Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been categorized as “Culture”
PAINTED STORIES – THE PREMISE Several months ago Diane Taylor of the Writers of Southern Nevada invited me to take part in the organization’s multimedia event, “Painted Stories – Duel in the Library,” co-sponsored by the Las Vegas-Clark County public library system. The gathering was to feature two writers, reading aloud from their books, and two artists, putting to canvas …
NEWER CALABRIA MUSEUMS No matter where you dig in Italy, you’re bound to hit upon something ancient, or at the very least medieval. Calabria is certainly no exception. Exciting discoveries pop up with a certain frequency and new museums are even inaugurated from time to time, such as the Monasterace Museum that opened its doors in the town of the …
MuSaBa is an expression – a dream that became a reality, a past looking for a future, and the present finding meaning in its roots. The brainchild of artists Nik Spatari and Hiske Maas, MuSaBa or the Museum Santa Barbara is a concept, a park, a museum and a laboratory located in the foothills of the rugged Aspromonte Mountains in …
AN AMERICAN EXPAT IN NAPLES My friend Tricia LOVES Naples. She stumbled upon her adopted hometown traveling through Europe after college. No doubt, she had visited many other beautiful places, but upon arrival in this vibrant southern Italian city, she knew she was home.
Before my daytrip to Palizzi, I associated the town with two things: Edward Lear’s wonderful lithograph drawings and red wine – not necessarily in that order.
“Buona festa!” (Happy Holiday!) My boss Mario greeted me with a big smile and was handing me a small bunch of yellow flowers and some foliage tied together with a ribbon. The secretary came up behind me and he picked up another little bouquet from his desk and said, “Auguri!” (Good wishes!)
I was looking at the rusty sign banning motorbikes from entering the narrow street that led up through the old quarter of Amantea and wondering whether or not anyone actually heeded its message. The little stylized rider sat comfortably on his motorcycle inside the faded red circle that blended with the equally washed out, dilapidated wall on which it hung. …
A ROME VACATION My feet were killing me. It was a brisk Tuesday evening in late November. After a harrowing experience on Rome’s overcrowded public transportation system during the morning rush hour, I had decided to walk back to my apartment that overlooked the Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano.
WHERE IS PERSEPHONE? The first time I laid eyes on Persephone, I had no idea as to her history or the significance she would hold for me in time to come. I was in Berlin and the antiquities collection of the famous Pergamon Museum was on my list of cultural must-sees. Seven years later I would arrive in Locri, Persephone’s …
FIT FOR ROYALTY “You haven’t ever eaten at “La Collinetta”? You have to go there!” Mercedes was very enthusiastic, to say the least, about this trattoria where she and her friend dined every Saturday afternoon. “They treat us like princesses.”