Published on Monday, December 26, 2011 by Kathy McCabe People get into endless debates about the "best" of all the Italian cities. Is Rome better than Florence or Venice better than Milan? It is impossible to pick the best city in Italy but it is definitely possible to categorize them a bit. Two Italian cities have won "best" labels this month - Bologna for livability and Turin for environmental sustainability. A surve...

Published on Monday, December 19, 2011 by Kathy McCabe One of the great joys of eating in Italy is munching on fresh Italian bread. Yet when you bite into your first piece of while visiting Tuscany (and also much of Umbria), you might be surprised at what is missing. It might take a moment to realize that there's no salt! This type of bread is called pane toscano.  So how did the Tuscans miss this key ingredient that y...

Published on Sunday, December 11, 2011 by Kathy McCabe Foodies in the know say that Testaccio Market (Mercato di Testaccio) is one of the best places in Rome to buy meats, cheeses, fruit, vegetables, seafood and all the key ingredients for cooking an authentic Italian meal. Testaccio  is the city's traditional working class neighborhood (and home to former slaughterhouses) located on on the left bank of the Tiber Rive...

Published on Sunday, December 4, 2011 by Kathy McCabe After three years of restoration work, during which time it was covered in advertising billboards, Venice's Bridge of Sighs has been finished and is now visible again to travelers visiting Venice.  The bridge connects the Doge's Palace to a building that was once a prison. The bridge got its name because it was said that prisoners crossing the bridge and catchin...

Published on Sunday, November 20, 2011 by Kathy McCabe I'm just back from a few weeks in Italy where I saw the first signs of the holidays with Christmas trees in shop windows and a few presepi on display. A presepio is a creche or Nativity scene and  handmade versions by Italian artisans are an integral part of Italian Christmas celebrations.  If you will be in Italy during the holiday season, here are a few places to ...

Published on Tuesday, November 8, 2011 by Kathy McCabe It is the season for white truffles (tartufi bianchi)  also known in Italy as "white diamonds" for their expensive price of hundreds of dollars for just a hundred grams. One group of these rare gems can be found around Alba in the region of Piedmont and the whole area seems to go truffle crazy in the month of November. There are five kinds of white truffles of...

Published on Sunday, October 23, 2011 by Kathy McCabe On the terraced hills of Italy’s Amalfi Coast, the Mediterranean sun and ocean air combine with volcanic soil to produce lemons the size of grapefruits. For hundreds of years, southern Italians have used the thick, juicy skins of these Sorrento lemons, named after the nearby town of Sorrento, to create a sweet tangy, liqueur known as limoncello (as the Italian word ...

Published on Sunday, October 16, 2011 by Kathy McCabe The town of San Miniato, located halfway between Pisa and Florence, is a must for history lover and foodies alike.  At the end of the 10th century, Otto I made San Miniato an outpost of the Holy Roman Empire.  In medieval times, the town sat on the via Francigena, an important pilgrimage route between northern Europe and Rome, bringing many visitors and invaders. In...

Published on Sunday, October 9, 2011 by Kathy McCabe Perhaps the world's most famous explorer, Christopher Columbus was born in the port city of Genoa (Genova in Italian) in the northwestern corner of what is now Italy. Genoa was a republic at the time of the birth of Christopher Columbus in 1451. In honor of Columbus Day, here is a quick look at what to see in explorer's hometown, Genoa: Historic Caruggi: The Carug...

Published on Sunday, October 2, 2011 by Kathy McCabe How many of us dream of being Italian or living in Italy? While those dreams may not become realities, the dream of living like Italians -- at least for a week or two -- is much easier to achieve. And the best way to do this? By renting an apartment or renting a villa in Italy! Have you read the book "Under The Tuscan Sun" (or seen the movie)? Well, you can enjoy an e...