DECEMBER 2014

FAIRY TALES

12012014 Luci d’Artista (Artist’s Lights) is a terrific event which takes place every year in Salerno, Campania, during Christmas holidays. Bringing a magic atmosphere into town, the performance of lights and colours gives visitors the chance to look at real artworks, by walking on the streets. This year’s theme is Aurora Borealis (Polar Lights) as well as the most famous Fairy Tales. Artist's Lights, the town of Salerno featuring the best light artworks | L'Italo-Americano Newspaper
12022014 From the outside the Cathedral of Salerno looks like a rather plain official building. But venture inside and you’ll find yourself in a treasure trove of fragrant incense, golden stones and embalmed saints. But it is the crypt that takes your breath away. The crypt is not as old as the foundation of the cathedral, but the decorations are highly original with marble in a thousand different colours used to design geometrical figures on the floor and the vaults. Light, candelabras and gilding give the room a golden glow that shrouds the tomb of the Apostle Matthew. The violent beauty of the Cathedral of Salerno | Italian Notes
12032014 If you have seen the ancient cities of Pompeii or Hercolaneum, Oplontis will complete your vision of the Roman World. Here you will really understand how ancient roman nobles spent a good time enjoying the weather, the climate and the products of the Bay of Naples. You will see the best preserved frescoes and mosaics, things that are unfortunately not available in Pompeii. Do not miss it! Oplontis: the Excavations of the Villa of Poppea | Leisure Italy
12042014 I had seen signs for Villa Oplontis many, many times while riding the ailing Circumvesuviana train between Sorrento and Napoli. The day I stepped off at Torre Annunziata was the day I stepped into a dream, the dream of Poppoea Sabina, thought to be the second wife of Nero. Wow, if she was the second wife, just imagine what the starter wife received? The archaeological site sits off the beaten path, about 5 miles west of Pompeii, and was buried by the infamous eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in August 79 A.D. However, in my opinion, an amateur archaeology buff, this Villa is more well-preserved than its more famous ancient neighbor. A luxury Italian villa fit for a goddess! | Wanderlust Women Travel
12052014 Ischia is the largest island in the southern Italian region of Campania. Explore Ischia, one of Italy's lesser known destinations | The Globe and Mail
12062014 Capri town may be where the party scene is, but AnaCapri is the true sanctuary and the less pretentious part of the island, though equally charming. Mr. J and I stayed at the Capri Palace Hotel & Spa, which is indeed a “palace” with modern aesthetic. The art collection of its owner, Tonino Cacace is featured throughout the hotel and adorns Capri Palace with a personal touch. Exploring AnaCapri | white trinity
12072014 Once we arrived in Anacapri, we took a tour of Villa San Michele. The villa is off white with arches and staircases throughout, open air and had beautiful gardens that you can walk through. The villa had sculptures and busts about the rooms. San Michele’s gardens are adorned with numerous relics and works of art dating from ancient Egypt and other periods of antiquity. They now form part of the Grandi Giardini Italiani. Isle of Capri | 5 Wheels to 5 Star
12082014 I know, who writes postcards anymore? Well I do, better that than face matriarchal ire, mum loves a postcard. I wish I could say it's great to be home but it was so cold yesterday I wore gloves. Capri | Badinage
12092014 The walk down was of course much easier than up, so when I came to the fork in the road that Franco had suggested I take if I were not tired, I had revived. On to Grotta di Matermania. Andiamo! My continued energy was rewarded. An oasis within an oasis. Out of nowhere pops up Il Grottelle. I think I will! Ravioli Caprese per favore. giù per la montagna | Girl in Roam
12102014 "June, July, August? No,” says the concierge. “You go in May, September, October. You come now? Perfetto.” We’re sitting on a cushioned chaise longue at J.K. Place Capri, a boutique hotel on the island of Capri that overlooks the Tyrrhenian Sea. It’s a perfect sunny day, with a few clouds drifting over the summit of Mount Vesuvius, and I am receiving a crash course in Capri sightseeing from a gentleman who has worked in hotels all around the world, from Sorrento, Italy, to Sydney to San Francisco. Experience Italy’s most glamorous island during the off-season, when the crowds have long gone | RL Magazine
12112014 Italy is my dream. I dream it everyday of my life. And I am blessed to be able to come here every year. Dreams do come true. Greetings from Capri xo Italy Is A Dream... | Corinna B
