Europe Italy

Interview With a Comasco

30 October, 2017 Welcome to my interview series featuring cultural perspectives from nationals of different countries around the world. This month, I’m happy to introduce you to a native Comasco, who was born and raised in Como, Italy. A little background: Como is both the name of a province and the name of the capital […]

Europe Italy

Lake Garda, Italy: Welcome to Paradise

30 September, 2017   Lake Garda, Lago di Garda in Italian, is both a big beautiful lake as well as a tri-provincial community of several lakeshore towns. The towns span the provinces of Verona (region of Veneto), Brescia (region of Lombardy), and Trento (region of Trentino-Alto Adige). These tri-provincial towns encircling the lake include such beauties as […]

Europe Italy

Ten Insights into Italian Culture

31 May, 2017: You may or may not already realize this, but Italy is a multicultural country and therefore “Italian culture” is very diverse. Italy is a country that has many languages (French, German, and Slovenian are official languages in certain regions, in addition to Italian), region-specific dialects, traditions, and ultimately, cultural differences. Here, I […]

Europe Italy

Ten Insights into Italian Culture: #1 – Italian Communication

There are many stereotypes about the way in which Italians communicate, so-called Italian communication, and that are attributed to Italian culture. Most of these stereotypes manifest as shouting, excessive gesturing, pinching together the fingers of one hand interrogatively, and using exaggerated singsong cadences when mimicking an Italian accent. Well, I’m here to tell you to […]

Europe Italy

Firenze: Basking in Beauty––Travelogue (October 12-14, 2012)

11 November, 2012 Florence is truly an open-air museum. Everywhere you turn, there is always something beautiful to look at: beautiful buildings with artwork and sculptures; towers with beautiful vistas; public squares with statues dating back several hundred years; little cobblestone streets; arches and mysterious alleyways; engraved façades and trompe l’oeils; interesting bridges and the […]