Vrooms With a View: Europe’s Most Scenic Drives (includes Val d’Aosta, Piemonte) [The Guardian]
Eat Like a Local in Venice, The Venetian Islands Locals Want to Keep to Themselves, Venice Bacari [The Guardian]
Global Eye: Venice Carnival [National Geographic Intelligent Travel Blog]
Italy’s Sleepy Surprise (Maratea, Basilicata) [Philadelphia Inquirer]
Where Puccini Might Shop in Rome [New York Times]
For a Real Italian Getaway, Follow the Herd (Abruzzo) [The Guardian]
What’s New in Rome and Venice for 2010 and What’s New in Italy, from Museums to Mountain Walks [Rick Steves for the Seattle Times]
Moving House? No, We’re Just Off to Italy to Visit the Folks (road tripping in a motor home) [The Guardian]
Roadtripping the Sicilian Coast [Matador Network]
Caravaggio’s Greatest Hits Draw Big Crowds in Rome [LA Times]
Italy Deserves More Than a Long Weekend (fashion-focused editorial) [New York Times]
Customs and Etiquette in Italy: 15 Things Every Visitor Should Know [Fodor's Travel Wire]
Giro d’Italia Bicycle Race is Making Its Way to Washington, DC, in 2012 [Washington Post]

And, while I don’t often feature articles from the Italy blogs in the round-up, I had to mention these two articles from Alex Roe, the blogger behind the excellent Blog From Italy:
Ballooning Over Tuscany
Floating Self-Catering in Venice

Photo © Carol Fletcher

Related posts

• Italy Summer Article Round-Up 2008
• What’s On In Italy: April 2009
• Round-up: Italy in Winter, Hidden Salami, Timelapse Tuscany, and more
• October 2008 Article Round-Up
• Italy Article Round-Up From the Past Few Months

This installment of Italy travel articles includes two videos that I thought were worth sharing. Enjoy the round-up!

Skiing in Abruzzo [The Guardian]
Luxury Bargains: Italy in Winter [The Independent]
If You’re Ever in Florence, You Have to Visit This Mediocre Trattoria I Know [The Onion]
CBP to Foodies: No Hiding the Salami [Update: Travel Better]
Is Italy the ‘Citizen Kane’ of Travel? [World Hum video, below]

Venice in Winter [Financial Times]
Alone (or Almost) with Michelangelo in Vatican City [New York Times]
Fresh Powder Meets Fine Dining at Cortina d’Ampezzo [NYT]
The 31 Places to Go in 2010 (includes Gargano, Puglia) [NYT]
Tuscany – Timelapse Impressions [Matador TV video, click on the link]

Photo © madiash

Related posts

• What’s On In Italy: April 2009
• October 2008 Article Round-Up
• Italy Article Round-Up
• 2008 Year-End Article Round Up
• Italy Summer Article Round-Up 2008

Stendhal in Parma [NY Times]
The Cursing Mommy Cooks Italian [The New Yorker - humor, of course!]
Italy’s Reality is a Vita Not So Dolce [The Globe and Mail]
Italy Made Easy [The Telegraph]
Body Scanners Coming to Rome, Milan Airports [USA Today]
Sightjogging: City Walking Tours on Speed [Matador Network]
Make Yourself at Home with a Spot of House-Sitting (Puglia) [The Guardian]
White-Lie City (Rome) [The American]

Photo © Dave Yoder for the New York Times

Related posts

• What’s On in Italy: October 2008
• Italy Summer Article Round-Up 2008
• What’s On in Italy: September 2008
• What’s On In Italy: April 2009
• October 2008 Article Round-Up

It has been a while since I posted an article roundup. Here are some of the great Italy travel articles you may have missed in the last month or so.

Roaming Rome, in a Martini Mood [L.A. Times]
Do the Splits on the Swiss and Italian Ski Slopes [The Independent]
Sicily’s Secret South [The Guardian]
Italy in Full (Palermo, Sicily) [Conde Nast Traveler]
Artists Lead the Way in the Oltrarno District of Florence [New York Times]
The Best Way to Travel in Tuscany [CN Traveler's Perrin Post]

Photo © ventofreddo

Related posts

• What’s On in Italy: July 2008
• Italy Summer Article Round-Up 2008
• October 2008 Article Round-Up
• Italy Article Round-Up
• 2008 Year-End Article Round Up

Here are just a few notable articles on Italy that I’ve come across in the past month or so. I need to get them off my plate, as it were, so I can move on to more tips, hotels, and news that has come my way…

One Fish, Two Fish – This article my Mimi Sheraton in the New Yorker looks at the origins of brodetto, a fish soup that is most prized in Abruzzo and Le Marche. This link is to an abstract, but if you have a New Yorker subscription you can plug in your account info and read it online (if you haven’t already).

