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italy roundtable
The Roman Spring of Tennessee Williams

In the late winter/early spring of 1948, American playwright Tennessee Williams arrived in Rome in need of a change of scenery. Williams, of course, is known for his writing set in the American South, including "A Streetcar Named Desire" (written in 1947) and "Cat On A Hot Tin Roof" (1955), ...

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The Art of Nobel Winner Dario Fo

Dario Fo's "The Earthquake in L'Aquila" Calling Italian playwright Dario Fo a "Renaissance" man would probably irk him given his long history of questioning authority and mocking the status quo. But Fo, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1997 (one of six Italians to have won the ...

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Rooted in Italy: The World’s First Botanical Gardens

It has been said (too many times) that all roads lead to Rome. But did you know that you could trace botanical medicine and even the environmental movement to 16th century Italy? It was here in the city of Pisa (1544) then Padua (1545) that the world's first botanical gardens were set up. ...

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Braving the Elements: A Rare Snowfall in Rome

Over the past weekend, Rome got pelted with eight inches of snow, the largest single snowfall in the capital since 1986. The rare snowfall prompted the closure of the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, the Palatine Hill, and other tourist attractions. Many businesses had to close because workers ...

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Give the Gift of Italian Culture

When my colleagues in the Italy Blogging Roundtable and I decided to write on the topic "gifts" for our December post, I knew exactly what I wanted to write about. I knew straight away that I didn't want to write about Italian gifts you can buy in a store, though there are many I desire or would ...

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On Being Lost in Italy

The footsteps behind us were worrisome. With each step that landed on the worn, slightly slick cobblestones, an equal but louder pair of footsteps resonated behind my husband and me as we tried to find our way back to our Venice hotel on a frigid November night. Not too far away, the warm, ...

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Some Suggestions for Driving in Italy

Disclaimer: This post was written before I had the chance to fully appreciate driving (and parking) in Italy. While the below information still applies, I have much more experience driving in Italy, inside cities like Rome and Florence, as well as on highways and the A-1 autostrada. Read my ...

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