Travel - 29 Gennaio 2017 Memorable Moments while Traveling in Italy Italy is full of surprises that generally encompass great beauty. Here are some unforgettable moments that we've wandered into while traveling in Italy, from a tiny medieval town in Emilia Romagna, to Florence and Western Sicily.
English - 20 Gennaio 2017 Holy Cow! The Holy See Rents to McDonald’s In the Vatican-owned building where Ratzinger lived, the new McDonald's is open 7 days a week. The rent is the equivalent of 6,500 Big Macs, per month. The company claims that their restaurants are designed with respect to the historical environment. His Holiness has made no statement.
Lifestyles - 3 Gennaio 2017 Epiphany in Italy: Befana Is the Real Santa January 6 is a national holiday in Italy commemorating the 12th day of Christmas, when the Three Kings or Wise Men arrived at the manger bearing gifts for baby Jesus. It's called Epiphany and it's when Italians celebrate the tradition of La Befana with gifts and festivals.
Lifestyles - 30 Dicembre 2016 Resolutions for a Quasi-Expat: Cultivate Your Garden Remembering a New Year's Eve in Italy with an international group of guests reminds us of the joys of knowing our neighbors --across the yard, across borders, hopefully, among nations. When abroad, I am proud to represent a country whose strength derives from the mixed heritage of its citizens.
English - 18 Dicembre 2016 That’s Entertainment / Part II The leisure-time options in small town Italy are rich and truly entertaining. With a healthy sense of humor and joy in tradition, there's plenty to do if you just look around you. There is the annual Castagnata, the Saint's Day, the Polentata, and much more.
Lifestyles - 7 Novembre 2016 Palpable Fear: Living with the Earthquake We were half awake at about 7:45 on Sunday morning when we heard a loud, deep rumbling. The house began to shake violently. The noise and shaking lasted about 30 seconds, which of course felt much longer. We quickly got dressed and made our way downstairs. Our house was still whole.
Lifestyles - 23 Ottobre 2016 That’s Entertainment With centuries of traditional culture behind them, Italians have a gift for finding totally satisfying entertainment in simple pleasures, or just in the act of enjoying each other's company. Move over, Netflix!
Lifestyles - 9 Ottobre 2016 Unfathomable Italy As foreigners visiting Italy every year, we find there are so many cultural idioms we will never understand, like the rules about when to sit at the dinner table or the no cappuccino after 11am unwritten law. But there are also so many traditions and habits that we find entirely enchanting.
Lifestyles - 25 Settembre 2016 Fish Juice, Please! The Struggles of Learning Italian Despite coming to Italy together as a family for some 13 years now, our language skills have improved very little. Our fumbling mistakes are a source of total hilarity to us. Italians, though, are tolerant and encouraging when foreigners clumsily try to speak their beautiful language
Lifestyles - 31 Luglio 2016 A Day in the Life: Coming to You Live from Le Marche The time has come for us to get online. After a day in the quietness of the town, it's good to be reconnected with our imperfect world. Our daughter will go to college and we'll be able to see her face across the ocean when we're in Le Marche. Change comes to our house -- life goes on.