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Fountains of Italy

Roll Out the Barrel

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 [...]

Odysseus in Magna Grecia

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

Divine Mozzarella

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

Festa della Donna

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 [...]

Burning Down the Town?

A Fat Tuesday celebration in the hill town of Castignano.

Polenta sulla Spianatoia

Polentone, this rustic dish is fun to eat; everyone gathers round the table and eats directly from the spianatoia.

The Popularity of Presepi

One of Italy’s most enduring and endearing Christmas traditions is the presepio – from simple mangers to elaborate, functioning towns all done in honor of Jesus’ birth

The Mark of a Good Bread

Who has the best breads in Italy? The only DOP breads in the whole country are from Puglia and Basilicata.

All Roads Lead to Rome

The Romans built a system of roads to access the various parts of their empire, many are still in use today.

Hog Wild for Porchetta

The aroma of the roasting meat will lead you to the vendor selling mouth-watering porchetta!