Italian Life

July 22, 2025

Dolce & Gabbana: Italian fashion enters theater of the weird in Rome exhibition

I attended Dolce & Gabbana’s exhibit at the gargantuan Palazzo delle Esposizioni in Rome Wednesday. The outfits on display, all from past fashion shows around the world, were outrageous. Bamboo miniskirts. Dresses made up entirely of flowers. One cloak depicted a canal scene from Venice. But it provided insight into one of the world’s leading fashion houses, one that earned €1.9 billion in sales last year. D&G also has an interesting history.

July 18, 2025

Video: My 10 Favorite Cities in the World

Continuing my addition of videos onto my website, I am doing my 10 Favorite Cities in the World. This comes two months after my video on my 10 Least Favorite Cities in the World. I wonder which will get a more negative reaction.

June 17, 2025

My Five Favorite Restaurants in Italy — Edition 2

Five years ago I wrote My Five Favorite Restaurants in Italy. I’ve traveled a lot around the country since then so it’s time for an update. I picked five, but No. 1 remains the same. Check it out and take it with you on your next trip to Italy. Note: I left out Rome as I annually write My Five Favorite Restaurants in the city.

June 8, 2025

Rome’s pro-Palestinian rally draws 300,000 hoping Meloni, Netanyahu notice

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Marina and I attended Rome’s massive pro-Palestinian rally Saturday and I talked to many of the supporters. They were equally enraged by the Israeli “genocide” and Italy prime minister Georgia Meloni’s inaction. However, they were quick to point out they were not antisemitic.

June 3, 2025

Wine wars: Why we get headaches from drinking wine in U.S. but rarely in Italy — Chapter 2

Since retiring to Rome 11 years ago and getting fairly heavily into wine, I rarely get headaches. Yet I always did in the U.S. So do my readers. I sought answers at a recent wine tasting of my favorite Piedmont wines as well as wine experts in the U.S. and California. The culprit isn’t sulfites as I always thought. It’s much more complicated.

May 27, 2025

Rome hotel guide: The world’s briefest (Hey, I live in an apartment!) offers four I can recommend

I don’t know why visitors always ask me to recommend a hotel in Rome. I don’t know. I live in apartments. But over the last few years I’ve taken Marina to six hotels in Rome for one-night “staycations.” It has given me a small glimpse at the hotel scene here. Unfortunately, two we visited have closed. For what it’s worth, here are four we can recommend.

May 20, 2025

Pesto: Liguria’s trademark sauce puts punch in pasta

Pesto is one of the most popular sauces in Italy and two weeks ago Marina and I went to the birthplace of pesto: Liguria. During our four days in the port town of Porto Venere, we had pesto on pasta, in paninos and even on pancakes. We also interviewed the instructor of a pasta-makìng school. I became so addicted I bought a bottle of his homemade pesto.

May 13, 2025

Porto Venere: Italy’s Cinque Terre light perfect place to celebrate 10-year anniversary

I had never heard of Porto Venere until Marina suggested it for our 10-year anniversary. It looked perfect. Close enough to Cinque Terre to enjoy the beautiful coastal scenery but far enough away to avoid the mobs. Well, tourists still poured into Porto Venere but it’s nothing like Vernazza in July. We also had a lovely apartment away from the Old Town right on the beach with one of the best restaurants we’ve been to in Italy almost next door.

May 9, 2025

An American pope? It’s true and the Vatican Thursday was awash in hope and so was I

I was one of the millions around the world caught off guard by the naming of American cardinal Robert Francis Provost as the new pope. I was not interested in writing about Pope Francis’ successor but when I saw it was the first American pope in history, I raced to the Vatican. I found optimism from a wide range of people, from American pilgrims to nuns to Carmelite priests. I like the pick, and not just because he’s an American.

April 29, 2025

10-year anniversary: Cross-cultural relationships have challenges most couples never experience

Ten years ago today, I went out with Marina Pascucci for an aperitivo in Rome. We’re still going out — around Rome, around Italy and around the world. Tonight marks our 10-year anniversary, a grand feat considering the challenges cross-cultural relationships have. I discuss our journey with some learned observations from an Italian relationship counselor.

April 21, 2025

Pope Francis’ surprise death turns St. Peter’s Square into bastion of prayer — and tour groups

I woke up ready to write about my trip to Meteora, Greece’s towering collection of monasteries hanging off cliffs. Instead, I wrote a bigger religious story. Pope Francis is dead. It was announced at 7:30 a.m. Rome time and I raced down to St. Peter’s to capture the scene. It was business as normal but there was a very solemn backdrop.

March 25, 2025

Italy overrated: My 10 most overrated things in my adopted country (do you really like Prosecco?)

Italy has many beautiful things to write home about but some things have been written about too much. I count 10 overrated things in Italy, the hype of which has driven me crazy for years. I itemize them, from Prosecco to Cinque Terre.

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