12122014 I enjoyed lunch along Corso Vittorio Emanuele at the pretty Ristorante Giardiniello – here Gennaro Contaldo and I have a meeting of the minds: "Minori, Ancient Rheginna Minor, city of taste, is a small casket keeper of art, history, archeology and gastronomic traditions. In the maze of narrow streets the scent of earth and sea. At the Giardiniello restaurant, since 1955, thanks to the Di Bianco family that runs it with care, is always ready for the old recipe of Minori housewives. In the gorgeous garden, the triumph of the tastes of the sea of the Amalfi Coast, in the cool wine cellar prestigious regional and national labels." Minori | la vie boheme travel
12132014 Le Sirenuse, in Positano, on the Amalfi Coast, is the rare world-class property that manages to be at once patrician and utterly un-stuffy. Maybe it feels like a home because it was one—the original villa has been in the Sersale family for centuries. The Piranesi etchings and museum-quality antiques in the former chapel are family heirlooms, and the black-and-white photos in the spa chronicle the owner’s lifelong wanderlust. Gold List 2015: The Top Hotels in the World | Conde Nast Traveler
12142014 To explore the wider context, try Inntravel’s self-guided “Sorrento Peninsula” walking tour, a seven-night route for confident walkers which takes in the “Path of the Gods” high above Positano, a dramatic ridge walk to the peninsula’s southern tip, Punta Campanella, and a choice of routes on Capri, including one that links the Blue Grotto with Punta Carena lighthouse, via a series of British-built military forts from the Nelson era. Hiking in the Sorrento Peninsula | The Telegraph
12152014  Tanzio da Varallo, from Valsesia in Piedmont, came to Rome for the Jubilee of 1600. There he began to work with the man who was then most celebrated painter in the city, the “Knight of Arpino” (Giuseppe Cesari). But Tanzio also came into contact with Northern painters in the circle of Adam Elsheimer, and, above all, with the genius, Caravaggio. Tanzio then moved to Naples (thus his bond with the city!) and worked as a painter and perhaps also as a musician. It was in Naples that the Piedmontese master refined his stylistic language based on the naturalism of Caravaggio and his earliest disciples. In Naples: Tanzio's dialogue with Caravaggio | Italy24
12162014 The heir of Caesar had a special relationship with Nola and Campania in particular, where he died on 14 August, two thousand years ago. The Archaeological Museum and the Superintendent launch a full calendar to honor the "winner of the battle of Actium" with the event, multimedia movies, plays, debates, conferences and lectures  2014, year of Augustus: so Naples celebrates the first emperor of Rome | Charme tutto il bello di Napoli e della Campania
12172014 “Soave is the wind. Naples itineraries European music between the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries” is the title of the first edition of the Festival created by the Foundation Pietà de ‘Turchini Naples, funded by the Campania Region: more than 35 events “spread” in 8 weekend of concerts, theater performances, international study days and conferences, film screenings copyright, meetings and conversations about literature, art itineraries and thematic initiatives for the little ones. Partenope embraces the “Early Music” | Charme tutto il bello di Napoli e della Campania
12182014 At the 27th edition of the European Film Awards Italy took home two important awards, one of which went to Pif in the category for Best Comedy and one to the animated feature film The Art of Happiness by Neapolitan director Alessandro Rak. Huge emotion was also expressed by Alessandro Rak, who dedicated his award to his city. The Art of Happiness was directed in Naples by 40 filmmakers, just 10 of whom are illustrators and animators for the Mad Entertainment studio, the leader in animated movies. Two Italian awards at the European "Oscar" night | Cineuropa
12192014 Cusano Mutri and Pietraroia are well into the Matese mountains (Pietraroia is the highest point in the province) and offer hiking, horseback riding, or just a wonderful drive through the mountains. After Pietraroia, it's a short drive to Bocca della Selva, a ski resort in winter and popular for its weekend market in summer. There's a wonderful restaurant there and in Cusano, where you will also find one of the best bakeries on earth, the Dolce Sosta. Five Day Trips through Benevento Province | travelcampania.com
12202014 “Much Ado About Nothing” – and so marks our first day at the Villa La Groce at Amalfi, Italy. What a spectacular place. Amalfi sits on a cliff that stretches upwards 2,400’ from the sea and faces south. The Mediterranean Sea is very clear and blue, filled with small fishing boats to massive cruising yachts. To our left we see houses built into the side of cliffs and small mountains lining the curving coastline. It’s a scene from a painting! Amalfi Coast – Day 1 | The Dachner's Great Summer Adventure
