Published on Sunday, May 1, 2016 by Kathy McCabe A new law requires that all new restaurants and food shops in Florence’s history city center must guarantee within the next three years that at least 70 percent of their products are “made in Tuscany.” While existing restaurants would not be affected, even their owners are concerned about how this ruling will affect their lives and bottom lines. As one propri...

Published on Tuesday, April 26, 2016 by Kathy McCabe In the most recent Trivago user survey, the top three of 20 historic towns in Italy are Otranto in Puglia, Sperlonga in Lazio and Cefalù in Sicily.  The users rated these towns not just on their beauty and surroundings, but also on how accommodations compare with other towns in their regions. In Otranto in the southernmost Salento area, an overnight stay in April co...

Published on Friday, April 22, 2016 by Kathy McCabe Perhaps you’ve traveled to the same beloved spot in Italy one too many times and need a change; perhaps you’re looking for something completely new and different; perhaps your favorite  hotel is full. In any of these scenarios, we suggest you consider a trip to the Alto Adige region, known as Südtirol (South Tyrol) to the Austrians just a few meters on the other...

Published on Monday, April 18, 2016 by Kathy McCabe Ski jumper “Eddie the Eagle,” otherwise known as Michael “Eddie” Edwards, is from England (Cheltenham in Gloucestershire, to be exact)—but he got his start on skis in the Italian Alps. Edwards’ story has been delighting audiences in the U.S. recently as the Disney movie bearing his sporting moniker has debuted in theaters. Edwards’ struggles with fars...

Published on Wednesday, April 13, 2016 by Kathy McCabe You may or may not have learned in school about Hannibal, one of the most notable military commanders in human history. Hannibal Barca from Carthage was a general in the Second Punic War of 218-202 BC. In the fall of 218, Hannibal was said to have crossed the Alps into Italy, near Turin. While the outcome of Hannibal’s attacks against the Romans eventually led to...

Published on Sunday, April 10, 2016 by Kathy McCabe Very little is known about the ancient Etruscans, but thanks to an archaeological dig in Lazio, a bit more knowledge has been added to the historical record. A tomb believed to belong to an Etruscan princess from the 8th century BC has been unearthed and is filled with treasures that may have been her possessions. Vulci was once an important Etruscan city. Ironical...

Published on Friday, April 8, 2016 by Kathy McCabe For some time, “Naples Sotteranea,” or “Underground Naples,” has been a draw for travelers from around the world. The tunnels and caverns beneath the historic Italian city are built on a porous type of rock called “tufo,” the result of centuries of hardening of volcanic ash. (The photo to the right is of an old water tunnel underneath Naples.) While muc...

Published on Monday, April 4, 2016 by Kathy McCabe A note from Steve Perillo: As most of you know, my family has been booking trips to Italy for 70 years. During those decades, we've experienced every up and down that the world could throw at us - recessions, wars, travel alerts. And still we ran our famous tours and still people traveled with us and had once-in-a-lifetime experiences. For some, it was the culminat...

Published on Saturday, April 2, 2016 by Kathy McCabe The Basilica di Santa Maria Antiqua has had its light hidden under a bushel for quite some time—through no fault of its custodians. The “Sistine Chapel of the early Middle Ages,” as experts now refer to it, was buried in 847 AD by an earthquake, but has finally be restored. The sixth-century Santa Maria Antiqua fresco-laden interior, indicative of the late E...

Published on Wednesday, March 30, 2016 by Kathy McCabe Tuscany-based start-up Travel Appeal conducted a 2015 survey and analysis of 20 of Italy’s largest national museums—and number one museum in the country may surprise you. Using a complex algorithm that monitored visitor comments on sites including Facebook and TripAdvisor, Travel Appeal found that the museum with the highest number of positive comments was the Na...