Stories and Experiences

Photos and stories about people and places discovered on trips Home to Italy

How local Italians are working to improve the lives of dogs

In 2010 Fiona Cole and Carlo Cesario rescued Dino Fortunato in Calabria, Southern Italy and brought him home to California.   Following their story online at the time reminded me of the ‘local dogs’ I met during my 3 months in Sorrento, Italy In large Italian cities you may notice dogs with owners in tow, often breeds that may be considered ‘designer’ and you rarely…

Florence: Street Art

Street Art in Florence April 2021 | Lee Laurino A compact city known for renowned artists like Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael and Michelangelo, Florence offers many famous paintings, frescos and sculptures in its countless churches, museums and palaces. However, less notable art also exists throughout the city. When exploring the cobbled streets of Florence, remember to look up to find some “quiet” art. While budding…

Venice: the vera da pozzo: Water Wells

Venice may be one of the most photographed cities in Italy and well deserved. The canals, the colorful gondolas and the many bridges are only a few of the unique sites to photograph. It is easy to miss items that have a great story to tell. Sometimes only a local can share insight and stories about their home, that you will never find in…

Just released, an Italian vegetarian cookbook by Ylenia Sambatii

Italian cuisine may be one of the most popular in the USA and if you are part of an Italian family you have enjoyed traditional dishes as well as special treats on holidays.  Although fresh vegetables are a mainstay in Italian cooking, a vegetarian diet is now achievable with the new book by Ylenia Sambatti:    Italian, Simple Vegetarian.  A lifelong vegetarian, Yle says she…

Made in Italy, a guide to artisans throughout Italy

Made in Italy, by Laura Morelli     We all may be arm-chair travelers this year, but we can still travel throughout Italy in the pages of Made in Italy.    Part Italian history lesson, part insider travel guide this compact volume takes your inside the towns and villages of Italy where traditional handmade traditions flourish. An award-winning author of Art-historical fiction and writer…

Pietre Dure: the art of hard stones

Florence offers a  view into the ancient art of Pietre Dure         Not a painting.    Stone Art        Museo Opificio delle Pietre Dure Via degli Alfani 78 – 50121 Firenze Perhaps more familiar are the artistic techniques of mosaic, using small pieces of cut stone or marquetry, applying pieces of wood veneer to form patterns and pictures, but Pietre Dure…

Museum of the Liberation of Rome

    Museo storico della Liberazione, Rome  another unique experience to discover- beyond the tourist sites. The museum recording the liberation of Rome from the Nazi occupation is housed in a non descript apartment building not far from the Basilica of St John Laterna. Here you will find records of the Italian Resistance in 1944 during the WWII German occupation of Rome 9/11/1943 to…

Photos from Florence, Italy during the shutdown

  What is happening in Italy today? Italians have been under stay at home orders for weeks leaving the streets empty, stores closed and tourists returning home to wait out the pandemic. As a few of the strict rules are being changed or lifted, Italian cities are seeing a few signs of life.                         …

Italy: closed for months but locals became very innovative!

         Italians Became Creative during the shut down Italians have stoically followed the directives of their regional governments to stay at home since early March and finally have started to return to what will become the new normal.   Some worker were able to tele-commute from home while  non-essential businesses, hotels, restaurants, cafes, museums, historic sites and even the Vatican closed.    Not a…

CookinPuglia Italian Cooking lessons: live

                             CookinPuglia!   Ylenia Sambati We offer private 2 hour workshops for up to 6 people, via Zoom and Skype in the comfort of your kitchen with every day classes. The class is designed for everyone who wants to enjoy a cooking class at home, having a great time learning the authentic…

Rome offers Surprises: You just have to search

Basilica di Santa Prassede, Romea photo review of a glittering interior Via di Santa Prassede, 9 I spend my weeks Home to Italy, walking the side streets, neighborhoods, cemeteries and marketsI discover in each part of the city I explore.   Often a small, plain entrance can offer an amazing surprise and on this day I was not disappointed. Walking away from the Basilica…

Pugatory: a small museum to the Souls in Purgatory

Burned images, one of the exhibits of contact with souls in purgatory Museum of the Holy Souls in Purgatory    A new addition to on my list of experiences that tourists may never visit Located in the Chiesa del Sacro Cuore del Suffragio a small Roman church just past the Castel Sant’ Angelo is a one room ‘museum’ to the Souls in Purgatory. A small mention in…

Venice: roof top views

Exploring Italian cities, villages and fortified towns     Walking the lanes and streets of charming Italian villages or the larger avenues of major Italian cities, I can experience Italian lifestyle from ground level.  To appreciate the scope of the city and the surrounding countryside you must climb.     While Italian towns usually have a major church, some include a bell tower, other towns may have the…

Why I can NOT move to Italy……….

Of Course I love Italy, visiting any small town, village or city via train routes. Returning Home to Italy 2 or 3 times a year confirms with each visit, that I must spend time in Italy.  So why can’t I just pack up and move home?   I did this for my first 3 month ‘sabbatical’ in 2008 to test if I could live in a…

Venice: What do gondoliers wear on their feet?

