“If you need a Swedish actress who speaks English very well, who has not forgotten her German, who is not very understandable in French, and who in Italian knows only “ti amo”, I am ready to come and make a film with you.”

This is what the stunningly beautiful Swedish actress, Ingrid Bergman, wrote to neo-realist film director, Roberto Rossellini. It was the beginning of one of Hollywood’s most famous scandals.

When she wrote, Bergman was tied to a long-term contract...

Every autumn and winter flocks of starlings invade Italy, especially Rome. Evading the birds is like a game. I’ve won so far, so I’m still optimistic but I sometimes think that perhaps we humans should leave altogether and leave the city to the birds

An estimated four million starlings travel to Rome – which has a population of only three million – every year. Like many tourists, they migrate for the season from Northern Europe to the warmer, southern climate of Italy. They like...

Lisa Gherardini

“Mona Lisa” may be buried at the Convent of St.Ursula in Florence. Earlier this year the Italian scholar, Gueseppe Pallante, thinks that he found the death notice of Lisa Gherardini in the archives of a Florentine church. He wrote the book, Mona Lisa Revealed: The True Identity of Leonardo’s Model, in which he makes a strong argument that the painting was a portrait of Gherardini.

Lisa Gherardini was the second or third wife of the wealthy silk merchant,...

Pope Benedict XVI recently visited an elaborate thirty-square metre nativity scene in Naples where he celebrated Mass. He will also celebrate Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve at the huge nativity display in St. Peter’s Square under the huge Christmas tree. The Pope traditionally does this every year.

Crèches or nativity scenes are a wonderful tradition which began in Italy. Originally il presepe or crèches meant simple mangers but they soon grew into more intricate scenes, including...

Would you like to travel in Italy without enduring dreadful crowds and hot, humid weather? Then winter and spring are the right seasons to travel there!

I like it best in winter. It can be very cold but that’s better than enervating heat! Walking around on a frosty, but sunny day is a pleasure as long as you are warmly dressed. The weather can be quite warm now because of global warming. When I was in Venice in February we didn’t even need a coat on most days. The sun shone...