La vita italiana

Ah, prosciutto – that lovely, pink hued, paper-thin sliced meat that has delighted Italy’s residents for at least 3,000 years. Perhaps not as romanticized as wine or olive oil (anyone for a cozy picnic in a pig pen or butcher …

She lies just south of Siena, this stark yet soft and wizened land. Her sensuously rolling landscape is ever-changing — breathtakingly alluring when bathed in the play of shadows and sunlight, moody and dark when clouds obscure the sky. Iconic …

Photography is an incredible versatile form of visual expression, yet there are instances when only painters, with their brushes, charcoals and colors, can truly capture the essence of a place or the soul of a person. There is something so …

Any trip to Southern Italy is never complete without browsing through dozens of ceramic stores from the Amalfi coast, to Puglia and throughout the islands. There is a saturation of maiolica artist studios, each with their own decorations and interpretations …

We carry our own history in our name: it often tells about our relatives, after whom we may be named, or about name trends in the year we were born. It speaks of our parents’ tastes and preferences, whether they …

String some lights, hang a wreath, decorate the tree, and deck the halls with every form of green and red imaginable – Christmas is nigh! But have you polished up your Urn of Fate – fattened your Fasson ox – …

2017 ended on a mournful note for the world of Italian cuisine, which lost one of its most beloved fathers, Gualtiero Marchesi, on Saint Stephen’s Day. The 87 year old succumbed to a bout of bronchitis that proved fatal to …

On the 7th of December, pizza Napoletana made it into the UNESCO Intangible Heritage List. A huge success for Italy, but also a huge success for the two million  people who supported its candidature throughout the world, many of them …

For millions of Catholics around the world, the Pope is a spiritual leader. For the Romans, he’s a fellow Roman, regardless of where he comes from. We Italians see the Pope as one of our own, used as we are …

Italy’s towers are an integral part of her appeal, yet comparatively few remain. At the height of its development, Lucca boasted 250 towers; today has only 3. The hilltop town of San Gimignano holds the honor of best representing what …