Italy Panorama

Many visitors to Italy during the summer months comment on the lack of ice that is served with beverages. This especially noticeable to Americans who are used to large glasses of cold tea or soda filled to the top with ice cubes. In Italy you will be hard pressed to find this, if you want [...]

Santa Casa in Loreto, Marche is a jewel just off the A14 south of Ancona.

Pellegrino Artusi
While Italy’s history stretches back a few millennia, the peninsula as a nation is rather young, having only been unified in 1861.  The recent celebration of the 150th anniversary of unification was rather lackluster, but something the whole nation can get behind is the 100th anniversary of Artusi, the man whose cookbook brought the [...]

What is an agriturismo?
If rolling hills, silent nights, and starry skies are your idea of the perfect vacation location, then an agriturismo is the place for you.  While “agriturismo” means farm-stay, it doesn’t mean you have to work the fields or slave for your supper.  It means you get to stay in bed-and-breakfast accommodations on [...]

Basilicata
Rocco Gallicchio is a soft-spoken man.  His eyes flit embarrassedly when paid a compliment and his hands seem to have permanently taken on the dusty-white hue of the clay that they are immersed in daily.
Rocco is the remaining artisan of ceramics in a town once brimming with them.  He ardently carries on, hoping to revive [...]

Vino Sfuso
A unique store found in many Italian towns is the cantina for vino sfuso.  Literally translated as “loose wine,” they sell you their vintages by the liter, siphoned directly from the barrel into the bottle that you provide.  Many Italians keep five liter jugs –one for red and one for white wine – [...]

Palio delle Botti
While the famous Palio race of Siena pits neighborhoods against each other on horses, the Palio delle Botti in Corropoli (Abruzzo) gives a whole new meaning to the phrase, “roll out the barrel”.
A village tradition since the 1450s, the ten contrade (neighborhoods) roll out their strongest competitors to push a 150-pound barrel through [...]

Long before there was Rome, large parts of southern Italy were part of Magna Grecia.

Sublime cheeses and heavenly gelato made from buffalo milk are to be found in the shadow of ancient Greek temples

A Celebration of Women
Throughout Italy March 8 is generally celebrated as girls’ night out- a chance to ditch the dinner chores, escape the kids, and spend a few unhindered hours in compagnia delle amiche (in the company of girlfriends). International Woman’s Day is heralded with puffy yellow mimosa blossoms and special dinners just for the [...]