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Curated, expert insight and advice to help make the most of your travels.


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Letter from the Founder

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Browse our latest articles and discover stories to fuel your travel passion.


This Month, Arts and Culture Anna Savino This Month, Arts and Culture Anna Savino

Biodynamic Farming: A Balancing Act

In the 1920s, Dr. Rudolf Steiner was a major contributor to what we know as biodynamic farming. This type of farming practice is based on creating a balanced environment for the crop while always keeping in mind holistic, ethical, and ecological elements that surround it. However, many are skeptical because of its cosmic and mystical considerations.

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Arts and Culture, This Month Lisa Anderson Arts and Culture, This Month Lisa Anderson

The World’s Largest Elliptical Dome at Italy’s Sanctuary of Vicoforte

Sometimes called “the king of all roofs,” domes cover some of the most important buildings in the world. Curved structures without angles or corners, they require no columns, and they maximize the space below. This expanse often houses something spectacular or simply creates an elegant, open space in which many people can congregate. Despite their thinness, they are strong, stiff, and able to stand for centuries.

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This Month, Social Matters Lisa Anderson This Month, Social Matters Lisa Anderson

An American Expat’s Take on Early Childhood Care and Education in Italy

Where the Italian school system steps up beautifully is for families with children between 3-6 years old. Scuola materna is not mandatory; children are not required to start school until 1st grade, but I have never met a parent who hasn’t used it at least part time. Italians believe that socializing their children is incredibly important, and that children should be with other children. In families where having only one child is now the norm, daycare is essential for meeting this need.

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Arts and Culture, Social Matters Anna Savino Arts and Culture, Social Matters Anna Savino

Will The Future in Italy Be Better or Worse: An Ode to What Is and What Was

Italy is moving on with the rest of the world at a fast pace. I remember when I arrived in Italy 16 years ago, and no one knew what sushi or WiFi was. It may have been frustrating at the time, but in retrospect, it was refreshing to jump back into the past. My nostalgic personality yearns for an Italy that preserves its traditions, which is almost frozen in time.

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Arts and Culture, GC Faves Lisa Anderson Arts and Culture, GC Faves Lisa Anderson

The Big Bench Community Project

The joy of exploring new places in good company is my idea of a good time: winding country roads where you come to a crossroads and take in the lay of the land before deciding which way to go, sometimes on a whim and sometimes with intent. The region of Piemonte in the northwest corner of Italy is the perfect place for a wanderer, and one of my favourite pastimes over the past few years is finding Big Benches. 

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Arts and Culture Roberto Bechi Arts and Culture Roberto Bechi

Is Rebirth Utopian?

Being a guide, I am also curious about the idea of rebirth in history. Almost everyone in the Western World studies the Italian cultural and artistic Renaissance, which of course has at its root the word for rebirth. Historians, though, do not tend to love the term, because although there is a clear cultural movement during that period, no cultural idea “dies”—nothing is reborn.

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GC Faves, Arts and Culture Ben Curtis GC Faves, Arts and Culture Ben Curtis

The Best Habsburg Palaces

You can easily imagine that the Habsburgs, as the most important family in European history, amassed some pretty amazing real estate. And who hasn’t dreamed of living in a palace, of relishing the crème-de-la-crème life of European royalty? The Habsburgs didn’t have to dream, of course, but we can all indulge our “let them eat cake” fantasies by touring the lavish homes they left behind. So let’s play “House Hunters International” with my picks for the most fabulous Habsburg palaces!

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Women's Travel, Social Matters Roberto Bechi Women's Travel, Social Matters Roberto Bechi

Empowered Etruscan Women

The high level of economic wellbeing in Etruscan society meant that, already in the Archaic period (from the 6th century BC), women began to "leave" the home to participate more actively in public life…Unlike a Grecian Penelope and Andromache, Etruscan women were not satisfied with waiting patiently at home for their spouse to return but rather legitimately took part in all the pleasures of life.

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GC Faves, Travel Tips Anna Savino GC Faves, Travel Tips Anna Savino

Romantic Spots In Italy's City of Love – Verona

Thanks to a certain William Shakespeare, who chose to lay the scene for his play Romeo and Juliet in a certain town in the Veneto, Verona is considered Italy's “City of Love.” I interviewed local guide Sara Valitutto from Romeo & Juliet Guide (she works in partnership with her friend Virginia Conta). She can show you that there is so much more romantic charm to Verona than just Juliet's balcony.

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Arts and Culture Ben Curtis Arts and Culture Ben Curtis

The Power of Love, According to Dante

Vita nuova translates to “new life,” and through prose and poems Dante describes his relationship with the love of his life, Beatrice. These two first met in Florence when they were nine years old, and then again when they were 18. The early poems in Vita nuova show Dante as a young man besotted with Beatrice’s beauty, love-sick like a hormonal teenager. As in any pop-culture romance, his infatuation has its ups and downs. He’s devastated when Beatrice refuses to greet him in the street. He even has a dream in which Love appears to him personified, and feeds Dante’s heart to Beatrice.

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Travel Tips, Social Matters Roberto Bechi Travel Tips, Social Matters Roberto Bechi

The Beginning of Our Civilization

I was born in the land of the Etruscans, Giotto, Michelangelo, Galileo, Leonardo, Meucci, Machiavelli and hundreds more. All men who, animated by curiosity and spirituality, understood what the key to intellectual progress was - like the philosophers, we must doubt everything, we must be open to new ideas, we must ask questions and explore.

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Local Flavors Lisa Anderson Local Flavors Lisa Anderson

The Italian Secret to Raising an Unfinicky Eater

I didn’t learn to like food until I was twelve when my dad made me try this horrible plate of green pasta, it was covered with pesto and I was cynical, but my dad insisted I try it and it was a revolution. From that point on I tried everything and learned to not just like, but love food and to appreciate all the good things I was fed at home.

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