Carnival in Italy

As a new year begins, revelers of traditional and colorful festivals turn their attention and excitement to carnival season.  While the ancient origins of carnival celebrations suggest they were timed as New Year’s festivals, the modern-day carnival evolved to be more closely associated with the beginning of the solemn Christian period of Lent.  The Roman Catholic liturgical […]

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Carnival in Italy

As a new year begins, revelers of traditional and colorful festivals turn their attention and excitement to carnival season.  While the ancient origins of carnival celebrations suggest they were timed as New Year’s festivals, the modern-day carnival evolved to be more closely associated with the beginning of the solemn Christian period of Lent.  The Roman Catholic liturgical […]

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Marco Polo – died 8 January 1324. 700 years ago.

Marco Polo (born c. 1254, Venice [Italy] – died January 8, 1324, Venice) a Venetian merchant and adventurer who travelled from Europe to Asia in 1271–95, remaining in China for 17 of those years, and whose Il milione (“The Million”), known in English as the Travels of Marco Polo, is a classic of travel literature. He was one of the first westerners to visit China. Marco […]

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Time to Travel: Venice

Ready to travel again?  Come with us to Venice, the capital city of Northern Italy’s Veneto region.  Once medieval Europe’s most important port and cultural center, Venice features architectural wonders and marble palaces built on a lagoon in the Adriatic Sea.  The city, comprised of more than 100 small islands, features no roads, only canals and pedestrian-only paved […]

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