Italy Blog

Springtime has finally arrived in Italy. Never mind that it usually rears its flirty head in March and sashays forth in all its glory by mid-April: this year has broken all the rules. We had a frigid, Siberian winter, the kind that only Italy’s...

Italians won’t REALLY understand the richness of Sandra Bullock’s Oscar-winning performance in The Blind Side this year. Nor can they comprehend why Meryl Streep received her record 16 th nomination for portraying Julia Child. In Streep’s...

Is the fundamental problem Italian journalism? Or is it the inability of Italians to plan ahead? Or is the Italian predilection for what sounds good, as opposed to what seems true, at fault? Whatever it is, I was amazed (amused? appalled?) by an article...

I had just gotten on the train last week, coming back from a day in Milan to my home in suburban Busto Arsizio, when I heard someone call me. It was M, a woman who works in the fashion/technology space. Like me she is a dual passport holder but unlike...

To understand what is happening – and what is no t happening – in Italy these days, you have to start with the realization that what constitutes “public morality” here and in the United States is quite different. Without going...

Italy’s urban witching hour is 12 o’clock noon on August 15. That is the day, and the hour, when the only creatures you are likely to encounter in Milan, or Turin, or any major Northern city, are phantoms. The flesh and blood inhabitants of...

It¹s summertime. Let¹s talk about body odors. My dog and I went into an office last week on one of the toniest streets in Milan. The office wasn¹t very posh, but the area is a high-rent district, so I had dressed for the occasion (hair...