Who doesn't enjoy a ghost story over the Christmas period? If you’re looking for an Italian-themed spooky read then The Eleventh Gate by Rossella Cirigliano would make a great choice over the festivities. The action takes place in modern day Rome at a fictive museum in Porta Gaia, one of the many …
Discovering the Aurelian Walls in Rome
The Eleventh Gate by Rossella Cirigliano After almost two decades of living in Rome, I’m almost embarrassed to admit that I knew very little about the history of the Aurelian Walls (or mura aureliane in Italian), the old Roman defensive walls that have surrounded the city for almost two thousand …
Continue Reading about Discovering the Aurelian Walls in Rome
Living in Italy: the Real Deal
Our base in Pavia, which we were renting until we found a house to buy, was a flat owned by Giorgio and Franco. It was a lucky find. In the summer of 2007, we visited Pavia for a week to find an apartment for my six months study abroad and Nico’s sabbatical. At first, that week seemed as if it would …
Wildlife in Italy!
This time of the year is lovely in Italy. The intense heat of July has faded slightly but it is still very warm in the daytime. Eating outside is a pleasure under our pergola carpeted with passion flowers and our solar fountain tinkling in the background. The sagra season is still in full swing …
Summer is here!
Well, summer has arrived with temperatures in the upper 20s and lower 30 degrees, the farmers have cut the hay and the swifts are swooping and squeaking. The wildflowers are lovely at this time of year and that is very timely, as today (7th June) is the Infiorate or celebration of Corpus …
Journey to Church…in Assisi!
Our journey to St Leonard’s on Sundays takes around 45 minutes in the car with a 10-minute walk through Assisi. It might sound like a long way, but if there was a competition for one of the most beautiful journeys to church ours must surely rank near the top. After leaving the village of Cerqueto …
5 Reasons Why the Vespa Scooter is a Timeless Pop Culture Design Icon!
From Roman Holiday to Lady Gaga, the cult of Vespa continues... Almost seventy years since Italian aircraft manufacturer Enrico Piaggio teamed up with a brilliant aeronautical engineer and inventor named Corradino D'Ascanio to create the Vespa scooter as a functional and cheap mode of transport in …
Continue Reading about 5 Reasons Why the Vespa Scooter is a Timeless Pop Culture Design Icon!
The President of the United States Barack Obama in Taranto!
A new work by sculptor and ice-cream impresario Francesco Trani Artist Francesco Trani has succeeded in combining the professions of traditional ice-cream maker with that of sculptor. In fact, this eclectic sculptor has decorated both the interior and exterior of his ice-cream store, which over …
Continue Reading about The President of the United States Barack Obama in Taranto!
Creative Writing Holidays at an Italian Pope’s Palace
Write Your Manuscript or screenplay on a Tuscan Volcano The notion of writing a novel or screenplay in Italy is not entirely a new one, as creative writing holidays have been around for a while and they have proved to be very successful. However, a creative writing holiday in a Renaissance …
Continue Reading about Creative Writing Holidays at an Italian Pope’s Palace
The Sanremo Music Festival
A stand up comedienne on Italian television recently joked about how if somebody had fallen into a coma in Italy fifty years ago and woke up today they'd find that nothing had changed at all! More specifically, the jibe was aimed at the annual Sanremo Music Festival and its septuagenarian presenter …