Comfort Me With Potatoes: A Tale of Two Tuber Dishes in Italy
The potato is a vegetable that no one really associates with Italy but it features in two dishes that some consider comfort fo
Falling For Italy: Three Fun Activities to Put on Your Italy Itinerary
Enjoy the outdoors in Italy with these three “fall” activities.
On Being Lost in Italy
The footsteps behind us were worrisome. With each step that landed on the worn, slightly slick cobblestones, an equal but louder pair of footsteps resonated behind my husband and me as we tried to find our way back to our Venice hotel on a frigid November night. Not too far away, the warm, convivial sounds…
Help Tell the Story of Jewish Italy
CulturaItalia, a website operated by the Italian Culture Ministry, is seeking your help in its efforts to document the Jewish contributions to Italian society over the past 150 years. As one of its many initiatives to mark the anniversary of 150 years of Italian Unity, CulturaItalia has teamed up with with Judaica Europeana, a Europe-wide…
Seven Longobard Sites Newest Additions to UNESCO Heritage List
In 2011, UNESCO inscribed Italy’s newest World Heritage sites: The Longobards in Italy. Places of the Power (568-774 A.D.). Treated as one entity, these seven sites stretch from as far north as Castelseprio, Lombardy to as far south as Benevento in Campania. All seven of these sites represent, according to UNESCO, “the high achievement of…
Longer Hours for Rome’s Municipal Museums
In an initiative to allow locals and the throngs of summer tourists more time to enjoy Rome’s cultural riches, the City of Rome is keeping its municipal museums open from 8pm until 1am every Saturday through September 3. Which museums are municipal museums, you ask? They include the Capitoline Museums (pictured), the Ara Pacis Museum,…
Culinary Tour of Ravenna
Cooking school teacher and chef Angela Schiavina shows off the culinary riches of Ravenna in this “My City” video from The Guardian.
Five Fabulous Art Works in Rome You May Have Missed
Deciding on a favorite piece of art in Italy is similar to picking a favorite child: it’s an impossible task. On some days, when thinking about Italy’s great art works, a certain color combo will grab me or maybe a dark mood has me preferring chiaroscuro over lighter fare. At any rate, this month’s Italy…
How Does Venice Work?
Although Venice has been sinking into the Adriatic sea for centuries, visitors, as well as many residents, pay little mind to this fact other than keeping close watch on the acqua alta forecasts. Few of the millions of people that tread on Venice’s cobblestones and stroll over its storied canals know how the city manages to…
Venice’s Elite Beaches No Longer Off Limits
As of today, the Lido di Venezia, the summer playground of the Lion City’s elite since the 1900s, will be open to all who wish to visit its shores. In what is being called a “mini-revolution,” Venice’s Mayor Giorgio Orsoni has signed an ordinance that requires that the exclusive, cabana-lined beaches of the Lido be…
Some Suggestions for Driving in Italy
Disclaimer: This post was written before I had the chance to fully appreciate driving (and parking) in Italy. While the below information still applies, I have much more experience driving in Italy, inside cities like Rome and Florence, as well as on highways and the A-1 autostrada. Read my updated post about driving in Italy….
Ancient Aphrodite Sculpture Back in Sicily
On Tuesday, the Museo Archeologico di Morgantina, a small archeological museum in Aidone (Enna), Sicily, held an inauguration for the repatriation of an ancient sculpture of Aphrodite.
![Improve Your Italian with These Useful Hand Gestures [Video]](https://www.italofile.com/wp-content/uploads/video-italian-hand-gestures.jpg)
Improve Your Italian with These Useful Hand Gestures [Video]
These fun videos teaches you some basic hand gestures to complement your Italian language learning.
What Is There to Write About Italy That Hasn’t Been Written Before?
Why do I write about Italy? As I sit here, trying to dream up a good answer to my first assignment as part of the Italy Blogging Roundtable, a project I have entered into with Jessica of Italylogue, Alexandra of ArtTrav, Rebecca of Brigolante, and Gloria of At Home in Tuscany, I am returning from…
Cortili Aperti: Italy’s Annual Open Courtyards Event
For more than 20 years, ADSI (Associazione Dimore Storiche Italiane), aka the Historic Home Association of Italy, has been working in conjunction with the owners of the country’s estates and villas to bring to the public a program called Cortili Aperti, or “Open Courtyards.” The annual open courtyard event, also called Giornate ADSI, usually takes…
Best Places to Live in Italy: The Quality of Life Index 2010
Florence, Rome, Venice – you already know the names of the cities you must add to your Italy travel itinerary. But, do you know which cities in Italy are the best places to live? Each year, the Italian newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore publishes the Italy Quality of Life Survey, which calculates factors such as…
Naples 101: Brief Guide to Naples
Although Naples is the third-largest city in Italy, it is not as well known as its more popular neighbors to the north, like Rome, Florence, and Venice. That’s why we’ve brought in guest poster Gabriella Sannino to tell us the basics about her adopted hometown. Naples 101 As an Italian citizen, I love writing about…
How to Eat Fish in Venice
Eat fish in Venice…but don’t touch that lemon!