For everyone who had special trips & vacations planned, but had to cancel or postpone them, The Style That Binds Us is inviting you to travel with us. We can’t all be together, of course, so we are going to travel to world virtually & bring you along with us! Our first stop is the country of Italy. We are going to give you creative ways to experience this magical place from the comfort of your home. After getting lots of ideas in this post for how to experience Italia from home, you will find a curated selection (at the bottom of this post) with some of our favorite Italian items to continue bringing Italy to you!
We will be posting different content throughout the month of August, so stay tuned! In the meantime, let’s get started:
Books/Magazines to read:
- Italian Chic by Daria Reina and Andrea Ferolla
- Under the Tuscan Sun: At Home in Italy by Frances Mayes
- Beautiful Ruins: A Novel by Jess Walter
- Bella Figura: How to Live, Love, and Eat the Italian Way by by Kamin Mohammadi
- The Neapolitan Novels Boxed Set by Elena Ferrante
- Vogue Italia
Design:
Movies to watch:
- The Godfather
- Roman Holiday
- Under The Tuscan Sun (you can even stay here!!)
- Eat, Pray, Love
- Angels And Demons (sequel to The Da Vinci Code)
- The Talented Mr. Ripley
- When In Rome (The Olsen twins)
- The Lizzie McGuire Movie
- James Bond; Quantum of Solace, No Time To Die
- Moonstruck
- Letters to Juliet
- Only You
- Come to Milan Fashion Week with us!
Cookbooks/Recipes:
- Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan (The most consulted Italian cookbook of all time, compared to Julia Child but for Italy instead of France)
- The Tucci Table: Cooking With Family and Friends by Stanley Tucci
- How to make espresso & biscotti like an Italian
- Recipes from Italy’s fashion families
Music:
- Andrea Bocelli: Music For Hope – Live From Duomo di Milano
- Celine Dion, Andrea Bocelli, Lady Gaga, Lang Lang, John Legend perform “The Prayer”
- Vivaldi: The Four Seasons
- Spring: The concertos offer their own musical exhibition through all players, the soloists burning the brightest. “Spring” or “La primavera,” starts with the clarity and crispness of a typical spring day, accompanied by the choirs of birds and streams. It is invaded by a sudden thunderstorm, but the singing birds soon regain dominance. The movement ends with a lively country dance, with inhabitants celebrating the return of fauna and flora after a harsh winter.
- Summer: The “L’estate” or “Summer,” offers a slow start, portraying the weather as too hot for any movement. The air is almost at a standstill, the birds chirping away lazily until a breeze gathers up, whipping the warning of an imminent storm. The most striking moment is served in the third movement, as a hail storm mercilessly rains down, offering a perfect contrast.
- Autumn: “L’autunno” or “Autumn,” makes a return to the clarity resembling “Spring,” with similar musical themes in the first movements. The country-folk rejoice once again, celebrating the harvest by drinking wine. The tempo drops significantly, in parallel to the peaceful sleep that engulfs the people. The final movement illustrates a “hunt,” taking us back to a 14th-century Italian genre, “Caccia” – where songs were utilized to glorify hunts via voice canons.
- Winter: The concertos end with “L’inverno” or “Winter.” The opening movement resembles a shivering person, stamping his feet in rhythm to stay warm. The middle movement portrays the pleasure of getting warm inside through a crackling fire. The final movement offers people outdoors walking down icy paths, while people inside houses feeling the relentless chill finding its way inside.
- The Present Scenario: Fast-forwarding half a century, the 4 concertos can now be safely considered as the single greatest sensation of classical music. The most eminent violinists have recorded it more than a hundred times. They have featured multiple times in TV commercials and Hollywood movies. From credit cards to cars, billboards, elevators to hotel lobbies, and even to mobile phone ringtones, their popularity continues to soar.
- At a basic level, “The Four Seasons” is extraordinarily authentic, an association with profound elegance and luxury. It is full of glistening and brilliant sonorities, ingenious innovations with vivid solo lines capturing the essence of nature. The most important factor that renders into its popularity is the fact that it incorporates the basic human elements – the passage of time, the cycle of years and nature. The program incorporates seasonal images and sounds spectacular, without constraining the imagination. Each season offers a “point of departure” for a diverse range of metaphors.
- Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons,” sits at the very pinnacle of classical music alongside Beethoven’s “Fifth Symphony.” With greatness so pristine, its merit will never be bounded by time, but only through the genius of its creator. (Source)
- Mina
- Tiziano Ferro
- Malika Ayane
- Lucio Dalla
- Lucio Battisti
- Fedez
- Italian Cooking Music (Favorite song from this playlist: Buona Sera)
- Italian Restaurant Classics
- Italian Baroque Favorites
- Italian Dinner Music
- Great Italian Operas
Exhibits:
- Virtual tour of Rome
- Virtual tour of Borghese Gallery (This is a MUST on your next visit to Rome. After your timed tour, there is a boat pond nearby where you can rent boats. We’d highly recommend doing that, which makes for the PERFECT Italian day!!)
- Virtual tour of Ancient Rome
- Virtual tour of Sistine Chapel
- Visit the Uffizi
- Da Vinci exhibit
- Virtual tour of Duomo in Milan
- Save Venice YouTube channel
- Art Historian Explores Women’s Portrayal in the Italian Renaissance
Ideas to channel your inner Italian:
- The italians are CHIC! Understated but dramatic-try a pair of cateye sunglasses and a red lip!
- Take a ride on a Vespa
- Travel to Capri virtually & learn about an incredible local brand
- Drink italian wine or our favorite, San Pellegrino (In the foothills of the Alps, S. Pellegrino was founded in Bergamo, Italy in 1899. In the first year, the company produced 35,343 bottles of mineral water. Only one hour from Milan, Bergamo is still where the water is sourced today and 2019 marked the 120th year they had been in business), while listening to Andrea Bocelli
- Cook an italian meal with opera in the background
- Take up italian! Use an app like Duolingo, set up one hour a day where only italian can be spoken!
- Read a book set in Italy at the beach or on a blanket by a lake in the shade
- Eat like an italian for breakfast: espresso, ristretto, caffè macchiato, caffè moka or cappuccino or caffè e latte, biscotti or pastry and fruit-it’s more like a snack. They do not eat heavy meals to avoid feeling tired during the day!
- Cook with fresh basil, rosemary, oregano and thyme. Make a simple meal of pasta with fresh herbs and a salad lightly dressed and served AFTER main course not during!
- Include Italian cheeses in your menu, TSTBU favorites include Mascarpone, Parmesan & Burrata
- Get creative with Focaccia, bruschetta (“brew-sketta”)
- Indulge in high quality olive oil
- Treat yourself to some Italian sweets-panna cotta, tiramisu, cannoli, tartufo, sfogliatella, gelato, biscotti
- Set up an Italian outdoor cafe in your backyard or balcony, twinkle lights, candles, music and have dinner al fresco, cook your favorite Italian dish or get takeout from your favorite local Italian ristorante!
Instagram accounts to follow:
Here are some of our favorite Italian items!!
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