Italy from the Inside

Pizzeria ‘Da Mario’ (video)


My friend and co-worker Mario Esposito comes from Salerno, a city nearby Naples, in the heart of Southern Italy. Mario is a unique individual with a high-tech vision, yet deep Italian roots and traditions.

This weekend, I had the pleasure to join one of his Pizza-parties at his house. Mario built a wood burning oven with imported bricks from Italy. In essence, he re-created the experience of a real Italian pizzeria in his backyard.
As one of the twenty lucky invitees, I was asked to sign up on his private pizza-party social network site, where every person could check off the ingredients that they volunteered to buy. Then the video (in Italian) explains the rest. Enjoy!

– Can’t see the video? Watch it from YouTube
– iPod version (MP4 – 23Mb)
– Zune version (WMV – 20Mb)

Strikes in Italy

When you plan internal transfers from various Italian locations, it’s always a good idea to budget some buffer time for unforeseen circumstances. Strikes (scioperi) and delays (ritardi) are normal everyday events.
In my last trip home, the Venice airport personnel announced a couple of hours strike on the spot because some union negotiations weren’t going as they hoped. After traveling for 14 hours from Seattle, that wasn’t necessary the best ‘Welcome home’ news I was expecting. I was lucky to see my luggage showing up on the belt right at the announcement, but I bet the next load of passengers weren’t that happy.
Sometimes friends ask me to review their itineraries. When I see their Italian vacation scheduled by the hour and packed with various transportation from city to city, I warn them that is a recipe for frustration. Trains have gotten better in recent years, but strikes are very common. Be flexible and prepared to cope with some delays and you’ll enjoy your trip even more.

Our podcast about Italy on iTunes

Podcast ranking on iTunes
I’d like to share some positive facts regarding our New Media efforts to disseminate useful tips and information about Italy and its culture. Since we listed our podcast on iTunes just 3 months ago, we have been enjoying a steady growth in our audience.
In fact, under the iTunes category Places & Travel, we rank #8, ahead of bigger brands like Frommers and Lonely Planet.
More important, the 35 customer reviews received so far rate our shows a 4.5/5 stars. Here is an excerpt from their comments:

“Very fun and informative. And never boring as many podcasts can easily lean that way.”

“The author and his wife have the unique ability to offer an insight from both American & Italian perspective. The podcasts offer many insights not available from the usual travel guides.”

“Excellent. This is exactly what I was looking for. I’ll be living in Italy for 3 years and wanted something besides the standard travel book to go a little deeper into the culture and sights. This is it!”

“Love it! I live in Italy and this podcast is right on the mark. Very entertaining and accurate.”

“Subscribe to this podcast if you plan on going to Italy!”

“I highly recommend this podcast because it’s for people who hate being tourists.”

Silvia podcasting
My daughter Silvia has started podcasting too. Her passion is to communicate Italian tips to the younger audience. Every audio episode takes on average 3 hours to plan, record and publish. Video episodes usually require twice as much time.

If you own an iPod and/or have iTunes installed, it’s easy to subscribe to our podcast. And if you want to help us keep our shows ad-free, we always welcome your support thru the purchase of our eBook. Grazie!!