By Daria Radler After months of impatient waiting it finally happened. Spring had been announcing its arrival slowly but steadily. It had been unfolding like a Christmas calendar that, instead of chocolate, gave me a new leaf along with a new shade of green […]
By Daria Radler I am walking along a gravel road that zigzags through the woods. The atmosphere feels unimposing, though one of Tuscany’s most important castles waits at the top of the hill. Here and there, a sign points to a supposed shortcut. 600 […]
By Daria Radler I am walking on a typical “white road” surrounded by light forests and occasional clearings that offer phenomenal views over the rolling hills of the Chianti landscape. It is the middle of April and, in the heart of Tuscany, spring is […]
By Daria Radler “Qui va piano, va sano e lontano.” — an Italian proverb An old man sits on a wooden folding chair next to the entrance of a cafe. He picks up the newspaper, puts it back down and gazes at the people […]
The neighborhood of Rome’s Trastevere sits on the west bank of the Tiber River. A series of bridges connect it with Centro Storico, the historical center of mankind’s most powerful civilization. In these last 2,000 years, Trastevere (from the term “attraverso il Tevere” or […]
He was a rebel at a time when the public bowed at the knee of the Catholic Church. He was a carouser, a brawler and, indeed, a murderer. But Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio was also a genius, a master of shadow and light. And […]
Many paths criss-cross the Cinque Terre, among them one named “The Way of the Sanctuaries” (La Via dei Santuari or alternatively, La Strada dei Santuari). As the name suggests, this path connects together the villages’ special sanctuaries, adding a spiritual element to what is […]
When in 2013 the New York Times included Vernazza, Cinque Terre (lit. “Five Lands”), in its list of the top 20 destinations to visit in the world, the village was still recovering from the flood and mudslide that had hit it two years before. The […]
Taking advantage of the rich Tuscan soil and its favorable climate, Etruscans first established a settlement high on a limestone ridge around the third century B.C. as evidenced by the tombs that have been excavated in the region ine which numerous remains of the Etruscans’ typical black […]
Of all the many villages in the Chianti Classico region, Castellina-in-Chianti probably offers the most abundant evidence of Etruscan presence going back to the 7th century B.C. Important archaeological excavations have uncovered an entire series of Etruscan villages and hamlets along an ancient road […]