Published on Wednesday, September 11, 2013 by Kathy McCabe That Pope Francis is just full of surprises! Apparently, he wants to be able to drive himself around Vatican City.  So his friend, the priest, gave him a used car - a 20-year-old Renault. According to BBC News, "The car - which has 300,000 km (190,000 miles) on the clock - was presented to the Pope by Father Renzo Zocca at the weekend. The pontiff later drove it...

Published on Sunday, September 8, 2013 by Kathy McCabe The Academia Barilla in Parma is the first international center dedicated to the development and promotion of Italian gastronomic culture. So the folks there know a thing or two about Italian food and how it should be prepared and eaten. The center recently published  10 Italian cooking commandments according to Academia Barilla. Here they are: 1. You shall not s...

Published on Thursday, September 5, 2013 by Kathy McCabe When we think about buying and eating fruit in Italy, we think of fresh, delicious produce. But do Italian melons need more help in selling to the public? Are Italians that into the Smurfs? That's what we wondered when we read this piece in Licensing Magazine about Smurfs being used to help move melons. Random....

Published on Tuesday, September 3, 2013 by Kathy McCabe Remember when you were a kid and you could go home for lunch if you brought a note for your teacher? In the U.S., I think that possibility ended in the 1980s and surely few American kids and adults have the luxury of going to their house for lunch. But in Italy, a staggering 75% of workers still go home for lunch, despite the country's dire economic situation, reports...

Published on Wednesday, August 28, 2013 by Kathy McCabe When you think of Italy, what do you think of? What do you think Italy, as a country, does best? A few thoughts might be art, wine, food. CNN came up with a list of 10 Thing Italy Does Better Than Anywhere Else and here are their 10 picks: 1. Flattery: Sure, we can see that. Those Italians are charmers. 2. Hot Baths: We didn't get this at first, but it is true, It...

Published on Wednesday, August 21, 2013 by Kathy McCabe The newly elected mayor of Rome Ignazio Marino wants to close down the Via dei Fori Imperiali which runs next to the Colosseum  in a bid to make ancient Rome more pedestrian friendly, hoping to double the current number of visitors to the ancient sites to 20 million.  On August 3rd, Marino began barring private cars from the southern end of the road and tas...

Published on Sunday, August 18, 2013 by Kathy McCabe As the grape harvest begins  in southern Italy, the Association of Italian Enologists predicts that 2013 may well be an excellent year for the production of both red and white local wines if the current climatic conditions continue. ""It's going well, this climatic situation cannot but be favorable. We need to use a conditional tense, obviously, but if it carries on ...

Published on Wednesday, August 14, 2013 by Kathy McCabe You can't visit the city of Rome without coming upon a Vespa parked on almost any street or whizzing by. These red Vespas truly stand out against a Roman backdrop. Photo by tekaybe, flickr.com...

Published on Monday, August 12, 2013 by Kathy McCabe The Italy Mix is a post about the most interesting Italy and Italy travel news and human interest stories around the Web each week. Here are our top picks for this week: Siena: Italy's Medieval Gem:  Rick Steves explores the Tuscan city of Siena and recommends sites, hotels and restaurants. (The Seattle Times) Italy With A Baby: New parents take their baby to P...

Published on Friday, August 9, 2013 by Kathy McCabe I've been talking to people who are deciding at the last minute to visit Italy this summer. For a number of reasons (like the school schedule), their schedules only allow them to visit Italy in August. Many of them have heard horror stories about how the whole country goes on vacation, there's no one left to cater to the visitors and it is too hot. Don't worry, August...