The latest news from the experts in Italian Travel
Naples is home to the first national first national museum dedicated to Italian tenor, Enrico Caruso. Set to open this month 150 years after Caruso’s birth in the same city, the museum will be inside the Royal Palace of Naples in the Sala Dorica rooms. Enrico Caruso had a career that spanned continents. He came from humble beginnings and rose …
Gold letters on a wood plaque on the deck read: “Non chi comincia ma quel che persevera“ meaning “Not the one who begins but the one who perseveres“ The Italian Navy’s oldest vessel, the Amerigo Vespucci, set sail on July 1 from the port city of Genoa and embarked on a 20-month world tour. Throughout its entire journey, the Italian flag …
So my Regent Seven Seas cruise has incredible timing as it departs from Rome’s Civitavecchia port on April 29, 2024. That means I can attend the Festa della Madonna delle Grazie in my ancestral hometown in Campania (about 2.5 hours south) the day before, April 28th. I want to invite as many of you to join me as we can accommodate. I am creating a special 3-night …
Changes are on the horizon for visitors coming to Rome. New entrance fee for the Pantheon One of the most visited sites in the Eternal City- the 2,000 year old Pantheon– will begin charging an entrance fee on July 1, 2023. Gennaro Sangiuliano, Italy’s Culture Minister, announced it will cost five euros to enter the building. He calls the fee …
I am always looking for ways to improve the Dream of Italy Membership – of course the magazine and archive of 195+ back issues is at the center of that – and I have introduced a new benefit: a chance to ask me your personal travel questions on a regular basis! My first Dream of Italy Members-Only Travel Chat Live in April (members: check out …
Exquisite design is found in only one place in Italy- everywhere. Even on billboards and in shop windows. A glamorously painted figure sipping an Illy brand coffee. A happy home-cook beaming at her dish garnished with peanuts, selling the nuts (or her infectious smile?). In the first half of the 20th century, the tone of Italian brand advertising was a …
Darkness and Light: The Two Sides of Genoa Genoa’s medieval center is shrouded in palpable dimness, its dense streets and caruggi – narrow medieval alleyways typical of Liguria – encapsulated by surrounding buildings that block sunlight from most angles. A square here and there is punctuated by pockets of sunlight, but even on a banner blue sky day, much of …
Surely, you’ve heard or read about what might be the most famous villa in Italy: Bramasole. The one that Frances Mayes wrote about in her memoir, Under the Tuscan Sun. With husband Ed, Frances transformed a forgotten ruin into a thrilling second act in life. “The house protects the dreamer, the houses that are important to us are the ones …
Buona sera da Modena! I’ve just finished five days of filming for Season 3 of Dream of Italy on PBS and mio Dio, I don’t even have the words to describe what I saw and felt. Chances are you know Chef Massimo Bottura? He has three Michelin stars, the restaurant Osteria Francescana that he owns with his American-born wife Lara …
This article originally appeared in the February/March 2023 issue of Dream of Italy. If you have read Frances Mayes’ bestselling memoir or watched the movie Under the Tuscan Sun like me, you’ve probably dreamed of visiting the magical town of Cortona and wondered about that villa called Bramasole, which means “to yearn for the sun,” that plays center stage. [You can …
