Europe Italy

Having three generations of her family living under the same roof was once part of the Italian dream for Rosie. But when her party-loving, whiskey-drinking, poker-playing 85-year-old mother moves over from Ireland to Italy, Rosie’s longed for dolce vita in Umbria is anything but sweet.

An interesting audio journey that shows you the many facets of Italy from the snow-capped peaks of the Dolomites in the north to Sicily, the island of the gods. Discover the hilly landscape of Tuscany, the most beautiful places in Venice and Rome or ancient sites such as Pompeii. There is still snow at 2239 m on the Pordoi Pass, over which the scenic route leads to Bozen and Meran. After the romantic lagoon city of Venice, the rolling hills of Tuscany await you with cypresses, vineyards and the sights of Florence, Lucca and Pisa.

Join us on this journey of discovery as we traverse Sardinia's diverse regions, introduce you to its warm-hearted inhabitants, and unveil the magic that lies in every corner of this island. "Sardinia Unveiled" is your passport to Sardinia's hidden gems, offering practical advice, insider tips, and a deep appreciation for the land, culture, and people that make this island a truly remarkable destination.

It is hard to find an island on the map more central than Sicily. Located at the crossroads between Europe and Africa, and between the eastern and western Mediterranean, Sicily has rarely been governed as an independent, unified state. Nonetheless, the island has been the seat of some of the most important events in history, and nowhere is this more obvious than during antiquity.

Meditations is former US President Bill Clinton's favorite book. This audio consists of a series of personal writings by Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor AD 161-180, setting forth his ideas on Stoic philosophy.

Tutti i paesi che ambiscono a diventare superpotenze attraverso il colonialismo e la politica della forza e del dominio devono dotarsi di individui pronti a tutto. È ciò che ha tentato anche l’Italia dalla stessa conquista dell’Unità (il Regno d’Italia nasce nel 1871, la prima impresa coloniale italiana è del 1882) fino alla sconfitta del fascismo. È dunque falsa la convinzione che gli italiani siano, diversamente dagli altri popoli, “brava gente”.

Some 500 years ago, Sandro Botticelli, a painter of humble origin, created work of unearthly beauty. An intimate associate of Florence’s unofficial rulers, the Medici, he was commissioned by a member of their family to execute a near-impossible project: to illustrate all 100 cantos of The Divine Comedy by the city’s greatest poet, Dante Alighieri. A powerful encounter between poet and artist, sacred and secular, earthly and evanescent, these drawings produced a wealth of stunning images but were never finished.

Are you excited about planning your next trip? Do you want an edible experience? Would you like some culinary guidance from a local? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then this Eat Like a Local book is for you. Eat Like a Local - Venice, by Rita Cestaro, offers the inside scoop on food in Venice. Culinary tourism is an important aspect of any travel experience. Food has the ability to tell you a story of a destination, its landscapes, and culture on a single plate. Most food guides tell you how to eat like a tourist.

In 1787, Lucia, the beautiful 16-year-old daughter of a prominent Venetian statesman, is married off to Alvise Mocenigo, scion of one of the most powerful Venetian families. But their life as a golden couple will be suddenly transformed when Venice falls to Bonaparte.

Al principio del ventesimo secolo, a seguito di una crisi di colera che devastò Napoli, la giornalista Matilde Serao volle raccontare al mondo il "ventre" della città, quei quartieri popolari abitati da schiere di poveri costretti all'antica e ingegnosa arte del tirare a campare. Città bella ma dimenticata dallo stato sabaudo, la Napoli di inizio '900 era preda di degrado urbano, crimine organizzato e malattie cui il popolo abbandonato faceva fronte attraverso uno sconfinato repertorio di credenze e superstizioni.

Why is a region in northern Italy called Lombardy? It was named after the Germanic barbarians known as the Lombards. As one of several founding ethnic groups, they left their mark on the peninsula. They established dukedoms that set the country on a path to the formation of many independent city-states during the Late Middle Ages. The Lombards, living up to their designation as barbarians by the Romans, were a warlike people. The chronicle of their history is one of battles against other barbarian tribes, the Romans, the Byzantines, Muslims, and the pope and his army.

If you want to discover the captivating history of the Renaissance, then pay attention.

This valuable deal contains multiple titles in one book. The topics are the following: Florence, once a major center of Middle Ages European trade and banking, and one of the most affluent cities in the world; Naples, one of the world's oldest constantly occupied cities; St. Catherine of Siena, a Dominican laywoman, mystic, activist, and writer who impacted Italian literature and the Catholic Church significantly; the Vatican, a landlocked, independent city-state and enclave in Rome, Italy; and the Venetian Empire.

With a single daring leap from an Italian train carrying prisoners of war, John Miller jumped out of the war of soldiers and into the war as lived by Italian civilians - many of whom risked their lives to help him. The year was 1943 and Captain Miller had been in captivity for over a year. Italian anti-fascists harboured and fed him, first in a remote mountain village, then in Rome itself.

The ‘Ndrangheta (pronounced an-drang-et-ah) is a close neighbor of the Cosa Nostra and currently considered the most powerful (and difficult to spell) criminal organization in Italy. The ‘Ndrangheta is centered around Calabria, the most southwestern region of Italy, almost touching the Sicilian city of Messina. Though it began as far back as the late 19th century, it was not until the 1950s that the ‘Ndrangheta started to spread its tentacles throughout Italy and then across the entire globe, forming an empire that now ranges from Australia and Turkey, to Chile to Canada.

It was the war that changed everything, and yet it's been mostly forgotten: in 1935, Italy invaded Ethiopia. It dominated newspaper headlines and newsreels. It inspired mass marches in Harlem, a play on Broadway, and independence movements in Africa. As the British Navy sailed into the Mediterranean for a white-knuckle showdown with Italian ships, riots broke out in major cities all over the United States.

It has been famously pointed out that the Holy Roman Empire was neither holy, nor Roman, but it was also not an empire in the sense people expect when hearing the term, but it is clear that church clergy occupied a privileged place in medieval society. Europe had inherited Christianity from the Roman Empire, and the concept of a united Christendom and empire were practically synonymous. Indeed, there was no real consciousness of the Roman Empire ever having ended.

La saga des Médicis, sous la plume du grand Dumas. Les Médicis sont une des familles les plus riches et les plus influentes de Florence. Des ressources financières considérables leur permirent d'investir dans l'architecture, la sculpture, la peinture mais aussi dans la collection de pierres précieuses et d'objets d'orfèvrerie. La maison de Médicis est apparue, au XIIe siècle, au sein de la République de Florence, et devient, au XVIe siècle, la famille régnant sur le grand-duché de Toscane.

From the ashes of World War II, Rome was reborn as the epicenter of film, fashion, creative energy, tabloid media, and bold-faced libertinism that made "Italian" a global synonym for taste, style, and flair. A confluence of cultural contributions created a bright, burning moment in history: it was the heyday of fashion icons such as Pucci and Brioni. Rome's huge movie studio, Cinecitta, attracted a dizzying array of stars, like Charlton Heston, Gregory Peck, Audrey Hepburn, Ava Gardner, and Frank Sinatra.

The City of Falling Angels opens on the evening of January 29, 1996, when a dramatic fire destroys the historic Fenice opera house. The loss of the Fenice, where five of Verdi's operas premiered, is a catastrophe for Venetians. Arriving in Venice three days after the fire, Berendt becomes a kind of detective - inquiring into the nature of life in this remarkable museum-city - while gradually revealing the truth about the fire.