Published on Friday, February 12, 2016 by Kathy McCabe One of this year’s most-anticipated dinners in Rome is not for the faint of heart – not because it features unusual food, but because the table is set and suspended five stories in the air. This unique opportunity is the creation of Dinner in the Sky, a fine dining concept that rotates between 45 countries for short periods – it will be in Rome from Sept. 15 to ...

Published on Monday, January 25, 2016 by Kathy McCabe Carnevale in Venice is Italy’s biggest party. Alive with the revelry of costumed partygoers enjoying centuries-old traditions, during Carnevale, La Serenissima (the Most Serene) is anything but. This year, the festivities stretch from Jan. 23 to Feb. 9, Shrove Tuesday. Like all other times of the year, the famous and beautiful St. Mark’s Square is the cente...

Published on Saturday, January 23, 2016 by Kathy McCabe The famous tramezzino sandwich, which originated in the Caffè Mulassano di Piazza Castello in Turin in 1925, celebrated its 90th birthday last week. A version of an English tea sandwich, the Italian classic is made from two slices of crust-less white sandwich bread and cut into triangles. Popular fillings include tuna and olive, as well as prosciutto, but the Caffè ...

Published on Monday, January 18, 2016 by Kathy McCabe A recent trend shows young Italians may be straying from the longstanding tradition of eating family meals at their parents’ house every night, instead favoring a new appetizer-heavy dining concept served in bars, called apericena. Mamma has reigned as queen of the Italian kitchen for what seems like forever, with mamma’s or nonna’s cooking a symbol of home. Tha...

Published on Friday, January 15, 2016 by Kathy McCabe Italian Cultural Minister Dario Franceschini announced that more than 200 historical sites across Italy will receive public funding toward much-needed restorations, saying “culture has returned to the center of national politics.” A total of 300 million euros will be split among 241 historical sites over the next three years The restorations will include the me...

Published on Monday, January 4, 2016 by Kathy McCabe They say there’s nothing new under the sun—and that might go double or triple for Pompeii, the ancient Italian city once and forever devastated yet preserved by the 79 A.D. eruption of Mount Vesuvius. For centuries, visitors have seen the same structures and interiors, including the Fullonica di Stephanus (Stephen’s Drycleaners) and the notorious Lupanarium bord...

Published on Saturday, December 26, 2015 by Kathy McCabe Perhaps the last thing that comes to mind when thinking of Italy is the Aztecs – but, in one of Italy’s many peculiarities and well-kept secrets, the Sicilian town of Modica  is famous for Aztec chocolate. Passing on their discovery of an interesting new food called xocolatl from the New World, Spanish conquistadors introduced the chocolate to Sicily during the i...

Published on Wednesday, December 9, 2015 by Kathy McCabe Fendi, one of Italy’s most famous and respected fashion houses, will finance the restoration of four symbolic fountains in Rome—an announcement which follows Fendi’s recent financing of the Trevi Fountain restoration and renovation of Quattro Fontane. The latest fountains to get some stylish funds invested will be the Janiculum Fountain, the Fountain of Moses...

Published on Sunday, December 6, 2015 by Kathy McCabe As Rome prepares for a Jubilee Year (otherwise known as a Catholic Holy Year), city authorities have banned actors who dress up as ancient centurion guards and charge tourists for photo opportunities of and with them. According to Reuters, new and extended security measures for the Jubilee include making sure visitors to the capital are not subjected to the centur...

Published on Wednesday, November 18, 2015 by Kathy McCabe Proving there’s always something new to discover among Rome’s ancient treasures, the Roman Forum recently opened a newly restored section to the public for the first time. The Imperial Ramp, a more than 2,000-year-old pathway connecting the public part of the Forum to emperors’ private residences, offers a new look at how the rich and famous lived in ancient Rom...