Published on Tuesday, November 8, 2016 by Kathy McCabe If you're a fan of Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader, don't miss a new exhibit at the Vittoriano Complex in Rome is dedicated to the history of the Star Wars movies, which have created millions of dedicated fans over the past three decades. The exhibit, titled Star Wars: Play, showcases more than 1,000 rare and classic objects including toys, action figures, vintage pri...

Published on Friday, November 4, 2016 by Kathy McCabe In its 100th year, the 2017 Giro d’Italia will follow a course through two islands and southern Italy, a route it has never taken before. The cycling race will take place from May 5 to 28, 2017, and will run from Alghero to Milan, where it has ended for 76 years. For the fourth and fifth stages, riders will cross the sea to Sicily and resume the race there before...

Published on Wednesday, October 26, 2016 by Kathy McCabe The Italy Mix is a regular post about the most interesting Italy and Italy travel news and human interest stories around the Web. Here are our top picks for this week: If Venice Dies: A new book contends that tourism and floods could be the end of La Serenissima - so you might want to visit Venice now! (National Geographic) Uffizi Reopens Rooms: Rooms 9 throu...

Published on Sunday, October 23, 2016 by Kathy McCabe Remarkably, the wealthiest families in Florence today are descendants of the wealthiest Florentine families from the Renaissance, according to two Italian economists from the Bank of Italy, Guglielmo Barone and Sauro Mocetti, The Wall Street Journal recently reported.  The economists compared tax data from 1427 and 2011 and found that, about 25 generations later, the...

Published on Thursday, October 20, 2016 by Kathy McCabe What are you doing in January? As Mario Perillo always said "off-season is the best season" for Italy and boy do I have a unique opportunity for our guests! Hurry, and be one of the few fans to tour Rome and Tuscany with baseball greats Didi Gregorious, Jim Leyritz and Wade Boggs on Perillo's once-in-a-lifetime 9-Day Baseball Greats Rome and Tuscany Tour! Get ...

Published on Friday, October 14, 2016 by Kathy McCabe Courtesy of an Italian winery, a new outdoor fountain in Abruzzo now dispenses locally made red wine 24/7, for free, granting wishes of wine drinkers everywhere. The fountain opened on October 9th in the town of Caldari di Ortona in Abruzzo, and though the wine is always flowing and always free, those imbibing must bring their own containers! The fountain was pla...

Published on Thursday, October 6, 2016 by Kathy McCabe The United Nations announced that it will not list Venice as an endangered World Heritage Site this year, opting to revisit the issue in 2017 and giving Italy more time to comply with the UN’s recommendations for conservation. Among the problems cited by the UN that are leading to the city’s deterioration are an excess of tourists; insufficient strategies and pro...

Published on Monday, October 3, 2016 by Kathy McCabe A message from Steve Perillo: My father Mario Perillo revolutionized our business with his television commercials, which solidified his position as Mr. Italy to generations of TV viewers. One of the best parts of my job is to carry on his tradition of reaching out to our customers through television! Through the years, that has resulted in some fun and very memorable ...

Published on Saturday, October 1, 2016 by Kathy McCabe A new permanent exhibit on anatomy will open Oct. 22 at the Leonardo da Vinci Museum in the artist’s Tuscan hometown of Vinci. The exhibit will explore da Vinci’s anatomical studies and include educational activities, tours and children’s activities. Perhaps the most curious person in history, da Vinci was a painter, sculptor, engineer, scientist, artist, and...

Published on Sunday, September 25, 2016 by Kathy McCabe One of Italy’s lesser-known destinations, the Grotta Nuova di Villanova (the New Cave of Villanova) offers visitors a spectacular cave experience complete with stalactites, stalagmites, and other rock and mineral formations. The Grotta Nuova is part of the Grotte di Villanova (Villanova Caves), a network of caves in northern Italy that have been explored since the 1...