Published on Monday, April 15, 2019 by Kathy McCabe Easter - this year on April 21st - is just around the corner! No Italian Easter is complete without Pane di Pasqua (Easter Bread) made in the form of baskets! Our favorite Italian nonna, Gisa Ferro who is originally from Calabria, shares her special recipe for this Easter tradition. Let us know how it is if you make it! Pane di Pasqua Bread Basket Recipe Ingr...

Published on Friday, April 5, 2019 by Kathy McCabe If you’re planning on hiking the clifftop trails that overlook the Cinque Terre coastline, you’ll need to bring sturdy shoes. Common sense, right? Not exactly, as many visitors attempt to hike in sandals, not realizing the terrain is more like a mountain trail than a beach boardwalk. Cinque Terre National Park is rolling out a public information campaign advisi...

Published on Wednesday, March 27, 2019 by Kathy McCabe Easter (Pasqua in Italian) is a magical time to visit any part of Italy. In 2019, Easter will be celebrated on Sunday, April 21st.  The Easter season  is filled with food (yes, even Easter eggs have made their way here), family and religious rituals.  But there's something very special about spending Easter in Rome, with the Vatican taking center stage in the fes...

Published on Saturday, March 9, 2019 by Kathy McCabe More than Italian 50 wine producers, including vineyards and bottling companies, are under investigation for falsely advertising their wines. Due to unfavorable weather conditions for wine grapes, recent years’ harvests have declined. Investigators allege that to make up for crop shortages, winemakers diluted expensive wines with lower-quality grapes, breaking th...

Published on Wednesday, March 6, 2019 by Kathy McCabe The Venitian beach resort of Bibione  will ban cigarettes beginning at the end of May, in time for the summer crowds. The beach is the first to ban smoking in Italy, and intends to eliminate cigarette butt pollution and the exposure of visitors to secondhand smoke. Italy banned smoking in enclosed public places, such as offices and restaurants, in 2005, but so far ha...

Published on Tuesday, February 5, 2019 by Kathy McCabe The city of Bologna is famous for its cuisine and its covered porticoes, but recently it is making headlines for other reasons. From April to September each year, the city’s initiative “Bella Mossa” kicks into full swing. “Bella Mossa” translates to “Good Job” or “Good Move” and it is a way to not only benefit the environment but to be rewarded at th...

Published on Thursday, December 20, 2018 by Steve I’m Steve Perillo of Perillo Tours. I have a video series called Steve's Travel Tips to share all the insider Italy travel tips I have learned over a lifetime of travel to Italy. In this video, I'd love to share my tips for New Year's Eve in Italy. The Italians have some very specific traditions to usher out the old year and bring in the new year! After you watch t...

Published on Wednesday, December 12, 2018 by Kathy McCabe Many tourists from the United States hear “Christmas market” and immediately think of Germany’s deservedly famous “Weinachtsmarkts” and “Kristkindlmarkts,” both of which conjure up the smell of Gluehwein and the sizzle of roast bratwurst. But Italy has its own legion of markets during the winter holidays, and like everything Italian, they’re focused mo...

Published on Tuesday, November 6, 2018 by Kathy McCabe This month, Turismo Culturale Italiano is inviting visitors into 73 of palaces in Rome for guided tours during its sixth annual Porte Aperte event. Many of these residential palaces, built between the Renaissance and the 20th century, are privately owned and not usually open to the public, so this is an exclusive chance to visit these elegant and historic buildings...

Published on Tuesday, October 30, 2018 by Kathy McCabe Halloween in Italy has grown more popular over the past 10 years or so, especially with children excited to dress up and eat sweets. While Halloween still isn’t as big of a celebration as it is in the U.S., it is now not uncommon to hear children walking through shops and neighborhoods saying Dolcetto o scherzetto? (Trick or treat?). Refreshingly, Halloween in It...