All Around Italy

Imagine a town that is big enough to be exciting, yet small enough to feel cozy. Imagine friendly locals, children playing in the narrow streets, and the sweet smell of freshly baked brioches wafting through your window in the morning. …

What are you going to do today?” asked Sabrina, the owner of Ripa Medici, the adorable two-room B&B I was staying at for a week in Orvieto.     Technically in Umbria but off to the side a bit, wedged …

Who can resist Italy in September? In the mood for long city saunters, shopping and sidewalk cafés? How about learning experiences that include actually participating in grape and olive harvests? What about taking scenic bike or Vespa tours through rolling …

Fall is the perfect time to sip your way through Italy. Many choices are available from week-long tours to day-trip jaunts from Florence, Milan or Rome out into the surrounding wine regions.   For example, if you want to spend …

These are the first few words of a popular Italian nursery rhyme about the Befana, the old woman who delivers gifts to children around Italy on the night between the 5th and the 6th of January.   Old and wrinkly, …

In a few days towns all over Italy will start celebrating Carnevale, a festive and somewhat chaotic holiday popular in most Catholic countries. The festivity takes place every year in the winter, sometimes in February, sometimes in March, right before Lent. …

Ancient walls, Renaissance culture galore and a local cuisine that is literally mouth-watering: Urbino, a small Medieval town in the Marche region, is a lovely spot for a day trip or, even better, for a weekend getaway.   Halfway between …

Okay, there are so many reasons to visit Florence, Italy that you may already have plans to visit this year. If not, you may seriously want to consider a 2014 visit, because with all the stir surrounding Dan Brown’s last …

About twenty miles east of Palermo sits the beautiful jewel of Trabia by the sea, with its beaches and safe little harbor as though held in the bend of the arm of the coast. Trabia was and still is the …

There aren’t many towns in Northern Italy that hold more charm than the small city of Mantua, Mantova in Italian, one of Lombardy’s hidden gems. Overlooked by most tourists en route from Milan to Venice, Mantua charms its visitors with …