Published on Saturday, September 12, 2015 by Kathy McCabe The Italy Mix is a regular post about the most interesting Italy and Italy travel news and human interest stories around the Web. Here are our top picks for this week: Milan Coming Out of The Shadows:  Milan has absorbed more than half of all investment in business real estate in Italy in the first half of this year, while tourism has grown faster over the past si...

Published on Saturday, August 15, 2015 by Steve If you're ready to take your own tour of Italy, take my father's advice, "“Off season is the best season for Italy. It’s bargain time, shopping time and the weather is fine!” The weather in Italy in the winter is mild. The crowds are gone and you have the country to yourself. Plus the exchange rate is amazing right now. I'm thrilled to offer you a very specia...

Published on Monday, August 10, 2015 by Kathy McCabe Fifty years after its release, Federico Fellini’s iconic film La Dolce Vita will be remade by Andrea Iervolino’s AMBI Group. The Fellini family has approved this new film, which will be “a contemporary story every bit as commercial, iconic and award-worthy as the original,” said Iervolino. Starring Marcello Mastroianni, Anita Ekberg and Anouk Aimée, the 19...

Published on Thursday, July 23, 2015 by Steve I’m proud to present our 2016 all-inclusive vacations to Italy, Hawaii and Costa Rica! My team and I have spent the past year inspecting hotels, visiting restaurants, creating menus, calculating travel distances and trying-out activities. If you think that sounds like a great job - you’re right! But it’s not just a fun job for us. It also means your vacation wil...

Published on Wednesday, July 15, 2015 by Kathy McCabe Olives and olive oil symbolize Italy and its culinary delights for many people, but for Italians the products of olive trees influence their economy as much as their diets. Each year the country exports about one trillion pounds of olive oil, second only to Spain. The giant, twisted trees of Puglia usually account for nearly 40% of Italy’s overall olive-oil produ...

Published on Friday, July 10, 2015 by Kathy McCabe Italian divers recently reached a sunken cargo ship full of roofing tiles off the coast of Sardinia.  The ship and its cargo are 2,000 years old, a Roman find of “great archaeological value,” says the police statement issued to announce the discovery. Not only can the find provide information about ships and their construction, it sheds light on marine logistics,...

Published on Monday, June 29, 2015 by Kathy McCabe Back in 81 AD, the Roman Emperor would have entered the Circus Maximus in grand style, standing in a chariot steered through the newly constructed Arch of Titus. But until recently, the only records of that structure existed in medieval-era documents; stone that wasn’t pilfered sank beneath the ground and was lost for eight centuries. However, this spring archaeo...

Published on Thursday, June 25, 2015 by Kathy McCabe Fellini. Rossellini. Zeffirelli. Those celebrated names of Italian cinema whose careers flourished at Cinecitta Studios during the post-war 1950s and 1960s may soon find themselves joined by a newer crop. Although the 22-stage facility’s luster dimmed in the 1980s, a 2014 Italian tax rebate of 25% on movie production has lured some big movies and big stars back to C...

Published on Friday, June 12, 2015 by Kathy McCabe Rome’s gladiator barracks, part of the city’s famous Colosseum, may soon be accessible to the public—thanks, in part, to the Kuwaiti government. An ancient tunnel linking those training chambers to the main arena could be restored with funds from a multi-million dollar grant from Kuwait, writes The Telegraph. The Ludus Magnus (Great Training Facility) was the...

Published on Sunday, June 7, 2015 by Kathy McCabe Twenty five artifacts that had been wrongfully acquired from their Italian sources were returned by U.S. officials.  The pieces include vases, frescoes, and sculpture, some of which museums, universities, and private collectors had earlier turned over to authorities when their provenances were discovered. “Italy is blessed with a rich cultural legacy and theref...