Italy Is The Answer: A Love Letter

This article originally appeared in the December 2020/January 2021 issue of Dream of Italy. Italy is the answer. I’m sure of it. You may be too. What’s the question you ask? I don’t even know if you need to pose one to know Italy is truly the answer. But let’s play along, Maybe… What is one word to summarize all that …

Editor’s Note: December 2020/January 2021 Dream of Italy Issue

This Editor’s Note originally appeared in the December 2020/January 2021 issue of Dream of Italy. Members receive access to more than 180 back issues—if you’re not a member, join here. Dream of Italy. When I came up with this name nearly 19 years ago, little did I know just how well it would age. In this pandemic, we are in …

Letter From Rome: Piccolo Pleasures Post-Lockdown

Editor’s Note: Lisa Tucci has been living in Italy for 30 years. She boasts that she’s been to every piazza and practically every church across the boot, having produced audio and video guides for some of Italy’s most prestigious places, from Agrigento to Bolzano. A proponent of Slow Travel, she now helps families and school groups find just the right way …

Letter From Florence: Finding Solace in Food and Podcasting

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 …

Letter From Florence: Patiens at Ground Zero

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 …

Letters From Italy in the Time of Coronavirus

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 …

Letter From Chianti: To Live Again and Be Reborn

Editor’s Note:  Arianna Cini and her husband, Alessio Di Genova, the owners of KM Zero Tours in Chianti, exude the warmth that we simply adore in Italians. I spent an amazing day with the two of them several years ago as they helped me experience Chianti in a way I never had before. There’s a vineyard around ever corner in …

Letter From Lecce: A Renaissance Retreat

Editor’s Note: How lucky I have been to meet so many wonderful Italians through my work. One of my favorites is dear Ylenia. She is beautiful on the inside and out, adores animals as I do and exudes passion for her native Puglia. I’ve had some wonderful memories with Ylenia including filming a cooking lesson with her and a local …

Letter From The Veneto: Holding On To Dreams

Editor’s Note: Monica Cesarato’s enthusiasm for Venice and the Veneto is completely infectious. If you haven’t met her in person on one of her tours of Venice or cooking classes, you can now meet her on her daily on Instagram where she does live videos with friends all over the world every evening Italian time. I will be her guest …

March 25th Named As Dantedi (March 2020)

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 …