Published on Saturday, November 25, 2017 by Kathy McCabe After years of protests by locals against cruise ships in Venice, the city has decided that in four years, cruise ships weighing 96,000 tons will no longer be able to drop anchor in St. Mark’s Basin in Venice. They will instead have to keep at a distance from the city, landing on the mainland in Marghera, where the Venice airport is also located. A committee of loca...

Published on Tuesday, November 21, 2017 by Kathy McCabe Give The Gift of A Perillo Tour to Yourself or Loved Ones...And Save! On Black Friday, save $250 person* on ANY of our 2018 ITALY or HAWAII escorted tours. Cannot be combined with any other offer, except pay by check. If you're even thinking of going on a Perillo Tour in 2018, Black Friday is the day to book... Again, save $250 per person* on all 2018 Italy...

Published on Wednesday, November 15, 2017 by Kathy McCabe The next time you toss a coin into the Trevi Fountain in Rome, you could be unwittingly making a donation to the Roman government. Rome Mayor Virginia Raggi has announced that the coins, which can add up to more than 100 million euros!! per year, will now be used to fund city projects, which will be decided upon by a city hall working group. Since 2006, the money has ...

Published on Monday, November 6, 2017 by Kathy McCabe Amatrice, the village in Lazio famous for its pasta sauce all’Amatriciana, has been designated a 2018 World Monuments Fund (WMF) site in the Disaster category. Amatrice was destroyed by an earthquake on August 24, 2016. The earthquake in Amatrice caused 299 deaths and approximately 400 injuries. According to the WMF site, the mayor of Amatrice poignantly declare...

Published on Thursday, November 2, 2017 by Kathy McCabe Until January 28th, 2018, fans of opera, theatrical garb, and fashion will be able to see a free exhibit of costumes made for La Scala by the world’s top designers at Palazzo Reale in Milan. Organized by The Friends of La Scala Association, the show includes nearly a century of costumes, which have been painstakingly restored in celebration of the Association’s...

Published on Saturday, October 21, 2017 by Kathy McCabe Rinascente, the historic Italian department store founded in Milan, will return to the center of Rome for the first time since the Spanish clothing chain Zara took over its original location over 11 years ago. Formerly on Via del Corso, the new Rinascente (previously known as La Rinascente) opened this month in a stunning new site nearby on Via del Tritone. The 17,...

Published on Tuesday, October 17, 2017 by Kathy McCabe A new institute in Rome, the Caravaggio Research Institute, will dedicate itself to becoming the sole authority on everything related to the artist, who lived from 1571 to 1610. Founded as a result of a partnership between fashion brand Fendi and the Borghese Gallery, the institute will be a center of research and education to identify genuine works by the Italian mas...

Published on Friday, October 13, 2017 by Kathy McCabe In 2020, for the first time in 500 years, visitors to Venice will be able to tour one of its grandest and most important buildings. The Procuratie Vecchia housed the nine governors of La Serenissima, the Most Serene Republic, in the centuries of its greatest power, from its construction in 1532 onward. Making up one side of famed St. Mark’s Square, the Procuratie...

Published on Wednesday, October 4, 2017 by Kathy McCabe Even if you’ve visited Rome many times and seen it from every angle including the Vatican’s keyhole vista, there’s an entirely new view in Italy’s iconic city—from the fourth and fifth levels of its unforgettable Colosseum, the largest amphitheater ever built. Starting November 1st, visitors will be allowed access to those restored rows of seats, as well ...

Published on Tuesday, October 3, 2017 by Kathy McCabe The oldest known evidence of a wine production center, now confirmed to be 6,000 years old, has been found in a cave in Sicily by a group of researchers from the University of South Florida. The cave contained large terracotta jugs thought to be used as wine vessels. It proves that wine making existed in Italy three millennia before 1200 BC, which was previously belie...