Italian girls are easy too?!

“No, you’re wrong,” a friend recently told me. “Italian girls are easy too.” I countered with a sceptical look. This was news to me. And I’d certainly met un sacco di gente who would be equally incredulous.   “So why is it that I’m …

The Medici Festival at Artimino

In an old film with a young Vittorio Gasman, the charming Medici Villa of One Hundred Chimneys in Artimino was used to represent the Gonzaga residence located in Mantova. In reality, the villa is in Artimo, in the heart of Tuscany, …

Behind the scenes at The Palio

The famously insular little city of Siena is a fascinating place full of beautiful buildings and artistic treasures; it is also home to one of Italy’s most glorious squares, the fan-shaped Piazza del Campo which provides the theatrical backdrop to the …

Part III: Doesn't thet view make you horny?

Italian men pat themselves on the back for having gotten the art of courting down, and not without good reason - they are, after all, known for their dexterity in this department across the globe., Meanwhile, in an effort to stay …

Enamoured expatriated of Florence

Florence is a city that has spawned many illustrious and famous names, from Dante to Machiavelli to most of the Renaissance artists to Galileo. But more recently, in the last hundred and fifty years or so, Florence’s most famous citizens have …

Part II: Foreign girls are easy

I like to ask Florentines what they think about the fact that their city is so overrun by tourists and foreign students. I reckon that if it gets to me, a foreigner myself and so without much of a leg to …

Part I: The Art of the Chase

We’re all very well aware of the reputation Italian men carry worldwide. Who knows out of what mixture of reality and cultural myth the image has been propagated – though it would probably make an interesting sociology dissertation topic, but no …

Lurking in the shadows - Italy's other economy

Italians call it the economia sommersa – the ‘submerged economy.’ There are umpteen methods for calculating it, just as many definitions and pseudonyms for it, and a variety of takes on its significance in the bel paese. With most estimates pointing …

Everybody outdoors

If you are anything like me you will have taken a look through your Florence guidebook on the flight over. Trying to be ‘good,’ I start with the section about the history of the city, but eventually the temptation to skip …

June in tuscany

June is a magical month in Tuscany.  The nights are alive with a thousand noises, lights, and scents.  This atmosphere is well caught in the Pfeiffer-Everett film of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, shot in Italy.  June is the month of midsummer, …

Carrara, Where giants are born

The sculpture of David by Michelangelo is globally recognized as one of the finest pieces of Renaissance art in existence. Once a metaphor for the invigorated and developing Florentine Republic, youthful, defiant, and brave, Il Gigante ‘The Giant’ as it was …

Florence nightlife 101: what to do and where to go

Much of Florence’s nightlife, especially now that Spring has settled, is to be found outdoors, and not just as a result of the anti-smoking laws implemented earlier this year. Indeed, the open areas of Italian piazze are perfect for evening and …

Organized crime still a force in the south

A wave of tit-for-tat executions has recently engulfed Naples, southern Italy’s main metropolis. The Camorra, the mafia-like criminal organization that controls large swathes of the city and other towns in Campania has been wracked by internal conflict since a splinter group …

Support your local botteghe

“LA CUCINA TOSCANA” is world famous because of unique dishes and, above all, because of the care and love that goes into it’s preparation, searching for local ingredients, preparing meals for your friends and family and, of course, passing the time …

Vatican trivia

Vat Stats The Vatican became a city-state on February 11, 1929. It has 900 citizens and 3000 employees, including 100 Swiss Guards. One third of the Vatican is covered in gardens. Facilities include: a helipad, train station, hotel, radio station and post …