The latest news from the experts in Italian Travel
My mom called me on Sunday to tell me that “Cammillo” was in The New York Times. I hadn’t thought about this Florence restaurant in a long time and wondered what made it newsworthy to appear in the paper now. You see my mom and I ate at Trattoria Cammillo in 1995 on our first trip to Italy. We went …
One of my favorite things to do is to give away new travel books or DVDs related to Italy. Well, here we go again… This month three films by Italy’s Taviani brothers are being released on DVD for the North American market. Don’t know the Tavianis? Well here’s how The New York Times described them: “Before the Coens, the Hugheses, …
Titled La Notte di San Lorenzo in Italian, The Night of the Shooting Stars takes place in the fictional Tuscan town of San Marino, based on the real town of San Miniato, where the filmmakers were born and lived during World War II. The film is told in flashback by a mother (Cecilia) of her experiences as a 6-year-old caught …
When director Anthony Mingella set sight on the former Benedictine monastery of Sant’Anna in Camprena, a little town outside Pienza, he knew he had found the perfect place to shoot the scenese where a convalescing English patient reveals his tragic past to his nurse in the film The English Patient. The interior features frescoes by Sodoma (1477-1549). Guests can now …
Sitting atop a hill two miles from the town of Greve in Chianti, Villa Vignamaggio didn’t need Kenneth Branagh’s 1993 film version of Shakespeare’s classic Much Ado About Nothing to put it on the map. The estate was already famous as the birthplace of Mona Lisa in 1479. Yet another of Vignamaggio’s other claims to fame is that its red …
Invitation to Tuscany represents more than 130 carefully selected villas,apartments and restored farmhouses in Tuscany, Liguria and Umbria. Our three agents in the U.S. have visited them all and can give you intimate details. Call Hugh or Barbara at (703) 370-3868 on the East Coast or Colleen at (866) 297-1058 west of the Mississippi…and take a look at http://www.invitationtotuscany.com/ to …
The famous Harry’s Bar in Venice has never been a cheap place to eat and drink, but it has just gotten a bit cheaper for Americans. Reuters reports that a sign hanging outside the landmark this weekend reads: “Harry’s Bar of Venice, in an effort to make the American victims of subprime loans happier, has decided to give them a …
Tuscany! Amalfi Coast! Sicily! Traveling Palette Art Workshops is celebrating 11 years of providing exceptional outdoor painting programs set in world-class venues. Each workshop is dedicated to instruction in drawing and painting techniques given by Sam D’Ambruoso, including demos, exercises and constructive critiques. Non-painting guests share in the fun, too, traveling to each site. Every village is unique in offering …
And to think, I knew him when…Back when I was working in the travel section of USATODAY.com, I somehow met a very cool guy named “Johnny Jet.” Laugh if you must, but the “Jet” really fits as this guy (we’ve still never met in person; ah the world of the Web) must have more energy than five men put together. …
Given my newfound interest in gluten-free travel in Italy (see below), I decided to do some quick Web research to see what I came up with. Fabio Massimo Rapanà, who himself suffers from Celiac Disease, runs a gluten-free bed and breakfast on Lake Garda. Domus Allessandra operates a 100% gluten-free kitchen and provides a gluten-free breakfast daily for guests. The …
