I was given and award by Mr. Ravagnani for my work in my recent book "First Time to Italy Vacation Planner" which is available on Amazon.

Humberto Zambrano, "Voice of Silk"

The night featured a very talented and upcoming tenor by the name of Humberto Zambrano, nicknamed the "Voice of Silk". He has an impressive resume including studying music at the prestigious Conservatory of Music Simon Bolivar in Caracas. He also has stops in Latin America and Buenos Aires working with famous baritone William Alvarado among others. Currently he spends him time between New York and Florida.

Below is a video of one of the verses of "That's Amore" sung and performed by Mr. Zambrano.

As an Italian-American we are all probably familiar with the Dean Martin classic. The word "Amore" in Italian means love. The song was actually composed in 1952 by Harry Warren and Jack Brooks. Don't ask me how a couple of non-Italians came up with that song, but they did and the rest is history as it became one of Dean Martin's most popular hits.

In 1987 the song had a revival as it was featured in the popular film called "Moonstruck" which was filled with an all-star cast including Cher, Nicolas Cage, Danny Aiello (no relation to this blog owner), Olympia Dukakis and Vincent Gardenia.

Here is your chance to win a FREE cookbook of Italian recipes during this holiday season!

I'm giving away a free cookbook - all you need to do to be entered in this drawing is to post a random comment ANYWHERE on this blog by the end of Dec 29th, 2012. The cookbook is Preserving our Italian Heritage. It is a nice hard-cover book (this is not an ebook) and shipping and handling will be paid by ME.

Basically, I will draw a randmom number to correspond with a comment.

The more comments you post, the more chance you have to win....Good luck!

The winner will be posted on this page.

Thank you, grazie mille!

Happy Holidays

Christmas is always a good time to spend time with the family, and if you are thinking of traveling this holiday season, you definitely should consider spending your Christmas in Rome. This Italian city absolutely has more than enough to offer, and you are sure to have one of the best holidays ever. Whether with friends, family or just traveling on your own, here are some of the things and places that you should not miss as spend your most-awaited holiday vacation.

Christmas Market at Piazza Navona

Holidays are always about gift-giving and shop-till-you-drop sprees. You're in luck this Christmas especially if you are in Rome, since you are just about to enjoy one of the city's highlights - the Christmas Market held every December at Piazza Navona. You will surely feel the Christmas ambiance as you shop around and enjoy the festive spirit at every corner. If you're with kids, they will definitely enjoy the merry-go-round, Babbo Natale and the Father Christmas, as well as the huge nativity scene featured at the background.

Saint Peter's Square

Aside from the life-size Christmas tree that you can find here, a colorful parade is also held here every 13th of December in memory of Santa Lucia Day, so be sure not to miss that one, too.

Visit the churches and take some time to worship.

Rome is obviously known for its many churches - Santa Maria Maggiore, Santa Maria Aracoeli and Saints Cosma and Damiano, to name a few. Christmas in Rome also highlights the Pope's midnight mass at the Saint Peter's Basilica.

Check out the 100 Nativity Scenes Exhibition

This popular exhibition happens at the Piazza del Popolo, where you can find and enjoy 100 antique pieces from all over the world, as well as various nativity scenes made by the finest craftsmen of Italy. This event remains open until the 6th of January, so you might want to include this on the latter part of your itinerary.

Go on ice skating in Rome

The winter season is also well-presented by ice-skating, and your Christmas in Rome won't be complete without experiencing it. Starting December 1st, ice skating rinks are open to the public with no entrance fee, and you'll only have to pay for a small fee for the skates. This is definitely another good way to have some quality time with your family or friends.

Take the kids to the XVII Golden Circus Festival

Rome will be hosting the 27th edition of this enchanting festival, and your kids will surely have a great time wandering around. The festival will feature world-class performers such as rope artists, fire eaters, magicians, clowns and many more. This festival is obviously not just for kids, but even for the adults who are young at heart, too!

As you can see, spending Christmas in Rome is as exciting and as fun as it can be. You will never run out of activities to do and places to go to. And don't forget to indulge on Christmas sweets and yummy treats such as torrone, pandoro and panettone. The holiday season is never complete without satisfying your sweet tooth!

Below is an image of Rome during the holiday season:

Many people do not realize there are tons of dialects in Italy. Some of them are localized even at the town level. Below is a video with audio of a couple of proverbs in Neapolitan that are also spoken in Italian to show the differences between the different dialects in Italy. The translation of the English meaning is also shown.

Neapolitan: 'a casa d' 'o ferràro 'o spito 'e lignàmme.

Italian: Quando manca qualcosa proprio dove dovrebbe (invece) esserci.

English: When something misses where instead it should be.

Neapolitan: A' altare sgarrupàto nun s'appicciano cannèle.

Italian: Alle donne ormai anziane non si fanno moine.

English: To the old women you do not simper.