Published on Tuesday, April 14, 2015 by Kathy McCabe Around and about the city of Florence, worn-down walls are covered with text—but it’s not careless graffiti, it’s carefully written poetry, typed on sheets of white paper taped into small galleries. These instances of “poetry on the wall,” as they’re often called, are crafted and hung by the Movimento per l’Emancipazione della Poesia, or the Movement for...

Published on Thursday, April 9, 2015 by Kathy McCabe Italian wine lovers won’t be surprised that sales of Prosecco have outstripped those of Champagne around the world. Cheaper and sweeter than its French competition, Prosecco is an affordable indulgence that is nonetheless excellent sparkling wine on its own merits. Prosecco DOC comes from the Veneto,the region that is home to Venice. Complicating the picture is ...

Published on Sunday, March 29, 2015 by Kathy McCabe In just three blocks, Via Margutta, the shortest street in Rome, encapsulates at least 2,000 years of history and at least a dozen famous names, including Italy’s celebrated filmmaker Federico Fellini, who lived at No. 110 with his actress wife Giulietta Masina. The April 2015 issue of Smithsonian Magazine carries journalist Jeff MacGregor’s love letter to the ...

Published on Wednesday, March 25, 2015 by Steve I've always wanted my own magazine and now I have it. The premiere issue of Perillo Traveler - a new digital publication - focusing on our favorite destinations of Italy, Greece, Hawaii, Costa Rice and beyond is here. It is free to download. You can look forward to a new issue every quarter. Enjoy! ...

Published on Friday, March 20, 2015 by Kathy McCabe The largest house in  Pompeii fully reopened today following two years of renovation. Villa dei Misteri (Villa of the Mysteries), famous for its frescoes of the cult of Bacchus or  Dionysus, is now completely to visitors. The villa was renovated in stages so parts could remain open. Culture Minister Dario Franceschini  cut the ribbon on the renovated site an...

Published on Monday, March 16, 2015 by Kathy McCabe Looking for the perfect excuse to visit Rome and the Vatican in 2016? Pope Francis just gave you one. He has declared 2016 a Holy Year.  The last one was in 2000. The Holy Year, also called a Jubilee, will start this year on December 8th – the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception – and will close November 20, 2016 with the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ...

Published on Sunday, March 15, 2015 by Steve Sorry gentlemen, but this one is for the ladies... (But here's a tip for you guys, send the woman in your life on this trip to Italy and she might just love you forever!) Golden Week in Florence with Susan Van Allen Don't Miss This Once-In-A-Lifetime Trip! October 25 to November 1, 2015 Join Susan Van Allen, author of 100 Places in Italy Every Woman Should...

Published on Thursday, March 5, 2015 by Kathy McCabe It isn’t often that a school lunch threatens diplomatic discord, but when a group of chefs designing menus in Rome for students (from nursery to middle-school ages) chose fish and chips as an “EU menu item” representing “Britain,” they unwittingly found themselves at the center of international furore. It turns out that the Italians think fish and chips are....

Published on Friday, February 27, 2015 by Kathy McCabe The latest (and, some say, greatest) James Bond, Daniel Craig, is now 46. In decades past, that would have meant his leading ladies would range in age from 25 to 35. But not so with Spectre, the new Bond film in production, directed by Sam Mendes. The “Bond Girl” who captures the hero’s eye this time is Italian actress Monica Bellucci—who is 50, and readily a...

Published on Thursday, February 19, 2015 by Kathy McCabe Lovers of cinematic epics, rejoice! 1959’s big-budget, big-screen Roman saga, Ben Hur, is being remade, right now, in Italy’s southeastern city of Matera. You remember it as the Charlton Heston vehicle that had the biggest budget ($15.75 million) and biggest sets of any film of that period, and included 10,000 extras, 2,500 horses and 200 camels, among many other...