Published on Thursday, October 20, 2016 by Kathy McCabe What are you doing in January? As Mario Perillo always said "off-season is the best season" for Italy and boy do I have a unique opportunity for our guests! Hurry, and be one of the few fans to tour Rome and Tuscany with baseball greats Didi Gregorious, Jim Leyritz and Wade Boggs on Perillo's once-in-a-lifetime 9-Day Baseball Greats Rome and Tuscany Tour! Get ...

Published on Sunday, June 5, 2016 by Kathy McCabe A new feature will allow the public to see the Roman Forum in a new light this summer – literally, as the Forum will be illuminated by LEDs and open for nighttime tours for the first time. The lights cast white and yellow highlights onto the site’s most famous structures, drawing attention to details on parts of the Forum including the via Sacra, the monument�...

Published on Saturday, April 2, 2016 by Kathy McCabe The Basilica di Santa Maria Antiqua has had its light hidden under a bushel for quite some time—through no fault of its custodians. The “Sistine Chapel of the early Middle Ages,” as experts now refer to it, was buried in 847 AD by an earthquake, but has finally be restored. The sixth-century Santa Maria Antiqua fresco-laden interior, indicative of the late E...

Published on Monday, February 29, 2016 by Kathy McCabe There's a new movie out for Italophiles... Sarah Jessica Parker and Under the Tuscan Sun actor Raoul Bova have joined up to star in a new romantic comedy set in Italy, All Roads Lead to Rome, about love and family. The movie, filmed in Rome and surrounding areas, follows uptight, New York City college writing teacher Maggie (Parker) and her unwilling, troubled teen...

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, 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 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...

Published on Tuesday, October 6, 2015 by Kathy McCabe It has been more than a century since Romans were able to visit an aquarium in their city, but the wait is almost over, as the city’s brand new Sea Life Rome Aquarium is scheduled to open in spring 2016 in a completely underground structure located underneath the artificial lake the modern EUR district of Rome. The stars of the aquarium will include sea turtles, ...