Published on Friday, February 19, 2016 by Kathy McCabe A proposal to limit the number of tourists in the Cinque Terre has caused a clamor among visitors who have booked upcoming trips and fear that they may not be allowed to visit, but they may not have to worry much longer. Our local sources in Liguria say the five towns that make up Cinque Terre National Park asked the government to restrict the number of tourist...

Published on Monday, February 15, 2016 by Kathy McCabe The museum at Florence’s Misericordia – which originally opened in 2005 – reopened after two years of renovation. The new museum chronicles nearly 800 years of the charitable institution’s history with 14 rooms of art, everyday items, furniture and manuscripts. Among prominent paintings on display are St. Jerome the Penitent by Pietro Annigoni, St. John the Ba...

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 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 Monday, December 21, 2015 by Kathy McCabe Before Rome was the modern center of Christianity, its religion consisted of rituals and practices introduced to the city from all over the Roman Empire and honoring various gods. Eventually, those pagan religions faded as Christianity rose, but one fascinating relic of pre-Christian worship has been renovated and opened to the public for the first time: a pagan basil...

Published on Wednesday, December 16, 2015 by Steve Imagine your loved ones receiving a Perillo Tote Bag, Travel Brochures, DVD and Gift Certificate for any of our 2015 vacations! A travel certificate, like the one shown above, will be customized according to your wishes. Your gift can go toward any escorted tour to Italy, Greece, Hawaii or Costa Rica. The certificate can also be applied toward a customized vacation to...