Italy Against Itself – Another abstract, this article by regular Italy columnist Alexander Stille looks at recent politics in the country.

An Italy Variety Plate from Gourmet.com – Last month, the food magazine had articles on Christmas pandoro from Verona and Chicken Liver Crostini from Central Italy. This month is Gourmet’s Italian-American issue, which explores recipes inspiration from Lucca to Lecce. Also, it seems that gourmet.com has a more searchable archive now. So, just go to their search engine, type in “Italy,” and you can find articles going all the way back to 1954!

Related posts

• Italy Summer Article Round-Up 2008
• What’s On in Italy: July 2008
• What’s On In Italy: April 2009
• October 2008 Article Round-Up
• Italy Article Round-Up

I am still trying to figure out how to manage a toddler and a newborn and find time to keep this blog up-to-date. But I have been keeping track of the numerous articles about Italy that have come out in the past couple of months. So, enjoy the following links and have a Felice Anno Nuovo!!

Boston Globe
Eating Up Miles, Drinking Up Scenery, Motoring From Nice to Tuscany (road tripping between France and Italy)

L.A. Times
American Military Cemeteries in Europe Honor Heroes in Both World Wars (profiles Sicily-Rome Cemetery)

The Globe and Mail (Canada)
Roman Holiday, Reconsidered
Your Palazzo in Florence Awaits
Escape From San Domino

The Independent (U.K.)
Madama Butterfly, Floria Tosca – They All Came From Lucca
Puglia Is a Food Lover’s Paradise

The Guardian (U.K.)
Flying Visit to Florence
Flood-Hit Hoteliers Offer Packages With Free Wellies (Venice)
Go With the Flow (Skiing on Mt. Etna)
A Taste of Italy at Harvest Time (Le Marche)
Turin On A Plate
On the Trail of the Leopard (Sicily)

New York Times
Florence, Then and Now
Venice: In Laguna Da Toni
Savoring Italy One Beer at a Time

The Telegraph (U.K.)
Mesmerizing Relics of Byzantine Brilliance (Ravenna)

Wall Street Journal
Starling Stalkers Try to Scare the Birds out of Rome

Related posts

• Italy Summer Article Round-Up 2008
• October 2008 Article Round-Up
• Italy Article Round-Up
• What’s On In Italy: April 2009
• What’s On in Italy: September 2008

Sometimes I’m not always sure if anyone is actually reading Italofile. As I’ve said, it is a true labor of love. Still I like to imagine that there are regular readers out there who enjoy discovering with me the destinations, hotels, art, schools, churches, etc., that make traveling in Italy so rewarding.

Lo and behold, this weekend I found that I have at least one reader! Maribel wrote in to tell me that last year I missed a New York Times article on “Tortellini Lessons at the Source” in Bologna. Thanks, Maribel! And, with that, I thought I’d provide another round-up of recent articles, from the NYT and elsewhere:

New York Times
In Turin, the Olympic Glow Hasn’t Yet Faded
Monastic Doors Open For Travelers
Milan: Princi (a must-visit bakery)

The Washington Post
2,000 Years After Vesuvius (Stabiae)
In the Eternal City, Walk in a Roman’s Sandals
Rome On Two Gelatos A Day
Good Libations: Bassano del Grappa, Still the One (Veneto)

Los Angeles Times
Art Springs to Life in Gardens Near Rome
Planning Your Trip to Rome’s Gardens
Planning Your Trip to San Marino
Planning Your Trip to Vatican City

Wall Street Journal
Venice Crossings: A Traghetto Tour
In Italy, A Monastery Getaway (Umbria)

The Independent (UK)
City Slicker: A Guide to Genoa
The Hip Hop Guide to Tuscany’s Treasures

The Guardian (UK)
The Insider’s Guide to Cortina d’Ampezzo
Instant Weekend: Florence
Flying Visit: Le Marche Is Olive-Town
Letting Catania Out of the Bag
Going Solo: Venice
Flying Visit to Lake Garda

Sydney Morning Herald
Dining in the Sky the New Way to See Milan
See Ya Later, Gladiator
Floating Through a Dream (Venice)

The Telegraph (UK)
Rome: Eternal Love
Palladio: 500 Years of Architectural Wonders
Sicily: Golf in the Shadow of Mt. Etna
Michael Howard’s Venice

Yes, this is an exhaustive list. But I’m sure I didn’t find everything. So, I’m depending on all you Maribel’s out there to help me out by sending me links to articles and other tips you think would be worthy of posting on Italofile. Thanks again!