12212014 The most popular dish in Avellino is minestra maritata con la pizza bionda (in dialect, 'a menesta maretata co' 'a pizza jonna) - literally, "married soup with blonde pizza." Every cook in Avellino makes it, although they make it only in wintertime. I had never made menesta. I was dreaming about it for two reasons: we are, without doubt, in wintertime! A week ago, Frank Fariello, author of “Memorie di Angelina”, the best Italian-American foodblog on the Web, posted an excellent recipe for minestra. (Angelina was from Apice, a town in the province of Benevento on the Avellinese border.) Married Soup with Blonde Pizza | Pensieri Meridionali
12222014 Piennolo DOP tomatoes on display on a local Vesuvian trattoria; it shows the way the tomatoes are placed on stalks for their cultivation and after harvest they need to be maintained on the same way for better conservation, this is according to an ancient tradition in Campania. Pompeii and Herculaneum, a walk on the roads of ash and wine | Montserrat Franco
12232014 Acqua Pazza restaurant is nestled in the heart of the tiny fishing village of Cetara, one of the only coastal towns which do not rely on tourism for their income, they still have their small fleets of fishing boats which go out each day…mainly for tuna and fresh anchovies, the town specialty. This is what Acqua Pazza do best, they actually have their own fishermen who fish exclusively for them and prepare some of the most mouth watering and sophisticated seafood dishes I have ever tried! Wonderful off the beaten track eateries on the Amalfi Coast! | My Amalfi Coast
12242014 Not many people seem to be familiar with a pasta dressing originating from the Amalfi Coast, specifically from the maritime village of Cetara: colatura di alici. Yet here, this sauce dating back to Roman times is part of the traditional meal prepared on Christmas eve, used as a sauce for spaghetti and linguine, which should be cooked in unsalted water since the colatura itself is quite salty. An Ancient Delicacy from the Amalfi Coast: Colatura di Alici | Italy Magazine
12252014 Taurasi 2009 “Contrade di Taurasi” 100% Aglianico Azienda Agricola Cantine Lonardo. The soil is of medium mixture with a strong presence of sedimentary rock composed mostly of volcanic ash, dry and rich in organic matter, formed by the disintegration of the rocks. The Aglianico Grape in Campania | Charles Scicolone on Wine
12262014 This year, the big news in Aglianico has been the granting of the DOCG to Benevento province’s Aglianico del Taburno, a promotion that many producers see as giving a boost to the prestige of Aglianico and its wines all through Campania. Such a lift would certainly be justified: Benevento has been producing lovely Aglianicos (and most at quite reasonable prices) for some time now. They have a different style from Avellino’s Aglianicos – softer, more giving, less austere in their youth, but with immediately recognizable Aglianico flavors. Campania Stories: Avellino | Tom's Wine Line
12272014 Casavecchia is an ancient grape from Campania’s Caserta province. Legend says that a single vine- 15 inches wide- was discovered in a walled garden of an old house (casa vecchia); a branch was planted, creating new vines. Former lawyer Peppe Mancini founded Terre del Principe in 2003. A native of Caserta, Mancini makes wine from Casavecchia as he recalls his grandfather doing. Explore Campania's unknown red wines | Star Ledger
12282014 Our favorite spot in Naples was the Pizzeria Di Matteo in Spaccanapoli. We sat down on a bench in the nearby Piazza San Gaetano and enjoyed our lunch. We were definitely full, all for 3€. The fried pizza didn’t have that much ricotta in it, but it was still really good for 1€. The margherita pizza, just like All the pizza we had in Naples had that amazing soft chewy crust. Yum. We actually came back here the next day and got more rice balls and the mac and cheese patties. Eating Cheap in Naples, Italy | BlogHer.com
12292014 One azure morning in December, Laura Cozzolino arrived at her corner cafe in central Naples and ordered her usual: a dense espresso, which arrived steaming hot on the dark marble counter. She lingered over the aroma, then knocked it back in two quick sips. But instead of paying for one coffee, she paid for two, leaving the receipt for the other — a caffè sospeso, or suspended coffee — with the bartender for a stranger to enjoy. “It’s a simple, anonymous act of generosity,” said Ms. Cozzolino. Naples Journal: In Naples, Gift of Coffee to Strangers Never Seen | Nassau News Live
12302014 Anacapri is a very beautiful town with white washed villas and very narrow alleyways. How many engineers does it take to read a map and figure out how to get around this little island? Obviously three! As you can see from our outfits, the weather was crisp. Island of Capri - a sparkling gem | TheXtraSuitcase
12312014 As many Italians brushed away the snow to celebrate New Year's Eve Wednesday, even the normally sunny island playground of Capri suffered frozen pipes as temperatures dropped well below zero. Icy cold, snow blanket Italians celebrating New Year | Gazzetta del Sud