Published on Monday, May 9, 2016 by Kathy McCabe This month at Milan’s Natural History Museum, a new exhibit may herald “a new species:” the skeletal remains of a Titanosaurus dinosaur that was unearthed in the Prenestine Hills near Rome is now on display. This Titanosaurus would have been a long-necked herbivore, about 19 feet long and weighing nearly 1,200 pounds. These measurements are slightly smaller t...

Published on Wednesday, September 9, 2015 by Kathy McCabe Famous for his frescoes and for his work on the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua, 14th-century Florentine painter Giotto di Bondone was the most revered and revolutionary Italian painter of his time. He is considered one of the fathers of the Renaissance and the first traveling artist in Italy, and his heavyweight artistic influence sparked the beginning of the Renaissance a...

Published on Monday, April 20, 2015 by Kathy McCabe In May, Expo Milano will open its doors and not close them until October. It’s been a long journey for the northern Italian city to get ready for this huge international event, and as spring begins, the Milanese are busy putting the final touches on Expo locations, as well as making sure their own monuments, buildings, parks, and institutions are shown in the best l...

Published on Thursday, January 29, 2015 by Kathy McCabe International fashion lovers, rejoice – a new museum dedicated to the design and collection of Giorgio Armani is scheduled to open later this year on Milan’s Via Bergognone, where the designer’s headquarters are located. Armani is personally collaborating with the city of Milan on the museum’s content, which will include his clothes, photos and drawings, as we...

Published on Wednesday, December 3, 2014 by Kathy McCabe Well, actually, the five best from among both the mercatini delle pulci (flea markets) and the mercatini dell’usato (second-hand markets), because both can be fun and because the latter type has gotten more and more popular in recent years. Biggest: Carmagnola in Turin may not have the largest number of stalls, but it’s laid out over the greatest amount of la...

Published on Saturday, November 15, 2014 by Kathy McCabe Excellent design features in every aspect of Italian life, from furniture to automobiles to eyeglass frames to grocery packaging. Of course bookstores in our favorite country are well designed—and often also extremely beautiful. This list is of the most visually arresting stores. They aren’t necessarily the ones in which you’ll find titles in English (but isn’...

Published on Friday, October 10, 2014 by Kathy McCabe You’re a seasoned Italophile--but you’ve never been to Milan. You think the northern metropolis offers little besides gray stone, industrial parks and rainy days. Wrong! This keystone city may not have the immediate charms of Rome or Florence, but its quieter attractions mean that you can take your time and soak up the rhythms of everyday Italian life. Plus you wi...

Published on Thursday, January 23, 2014 by Kathy McCabe The city of Milan finally has a permanent children's museum. MUBA or Museo dei Bambini di Milano opends Friday in Rotonda di via Besana, an historic Baroque building not far from Milan's center.  While the museum was actually founded in 1995,  it has been running programs without a permanent home, until now. The museum expects to run three exhibitions per year ...

Published on Friday, December 6, 2013 by Kathy McCabe Milan is stunning during the Christmas season. Check out these photos of Milan's Duomo and holiday lights. Photos by Italy Chronicles and  abnormalbeauty, flickr.com...

Published on Saturday, October 26, 2013 by Kathy McCabe Hidden beneath seven layers of paint,  a mural of trees  sketched by Leonard Da Vinci have been uncovered in a room of the Sforza Castle in Milan. Restorers working on the Now the Sala  delle Asse (Room of Planks), which Da Vinci decorated during 1498 with a mural of trees, have  uncovered hidden sections of the artist's original work, according to The Daily M...