La vita italiana

“Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio? A nation turns its lonely eyes to you,” Simon and Garfunkel sang in their 1960s song Mrs. Robinson.  Baseball legend Joe DiMaggio was a cultural icon in the ’50s and ’60s, a time when …

For Christian Catholics, Holy Week is the most spiritually pregnant moment of the year, even more than Christmastime. But in Italy, this is a time resonant with meaning among people who don’t believe, too: Holy Week is a time of …

On the 14th of March 1891, 11 people were accused of the murder of the chief of police. They were acquitted, but it ended up in a pogrom: the victims were the children of the laborers deported to Louisiana to …

To be honest with you, I think Italians and Americans have plenty of things in common: big hearts and lovely smiles, to begin with, but  also an immense sense of hospitality and the ability to transform a guest into a …

It is often reported that kids today no longer go out to the streets to play with their friends and to engage in discovering novel adventures, as it was usual a few generations ago. No, today they sit down in …

Being a chef in the Renaissance wasn’t as you would imagine: restaurants as we know them today didn’t exist and the only people who could afford to pay someone to cook for them were kings, lords and Popes. And while …

It’s sunny in San Francisco on the Saturday afternoon before Memorial Day. Matteo comes to San Francisco from San Luis Obispo, before taking a flight to Chicago the next day. Matteo and I have been in touch for a few …

Five biplanes dive down into their targets. The head of the group noses up and makes a full loop, while the others fringe off while turning upside down, only to dive down once more. Their trajectories criss cross those of …

Our readers may remember we did tackle the subject before: there are homes for sale in Italy for just 1 euro. Mind, the news made it big in the US, so you probably didn’t only hear it from us. Let’s …

Though ancient, the aerie of Ferrazzano has survived unspoiled into the 21st century. The medieval village of Samnite origin also gave birth to actor Robert De Niro’s great grandparents, Giovanni Di Niro and Angelina Mercurio, who left in search of their US …