Category Archives: Italy

Staying at Villa Parisi in Sorrento

villa set in garden

Available for booking on Airbnb, Villa Parisi is an 18th-century house that has been in Mario’s family for generations. It is the star of the Sorrento skyline, a gorgeous red house at the top of Colle Parisi, its namesake hill, visible from the historical center and the port. The villa was purchased by Mario’s great […]

Should You Stay in Venice Mestre

piazza ferretto in venice mestre

Venice Mestre is located on the mainland side of the lagoon, an 11-minute train ride to Venice. More residential and industrial, Mestre offers tempting low prices on accommodation for those visiting Venice on a budget. While Mestre is close to Venice, it is definitely not the same as Venice. The trouble with staying in a […]

Why Fresh Mozzarella Isn’t Refrigerated

Walk down the aisles of your local supermarket and you will likely find something claiming to be mozzarella in the refrigerated section. Even in Italy, you can find little plastic bags filled with water and a ball of white cheese sitting in the fridge. But the truth is that most Italians would never dream of […]

Venice’s Spiral Stairs: La Scala Contarini del Bovolo

venice spiral stairs

Tucked into a little dead-end that you might otherwise pass right by is one of my favorite hidden wonders in La Serenissima. The spiral staircase of Venice is officially known as La Scala Contarini del Bovolo.  In Venetian “bovolo” means snail shell, which is usually known as a “chiocchiola” in Italian. The pretty stairs do […]

Can You Still Travel to Italy This Year? It’s Complicated

Updated: July 5, 2020 First things first: everything that has to do with the novel coronavirus comes with a lot of uncertainty and changes quickly. I am not an epidemiologist or a government official. This article is updated to inform you of travel restrictions in Italy in 2020 and to direct you to the official […]