Published on Monday, May 14, 2012 by Kathy McCabe The claim to fame of the lovely small town of Lajatico, 25 miles south of Pisa,  is that it is the birthplace of world-famous tenor Andrea Bocelli. While Bocelli now lives on the Tuscan coast in Forte di Marmi, you can spot the house (with big red shutters) he bought for his mother in Lajatico. In 2006, Bocelli persuaded the local government to build an outdoor thea...

Published on Monday, May 7, 2012 by Kathy McCabe A short train ride from Rome, Castel Gandolfo is a picturesque town with a population of about 8,000 people, overlooking Lake Albano. It is home to the Pope’s summer residence and is one of the Castelli Romani, historic hill towns located around the Alban Hills and dominated by impressive villas. In Piazza della Libertà, the main square, visit the Chiesa di San ...

Published on Sunday, May 6, 2012 by Kathy McCabe Many spring events in Italy mark the arrival of the season's flowers and colorful plants. The medieval village of Castel di Fiori  in Umbria holds a particularly colorful celebration each June, Archeoflora.   The event, to be held this year on June 2 and 3, brings nature and art lovers together for a celebration of flowers, plants and garden furnishing in this hi...

Published on Monday, April 23, 2012 by Kathy McCabe The Grande Progetto Pompei, or Great Pompeii Project was inaugurated this month to revamp the damaged areas of one of the most fragile and historically rich archeological sites in Italy and the world. After years of media criticism that Italy was not properly caring for the site, as well as alarming structural collapses that occurred over the past year and a half...

Published on Tuesday, April 17, 2012 by Kathy McCabe The month of May is a great time to visit Italy. Italy's summer festival and cultural season is underway but the summer tourists haven't arrived yet so you have Italy more to yourself. Think about these Italy events for your May trip to Italy: May 1-4: Festa di Sant' Efisio - This is the 356th celebration of Sant' Efisio. A statue of the saint is carried in a proc...

Published on Saturday, April 7, 2012 by Kathy McCabe On April 10th of 1516, the first Jewish ghetto in the world was established in Venice Italy. The government officially confined the city’s Jews to this one small area of the city, in the Cannaregio district. The gates of the ghetto were closed upon nightfall and Jews were banned from leaving. During the day, they were required to identify themselves: the men had a c...

Published on Saturday, March 31, 2012 by Kathy McCabe Traveling to Florence Italy soon? Don't miss the new interactive section of Florence's Galileo Museum which was just completed. The permanent exhibition, entitled Galileo and the Measurement of Time is spread out over three rooms and is dedicated to Galileo’s fundamental discoveries with regards to the passage of time and how it is measured. The rooms explore ever...

Published on Saturday, March 24, 2012 by Kathy McCabe Spring is upon us and that means plenty of great April events in Italy! Are you traveling to Italy for Easter or spending spring break in Italy, well then consider taking in the following events during an April trip to Italy: April 14 -22: Settimana di Cultura (Week of Culture) - Italian state-run national museums, galleries, archives, monuments, and archaeologic...

Published on Saturday, March 17, 2012 by Kathy McCabe A long-lost fresco by Leonardo da Vinci may have been found this week at the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence. The unfinished work Battle of Anghiari appears to have beeen hidden behind the fresco Battle of Marciano by Giorgio Vasari. Da Vinci is thought to have started the depiction of the 1440 battle during the 16th century. Scientific researchers sent tiny pro...

Published on Saturday, March 10, 2012 by Kathy McCabe The city of Pisa Italy is famous the world over for its Leaning Tower but there's much more to the city. Here are some other things to do in Pisa: 1. Be sure to visit the Duomo and Baptistery next to the tower. Leave extra time (a few hours) to visit Pisa's stunning cathedral as well as the largest baptistery in Italy. 2. Also leave time to go into Museo dellâ€...