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At Creative Edge, we love learning about really unique and interesting cultural traditions- and trust us, there are some very unusual ones-… like the small town in Southern Italy that dresses up real [dead] chickens in little outfits with politically-satirical speech bubbles (yes, this is a real thing- google “Sagra del Pollo Castellana Grotte”). Coming from the same region (and in fact, the same town) is La Notte de I Fanòve, celebrated the night of January 11 in Castellana

I’m currently living in Florence on a constant lookout for off-the-beaten-path Italian experiences. But like, experiences experiences. The kind that you can’t wait to tell people about but when you do, you quickly realize it’s no use– they weren’t there and they can’t fully understand the level of raw beauty you’re trying to convey. On a recent day trip to a village called Anghiari, I fell upon one of those experiences. It was really more like falling upon one of those peop

I want to tell you about sitting down to a plate of donkey with locals in Mantova last night. You read that right, donkey. ​​ It was my last night in Mantova, a town known for its majestic governmental palaces from the Renaissance, and I wanted to take myself out for a glass of wine to soak in the local aperitivo culture. I chose a bar that was intimate and lively, with well-dressed people standing in small groups around the bar and flowing to the tables outside (despite the

I am currently on my very first unplanned solo-trip. And I have to say, it is not all rainbows as so many articles and fellow travelers had led me to think. For one thing, I hadn’t done any research (since when does a travel planner have time to plan her own trip?) and came to find out that lodging in the areas I had in mind was way out of my budget. I’m spending a lot of time just trying to figure out where I’ll sleep next and how to get there instead of enjoying where I am

How to pack for a trip is the most stressful part of travel for some people. Having done a lot of 3-month long trips overseas, I’ve learned a thing or two about organizing your suitcase for stress-free travel. Leave that cute puppy out of your suitcase for example, no matter how badly you want to sneak him to Italy with you! But on a more practical note, I wanted to share the routine I’ve refined over the years that makes for stress-free travel. We all want that, right?! 1.