MAG TRAVEL

The Rolling Stones love Morocco and always stay at hidden Kasbahs in the Northern Regions. Mick has been sighted each time sipping piping hot mint tea and a ciggie during pauses.

Mint tea isn’t just a drink in Morocco. It is a sign of hospitality and friendship and tradition. Because this drink is so popular, it is served all day long, after every meal and with every conversation. Moroccans take great pride in their tea and will often ask a visitor who among their group of friends makes the best cup of mint tea. It’s a favorite among every Moroccan, old or young, even out at bars in the coolest 5-star hotels or i...

A well out of which an almond tree appears. This centuries old construction, in the heart of the town’s historic center, has become the symbol of Manduria, ancient town situated on Puglia’s Ionic coast.

The “Fonte Pliniano” testifies to both the presence of the messapic population who inhabited southern Puglia from the 8th century B.C. onwards, and the visit to the town by “Plinio the Old”: the famous Roman historian who mentioned the well in his “Historia naturalis” and after whom the structure w...

Late Summer Edition

All’ombra del colosseo
One of the nicest of the temporary areas set up for the Estate Romana summer festival, “Al Ombra del Colosso” features a 1,500 square meter village, seating 2000 for cabaret and concerts. During the day, there’s a 200-square meter pool and jacuzzi; a disco, with an “apperitivo pool party” at 5 pm; a restaurant serving breakfast, lunch, dinner and apperitivi; a revolving Texas Hold ‘em Poker game; and cabaret shows nightly at 9:45 pm. Parco del Celio, Viale del Parco del Celio at Via Celio Vibenna. Pool open, 9 am – 6 pm; Monday...

Ferragosto, August 15th, is  THE holiday in Italy. Even though most people consider it just an excuse to go to the beach, Ferragosto is in fact a religious holiday. The Catholic Church commemorates the “Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary“, that is the real physical elevation of her body into Heaven.

Ferragosto, though, has much more ancient origins. As in the case of most of the other big religious holidays, the Roman Church has replaced ancient pagan holidays with a Catholic “Holy Day of Obligation”, that is a day that commemorate...

I am taking a Masters course and for the life of me I still cannot get over the wretched name “Storia e Cultura delle Tradizioni Gastronomiche” – History and Culture of Gastronomic Traditions. Sounds properly academic and Julia Childs-esque, but it’s that gastro part that disturbs me. Like Colonoscopies and the such.

Nevertheless, I am supposed to be writing my thesis and came across this wonder Amalfitana Alphabet of the Gastronomic delights it boasts.

As a tribute to the place that ignited my fire and where, for the last 10 years, I’ve called home away from home, despite the long bo...

Morocco is like the original hippy colony. Hippies but with thousands of years of tradition and culture and religion.Everything is done in accordance with tradition and culture; slowly, rehearsed daily, without questioning why or how.

This always boggles me, mono-cultures. Having come from a multi-cultural city in the most multi-cultural state in the melting pot of cultures, I never experienced this before: there is one way to do it, and we all say it’s the best way! Italy is like this in many ways: cooking, eating, recipe wars going back centuries which are still being argued right now at a trattoria near you. It&...

A seaside vacation in Puglia? In this sunny, sea-lapped region of Italy holiday makers are simply spoilt for choice. Our journey commences in Northern Puglia from the Gargano, an immense promontory where the sea, sun, and lush Mediterranean vegetation happily co-exist. The hairpin bends typical of the Gargano make the promontory a favo...

Marrakech is the top destination this summer but that doesn’t mean you have to feel it. In an interview with a local, here are the top places not to miss in the red city. Piazza Jama’a El-Fnaa; Kutubiya Mosque; Sa’Didi tomb; Bahia Palace; Medersa Ben Youssef; Majorelle Gardens; The Menara; Berber dancing and music at Derb Chorfa Lakbir. For Riad bookings or private visits please contact Hafid at hafid@magtravel.net...

Four hundred years after the artist’s death, the much-anticipated Caravaggio exhibit will be open at the Scuderie del Quirinale from February 20 through June 13 and if you are in Rome tonight, the museum will be open all night, and for free!

Michelangelo da Merisi, dubbed Caravaggio, ...

Moroccan décor and riads were more or less closed books to designers, writers, artists and gourmets until the country came under French influence in the late 19th century. Anyone interested in Arabic and Middle Eastern culture and artefacts looked instead to Egypt, Turkey or the Lebanon. But just before World War I, Morocco became the ‘in’ place for those in search of fresh ideas, and not just because getting there across the Straits of Gibraltar was a comparatively simple matter.