During those first, dramatic days of lockdown balconies became, for a large number of Italians, the sole place to experience human contact. Stepping outside on that small, reassuring outdoor corner of our home was the closest thing to our former life we had: we could see the streets, we could meet our neighbors, we could even sip a coffee in compag...

The directive, published on Monday after getting the approval of Italy's regional governors, apply to children attending an asilo nido (nursery school, for 0-3 year olds) or scuola dell'infanzia (preschool, for 3-6 year olds). They stress the importance of getting Italy's youngest pupils back to class in person from September, more than six months...

I have been with my partner Marco for almost 20 years. We've survived the normal things every couple faces, along with the serious challenges life throws at you. But now we are being kept apart by Covid-19. I am in New York City. Marco is in Italy. We haven't seen each other in six months. On July 1st, the European Union effectively banned American...

Gilda Siena likes to talk – so much so she is known among her guests as “the chatty woman”. In the decade since she bought a 19th-century building once inhabited by Venetian nobility in the Salento area – at the southern tip (the heel) of Italy’s Puglia region – and made it into boutique hotel Palazzo Siena-Home & More, this aspect of her personali...

In a recent speech, Italy’s Health Minister Roberto Speranza shared his belief that the first half of 2020 has been the most difficult in the history of the country since World War II. Indeed, Italy was one of the first and hardest-hit European countries during the COVID-19 pandemic, and though the country has slowly begun to return to normal life,...

The results of nationwide antibody tests conducted on nearly 65,000 Italians indicate that some 1.5 million individuals or 2.5% of the population have had the coronavirus, health officials said on Monday. That figure is six times the number of confirmed cases in Italy’s official virus tally. The results - viewed with the country’s overall death tol...

Admit it – it’s been on your mind since that first viewing of “Under the Tuscan Sun” … owning your own magical villa in the lush Italian countryside surrounded by singing birds and plentiful wine. After all, who amongst us wouldn’t relish “la bella vita” under our own clay tile roof somewhere in Italy? Dreams aside, many who are realistically consi...

When the coronavirus erupted in the West, Italy was the nightmarish epicenter, a place to avoid at all costs and a shorthand in the United States and much of Europe for uncontrolled contagion. “You look at what’s going on with Italy,” President Trump told reporters on March 17. “We don’t want to be in a position like that.” Joseph R. Biden Jr., the...

Italy is much quieter this year, but Italians are having a fairly normal summer all things considered. With daily cases hovering around 250 for the country, and mask wearing mandatory in all indoor environments, the borders have opened to EU and Schengen area visitors. This means that trains are running around the country, but some things have chan...

The Columbus Italian Festival Board announced Tuesday the Taste of Italy and the Columbus Italian Festival have been canceled due to COVID-19 concerns. Taste of Italy was set to take place on October 5 and the 41st annual Columbus Italian Festival was scheduled for October 9-11. "The safety of our neighbors, guests, volunteers, staff, participants,...