December 2005 - Dream of Italy

All Aboard! Rome to Venice on the Orient-Express

While the London-Paris-Venice route is the train's most famous itinerary, few people realize it is possible to ride the Orient-Express within Italy itself, between Venice and Rome, and vice versa.

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Venetian Enchantment Resides at Ca Maria Adele

Brothers Alessio and Nicola Campa searched for five years to
find the ideal location for their Venetian hotel, finally settling
on a decaying 16th-century building, owned by the last descendant of an aristocratic family, a stone's throw from the church Santa Maria della Salute.

Osteria de l’Ortolano: Not Your Average Italian Deli

Osteria de l'Ortolano doesn't show up in the guidebooks of Florence. But if you happen to live or work in the neighborhood, just a couple of blocks from the Duomo, you'll surely know this popular gastronomia.

Mark Your Shopping Calendars!

If there is one Italian word every shopaholic visitor to Italy should know, it's 'saldi' (sales!). Unlike the spontaneous
sales frequently found in stores in the United States, Italy has
only two set periods for taking advantage of reduced prices.

An Italian Housewife in Hollywood

Every time Stefania Barzini, Roman native, visited the United States she was always struck by the number of books she found by dissatisfied American women who decided to change their lives by going to Italy. Find out how she did just the opposite, and what she thought of her experience.

Florence’s Ferragamo Museum Celebrates the Art of Shoes

This article originally appeared in the December 2005 issue of Dream of Italy. Updated 2018. Let me start with a disclosure — I love shoes: I like the variety of colors; the smell and feel of leather or suede; above all, having a good selection when I dress in the morning. I don’t have as many shoes as I want, but …

Piazzas and Prosecco: Celebrating New Year’s Eve in Italy

New York’s Times Square isn’t the only square that knows how to throw a New Year’s Eve party. Italy’s city squares offer less flashy alternatives to the raucous New York crowds.