La vita italiana

It was 1953 when Credito Emiliano, a relatively small bank based in the region of Emilia Romagna, started taking wheels of Parmigiano Reggiano as a collateral for small-business loans. Italy had just walked out of a war that had left …

“Travelling is more than an action, it’s a feeling,” Mario Soldati said. It is on this idea that a new form of international tourism, dubbed “Cookooning” by the New York Times, is based. Cookooning is centered on the idea that …

Rome has the she-wolf. Sicily has the 3-legged Medusa. And Turin has il toro, the bull. Up in the northeast, however, the lagoon city of Venice chose an even more exotic, mythical icon to symbolize its power and stature. And …

On behalf of the Federated Italo-Americans, I want to thank you all for trying to preserve the second Monday in October as a celebration of Columbus Day, a day that many of us Italian-Americans observe to celebrate our heritage. Christopher …

Twenty years have passed since Angela Missoni took the helm of the family fashion house founded by her visionary parents Ottavio and Rosita, who debuted their revolutionary knitwear in 1953. The innovative and chic aesthetic of Missoni that made its …

The last gasps of summer play out over the Italian landscape – a land grateful for the sun’s energizing warmth, but oh-so-ready for fall’s cooler temps and bountiful harvests. Undulating hillsides lay decorated with purple-red grape clusters dripping jewel-like from …

All roads lead to Rome as the old saying goes – all 1,243 miles of road when we’re talking about the Via Francigena, the ancient byway connecting Canterbury to Rome. While the serious-minded, contemporary pellegrini (pilgrims) consider walking the full …

There are places where starting over thanks to the generosity of others is possible: people willing to give the opportunity to work, live and hope even after a tragedy as dramatic as the August 2016 Amatrice earthquake, a tragedy that …

Let’s say you find yourself in Florence on a fiery-hot summer afternoon, walking around the city’s narrow streets in a carefree manner. Let’s also say that, all of a sudden, you seem to notice the silhouette of a tiny, little …

Today most self-respecting homeowners install alarms and locks to protect their homes, but step back to the 16th century and the preference was for mascherone, grotesque masks installed to ward off evil. Rome’s Palazzo Zuccari is a prime example of …