Italianissimo: The Quintessential Guide to What Italians Do Best

Discount Italianissimo: The Quintessential Guide to What Italians Do Best. What is it about Italy that inspires passion, fascination, and utter devotion? This quirky guide to the Italian way of life, with its fifty witty mini-essays on iconic Italian subjects, will answer that question as well as entertain and delight both real and armchair travelers Topics range from expressive hand gestures to patron saints, pasta, parmesan, shoes, opera, the Vespa, the Fiat 500, gelato, gondolas, and more History, folklore, superstitions, traditions, and customs are tossed in a delicious sauce that also includes a wealth of factual information for the Italianissimo: The Quintessential Guide to What Italians Do Best sophisticated traveler:• why lines, as we know them, are nonexistent in Italy• why a string of coral beads is often seen around a baby’s wrist• what the unlucky number of Italy is (it’s not thirteen, unless seating guests at a table, when it IS thirteen–taking into account the outcome of the Last Supper)• why red underwear begins to appear in shops as the New Year approaches In addition to the lyrical and poetic, Italianissimo provides useful and indispensable information for the traveler: deciphering the quirks of the language (while English has only one word for “you,” in Italy there are three), the best place to find balsamic vinegar (in Modena, of course), the best gelato (in Sicily, where they first invented it using the snow from Mount Etna) ... Learn more »

Italianissimo: The Quintessential Guide to What Italians Do Best Review: Italianissimo: The Quintessential Guide to What Italians Do Best. I had expected a fairly comprehensive text on all things Italian, so I wassurprised when a 5 x 5 inch hardcover arrived at my door. The book is a collection of text with photos, of things considered "the best" of Italy or places/ideas that are quintessentially Italian. Each vignette occupies facing pages in the book...photos on one side and text on the other. There are addresses and websites referring the reader to a place (i.e. best place to get gelato) or other information. The photos and ... Read more »

By Louise Fili, Lise Apatoff Price: Check price »