Italian Life

March 11, 2021

Anzio: Nero’s birthplace and site of key WWII battle is a beachside paradise a short ride from Rome

ANZIO, Italy — You can’t tour Rome and Southern Italy without being in awe of the monstrous footprint this civilization laid down 2,000 years ago. Monuments and market places, mausoleums and temples, the most powerful civilization in man’s history stretched from what is now Great Britain to Persia. Peoples and armies in between cowered with the very rumor that the Roman military drew near. They […]

February 8, 2021

The Torlonia Marbles: Ancient history with a view as Rome museums cautiously open in middle of a pandemic

Italy is crawling with yellow fever. I am. It’s all over me. From my head to my toes to my senses all the way to my taste buds and brain. But I’m not suffering. No, I am wallowing in bliss. Going against the grain set by the rest of the European Union, on Feb. 1 Italy lowered its Covid restriction level from orange to yellow. […]

February 2, 2021

When in lockdown Italy? Here are my 10 favorite recipes

Hello again from post-lockdown Italy where Monday I finished my second quasi house arrest in the land that Covid first engulfed. I was in lockdown so long I started a 10-part Netflix series on blood clots. I walked past pubs, long closed, and got weepy at the mere sight of a Peroni sign. My mask has formed a semi-visible indentation on my face. People ask […]

January 11, 2021

Seven years in Rome: My anniversary in a pandemic provides another list for reasons why I love living here

I’m very thankful I survived one year of the Covid pandemic. I’m even more thankful I made it seven years in Rome. That anniversary is today. Yes, on Jan. 11, 2014 I landed in Rome on a one-way ticket with three bags and many dreams. The dreams have been fulfilled and the nightmare that is Covid-19 has been avoided — so far. I told myself […]

December 29, 2020

Underrated Italian towns for 2021: It’s a shorter list but still worthy as our hope for more travel next year takes flight

So through this long, oppressive year, has that picture of the Amalfi Coast remained on your computer or is it bent beyond recognition from too much fondling? Is the postcard of a Tuscan vineyard at sunset still on your refrigerator, teasing you daily as you mark another “X” on your lockdown calendar? Relax. Rejoice. The vaccine has arrived. I’m predicting that sometime in 2021 […]

December 23, 2020

My Christmas gifts 2020: Lousy presents for a lousy year

For all the evil in the world, Santa Clausini in Italy is here Never has the world needed Christmas gifts more than this year. Too bad hardly anyone can afford them. That’s where I come in. This time of year I change my name to Santa Clausini, grow a long white beard and hammer out gifts in my workshop high on a hill in Rome. […]

December 15, 2020

Christmas in pandemic Rome: Quiet nights and strict rules as Covid-19 plays Grinch

The man selling roasted chestnuts on the corner near the Spanish Steps looked as bored as a stuffed reindeer. He glanced at his watch. He looked at me. I looked at his pile of smoking, browned chestnuts and smelled the glorious aroma that always makes Christmas in Rome so sweet. But no one was buying. No one was around. It was me and one lone […]

December 1, 2020

Christmas gifts for travelers: Some day they may need cargo pants or a passport holder

It’s December and you’re trying to find a way to cheer up the traveler in your family whose body this year has formed a permanent indentation in their Barcalounger. He or she hasn’t left town, let alone hopped a plane, since last winter. Christmas is the time for optimism. The new year is around the corner. So, apparently, are vaccines. Maybe that butt will get […]

November 17, 2020

Cornelia a superb historical novel of violence, corruption and inequality

When you live in Rome, you’re surrounded by 3,000 years of history. Benito Mussolini built much of my neighborhood. I live two miles from the Forum and Colosseum. I’m eight miles from ancient aqueducts that were built in the 3rd century B.C. Remnants of the most powerful civilization in history are all around me. The Smithsonian can not hold all the books written about Roman […]

November 12, 2020

Future of travel: Experts hope sustainability will make it even better

One disease will be gone soon. What about Covid-19? Seriously, folks … its effects on travel have been devastating. According to Elizabeth Becker, author of “Overbooked: The Exploding Business of Travel and Tourism,” the tourism industry worldwide already has lost $8 trillion. Restrictions are everywhere. From the United States, where the pandemic is reaching new heights (125,000 new cases a day for the last eight […]

September 30, 2020

Hadrian’s Villa: a day trip into the decadent opulence of Ancient Rome

TIVOLI, Italy — Sometimes Rome gets to me, kind of like too much fine wine. Yes, the most beautiful city in the world gets old in more than just age. A Roman outside my window leans on his horn for five minutes until the guy who double parked next to him comes out and moves his car. The garbage around my street’s packed dumpsters overflows […]

September 24, 2020

American expats terrified as 40-day march to vote begins

We American expats overseas don’t get our voices heard very often beyond family and friends back home. Our opinions get filtered by the roar of separating oceans and the relative anonymity of social media. But with the most important presidential election in, at least, my 64 years only 40 days away, our voices should be made loud and clear. There are 9 million of us. […]

«‹ 14 15 16 17 ›»