Traditions

After seeing La Guardia Svizzera, or in English, the Swiss Guard, standing at attention at the gates of the Holy City, donned with their halberds, their chest armor, their blue, yellow and red striped uniforms, and helmets with red fur …

Truffle lovers the world over look forward to truffle time in Italy. The Piedmont town of Alba is renown for its celebration which has been held annually since 1929. Often referred to as Italy’s truffle capital, Alba is also home …

Italian cuisine is… first and foremost, quality. The best. Beauty. Richness and good-ness. Breeders, farmers, prod-ucers. Social responsibility. Our culture. History. Tradition. Art. Being together. Hospitality and well-being. Emotion. Love, sensitivity and memory.  Biodiversity. The symbol of Italy. Everything that …

As if the reputation of Poveglia Island were not terrifying enough to satisfy anyone’s taste for the macabre, in 1922 government authorities had managed to add to the island’s ominous character and reputation by building an asylum for the mentally …

Christmas time. Children love it: as the days go by and the 25th approaches they can hardly wait to see what Santa is going to leave underneath the tree. Most adults, whether they like to admit it or not, are …

Fiat 500 Restoration: You, Me and Sicily 

Of the many islands surrounding Venice, there is one located to the south, quite close to the shoreline of Lido. It is the island of Poveglia, referred to by some as “the island of terror.” Venetians prefer not to discuss …

Hidden away in a tiny little workshop at the bottom of a walled garden sits the last artisan battiloro in Europe. Beating out a rhythmic golden heartbeat, his hand-held hammer pummels a pack of gold nuggets into gossamer-thin gold leaf …

When visiting Rome, I like staying close to the Vatican: there’s something magic in seeing “il cupolone” first thing in the morning that I wouldn’t change for anything. There’s something else I regularly do when there, I always cross the …

The drive in, a milkshake, James Dean wearing his jeans: is there anything more quintessentially “americana” than this? As pleasant as it may be, we don’t need to take a trip down memory lane to realize how intertwined with American …