La vita italiana

Domenico Di Salvo arrived on Ellis Island on September 5, 1907. He had left on the 23 rd of August on the Koenig Albert steamer, which had  been used only for a few years on the profitable Genoa-Naples-New York route. …

For a little town just off the A16 autostrada, east of Naples, Nola has some big claims to fame. Spartacus once conquered it, Hadrian tried and the first Roman Emperor Caesar Augustus died here. Nola also famously introduced bells to …

Usually, in Italy, you’d sense electricity in the air before the soccer World Cup begins: the country’s passion for calcio is well known, and when it comes to the national team, you can bet even the least likely among us …

As your eyes acclimatize to the soft ambient light, sacred statues begin to peek out from shaded alcoves. A single shaft of dazzling sunlight hits the floor, drawing your gaze up to the heavens. And the smell of incense assails …

We all know it: in Italy, we love bread! These very crunchy “bread sticks” were invented in Turin in 1679, by the Savoias’ personal baker, who created them appositely for king Vittorio Amedeo II, who couldn’t digest regular bread very …

The difference is tiny, yet it cannot be overlooked… “A sliced cookie, made with fine flour, sugar and egg whites:” this is the definition given by the Accademia della Crusca in 1691. Cantuccio, whose name comes from the word “canto,” …

Some decades have passed, but the memory of almond trees fields is still very much alive in my mind. Fields that filled our land with many, old trees, with their heady perfume and many colors. Indeed, the unmistakable scent coming …

Only naming them brings to mind mystery and divination, the magic aura of the unknown surrounds them: but are tarot cards really that difficult to decipher? They may be – for those who believe in such things – at least …

Even though present-day hospitals all around the world are basically centers providing medical assistance and rehabilitation of the sick, the forerunners to these institutions were originally conceived in a broader sense as “places of hospitality:” hence the similarity between the …

Sturdy yet light, with its typical red color it made the cupola of Firenze’s duomo unique in the world: this is the terracotta dell’Impruneta, a small village only a stone throw away from Tuscany’s capital. Jars, vases, tiles, shingles, all …