Traditions

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 …

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 …

Rarer than diamonds, more expensive than platinum and found only in a few secret Sardinian sea caves, seasilk is the stuff of legend. Its long silky filaments blaze like gold in sunlight and are gossamer light even when delicately woven …

This is Vitalia Tours and Celebrations’ invitation to each of its guests. Anyone that joins the Vitalia adventure signs on for an “experiential tour” of beautiful Italy, the opportunity to be fully immersed in Italian culture for the duration of …

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 …

My memories of the Fall are so stereotipically Italian they could go on a postcard. Those I cherish the most, of course, come from my childhood and are all about white truffles, wild mushrooms and vendemmia. Memories of handmade tajarin …

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 …

Francis Albert Sinatra was the only child of two Italian immigrants. His father was Anthony Sinatra, a New York fireman of Sicilian origin, and his mother was Natalie Garavanta, called by her middle name, Dolly and was well known for …

October is a special month for Italian-Americans, dedicated as it is to their heritage and history. October is also the month remembering the coming of Christopher Columbus to the New World and, regardless to one’s personal view on the event, …

Italy is becoming a country of old men and women. Or is it? True, Il Bel Paese does have the lowest natality rates of the continent, with only 7.8 children born every 1000 people, half of the rates in Ireland, …