La vita italiana

A solitary woman dressed in dark regal hues, her fingers adorned with  topazes and opals,  a voice as deep and smooth as the softest of velvets. She sits in a room scented like opium and incense, twilight cloaking everything in …

Close your eyes and image Sicily in all its glory, some two thousand years ago.  A precious stone set in the crystal blue Mediterranean, she was the envy of every nation: the Greeks conquered it, longing to settle in such …

A masked parade on the waters of Venice’s canals. The Doge’s ball. Thousands of masks walking around the city. From the party on the Rio del Cannaregio to the parade in Piazza San Marco, where one can see the most …

Valle d’Aosta: “heaven for men, purgatory for women, hell for mules,” but certainly delicious for our palates! Among mountains and castles, up there, in the western-most corner of Italy, the smallest of regions, Valle d’Aosta, winks at us. Stern and …

Visiting the Fontana di Trevi, turning your back at it and throw a nickel into its waters, with the hope of coming back, one day, to Rome, the most magical place in the world. Of course, all tourists do it: Rome has …

Magical things happen on mountain peaks. Sometimes they can give birth to gods. The sublime, monumental and spectacular landscapes of Italy’s Dolomites have generated ancient myths and sacred narratives, as well as attracting modern climbers and a host of travelers …

This, more than any other before, is the year of Leonardo da Vinci, as we celebrate the 500th anniversary of his death, which took place in Amboise (France) on the 2nd of May 1519. Leonardo, then, was 67. He had …

Gladiators: the stars of the ancient Roman world: but it’s not gold all that glitters.  Before Pompeii and Hercolaneum were rediscovered by archaeologists in the 18th century, we knew relatively little about them and the way they lived, but today, …

Sardinia, cradle of history and special traditions, holds within also plenty of culinary secrets. Let’s ideally travel to the west of the island. We are in the enchanting area of Marmilla, a small region at the very edges of the …

Renting a car is easy enough. It’s all that comes afterwards that can create enough material for a good sit com! I still chuckle at the expression of horror on friends’ faces as I enthusiastically answer “Yes!!” when asked if I drive in …