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Garden

The Use of Sculpture in Italian Gardens

Interpreting Italian Garden Style Correctly The Italian garden presents the garden designer in Italy with many nuances and various strong symbols that for many people symbolize Italy and everything Italian. Many garden design themes have been drawn from the Italian garden style over the years. However, just as many of […]

Garden

Vitex Agnus Castus

The Mediterranean Chastity Plant Mediterranean plants have long been attributed with having medicinal, healing properties, from the skin softening oil of the olive tree, the calming effects of the chamomile plant or even to the flatulence reducing fennel. However, rarely do we hear of a Mediterranean plant that can assist […]

Garden

Italian Gardens and the Moon

How Italian Gardeners Use The Moon Since time began human beings have been fascinated and bewildered by the presence of the ever changing ephemeral moon that has been a constant presence and sensual mystery in the night sky. From when humans began cultivating their own crops they noted the subtle […]

saint clare assisi
Religion

St. Clare of Assisi

The BBC calls Saint Clare a ‘cool saint’ because she is the patron saint of television. Clare became this because she once saw mass celebrated on the walls of her dormitory even though she was more than a mile away. She saw this so clearly that she could name the […]

great churches of italy
Religion

The Great Churches of Italy

No visit to Italy would be complete without stopping by some of the most beautiful cathedrals and churches in the world. Even if you’re not religious, these architectural masterpieces demand your attention just due to their history and their majesty. Let’s take a look at some of them and why […]

religion in italy
Religion

Religion in Italy

Religion is an all-pervasive force in Italy and one cannot know the true nature of this country and its people without understanding the role faith plays in Italian life. Travelers to Italy have no choice but to visit the churches, shrines and monasteries if they want to examine some of […]

italian american festivals
Heritage

Italian Festivals in the USA

For those of us who live in Italian American communities, festival time can be better than Christmas. Whether a festival for a patron saint, traditional foods or ethnic pride, Italian American festivals bring out the best in the community and in many places are the highlight of the year. Everywhere […]

italian american press
Heritage

The Italian-American Press

Little information on self-publishing and Italian American literature was readily available 40 years ago when Ralph Ferraro wrote his first book, Child of Wonder, an Italian religious novel about a child visionary. He remembers the discouragement of all those trying years of rejection of his manuscript by many of the […]

italian ancestors
Heritage

Ancestors

“We were like the Letters of the Alphabet. Alone, we had Little Meaning, but together we were part of a Great Meaning”   My grandfather was never a man of many words, but when he spoke we listened. Though his words were few they were filled with wisdom. He would […]

Motorcycle

Italian Harley Davidson Man

An Italian’s love for Harley Davidsons This good old friend of mine, Rodolfo Roiati, lives in Rocca Priora (a nice mountain town right outside Rome, placed in the Roman Castles) right around the corner from my me, has his 9th motorcycle of which most were Harley Davison. Michael Axel McCain […]