I have been to Sicily for long weekends before. That usually means flying into Palermo or Catania and quickly exploring one of the island’s two largest cities, then patting ourselves on the back, and heading back to Rome. However, this year I am determined to find the more unexplored sides of Sicily. I’ll be traveling […]
Category Archives: Italy
Pasquetta is “Little Easter.” Also known as Easter Monday, this is the day in Italy when you gather your friends and head to the countryside for a day of eating. The first day of spring may be marked on the calendar, but this is its unofficial start. But do you really think you need to go […]
Florence is one of my favorite day trips from Rome. It is only 1.5 hours away by train, which means that we can be in a completely different Italian city with very little coordination or planning. Which presents its own challenges… we sometimes cannot resist the temptation to travel to Florence on (very) short notice! […]
What to expect if you are arriving in Italy for the first time.
Sometimes you end up in Modena without meaning to
At Latitude 42.516667 and Longitude 12.516667, Narni claims to be the center of Italy. The small Umbrian town piles on itself, climbing a hillside overlooking a valley. The town’s location as the geographic center of Italy is approximate. Another town is fighting for the title. But Narni has an even better claim to fame – it is […]
The news site Bloomberg has released its Global Health Index and (surprise!) Italy is the world’s healthiest country. Italy has an unexpectedly high number of centenarians – people who live to the age of 100. In fact, in one Italian village, 10% of the 3,000 residents are 100 or older! So why is this happening? How did […]
“Oh. My. God.” I said, dumbfounded. “Gelato University is a REAL university?” But the proof was directly in front of me. The orderly rows of desks, piled with notes and calculators. Gelato University is very real, and just as spectacular as it sounds. Yes, there is a lecture hall but there is also (gloriously) a […]








