Published on Sunday, November 24, 2019 by Kathy McCabe To the delight of art lovers, Italy’s popular free museum Sundays are back. This popular program, which offers free entry on the first Sunday of the month for both Italian and foreign visitors at state-run museums around the country, was introduced in 2014 by Culture Minister Dario Franceschini. About 15 million visitors took advantage of the offering in total Ho...

Published on Sunday, April 9, 2017 by Kathy McCabe After taking a year off from submitting UNESCO World Heritage bids, Italy has put forth two bids for the country’s central region for consideration next year. If approved, the sites would be added to Italy’s list of 51 total UNESCO World Heritage sites, the most of any country. The towns in question, Norcia and L’Aquila, were hard-hit by earthquakes in 2016 a...

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 Friday, May 15, 2015 by Kathy McCabe The International Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) has once again given Italy the highest number of Blue Flag beaches, bringing Italy's total to 280. The Blue Flag designation means that a beach meets the organization’s high eco-standards for cleanliness and sustainability. FEE Italy President Claudio Mazza says that the constant increase, up from 248...

Published on Sunday, February 23, 2014 by Kathy McCabe The Italy Mix is a weekly 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: Academy of Silence: A new organization in Tuscany seeks to gather a list of the quietest hotels, towns and other places in Italy.  One of them, Eremito Hotelito del Alma in Umbria is pict...

Published on Wednesday, October 17, 2012 by Kathy McCabe The capital of the Italian region of Abruzzo - L'Aquila - was hit by a devastating earthquake in 2009. It will take years to rebuild the destruction but now some good news for the citizens of L'Aquila. This month the city inaugurated a new temporary auditorium whose design was donated by famed Italian architect Renzo Piano who also designed Rome's Parco della Musica A...

Published on Monday, July 25, 2011 by Kathy McCabe You practically can't get more different experiences than a small city famous for its almond candies and a town famous for its snakes. Where to find these experiences? In the region of Abruzzo... Ever wonder where those colorful sugar-covered almonds called confetti come from? Sulmona is their birthplace and you can’t walk the city’s main street, Corso Ovidio, ...