There is something about the Christmas season that makes you feel all warm and cozy inside. That Christmas-y feeling you get as December unfolds and the temperatures begin to drop and perhaps, if you’re lucky, a sprinkling of snow falls outside. In Italy, the Mercatini di Natale, or Christmas Markets, are popping up everyone and...Read More
Christmas is a time of year that is just bursting at the seams with traditions and many of them, especially in Calabria, include food. During the Christmas season, Italian kitchens are working overtime to prepare delicious Christmas sweets in abundance. It is next to impossible to experience Christmas in Calabria without seeing or eating these...Read More
Easter in Italy is one of the most important religious periods of the year, even more so than Christmas. So, as you can probably imagine, it’s kind of a big deal. And like all festivals and celebrations in Italy, there are traditions that have been passed on through generations that are still very much present...Read More
Newsletter recipients and Facebook fans will remember my recent Limoncello Challenge – where I took two extreme steeping rules and put them to the test. And I have to say … the results were surprising. To fully tell this story, I need to go back to when I first tried the homemade limoncello that knocked...Read More
In the 700s BC, Greeks migrated across southern Italy and settled the land known as Magna Graecia. The first of these settlements – where 100,000 of the wealthiest and most prosperous congregated – was Sybaris. The Sybarites, whose name is now synonymous with opulence and luxury originated la dolce vita for which Italy is famous....Read More
If it wasn’t for this brilliant Calabrian you and I wouldn’t even know what day it was, but unfortunately, his great contribution bears someone’s name. As Michele Connors explains, Luigi Lilio, one of the greatest minds in Calabrian history, changed the way we see the world. Welcome, Michele. How much Calabrian history has been lost...Read More
Would you believe my Italy blogger friends … the expat-world-famous, Sara, Jessica and Michelle (of Ms. Adventures in Italy, Why Go Italy and Bleeding Espresso, respectively) just published their 48th episode of the Eye of Italy podcast? That’s remarkable. Those of you who remember when the girls started the show, might recall that little ‘ole...Read More
If there is one thing expats in southern Italy can agree on, it’s that we have the. best. food. in the country. Ok, ok, expats in other parts of Italy … back off! Your food rocks, too. But I have that whole southern pride thing going on and nothing makes me prouder than reviewing a...Read More
Some people are just naturally gifted language learners. They hear a word a few times and bam!-it’s engrained in their memories. They see something written and viola!-they can pronounce it. They can easily pick up grammar rules, idioms and tada! language nuances. I am no such person. Rather, I need to hear something oh, a...Read More
