La vita italiana

My neighbor is from Naples. We bonded over our personal obsession on a Spanish novela and our love for coffee: we’d invite each other for one several times a day. She has one of those fancy coffee machines with dozens …

Never as before the topic of immigration has been affecting the socio-political life of Europeans, and Italians in particular. However, considering the current situation a novelty would be a mistake, as the phenomenon has been part of the very history …

In a world like today’s, in which social media rule and, generally speaking, the virtual aspect of our relations is predominant over the traditional face-to-face meetings, I AM Books – Italian and Italian-American bookstore and cultural hub – brainchild of …

It has been almost 10 years since Luciano Pavarotti’s passing on September 6, 2007, but his legacy will live on forever. He has been one of the few opera singers to win crossover fame as a popular superstar. “I would like …

Islands: is there anything concocting more perfectly together thoughts of wilderness, mystery and beauty? An island is a world apart, secluded from the rest of humanity by an endless sky-like expanse of water. Land surrounded by water than looks like …

Pompeii is without a doubt one of the most exceptional archaeological sites in the world, probably the most relevant, for the wealth of findings and their very nature, related to the world of Imperial Rome. A lot of what we …

Whether you choose to drive through the heel of Italy, from Lecce to Otranto, or from the Ionian to the Adriatic coast, the breathtaking town of Poggiardo – delicately hued, simply yet uniquely elegant – is a pleasant stop for …

Ancient Romans and Greeks adored the human form, sculpting and painting it in all its nude glory. Renaissance artists who followed centuries later were captivated by the purity of the ideal ancient forms and revived classical values to fill contemporary …

Tourism is one of the main motors of Italian economy, but something has been going awry in the past few years. Senseless mass tourism hasn’t really done all that good to Italy’s small economy: our “botteghe” and small restaurants have …

I was having dinner a couple of weeks ago,  when my attention was caught by the news blabbing on tv: The Sun, one of Britain best-selling tabloids, had compiled a list of the world’s most dangerous cities and, lo and …