Narrations, anecdotes, short stories, and cuisine, of a lesser known Italy
Day trips or more to Italian location (and sometimes our neighboring EU states). Exploring the cities and their art and cultures, plus food obviously.
In these times of viruses shall we think about summer destinations, just to keep our minds positive, knowing that summer is coming back and travel can resume. Soon I hope! I thought that the introduction of sunny Locorotondo is perfect during these not so cheerful times. Locorotondo—which is part of the “Most Beautiful Villages” list—is […]
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Welcome to Castell’Arquato beautiful medieval village and listed on the “Most Beautiful Villages in Italy” list! Castell’Arquato is strategically located on the first hills of the Val D’Arda, and it is perched along the hillside dominating the view. Just about thirty kilometers (or 18 miles), from Piacenza and a just a bit more from Parma. […]
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Piacenza and its Colors Not much is known about Piacenza, because the town is often overlooked in favor of the illustrious towns of the Emilia region (like Parma for example), yet it has always been in a strategic position, on the banks of the largest river in Italy, the link between Lombardy and Emilia Romagna […]
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Pordenone is a beautiful, modern, curious and fun city: it is also a beautiful historic center that you can walk on to be seduced by the elegance of the painted buildings and arcades, by the poetry of the frescoes that reveal the history of the city. Pordenone is also the city that gave birth to […]
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Off the Beaten Track In visiting Italy, travelers usually pick the “big four (or five)”; Rome, Venice, Florence, Naples, Milan. But there are many little-known towns and villages off the beaten track that are really worth a stop. Most of the times these little towns are just within a day trip from major cities. Novara […]
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The Masks Mystery, enigma, seduction is what is expressed with a mask that conceals one feature. But only a few know where masks come from and the troubled history of masks in Venice. The mask (the word mask comes from the Arabic “mascharà“, which means mockery, satire) has always been one of the characteristic and […]
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Rigoletto I just went to see Rigoletto, one of the most famous Italian operas and one of my favorites, one of the reasons—besides the beautiful arias—is that the plot is almost credible. There are a couple of operas by Giuseppe Verdi where the plot is really hard to take, while others are not dramatic enough, which […]
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