My Life in Italy, Part 3: “Scratch Your Balls 13 Times and never make eye contact with the Witch”
Part 3 of my story of an American that slowly became part of Italian culture.
My Favorite Culture Discovery Location – Michael
So the CDV crew has all chosen to write about our personal favorite locations, and me… wow. How do I choose? It kinda depends on what I am looking for at any given moment, or which is my favorite for what reason. To start...
My Life in Italy, Part 2: Where are the Walls? and How do I Flush?
So… I left off in Part 1 on my first full day in Italy in 1983. I am at the tip of the boot in Reggio Calabria, suffering severe jet lag, having walked miles and miles for an awful cafeteria meal, and now I am boarding a...
What to Expect on a Culture Discovery Vacation
What makes Culture Discovery Vacations different? You see it all over our website. Family, Family, Family. This is not a marketing term for us. It is the way we operate. It may sound like just a word to some, but it is what makes...
Why Pizza is the Best Food
I’ve been trying to think of a blog post to write all day long, and no matter what I did, all I could come up with was one word: Pizza. How do I write a blog post on pizza? Pizza is the best food in the world! Do a I write...
My Life in Italy, Part 1: “The Warm Table”
“The Warm Table” For years, people have asked me to tell the story of how I ended up with my dual US-Italy life. The reality is that it was a series of somewhat unrelated events that all came together to create an...
Starbucks digs its claws into Italy, and why that saddens me.
With its massive global expansion, Starbucks has always left Italy alone. After all, how do you open a store in the country you copied your model from?
10 Tips for New Travelers
These are great tips for new travelers, but also useful for seasoned travelers or people who haven’t traveled in a while. It can be scary to travel to a new country, especially when there is a different currency and...
The Siena Horse Race – Palio di Siena
The Siena horse race, Italy’s most celebrated horse race dates back to 1633. The Palio di Siena is not a typical race, the rules are few, the traditions are involved, the rituals are divine, and the fanaticism is nothing...
Bella vs. Brutta Figura: How Italians Judge You
In the United States, it can sometimes seem like we don’t care how we come off to others. Of course, this isn’t to say that nobody here in the good ol’ USA makes a good first impression, but its not uncommon to...