Traditions

What is Italy known for?  Among its many charming attributes, Italy is known for its cuisine. Who doesn’t think of Italian food and fondly reminisce about some delicious, lovingly created dishes? Most Italians can truthfully say their mother’s and grandmother’s …

Messina in north eastern Sicily is a sadly forgotten capital of the Italian island. Cruise ships arrive, and their passengers are whisked off to nearby tourist Mecca Taormina, while other tours leave it off their itinerary completely. This city, with its naturally formed …

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 …

Art, in all its forms and shapes, is the most immediate and beautiful of all ways of communicating: a painting, a song, a piece of poetry, a palace or a church, they all tell a story. A story of emotions …

Around the first half of the 19th century, during the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, Lent days were called giorni di scammaro and people had to eat quite frugally, avoiding meat and rich foods. It is in this period that …

The low, deliberate beat of the drums comes first, distantly reverberating off the high stone walls like a pulsating heartbeat. Louder and louder they thump as the procession approaches. Finally, they turn the corner with a flourish of flamboyant flags, …

Italy is always associated with pasta so I thought I’d write about one of it’s most celebrated pasta dishes which is a traditional Roman recipe, and often made incorrectly around the world.  I’ll confess that for many years I was …

Italy is all beautiful, but it’s undeniable that outside national borders some regions are more popular than others: topping the world’s preferences are usually Tuscany, Sicily and Umbria, followed by the regions where our most famous cities are: Campania for …

Maybe it is all due to fairy tales, but weddings, big and fat or small and thin, are always in fashion. A wedding in Italy is considered such a beautiful event that when someone asks you to do something you …

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 …