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Unless you’ve been living on the moon, you must have heard of My Brilliant Friend, the series of four books by the utterly talented–and mysterious!–Italian writer Elena Ferrante. I still recall the moment I bumped into the first volume of the quartet a few years ago. I was looking for a present for my mother, and the book cover caught my attention....

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Like birds migrating towards a pastel summer, the stars of the Dolce Vita began to move in the 1950s from Roman sultriness to coastal calm. In this way, the celebrity spotlight was turned from Rome to the Amalfi Coast–a location suitable for reconciling the restless rhythms of the jet-set with the slow and relaxed rhythms of the waves, for bringing...

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My train is more than one hour late, and the only other man in the carriage isn’t happy about it. After cursing the train company, he keeps complaining to somebody over the phone about his bad luck: “This is just unbelievable! I bet such things don’t even happen in Africa! I’m sure Libya has better trains than this fucking country!”.  While I’m pre...

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I arrive in Amalfi on a filthy spring night. Water runs off the snaking road through the hills from Naples, treacherously bendy at the best of times, and the rain pelting the car windscreen makes the journey even slower than usual. Far below, the sea is churning and grey, not dissimilar to the English coastline I’m used to. It’s a difficult image t...

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Sorrento has welcomed droves of tourists every year since way back when the Romans started building holiday homes there and it’s easy to see why. A short, scenic ride from Naples Airport, this quintessentially Italian city nestled high on the clifftops of Campania is all about the dramatic views, food and vibes. There are so many fun things to do i...

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The genome of a victim of the catastrophic eruption of Mount Vesuvius over the ancient city of Pompeii has been sequenced for the first time, scientists have revealed, shedding new light on the health and diversity of those who lived in the Roman empire at the time of the disaster. In a study published in Scientific Reports on Thursday, a team led...

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New technologies have enabled us to travel even by just moving a finger on our smartphones. Here tourism has become somewhat virtual. And we have noticed it in these two years of lockdown and pandemic. Enabling it was the innovation introduced in 2007, just 15 years ago, by Google, which after changing our lives with the Maps application, launched...

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What comes to mind when one thinks of Italian culture is amazing food, family traditions, breathtaking architecture, landscapes, luxury fashion and goods. It is no secret that the official brand of “made in Italy” holds an immense amount of global respect and notoriety as it pertains to fashion and consumer goods, perhaps it is the way the brand tr...

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The day commenced like any other in the coastal Roman towns that hugged the Bay of Naples. Another hot August morning was underway as townspeople in Pompeii, Herculaneum, and other smaller communities began to gather in public places as they ate, bathed, and discussed current events. No one could have ever imagined how violently their lives were ab...

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Situated a mere 50 kilometers inland from the buzz of Napoli and the attractions of the Amalfi coast, the Sannio region of Campania remains relatively unknown to Japanese travelers. But this may be changing as the region’s long history of wine production is finally gaining international recognition, and with it a new legion of wine fans. Sannio’s w...

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