Do you enjoy playing bowling indoor? If so, how about playing Bocce outdoor? If you don’t know this game, here is the opportunity to familiarize with a social activity originating from Italy.

In this brief video, our daughter Silvia gives you a brief demonstration of how to play Bocce including some of the basic rules of the game. Enjoy!

(Can’t see the video? Watch it from YouTube)

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One of the best things that can happen to you as a tourist in Venice is… getting lost. Walking in Venice is such a great experience because each calle (pedestrian street) is different and it may lead you to a bridge (ponte), a church (chiesa), an interesting store and so one. However, walking in Venice may be also exhausting, especially if you visit it during summer time. I still remember when I was a student and I used to do some research at the Biblioteca Marciana in Piazza San Marco;  I always underestimated the time it takes to walk from Saint Mark’s Square to the train station (if you wonder: it was a 25 minutes fast/anxious/”oh my God, I’ll miss the train” walk).

When two years ago we decided to spend a couple of days in Venice I had no doubts: I wanted to stay as close as possible to the center. So, I went online and found the Bed and Breakfast Zaguri which is in a super-duper convenient location:

As you can see it is only 5 minutes from Piazza San Marco and 8 minutes from the Rialto bridge. Plus, prices were very reasonable, the breakfast was delicious, the owners very gracious and it is thanks to them that I was able to make one of my long wished dreams come true: walking in the water during the high tide, because they lent me and my daughter a pair of rain boots!

Silvia and Francesca Tosolini enjoying a unique view of the Basilica di San Marco

Now, how can you beat this??

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So, you may prefer to spend €15 per person and catch the public boat from the airport to the city, which, in my opinion, offers a more interesting experience for tourists. However, there’s one more option that sometimes is not taken into consideration, I think mainly for its cost, and that’s the water taxi.

The privately ran water taxi company charges €100 for a ride, which may sounds like a lot of money if you consider yourself a budget traveler. However, this price is for rides for up to 5 people which, by doing some math, translates into €20 per person. Not too bad if you consider that you don’t have to share the ride with anyone else and that you are going to be dropped to your destination (or to the closest vicinity). Besides, isn’t it better to add a great memory to your life rather than to have 50 more bucks in the bank? Well, at least this is my new philosophy…

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- 1 pandoro (I got mine at Marshall’s in Bellevue, WA, but you can find it also either at Ross Dress for Less, World Market or any Italian specialty food store)
- 2 egg yolks
- 4 tbsp sugar
- 3 tbsp mascarpone cream
- powdered sugar
- Gianduiotti chocolate (optional)

First beat the egg yolks with the sugar, then add the mascarpone cheese until you get a smooth cream. Set aside.

Cut the pandoro in 5 layers.

Spred the crema al mascarpone on each layer (the more liquid the better, it will make the cake softer).

Place each layer back, without matching the edges, in order to create a Christmas tree like shape.

I used Gianduiotti chocolate to decorate the cake, but you can use any other decoration, sometimes we even use small candles.

Finally, sprinkle the cake with powdered sugar and decorate the top with your favorite object (I “borrowed” baby Jesus from my kids’ Fisher-Price nativity).

Enjoy it, Buon Natale!

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There’s one thing Italians associate with Christmas every year and that’s the lavender box of the pandoro Bauli. The Bauli brand has been around since 1937, when Ruggero Bauli opened his workshop in Verona (AKA Romeo and Juliet’s town) where in 1950 he started producing pandoro, the traditional Veronese Christmas cake. However, besides producing very good Christmas cakes and sweets, the Bauli company has been producing also memorable commercials for its products, you know, in the Coca-Cola style, with songs that you still remember and sing after many years.

This commercial was running in the 80′s (when I was attending middle school and eating sweets with no guilt, just to give you an idea…).

Most recently, Bauli launched a new commercial which features, in my opinion, one of the best Italian Christmas songs  titled “A Natale puoi” (literally translated as “At Christmas time you can…”).

Oh, by the way, if you want to sing it AND taste the pandoro at the same time, just remember that you can find it on Amazon! Is there anything Amazon doesn’t sell?

Merry Christmas everyone!

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The so-called “Temple of Opera”, is located in Piazza della Scala, in the city center just behind the Gallery and the Duomo. The structure was built in 1778 by the Empress Maria Theresa of Austria, after a fire had destroyed the Royal Ducal Theatre.

