La vita italiana

Ferrara: oh, the tragedy of having overlooked this beauty of an Italian city for so many years! But we’re in the good company of a whole lot of other folks, it seems, with their heads in the Italian sand. Thankfully, …

Venice at the height of its power conjures images of merchant traders, carnival masks and debauchery. But for all its decadence Venetian life was governed by a well-established democracy with strict standards of behavior that held society together. The State …

This is a day when you are not ashamed to smell like garlic: you’re, in fact, almost proud of it. This is the day when you are allowed to go to work without feeling embarrassed of your smell, dousing yourself …

Indeed, at the times of the Empire, all roads led to Rome, especially when you think the Romans are behind the creation of the first Italian and European communication arteries in history. Don’t we all know about the Via Aurelia, …

The event Tu Vuò fa’ il Napoletano – Facce da Pizza landed in the USA. The first of the three gatherings in support to the candidature of the Neapolitan pizza making art to UNESCO’s Intangible World Heritage, took place in …

Every city has them, the so-called “hidden gems.” The places rarely visited by tourists, and the ones often forgotten about by locals. Living in a historical city like Rome, you struggle to run out of hidden gem possibilities, yet it’s …

During the opening night of the 13th edition of Cinema Italian Style on November 16th, Italo-Americano interviewed Jonas Carpignano, director of A Ciambra. Jonas Carpignano’s movie, whose executive producer is Martin Scorsese, has been chosen to represent Italy in the …

Used since ancient times for cooking, cosmetics and curative properties, saffron is the wonderfully aromatic queen of spices. The Greeks used it to fight toothache whilst the Romans used it in fish sauce recipes. And since the 1200s Italians have …

Writing for a living is at once a curse and a blessing: a curse because, believe me, writer’s block is real and hits when you least expect it. A blessing because nothing can really beat sitting down with your thoughts, …

Water carries life within: nothing could be and exist without it. Water is also frightful, because of its power, which destroys and obliterates. A force and a blessing of nature, water is mirror of life and death, its very appearance …