Best Pizzerias in Naples – What makes Neapolitan Pizza so special? When is a pizza more than leavened bread with a choice of toppings? When it is cooked by a pizzaiolo (pizza maker) from Naples, for whom it is a memory of childhood, a history of the city, a key to socialization, or a lifeboat …
Viareggio, Italy: A Summer Pearl that Gleams Year-Round Viareggio, Italy, is known as the “pearl of the Tyrrhenian Sea”, with good reason. In the summertime, it is a chic and sought-after seaside resort, with stylish hotels, fine dining, and an upmarket clientele. Its fine sandy beaches stretch for six miles up and down …
Carnevale di Viareggio: FOLK ART ON A GIANT SCALE Poor Burlamacco! The clown character symbolizing the world’s most outsized Mardi Gras celebration is unknown outside Italy, and more’s the pity. The Carnevale di Viareggio is more accessible, family-friendly, and human-dimensioned than its better-known counterparts — Carnevale di Venezia, Carnevale did Rio, and Mardi Gras in …
If you want good food in Italy, follow the wine. Good food follows good wine as the night the day. If an area has an articulated wine route, that’s even better. And if it has three separate wine routes, you can practically order from a menu with your eyes closed. So it’s easy to see …
At first glance, the Italian city of Brescia seems to be an industrial pole, not a lion’s pride. Lombardy’s second-largest city (Milan is first) is respected for its metallurgy and machine-tooling prowess and for Beretta, its firearms manufacturer. But the city center is a UNESCO World Heritage site in Italy and a 3,200-year-old history you …
Arezzo’s current population of 100,000 is many tines what it was during Etruscan and, later, Roman rule, but the city has remained a commercial and cultural center for millennia. One of the hallmarks of Etruscan civilization – the working of gold to produce fine filigree jewelry – has continued to the present day: Arezzo is …
A visit to Tuscany is more than exposure to the language of Dante, the art of Michelangelo, and the craftsmen of Florence. The word Tuscany itself comes from Tusci or Etrusci, words used by Romans in the time of Cicero to refer to a civilization that had predated theirs by some 800 years. In its …
Although you could complete the 31-mile Strada del Prosecco in Italy’s Veneto region in less than a day, it’s more pleasant to take your time and draw out the experience. You can’t eat your way through Veneto’s pleasures – gustatory and otherwise – in 24 hours, and who would want to? Traveling the Strada del …
You don’t have to be an oenophile to appreciate sightseeing in the Veneto region of Italy along the Strada del Prosecco. Italophiles of every potable persuasion will delight in the 31-mile road as it winds its narrow way amid soft hills sprouting from rich dark soil, medieval towns and churches, local artists, ancient architects, 15 towns, …
The LiBearty Bear Sanctuary in Zarnesti, Romania, will possibly be the most memorable experience of a trip to Eastern Europe for families and animal lovers. For starters, Zarnesti is located half an hour southwest of Brasov, a lovely historical town in the middle of the country. It boasts great hotels and restaurants and a lush …