mariella radaelli

In an earlier period, Western medieval literary texts were anonymous. Stories and tales were not meant to have an author; they would circulate anonymously. Even centuries later, several writers had their books published under a pen name or still anonymously. …

Nothing is more classic Italian than a plate of spaghetti with tomato sauce sprinkled with parmesan cheese. It is the premier Italian dish, especially in the eyes of foreigners who don’t know many other Italian recipes.  In general, pasta is …

It is so blazing hot in Italy this August — an anticyclone dubbed Lucifer swept across the country — that you want to lie forever on the magic, wild beaches of Maratea, the so-called “Pearl of the Tyrrhenian Sea.” In …

The town of Correggio is like a woman that wraps you around her sensuous waist. She is soft and jovial, filled with feverish dreams. But she is so changeable. Her mood embodies the chiaroscuro of a Renaissance canvas as light and …

In the age of the Baroque, the archbishop of Milan Federico Borromeo (1564-1631) would send burly yet educated men to sea on a hunt for manuscripts.  Cardinal Federico was a younger cousin of the zealous prelate Carlo Borromeo, the eventual …

Serene and atmospheric, the hill town of Valguarnera Caropepe sits at 629 meters above sea level on the eastern slopes of the Erei mountains in the province of Enna. The surrounding hills face the giant volcano Mount Etna, the ocean …

You can hike for miles in the mountainous Sila plateau through dark woods of pine trees dripping with lichen and moss. With the help of a local guide, you can watch for wolves, boars, and deer as you follow streams, …

At age 9, Silvio Falato, now a retired professor of classics from Guardia Sanframondi, wrote an essay on his village that sounds like a love letter. The intro says: “There, it clings to the ruins of an ancient castle almost …

The Vogue Italia April 2020 cover still sticks in my mind. It didn’t show a beautifully photographed model or models. It was a white canvas featuring nothing, yet a front cover suspended in time and space that could tell more …

Last May, a super talented Italian designer created looks for Jennifer Lopez on the occasion of The Global Citizen VAX Live Concert in Inglewood, California. He sketched a Cavalli minidress for her performance. J. Lo was so divine in that custom-made …