Simple Italy

Celebrating Your Inner Italian

Marionette Museum in Palermo

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By Walter Sanders

At first I balked at paying 5 Euro for a ticket to see what … a marionette museum? But Sharon said, “We have to experience this. UNESCO lists the Sicilian puppet theater on its Intangible Heritage site.”

Now I think that the Antonio Pasqualino Museo Internazionale delle Marionette ticket is a bargain.

Located in the ancient Moorish La Kalsa district of Palermo, the Museum is housed on a narrow side street between Piazza Marina and Via Butera. If you miss the modest signage, you may very well miss the museum.

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Milis in Sardinia

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By Walter Sanders

Sardinia tour guide Paola Loi connected us with the mayor of Milis Sergio Vacca.

In 2018, when Sharon was studying Italian in Bergamo, and I caught up with her in Cremona, we met up with old pals James Martin and Martha Bakerjian. 

These renowned Italy bloggers split their time between northern California and a small town in the wild and wooly Lunigiana section of Tuscany near Massa Carrarra.

The pair met in the mid-1980s when they both worked on an archeological dig in Sardinia. They share an avid interest in Italy and blog at Martha’s Italy, Wandering Sardinia, and Wandering Italy

Over lunch we decided to meet again in 2019 to explore Sardinia together. In April, 2019 we boarded a Corsica Ferries boat in Livorno for an overnight crossing to Porto Aranci in Sardinia. [Read more…]

Genoa Eats

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By Sharon Sanders

Walter recounted our Day in Genoa from a cultural perspective. Now for the essential part — the food.

As we strolled and soaked up information with our superb guide Filippo Zamparelli [fzampare@fastwebnet.it], we also stopped here and there for sustenance. Walking through the caruggi, narrow medieval streets and alleys, temptations assaulted us.

We stopped for a torta stuffed with artichokes, warm from the oven. Heaven. Tortas are flat two-crusted pies stuffed with varied vegetables and cheeses.

At another shop, we gawked at the array of baccalá (salted cod) and stoccafisso. It may seem curious that preserved cod from north Atlantic waters are still so popular in Liguria and other parts of Italy but that is the legacy of a seafaring country.

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One Day in Genoa

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By Walter Sanders

They Say Genova. We Say Genoa.

Piazza Caricamento fronts the Porto Antico.

My previous experience in Genoa was in the airport in 1999 to attend a Financial Services Congresso (Conference) in nearby Portofino.

I recall the view from the car window upon leaving the airport as uninspiring: a mixed bag of grungy industrial sites, grim housing, busy highways.

So, upon an 8:15 a.m. arrival at Genoa’s Porto Principe railroad station to meet our guide Filippo Zamparelli [fzampare@fastwebnet.it] for a walking tour of the city, I am a blank canvas. 

Filippo (right) captained our little group through the old port of Genoa.

Filippo is a delight. Bookish, fine command of English, a sharp sense of humor, a deep and abiding interest in history (his major field of study at the University of Genova) and a lifelong resident of the city.

We get to know each other informally over a caffé. He loves history of all types … including US history. Turns out that he follows the Chicago Cubs who until 2016, share a lovable losing history akin to the Genoa soccer club, which Filippo also closely follows.

From the get-go of the tour, Filippo emphasizes how the city is changing itself. Long a port of global importance, and a major industrial city of Italy, Genoa found itself falling behind other port and industrial cities. The competition was killing the city and it was unable or unwilling to react.

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Three Days In Milan

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By Walter Sanders

The Set Up: Sharon and I caught a great airfare on Emirates from our new hometown Charlotte to Milan. We decided to make a two-month visit to Italy focusing on areas we have never experienced or wished to know better.

A local guide always adds value no matter how often you visit a place. Look at the passion on her face.


We’re not strangers to Milan, but Sharon and I have never been there together.

Milan is a world-class city on the make in every way: fashion, design, home and office furnishings, music, art, banking, the whole shebang.

And the colors! Not just grays and glass but shocking Phalo blues, vivid pinks, blinding white marble, and husky maroons jostle for your attention. The skyline is in constant flux where construction cranes abound and whimsical grattacieli (skyscrapers) erupt into the sky.

Yet on ground level there’s a comforting familiarity. Outdoor cafes and restaurants as spring had sprung. Shop windows display the unique Italian ability to have love affairs between style and commerce and one night stands between sleek designs and future functionality.

And the fashions! Sure, in the windows. But look around on the streets, in the Duomo square, in Brera, even at the central station. People looking grand. Look at that guy! Movie star maybe? No, just some well-dressed, super-coiffed guy grabbing a caffé.

And look at her! She’s a 6’ 1” exotic principessa walking among plebeians. Is she a holdover runway model from Milan’s Fashion Week or just a regular working woman booking it back to the office?

The city is lousy with glamour.

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