Updated 22 May 2021 Italy is much quieter year, but Italians are looking forward to a fairly normal summer all things considered (at least to so-called Yellow Zones with low infection rates). And now with the announcement that travel to Italy in 2021 will be possible for some, I expect that train travel will start […]
If you find yourself in Rome on June 29th, the city may seem a lot quieter than normal. That is because 29 June is the feast day of St. Peter and St. Paul, the two patron saints of the Eternal City. While more people know of the association of St. Peter with Rome, both he […]
I don’t like to take sugar in my coffee. When the coffee is good, I want to taste the flavors, the acidity, and enjoy the right level of bitterness. However I make an exception for a special combination of coffee sweetness at Panella, where you can find cafe served with zabaione. Zabaione, or zabaglione, is […]
When Napoleon declared himself emperor, he was reinvoking a title with strong links to Ancient Rome. However, his family also had very real links to the city which is how there came to be a Museo Napoleonico in Rome. The Napoleon Museum sits just off the Lungotevere, across from the Supreme Court. On the […]
Visit any traditional Italian festival or street fair and you are sure to find a porchetta stall surrounded by a hungry crowd. The succulent pork is beloved throughout the country, but the rustic delicacy originally hails from the Roman countryside. Porchetta is instantly recognizable due to its size and presentation – a full, boned pig, […]
Naples is best known for its chaos and pizza, but it is also home to quite a few artistic treasures. One of my favorite sculptures in all of Italy is in a small chapel in the center of Naples: the Veiled Christ by Giuseppe Sanmartino. View this post on Instagram #CristoVelatoNotebook Per la rubrica #CristoVelatoNotebook […]
Before the reopening, designers spent time reimagining the future of dining in Italy. In reality, we have seen little plexiglass in restaurants and the regulations say that masks are not required at your table during consumption. Mask wearing and eating and drinking, you see, don’t go very well together. However, now a group of Italian […]
There is nothing quite like an extended lockdown and the uncertainty of a global epidemic to make you appreciate the solid foundations and familiarity of your own neighborhood. We are lucky to live in Testaccio for many reasons, but I have always particularly loved the architecture of this quartiere. We have public housing dating back […]