Island. Oasis. Hallucination. Somewhere on the north coast of the Yucatan Peninsula, I have found my perfect recharge of sun and sand, and ceviche and margaritas. Isla Holbox, whose name translates to Black Hole, is a blue oasis. Quite possibly only 100 km from Cancun (in our case, it was...

All eyes are on Rome as 115 cardinals decide who will be the next pope. With the Sistine Chapel closed to the public as we wait to hear habemus papam, many have asked what do when you can't look up at the world's most famous ceiling. Even during the frenzy...

Not long ago, I find myself on a journey in search of art in towns with charming names like Ferrara, Parma, Forlì and Ravenna but as soon as I arrive in Bologna's Stazione Centrale, the train station that is to become my primary radial point, I know that my adventures...

In a country where presentation is primary, a uniform is not simply clothing. In Italy, the fabric, color and line are often equally as important as the job itself.

Whether it is austere policemen in combat gear, aproned waiters in the local bar or weather-prepared waste removalists, Italy's array...

I have always been a market girl in search of the freshest and finest, but to be honest, part of my enjoyment is in the verbal slap and tickle that happens when discussing the perfect melon or vying for position at my favorite fish vendor. It's all about spontaneous conversations....

Paoli local, Northeast Regional, Pacific Surfliner, Conca d'Oro, Palatino Express and even Orient Express. Thanks to days of commuting and nights with Agatha Christie, Billy Wilder and Ayn Rand, there is no doubt that I love trains. More comfortable than a car and far more elegant than an airplane, trains...

When I was studying abroad in Rome during my university years, I dormed with a barely five-foot fire cracker named MariaGrace. Like me, she was Italian-American, and together we had enough cousins in and around Rome that we never had to worry about dinner nor finding something to do. When...

It's getting hot in Rome and I really don't have time to think. To be honest, my brain has been fried for ages. And I blame the internet. I am practically IV'd to my computer, iPhone, iPad or any other device that can give me information on demand.

Lately my...

I usually avoid revealing my secret shortcuts -- preferring to inspire a certain mystique or whim -- but when I need to get out of my current hometown of Rome, I go to Instagram. Like everyone else, my original feed was a rag tag line up of cocktail shots, playground...

Blame it on Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Genevieve and Two for the Road, but I have always loved cars. As a little girl, I lugged around a box of die-cast Matchbox classics and as a shy teenager, the only body I wanted to check...

A few weeks ago, while walking my dog to her preferred corner -- strategically located next to my favorite enocteca L'Angolo Divino -- I noticed a brand new Segway tour company had set up shop across the alley. Inside were two happy-go-lucky guys. Since I can't resist a...

Long ago, in the latter part of the last century, my childhood games revolved around an imaginary playground of pyramids, gangs of cats and wide, empty fields with broken columns. I called it Rome, an amalgamation of left-over memories from our summer visits when my parents would let us run...

The grand omission in the typical Italian Grand Tour
is Milan, the so-called "Moral Capital" of Italy. Whether or not its virtue is in question, Milan never seems to make it as a Must-See for vacationers in Italy. Is it because the city sits landlocked in Italy's...

It is a rare treat when snow flurries powder the Eternal City, normally known for picture perfect panoramas of palm trees and glowing hot sunsets. Even rarer still is an actual nevicata, a snow storm or any kind of accumulation. Over the past two weeks, Rome has been received a...

Rome is not the first city that comes to mind when thinking of Carnival and Italy. It has never been even an after-thought to the popularity of Venice's legendary pre-Lent party season. Perhaps this is why I only have the vaguest memory of an epic Tuesday evening in early 2000s,...