Europe

June 16, 2026

Auschwitz: Interview with a tour guide of “The Most Terrifying Place on Earth”

Touring the Auschwitz Concentration Camp is heavy enough as a visitor. Imagine guiding that tour for 16 years. I interviewed my tour guide after a riveting tour of what has been called the Most Terrifying Place on Earth. Her comments opened even more doors than the well-preserved camp had open.

June 12, 2026

Essential travel tips for exploring Europe like a local

If you ever felt like you stood out in a crowd while traveling in Europe, it’s probably because you dress like an American, talk like an American and eat like an American. Guest blogger Cynthia Madison offers some helpful tips on how to fit in during your next trip to Europe.

June 9, 2026

Krakow: Outshining Poland’s capital after a century of horror

Old Eastern Bloc capitals dusted themselves off and cleaned up after communism fell and they are some of my favorite cities in the world to visit. But Krakow, Poland, is one of the few cities in Europe that is prettier and more cultured than its capital. It has beautiful squares, hip neighborhoods and a castle overlooking it all. In the background, however, is the horrid history of the Holocaust. We spent four days there last week and came back with this report.

June 2, 2026

Barolo and global warming: It’s bringing my favorite wine to the table faster but purists may balk

Michele Adriano lovingly looks at her Barolo wine at the Go Wine event in Rome.

Anyone who follows my blog knows that I love Barolo wine as much as Italy itself. But I’ve always worried about the effects of global warming. After all, it forces winemakers to harvest grapes faster. However, I attended a recent Barolo wine tasting event in Rome and winemakers say global warming is actually making Barolo ready to drink faster. That’s good for me, but not necessarily good for purists.

May 19, 2026

Lampedusa: It’s more than migrants’ “Gateway to Europe”

My Travelers’ Century Club held its latest meeting in the tiny Italian island of Lampedusa. It’s not my favorite place in Italy. I visited in 2002 and hated it. But I went in August, the height of the heat and tourist season. This time I went two weeks ago and besides the colder weather, I didn’t like it much better. Still, it has more than just news about immigrants’ gateway to Europe.

May 12, 2026

Tramezzino: Italy’s famous sandwich is 100 years old this year and I visited its birthplace in Turin

mulafsanotorino05©marinapascucci_aprile2026

One hundred years ago, a woman from Turin and her husband took a toaster from their years in Detroit and made a sandwich out of spongy bread and a variety of fillings. It was called a tramezzino and the square, little sandwich has been a constant presence in Italian bars and aperitivos ever since. Two weeks ago I visited the cafe in Turin where it was invented and got the whole history. I also tried a couple, and they were even better than the ones I regularly eat at my corner bar in Rome.

May 5, 2026

Turin: Italy’s “most underrated city” is still punching above its weight

We came to Italy’s “Most Underrated City” to celebrate our 11-year anniversary. It’s a city in which we’re both familiar but it never disappoints. It has some of Italy’s most beautiful piazzas, long portico-covered walkways, beautiful parks and the best chocolate and wine in the country. We also hit it during its annual May Day parade which held up Turin’s history-long tradition of resistance.

April 28, 2026

Mussolini at the table: On the anniversary of his death, I look at a restaurant-museum honoring his name

On my way back from assignment in Fiuggi Sunday, my two friends and I stopped at a restaurant in the town of Artena. Il Federale is a “restaurant-museum” honoring Benito Mussolini. Hundreds of photos of him adorn the wall. So do fascist signs. A mannequin wears an old Italy fascist flag and Mussolini’s beret. I wasn’t going to write about it until I looked him up. Today is the anniversary of his death. He died April 28, 1945.

April 14, 2026

Arezzo: Tuscany’s “other” city a little artistic jewel

Marina and I at Vasari Cafè on Piazza Grande.

In lieu of my cancelled birthday trip to Maldive Islands, we spent four days at a spa in Tuscany. It was a terrific save. The town of Arezzo is a little-known city overshadowed by Florence and Siena in Tuscany. Arezzo is a growing arts center with a terrific restaurant scene and a unique sloping main piazza which adds to the quirkiness of the place. Of course, soaking in a Jacuzzi in a luxury spa didn’t hurt, either.

April 7, 2026

Tuscany beyond Chianti: Discovering other wines while winery hopping off the beaten Tuscan path

Everyone who goes wine tasting in Tuscany wants Chianti and Sangiovese. However, there are hundreds of fantastic Tuscan wines you’ve never heard of. While on my 70th birthday celebration in the charming Tuscan town of Arezzo last week, Marina and I went winery hopping for two days. We found some wines that fly under the radar that shouldn’t.

April 3, 2026

Italy reels in shame as it’s three strikes and it’s out of the World Cup again

I watched Italy’s pratfall in Bosnia from a pub in Tuscany and am seeing the vile aftermath of it missing its unprecedented third straight World Cup. The manager, delegation head and federation chief are all out. The next steps are what to do next and it goes all the way down to the youth level. I take a quick look at the latest Italian soccer crisis.

March 31, 2026

Turning 70: How a war turned a birthday week in the Maldives into three days in Tuscany

I fully intended to be sitting on a sandy beach in the Maldives while you’re reading this. Turns out, I’ll likely be sipping a glass of wine at a Tuscan winery. I turned 70 Sunday. The Iran War poleaxed my birthday plans as flying to the Maldives through Doha became impossible. But I think I’ll survive with three nights in a spa in Tuscany. This goes down as one of my many landmark birthdays that turned into disappointment. But since moving to Rome in 2014, my birthdays have remarkably improved.

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