Traditions

I was utterly charmed by Palermo when I was there less than a week ago. I admit to have been somewhat wary of it last time I visited. It was a combination of the bumper-to-bumper traffic; the accommodation (which although …

Pasquetta, “Little Easter,” Easter Monday, is as much a holiday for Italians as Easter itself. If its liturgical significance is to commemorate the women who gathered at Christ’s tomb only to find it vacated, it has become a national picnic …

Tuscany.  If you’ve never been, I can guarantee you’ll be in awe of the beauty of its rolling vineyard filled hills, Cypress lined driveways and the golden glow that covers that land as the sun sets.  They say it is …

I am referring to Leonardo da Vinci ’s portrait of Ginevra de’ Benci, his only painting to be found in the Western hemisphere. It is one of the greatest glories of the National Gallery in Washington D.C., and was purchased …

Even if the sweets associated with Italian Easter—colomba, Sicilian marzipan lambs, yeast breads with colorfully dyed eggs baked into them, to name the most familiar—are a memory soon after the holiday, one cake that is emblematic of the season persists …

Even if the passion for java is common to most countries in the world, with some (I am looking at you, Finland) even consuming more of it per capita than Italy itself, the relationship we Italians have with our favourite …

On my first Easter in Rome in the Jubilee year of 2000, I joined the throngs jammed into the massive piazza of St. Peter’s basilica. Pope John Paul II, bent with age, extended Easter greetings in dozens of languages, including …

Every year, the little town Bova-Chora in the Reggio Calabria area celebrates Palms Sunday with a special event, which is pretty much unknown in the rest of the region. The tradition consists of bringing, during a procession, huge female statues sculptured …

When looking at a gondola, have you ever noticed that sinuous object supporting the gondolier’s oar? Well, neither had I, until I learned about it at the Venetian workshop of Piero Dri, one of only four remaining artisans in the …

In Italy, food means much more than nutrition, it is culture, heritage, tradition. Satisfying all senses at once in a voluptuous embrace, Italian food is impossible to resist. Its variety is legendary and its history rooted deep into that of …