Historian who has lived in Italy for more than 30 years, 20 of which as a journalist and 12 as a press and political officer at the Dutch embassy in Rome. Has been working as a journalist again since May 2022. Active member of the Gruppo del Gusto, the gourmet group of the foreign press association in Rome.
La Spezia is one of those places you normally pass by. On your way to the famous Cinque Terre, just south of the city, or to Tuscany in the north, or to the seaside resorts of the Riviera del Levante, the coast east of Genoa. And that's understandable. La Spezia, […] More
When you say Tarquinia, you think of the Etruscans. Rightly so, because the city was, together with Cerveteri, the most important political and cultural centre of this people who ruled for the Romans in central Italy. The last three kings of Rome, who ruled in the 3th century BC – Tarquinius Priscus, Servius Tullius and Tarquinius […] More
A fruitful synthesis of mind and matter. This is how one could philosophically define the collaboration between the Fabbrica di San Pietro (the Vatican institution that manages St. Peter’s), the digital giant Microsoft and Iconem, a French company specializing in digitizing cultural heritage. The result is a virtual clone of […] More
Everyone knows the green pesto made from finely ground basil, oil, garlic, Parmesan cheese and/or pecorino cheese and pine nuts. Pesto is the trademark of Liguria, where the sauce is preferably eaten with trenette, a somewhat shorter and thicker version of other flat spaghetti such as linguine and fettucine. But the term pesto can be used for many more condimenti (sauces). The Enciclopedia Treccani, where […] More
Padua (Padova in Italian) is much less known than nearby Venice. Yet Padua is also a fascinating city with a rich past, beautiful monuments, a pleasant city center and Saint Anthony as a top attraction for pilgrims. All this without the never-ending flow of tourists in the Doge's City, and cheaper too. […] More