Related posts

• Italy Summer Article Round-Up 2008
• What’s On in Italy: June 2008
• Italy Article Round-Up
• What’s On In Italy: April 2009
• What’s On in Italy: September 2008

Castiglion del Bosco

Fashion designers have known for a long time that it’s good to diversify. Not only have Italian fashion houses like Armani, Versace, and Dolce & Gabbana ventured beyond clothing to include perfume, accessories, and restaurants among their branded items, they’ve also gone into the business of designing and/or maintaining luxury hotels and suites. This weekend, in the wake of the end of Milan Fashion Week, Sophy Roberts profiles Ferragamo’s Tuscan Estate Castiglion del Bosco for the Financial Times. As the writer points out, discussing this vast estate in today’s economic climate seems “absurd.”

The numbers involved in the project – by spring 2010 it will include 20 villas, 26 “hotel” suites, a Tom Weiskopf-designed golf course, spa, two restaurants, winery and stud – are clearly not for the credit-crunched. Nor are the sums easily accessible: Castiglion del Bosco has been set up as a membership club where fees are confidential. One source recently estimated it to be 120 memberships at €2m each.

Nevertheless, Castiglion del Bosco does allow non-members (“discerning guests,” according to its website) to stay at Il Borgo, the so-called heart of the 4,500-acre estate, for roughly €600-€3000 per night, based on availability. This latest Ferragamo venture is located in Val d’Orcia, but the Ferragamos also own other (more reasonably priced?) properties in Tuscany that are open to guests. Il Borro (not to be confused with Il Borgo, above), near Arezzo, has villa and farmhouse accommodations starting at $475 per night. In addition, the family also runs Lungarno Hotels, which includes several hotels in Florence and some suites in Rome.

Of course, the Ferragamos aren’t the only designers in the hotel game in Italy. The FT article also lists The Bulgari Hotel in Milan, the (Alberta) Ferretti’s Castello di Montegridolfo and Carducci 76 near Rimini, and the Bottega Veneta suite in Rome’s St. Regis Hotel.

If luxury and design are important criteria for you when choosing a hotel, you can also check out the Fashion Designer Hotels round-up from Forbes Traveler, which includes properties from around the world designed by Italians and other big names in the fashion world.

Photo of Castiglion del Bosco

Related posts

• The Top 25 Hotels in Italy
• What’s On in Italy: June 2008
• Italy Summer Article Round-Up 2008
• What’s On In Italy: April 2009
• October 2008 Article Round-Up

Time again to see what Italy travel articles have come out for fall.

New York Times
Cave Crusaders in Matera (examines a new boutique hotel in Matera, Basilicata)

The Telegraph (U.K.)
Tuscany: Driving the Italian Dream
Timed to Perfection (Visiting Italy during the “shoulder season”)
Orvieto: The Perfect Break
Discreet Charm in Northern Italy (Bolzano)

Sydney Morning Herald
Position of Strength (about Italy’s highest fort, Rocca Colascio, in L’Aquila, Abruzzo)
The Vesuvius Keeper (Pompeii)

The Independent (U.K.)
Italy: Spirit of Palladio (Vicenza)

The Guardian (U.K.)
10 Things to See in Venice (about the Venice Biennale of Architecture)

The Boston Globe
Sampling the Motherland (a culinary expedition through Sicily)

Dallas Morning News
Fast Cars, Haute Food in Northern Italy

Related posts

• October 2008 Article Round-Up
• Italy Summer Article Round-Up 2008
• What’s On in Italy: September 2008
• Italy Article Round-Up From the Past Few Months
• Italy Article Round-Up

We hope you’ve had an enjoyable August. Obviously, we took a little time off for rest and relaxation (and a move!), so there’s been little time to fill you in on some of the latest Italy travel news. Here’s a recap:

Some people in Rome think it’s a good idea to create a Disneyland-like theme park outside the city. Could this possibly be a good idea? I can’t imagine Italians wanting to pay money for a bit of Italian-style Americana in their backyard, nor can I see tourists skipping the real Roman tourist attractions to see another Euro-Disney. Yuck.

On August 16, the Bruco contrada won Siena’s Palio Horserace. Congratulations, Caterpillar! Lots of Palio history and trivia here.

There have been two articles on Sardinia’s coast. The New York Times’ Seth Sherwood writes about the Costa Smeralda (Emerald Coast), claiming that An Elite Playground Becomes Less So, while The Guardian ran a feature on Sardinia’s Overlooked Beaches.

And, some art news caught our attention. In Rome, through September 7, looted Roman antiquities that have recently been returned to Italy will be on display at the Palazzo Poli (near the Trevi Fountain). And, beginning on September 7, those interested in Etruscan art and relics should head to Cortona, where Etruscan art from the Hermitage will be on loan to the Museo dell’Accademia Etrusca e della Città di Cortona (MAEC).

We should be getting back on track this week, so stay tuned!

Related posts

• What’s On in Italy: August 2008
• What’s On In Italy: April 2009
• Italy Summer Article Round-Up 2008
• What’s On in Italy: June 2008
• What’s On in Italy: July 2008