What do gondoliers wear on their feet?      When you think of Venice, the first thought may be the iconic gondola ride along the grand canal or on one of the quiet canals traversing the many islands that make up this city.   .  You can enjoy watching the approximate 400  glossy black gondolas silently passing from the top of a bridge and on occasionally hear the…

Italy: Tivoli Villa d’Este in the rain

Traveling does not always have sunny days…………….Often your schedule may not be that flexible or allow you to ‘go another day’.  You may plan a museum day if the forecast is rain unless it is the only day you can visit the famous garden in Tivoli Italy. My day to see Tivoli, after 5 years of saying ‘I need to go there’, was  during a heavy rain…

Rome: taking the Green Tube instead of the bus

Not a bus, Not a train:   the Green metal tubes that can take you around Rome without a tourist in sight………………..TRAMS You can find the older green trans outside the Termini station    Rome:  This trip Home to Italy found me at a WWII Nazi interrogation center, Mussolini’s rented home during the war and my first visit to a catacomb.   There were still many…

"If you want to know a city book a local with Prontopia"*

Venice   Rome   Florence If you are visiting for the first time,  an independent traveler or returning often, Prontopia can simplify your travel   Use Prontopia to book a local to help eliminate some of the stress of travel Arriving in a new city where you do not speak the language and signs may not always include a translation, can be exhilarating as well as…

Great news for travelers arriving /leaving from Rome

Great news if you fly to or from Rome, Italy I almost missed this news since I have been traveling for months but if you go Home to Italy via Rome you can now take a direct train to the airport from a few cities without a stop/change in Rome! What is more exciting to me is the news that you can take this…

Art in the Cemetery of the Holy Gate in Florence, Italy

With a zoom lens you can view the Duomo in Florence Cemetery of the Holy GateLocated next to the church San Miniato al Monte. Italy is packed with art and the city of Florence, Italy is no exception.    Major museums display and protect some of the most famous paintings, tapestries and sculpture.   Sculptures can be found outside of formal institutions.     You can…

Italian stone angels, Rome

Italy is known for outstanding museums           where art treasures are on display You can find incredible marble carvings in museums, public plazas and even private homes and courtyards.  But have you searched for other incredible carvings in the cemetery? Entrance to the Rome English cemetery in Rome A view of the Piramide from the cemetery.  Only a few blocks from the…

Padua to visit the Scrovegni Chapel

Part of the massive fresco “The Last Judgment” Most visitors race from Firenze to Venice without considering a stop at any of the wonderful cities that can easily be visited during this trip.  Travelers, unlike tourists, seek experiences that may not be on the top 10 list of a tourist guides.  Padua offers a number of experiences that should be added to your travel…

Just saw this online.  I have heard locals in Venice talk for years about the problems with tourist and particularly the ones that come for the day or on a monster ship.   Now they have one solution, perhaps…… from Conde Nast Traveler From April 28 to May 1, one of the biggest Italian holiday weekends of the year, tourists will be restricted from…

Italian contacts are like beads on a necklace ………………

 My Italian beads These are NOT the beautiful beads you find in Venice! Many people collect beads as a reminder of a place they visited, a special event or something they are fond of. I think of the wonderful Italians I meet in Italy or follow on line as my beads of Italy.    Many of my contacts in Italy have become friends.   Americans make ‘friends’…

Rome: Paint and Sketch in a Roman Park with artist Kelly Medford

Rome:  Art in the Park with Kelly Medford Several years ago I spent 2 days following Kelly while she painted in Rome.   She was gracious to allow me to shadow her while she completed a project of painting a picture every day!  see post at  Rome Italy through the eyes of a talented American artist. I had an opportunity to join one of Kelly’s…

Sicily: Opera dei Pupi: an Italian tradition you can still find

    Hundreds of eyes followed me as I explored the Museum di Pupi  (Antonio Pasqualino International Puppet Museum) in Palermo Italy. An army of soldiers away the next battle In 2008 The Unesco intangible heritage list of cultural traditions in danger of extinction, included the Opera dei Pupi, Sicilian puppet theatre.  Always searching for anything in Italy not listed in a tour book, Italian puppets of Sicily were…

Another opportunity to renovate a home in an Italian village Ever dreamed of owning a home in a pretty Italian village? The news you’ve been waiting for has finally arrived. You can now buy one for just over a dollar.   Ollolai, a destination in the mountain region of Barbagia on the Mediterranean island of Sardinia, is selling hundreds of abandoned homes for just…

Florence: the children’s home Ospedale degli Innocenti

More of the renovation has been completed 5/1/2017  Florence, Italy Ospedale degli Innocenti: the hospital of the innocents Walking through the Piazza Santissima Annunziata as an exchange student many years ago, the imposing building on the east side of the piazza was never open, but it has proudly kept its long history of service to children.   For the past year+ scaffolding and plastic sheathing has promised a renovation that will…

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