Editor’s Note: My friend Toni, an Italian-American expat who lives in Florence, started one of the original food tour companies in Italy with Taste Florence Food Tours. She has used the time at home to find solace in food and to launch the pop-up Corona Podcast. Here is how she sees things these days. — Kathy McCabe As I sit …
Editor’s Note: Chandi Wyant is a beautiful writer. I fell in love with her book Return to Glow, about her transformational hike on the Via Francigena. In fact, we are talking to Chandi during our book club April 29th on Facebook Live. Chandi is a Renaissance art historian and licensed tour guide in Florence. She also has a fantastic blog …
Oh my has life in our beloved Italy – and indeed, in the world – changed so drastically in such a short time. It is so very hard to put our heads around all of this of course. Over the last few weeks, I’ve checked in with some friends in our beloved Italia. They each had something touching and unique …
This article originally appeared in the March 2020 issue of Dream of Italy. One of my favorite things to say is, “no matter what, we always have Italy.” I know my friend Frances Mayes feels the same way, even during these impossibly difficult times as we go to press. Frances is a most calming presence both in person and in her prose. Hopefully …
This article originally appeared in the March 2020 issue of Dream of Italy. Bologna could soon have a new UNESCO World Heritage site if its famous porticoes are selected for the coveted list. The city of Bologna is submitting the nomination to the World Heritage committee for review. The 12 porticoes, which date from the 12th century until the 20th century, …
This article originally appeared in the March 2020 issue of Dream of Italy. After a six-year-long restoriation, the Casa del Frutteto (House of the Orchard) in Pompeii has reopened, featuring vivid botanical frescoes, after a six-year-long restoration by a talented team comprising archaeologists, engineers, architects and anthropologists. The House of the Orchard is considered one of the most picturesque houses …
This article originally appeared in the March 2020 issue of Dream of Italy. The Italian government has declared March 25 National Dante Day (Dantedì) to celebrate Dante Alighieri, the author of The Divine Comedy, an epic poem completed in 1320. The new holiday is in anticipation of the 700th anniversary of the poet’s death, which occurred in September 1321 in Ravenna. Dante, a revered poet whose Divine Comedy is …
Editor’s Note: In a world that has gone mad, let’s close our eyes and dream of Italy. No one writes about Italy the way Frances Mayes does. In the midst of the chaos, she has a stunning new book out from National Geographic – Always Italy – along with her fab travel writer extraordinaire co-author Ondine Cohane. We’re offering a …
In her early forties, Chandi Wyant’s world crumbled in the wake of a divorce and traumatic illness. Determined to embrace life by following her heart, she set out on Italy’s historic pilgrimage route, the Via Francigena, to walk for forty days to Rome. We had our book club with author Chandi Wyant on April 29, 2020 to discuss her book …
This article originally appeared in the February 2020 issue of Dream of Italy. I first met the vivacious and adorable Susan Van Allen in Abruzzo in 2007. We were both part of a huge symposium sponsored by the Italian National Tourist Board and a consortium of companies that run travel to Italy. Two hundred of us piled into buses to follow …
