of America was limited to what I saw on TV — Texas, California, New York City — and to …

While traveling across the pond remains, at least for the moment, still a dream, dreaming and planning aren’t forbidden and, certainly, they aren’t dangerous. On the contrary, busying our minds with something pleasant and oriented towards a virus-free future, may …

Powerful, iconic,  mysterious and  a tad unlucky, if you think the man he brought up as his own child ended up plotting against him and had him killed. This is Julius Caesar to us. The  man who led Rome to …

The Roman army is legendary: whether you think of Caesar’s Republican days or the greatness of the Empire, its strength, prowess, organization are not only known among classicists and military historians, but also among common people, used to the centurions …

The sartù di  riso  is one of Naples’ traditional dishes for Christmas: it’s a deliciously rich mix of rice, meat, cheeses and peas, baked and served in slices. As it often happens in our cuisine,  the  sartù has an interesting …

I was born and I grew up in one of the most picturesque corners of rural Italy. Up north, tucked away at the feet of the Alps, hills were my childhood home, mountains the first thing I’d see in the …