What does La Scala offer during its Theater Season? Opera, ballet and classical music concerts. A repertoire that mostly attracts people of a certain age who have a deep interest in this kind of performances and can also afford the prices of the tickets. This represents the typical reality of our time, which is characterized by such a varied music offer that classical music often remains isolated. You can hear about La Scala mainly for the traditional contestations happening during the première – approximately in the first week of December – rather than for its cultural offer.

For this very reason the initiative, supported by Milan Municipality, whose aim is to bring younger audiences to the theatre is remarkable. In Lascalaunder30.org website we can read:

“Between you and your search for strong feelings there are no obstacles anymore. Discover LaScalaUNDER30, the project dedicated to young audiences under 30. With the Under30 Pass you will be always up to date on news concerning La Scala. You will also become a member of our Community and will get access to many exclusive offers. It will be like being part of the theatre itself, by visiting it, watching the performances and approaching the artists…”

This is an intelligent way to approach the younger audiences by communicating that La Scala is not a museum but a place for cultural production: from the games on its website to the fascinating opportunity of freely watching the previews.

The Under30 pass – obviously for those people who are under 30, thirty-year-old persons included – costs just 10 Euros and give you many exclusive advantages, including promotions and visits to the Theatre, to the Theatre Museum and to Ansaldo Workshops. It also offers the opportunity of watching five ensemble opera and ballet rehearsals and a 50% price reduction on the entrance for the Theatre Museum. You will also obtain the Scala Shop Card for free. This is undoubtedly a worthwhile initiative and represents an important step towards a more affordable city. We hope that it will have a great success.

(This guest post has been contributed by Ileana Ongar of Viaggionelmondo.net)

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As you may probably already know, Nutella cannot withstand high temperatures, as opposed to jam, but before explaining you the trick, here’s the ingredients I used to make it:

• 300gr flour
• 100gr butter
• 100 gr sugar
• 1 egg plus 1 egg yolk
• 1 tsp baking soda
• Vanilla flavor

How to make it
Throw everything into the Kitchen Aid and forget about it until the dough has formed. Cut off 1/3 of the dough and set is aside. Spread the rest into a baking pan, possibly non-stick.

Bake at 350F until almost done. In the meantime, cut many stripes with the dough that you put aside. Quite easy so far, right?

Ok, here’s coming the tricky part:

• Spread the Nutella over the warm tart. Easy.
• Create a web on top of it with the dough stripes. Easy.
• Lower the oven rack to the lowest level. Easy.
• Switch the setting to low broil. Easy as well.
• Put the tart back in to the oven and “stay alert”. Hard, maledettamente hard, and here’s why….

The first time, that “stay alert” statement translated into: “Oh well, it took 20 minutes to bake the base, the top will be at least 10″. Result: badly burnt.

The second time, that “stay alert” translated into: “I have only a few minutes to check my email, let’s go, quickly”. Result: quite burnt.

The third time that “stay alert” translated into: “Questa volta non mi freghi“, meaning “This time you are not going to trick me”, and I stayed by the oven, opening it every 30 seconds (fortunately you can do this when you bake a tart since it is not going to collapse). And… I did it! I won the contest!

Now look at the photo and tell me if I didn’t deserve the first prize…

Francesca
(Author of the eBook Italy From The Inside)

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- Can’t see the video? Watch it from YouTube
- iPod / iPhone version (MP4 – 16Mb)

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December is a magical time in Italy, the Christmas spirit is everywhere and people are immersed in a world of colorful lights and jolly sounds.

Every 6th of December, Trieste celebrates San Nicolo’ (Saint Nicholas, who had a reputation for secret gift-giving) with a popular fair, which becomes the city’s main attraction for several days and attracts vendors from all over Italy.

The fair takes place in the famous Viale XX Settembre, a long pedestrian avenue with many shops, gelaterie and cinemas that has been one of the main social points since forever.

The fair is the delight of the adults who can buy food specialties (like succulent olives from Sicily, torrone candy or goat cheese from Tuscany) and unusual gadgets to give as a present for Christmas, and the joy of the kids who can get candy and toys.

It is almost impossible not to meet an old friend or schoolmate while walking by the booths, and this makes the whole experience even “merrier”.

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A consortium of Italian and multinational brands has funded the project HaltaDefinizione which has captured super high resolution photos of some of the greatest treasures of Italian art. Images can be zoomed in to an impressive level of detail, enabling a new level of accessibility to a piece of Italian historical-artistic heritage.

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