francesca bezzone

Twelve months ago, during the first lockdown caused by Covid-19,  Italians rediscovered the pleasures of cooking. Don’t get me wrong, compared to other people in the world, we spend an awful lot of time in the kitchen, but sheltering at …

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 …

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 …

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 …

In Italy, Easter comes a close second in the list of most loved celebrations after, needless to say, Natale. Both rooted in religious tradition, they are the apotheosis of Italian spirituality, heritage and, of course, food.  Easter is a movable …

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 …

Not farfrom Reggio Calabria, deep into the beautiful Aspromonte National Park  and at the heart of the Griko-speaking area of the region (Griko is a dialect, vestige of the  old presence of the Greeks here), curious travelers will find one …

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 …

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 …