Where “cooked water” is a culinary wonder - Tuscany Foods The Maremma, Italy’s version of the Wild West, includes southern Tuscany and part of Lazio. Its famed cowboys, the butteri, herd cattle here, and the land not used for stock animals is dedicated to farmlands and vineyards. Farmers and cowboys alike have big appetites and the cooking that has developed to satisfy them is likewise hearty ... Read Full Article
Enchantments in the “Etruscan triangle” of Southern Tuscany
Southern Tuscany - Enchantments in the “Etruscan Triangle” A triangle of villages in southern Tuscany contain treasures undiscovered by American travelers. Sorano, Sovana, and Pitigliano nestle 50 miles southeast of Grosseto, close to the border with Lazio, and offer much to visitors above and beyond what you expect in southern Tuscany, i.e., good food, great wine, medieval village ... Read Full Article
Tuscany Regions: Exploring Etruscany
Tuscany Regions: Exploring Etruscany For most foreigners, a tour of Tuscany means Florence, Pisa, Siena, San Gimignano, and maybe Lucca. While these well-known cities and towns exemplify the Tuscany region’s medieval treasures, its history encompasses far more than the Medici, Michelangelo, and all that. The enigmatic Etruscans were a major civilization of ancient Italy, and a little-visited ... Read Full Article
On the James Joyce Trail in Trieste
The city of Trieste is in border country. Follow the coast all the way around, as James Joyce did in the early years of the twentieth century, and pretty soon you’ll be in Slovenia, with Croatia just a few miles further south. You are as likely to hear people say 'dober dan' as 'buongiorno', and the phone book is full of names like Gravnik and Decic.Trieste has always inhabited an ... Read Full Article
Alba Italy: Home To The Slow Food Movement and Truffles
A culinary epicenter on a global level, Alba Italy is home to the Slow Food Movement, noble wines made with the Nebbiolo grape, and white truffles. A small town, even with a population of 29,000, Alba is located in the rolling countryside of the Piedmont region in the north of Italy. The hillsides that surround it are covered with grape vines. In the fall, the famous Alba, Italy White Truffle ... Read Full Article
Villas and Gardens of Italy’s Borromean Islands
The amazing sculptures and gardens on Isola Bella and Isola Madre, in Northern Italy's Lake Maggiore, show what aristocratic taste and plenty of money could do in the 17th century.The islands are two of the three main Borromeans set in the largest of the Italian lakes. The Borromeo family still owns some of the islands. Isola Bella, named after Countess Isabella, was once a ... Read Full Article
Take a Northern Italy Vacation
Northern Italy encompasses the regions of Liguria, Valle d' Aosta, Piedmont, Lombardy, Trentino-Alto Adige, Veneto and Fruili. This vast area includes the Italian Alps and Dolomites, the glorious Lake Como and Lake Maggiore, the Italian Riviera and mysterious and magical Venice. Aside from Venice , Liguria and the lakes area, this part of Italy is still undiscovered by tourists. Until the 2006 ... Read Full Article