Venice for the Holidays: Markets, Concerts and Masses

Our friend Nan McElroy, author of Italy, Instructions for Use (hint: makes a terrific stocking stuffer!) is lucky to live in Venice year-round but like most of us believes the holidays are a particularly special time of year in La Serenissima. There are Christmas markets, a special glass exhibition on the island of Murano, classical music concerts, celebrations in Piazza …

Stock up on Holiday Foods at DItalia.com

If you’re looking to stock up on Italian specialties for Christmas dinner or to give yummy Italian treats as gifts, we wanted to remind you about our friends at DItalia.com We got to know them by being their customers first – bought some of their gift baskets for clients a few years ago – and we continue to do our …

Why This Subscriber Loves Dream of Italy

There’s nothing that makes my day more than an unsolicited e-mail from a happy Dream of Italy subscriber. And this one from earlier this week really put a smile on my face. Juanita is talking about the FREE BONUS Berlitz 4-CD language course that’s part of our best subscription deal ever – and part of our holiday gift subscription package …

Christmas Time Means Panettone!

Our guest blogger Robin Locker recounts her discovery of panettone and the history of this Italian holiday food- When I first saw panettone, I thought it was the ubiquitous fruitcake that you see around the holidays. You know- the dense brick of a log that everyone hates, but gets as a gift…and re-gifts it on down the line until they …

Barack Obama Starring In Naples Nativity Scenes

Our intrepid writer France Kidd ventured to Naples to explore their most famous Christmas tradition – the creation of presepi or Nativity scenes. This year Neapolitan craftsmen have made figures of Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, Hillary Clinton, John McCain and other famous Americans and Europeans to fill their scenes. All of this Christmas fun can be found on one street …