Ciao a tutti,

Valentine’s day is just around the corner (well next Monday to be exact) and whether you embrace this holiday or simply think of it as a fad we have some fun articles down below to best express romance in Italian and an interesting piece on the origins of Saint Valentine himself. Also, remember to download your February wallpaper (included in your premium subscription) which features an iconic palazzo from Palermo. 

That being said, let’s dive right in and see what you might have missed from this past week: 

We always keep our fingers on the pulse of what's hot in Italy so here is our insider roundup of 2022's Italian-based music, movies, and TV that you need to know about.

In an attempt to repopulate the city center with ‘actual’ residents, the Venice-based Ca’ Foscari University and the cultural nonprofit Fondazione di Venezia launched the remote-working program ‘Venywhere’ last December.

Have you struggled with learning Italian through traditional classes or just by winging it yourself? One woman has created a 3D approach that really focuses on the type of learner you are. Twice a year she opens the doors to her online school “7-week Italian” to everyone, free of charge, and shares with aspiring and experienced learners of Italian the tools, techniques and the mindset they need to adopt in order to accelerate their path towards fluency.

Did you know that Italy has the highest number of last names in Europe: 350,000? This is due to the country’s history of linguistic fragmentation. Find out some of the most popular ones and how they originated.

Your next Italian escape? Here's where you'll want to head to next! ⁠Stretching 100 miles along the Adriatic coast, Le Marche has mysterious mountain ranges, a rich farming terrain with picturesque rolling hillsides covered in vineyards, and plenty of charming historical hilltop villages, and here are just the guides to show you the best of the region! ⁠

In this week’s language lesson, we share all of the different ways to express your love for someone in the world’s most romantic language.

A new week, a new hidden gem to celebrate in Italy in our dual-language series! Let's head 50 km from the well-known town of Matera to Pisticci, considered the ‘white town’ of Basilicata and set within a spectacular landscape that overlooks the Ionian Sea.

This light, delicious lemon rose cake is a specialty of Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna and resembles a bouquet of roses.

Type 'Saint Valentine' into any Internet search engine, and among the thousands of websites selling flowers, chocolates and greetings cards, you’ll find just a handful dedicated to the saint himself. So that begs the question, who was the real Saint Valentine?

Dream property for sale to swoon over in Tuscany. This property is a typical Tuscan farmhouse of 320 sq. m., characterized by exposed wooden beams and terracotta bricks, located in the prestigious countryside of Castagneto, just a few kilometers from the sea.

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend!

      - Your editor Georgette and the Italy Magazine team