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...

Published on Monday, October 14, 2013 by Steve That's me on our Columbus Day Parade float a few years back! What a great day to celebrate our Italian heritage....

Published on Thursday, October 10, 2013 by Steve You can't fully experience Rome without tasting the local culinary delights that make this city so unique. I'm excited to announce that Perillo's ItalyVacations.com is now offering two three-hour insider food tours that will have your mouth-watering as you walk around Rome. Traditional Flavors in Rome starts with breakfast and coffee and one of Rome's oldest cafes....

Published on Wednesday, October 9, 2013 by Steve Rome is a dream in the fall and winter...still warmer than home, fewer crowds and the light hitting the Eternal City's ancient stones in the most magnificent way. You will have time to explore the city on your own with a 4-star home base and guided tours of the highlights. Plus off season means travel at a great price; this package starts at $1,524 per person based on...

Published on Friday, October 4, 2013 by Kathy McCabe The world's first pizza-making vending machine has debuted and can be found in three Italian airports according to Peter Greenberg. The Let's Pizza machine can make fresh pizza in three minutes with fresh ingredients. If you want to watch the machine knead fresh dough in front of you,  you can find the Let's Pizza machine in the Milan, Palermo and Trapani airpor...

Published on Sunday, September 29, 2013 by Kathy McCabe The Italy Mix is a 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: Rome - Most Popular City in Italy:  Hotels.com reports that Rome beat out other Italian cities for most-visited title. (ANSA) 10 Beautiful Places to Visit in Italy: It is hard to pick the most...

Published on Wednesday, September 25, 2013 by Steve La Vendemmia. The Harvest. This is the time of year when the landscape of Italy bursts forth in earthy colors signalling the start of the gathering of the treasures of the land. From the top of the boot to the bottom and on every far-flung island, Italians empty the vines of the their grapes to turn into wine and shake the trees of the olives that will transform into ...

Published on Sunday, September 22, 2013 by Kathy McCabe The grape harvest has begun in Italy and looks to be on track to make more high-quality wine than the 2012 harvest. According to Italy magazine, "Climactic conditions in summer 2013 favoured a slow but optimum ripening of grapes, resulting in very high quality." The harvest (vendemmia) is about 10 to 15 days later than usual though. A forecast by Istituto di Serviz...

Published on Thursday, September 19, 2013 by Kathy McCabe Clearly Pope Francis is a popular guy...But now he even has his own personal fragrance? Excelsis Fine Fragrances has encapsulated the personality of Pope Francis in a new cologne called "Francis." CEO Frederick Hass told the press that he was trying to evoke Francis' "humble and down to earth" character with the cologne, which mainly consists of bergamot and sandalw...

Published on Monday, September 16, 2013 by Kathy McCabe BBC News is live streaming the attempt to raise the Costa Concordia cruise ship off the coast of Tuscany.  According to the BBC, "he ship has been lying on its side ever since the ship hit rocks off the Tuscan island of Giglio in January 2012, with the loss of 32 lives. Salvage workers are attaching giant metal chains and cables to the ship, which weighs more tha...