Hundreds, if not thousands of photographs are taken everyday from the top of the Pincian Hill. Il Pincio as it’s known in Italian, overlooks Piazza del Popolo and offers one of the best views across the Rome skyline. This elegant space was designed by Roman architect Giuseppe Valadier to link the hill with the piazza […]
Italians are known the world over for their sophisticated and apparently effortless style. Not everyone here accessorizes designer garb with an espresso and a cigarette, but this Italian cliché has more than a grain of truth in it. Looking good matters here, and achieving la bella figura goes deeper than just the clothes you wear. […]
With such an abundance of tourist attractions situated in the historical center, it’s easy to see why large numbers of travellers spend most of their time there. Whilst the grandeur of the Colosseum, Trevi Fountain or the Forum is not to be missed, there’s certainly more to Rome than just checking off the big […]
Just a side step from the main shopping strip, Via del Corso, lays Via Margutta. A quiet street with a color palette of earthy terracotta brown, amber and orange. Trailing ivy and wisteria plants climb across the stone buildings and give the road a secret garden feel. The rushed pace of the city center, which […]
In the window of Taki, a Japanese restaurant just off Piazza Cavour in Prati, I notice the familiar signs seen in sushi joints around the world. As impressed as I am at the techniques involved in making fake plastic models of food, these trite displays don’t usually fill me with confidence about the quality of […]
Until just a few months ago, on the corner of Via Ostiense and Via Pellegrino Matteucci stood a very sad and tired stationary shop. Eventually, the signs in the window offering cheap photocopying were replaced by closing down notices and the doors shut for the final time. Later, building supplies and other signs of life […]
Anita Ekberg stands 10 meters tall along the banks of the river Tiber. In this interpretation of the iconic scene from La Dolce Vita, she isn’t cavorting in the Trevi Fountain but standing in a bathtub. Further down the river, Daphne spurns the advances of Apollo, metamorphosing into a laurel tree as her only […]
“This is not traditional food, this is a contortion of street food: Everything that is bad for you, we make good for you. We’re a hybrid model: The production is gourmet because everything is made by hand, however the restaurant is fast, with food prepared for you as you order.” -Richard Thomas Ercolani, Not all […]
The Fontana della Barcaccia sits in the center of one of the most famous (and indeed touristy) squares in Rome, Piazza di Spagna. Nestled between the historic Babington’s Tea Room, a 19th Century meeting place with a penchant for English high tea and the Keats-Shelley Memorial House, the fountain occupies a picturesque spot of prime […]
It’s been a big year for Venetian opera director, Damiano Michieletto. His London-based production of Cavalleria Rustica/Pagliacci won a Laurence Olivier Award, and was named Best New Opera Production in the process. He directed The Barber of Seville at Opéra National de Paris, Madama Butterfly at Bergen National Opera House in Norway and Othello […]