I’m taking a SITA bus along the Amalfi Coast. If you’ve ever taken this nerve-racking trip, you know it’s a roller coaster ride. Every time we go around a corner we swing well into the other lane of traffic, and the driver’s blowing his horn frantically. A year ago I actually had to walk the […]
I never realized how easy it is to go wine tasting in Chianti until I gave it a try. My girlfriend Kristin and I were staying in Florence and decided to rent a car for twenty-four hours and drive into wine country. It didn’t take more than forty-five minutes and we were in the rolling, […]
“You either love it or you hate it,” said a friend of mine. It was the first thing I ever heard about the Italian city of Naples, and the phrase’s authenticity remains intact after all these years. Naples is unlike any other city in Italy: It is busy, loud, and dirty on one hand (many […]
Every time I travel to the Amalfi Coast I am swept away by its beautiful beaches, its incredible seafood, and the kindness of the people who live in houses built into the sheer cliffs. But it was only on my last trip that I discovered a plethora of hiking trails. The trails wind back through […]
Lecce is a city of 90,000 located about as far south on the Italian boot as you can go. And though it is not well known—or perhaps because of this—it took my breath away when I first stumbled upon it three years ago. Intricate Baroque sculptures pop out of the walls at every turn. A Roman amphitheater […]
Romeo and Juliet may only be characters in a play, but they’ve been supporting a lucrative business in the city of Verona for quite a while. Souvenir shops sell figurines of the romantic, doomed couple and hotel ads quote Shakespeare. Tourists cluster in the courtyard under Juliet’s balcony and pose by her bronze statue, touching […]
With only two hours of sleep, I arrived in Brindisi, Italy at 6am on a night train. Brindisi, located in southeast Italy, is one the final stops on the Train Italia rail system, with Lecce being the only major city further south. Having a large, natural port on the Adriatic Sea, Brindisi has a significant history filled with accounts […]
Some of the Abruzzo region’s most amazing tourist sights, the trabocchi, are located on the Adriatic coast between the Italian cities of Ortona and Vasto. They have existed for centuries, once stretching as far south as Gargano in Puglia. They were built out of everything – from railroad rails to logs cut from trees that had been transplanted from […]
Traveling in Italy during Easter can be wonderful or perilous. Before you decide, read my story. Perhaps this is a funny story. I’m not sure. Tragic might be the more appropriate description.
Cantine Aperte is an annual wine-festival that takes place each May throughout all of Italy. From the Veneto region in the north, to Sicily’s Marsala, wineries open their doors to visitors and offer samples of their amazing wines. The one-time cost of entry is usually 5 euro; the price includes a wine glass that you […]