Underneath just about any "vietato fumare" sign posted in a public space in Italy, you'll find someone smoking. Whether it's in a doctor's office, the police station or the post office, "no smoking" signs seem to be written either in Japanese or invisible ink. No one reads them, everyone ignores them, and many Italians declare them merely a suggestion. Next week, however, Italy's 14 million smokers will be forbidden from lighting up in public places, including ...More »

Today I went to a restaurant for lunch to eat on my own, something I do frequently and almost always happily. I was armed with my newspapers and looking forward to catching up on the day's events over a salad. The place where I chose to eat is a new hot spot in Rome, and this was evident today in the number of clients piling in. When I asked if I could sit down, the ...More »

Taking down a Christmas tree feels worse than slashing a stage set. How do you decide the right moment? I'm not saying I still want to find our tree in the living room at Easter. But I feel as if it just arrived. Now, with Christmas and New Year's over, it seems it's already time to show the fir to the door. It's the first Christmas tree that my husband and I chose and ...More »

If you ask a Roman his summer plans at Easter, he’ll laugh. In New York, you plan ahead. In Rome, you plan when you feel like it. For those tired of being slotted into a Palm Pilot for dinner, Rome is a retreat for last-minute planners. While New Yorkers just don’t get the art of spontaneity, Romans have perfected it. Romans often organize a dinner party for ten people the day before and everyone shows ...More »

How much would a Robert De Niro painting sell for at auction? Depends on whether he owned it or whether he painted it. In a week, an exhibition of the paintings of Robert De Niro, the father of the Hollywood actor, will open at the Galleria d'Arte Moderna and at the Museo Andersen in Rome. Thanks to his friendship with Peggy Guggenheim, De Niro debuted his work at her gallery in "Art of This Century" ...More »

Alda Fendi has forsaken fashion for The Forum. In February 2005, among baroque churches and ancient columns, the Fendi Foundation will open the doors of a gallery it has constructed for contemporary artists near the Trajan Forum. Leaving the fashion business to her family, Alda Fendi has materialized her dream of opening a space for artists while simultaneously supporting an archeological dig underneath it. Above the Basilica Ulpia in the Trajan Forum in a space ...More »

Whenver I visit New York after a few too many months away from it, I rely on my brother to give me the downloaded version of trendy-speak, and to keep me informed on important pop-cultural events like Starr Jones' wedding or the latest episode of "The O.C." My colloquial lingo is often out of date. As my husband put it recently, he gets all the jokes on "Three's Company" but he feels lost watching ...More »

Last night, I returned to Rome after a two-week visit in New York. As I was walking in the historic center to a friend's house for dinner, I could hear my footsteps echoing on the cobblestoned streets. The church bells chimed eight o'clock, and the air was misty from the earlier downpours that had subsided. The street lanterns illuminated the walls of palazzi painted the color of terracotta. Italians smoked languidly under street signs ...More »

At my first Thanksgiving in Italy six years ago, we had to amputate our turkey’s legs before cooking it -- our Roman oven was too small for the bird. After twenty-five Thanksgivings, this was the biggest turkey I had ever seen. Did our metric conversion table have a typo in it or did our Roman butcher simply hunt the plumpest of the flock? The bird weighed as much as a one-year-old child; it resembled the pudgy ...More »

The coverage of the American presidential election in Italy rivals that of the World Cup. In Italy, soccer equals politics and politics equal soccer. Anything remotely involving politics in Italy is covered like a sports’ tournament. Living overseas and watching the coverage has offered me two fascinating perspectives: America as seen by Americans, and America as seen by Italians. This is the third election in which I have voted and the second which I have followed ...More »