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CDV Italy Cooking Vacations Blog
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  • Culture
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  • Culinary
  • Cooking
  • Let Me Vent
Search
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Michael Kovnick
Author @TravelCDV

Michael Kovnick


Co-Founder of Culture Discovery Vacations. I am a native American from Los Angeles that has been living with one foot in Italy and the other in the US for more than 30 years. I usually write about oddities I see in Italian culture from an American perspective, and the humor I find in it. However, after decades of living in both countries, I often see the reverse as well. That is, where the Italians got it right, and we can certainy learn from them!

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Culture
Culture

My Favorite Culture Discovery Location – Michael


So the CDV crew has all chosen to write about our personal favorite locations, and me… wow. How do I choose? It kinda depends on what I am looking for at any given moment, or which is my favorite for what reason. To start...

  • Michael Kovnick
  • June 23, 2019
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Culture
Culture

My Life in Italy, Part 2: Where are the Walls? and How do I Flush?


So… I left off in Part 1 on my first full day in Italy in 1983. I am at the tip of the boot in Reggio Calabria, suffering severe jet lag, having walked miles and miles for an awful cafeteria meal, and now I am boarding a...

  • Michael Kovnick
  • June 13, 2019
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Culture
Culture

My Life in Italy, Part 1: “The Warm Table”


“The Warm Table” For years, people have asked me to tell the story of how I ended up with my dual US-Italy life. The reality is that it was a series of somewhat unrelated events that all came together to create an...

  • Michael Kovnick
  • May 16, 2019
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Coffee
Coffee

Starbucks digs its claws into Italy, and why that saddens me.


With its massive global expansion, Starbucks has always left Italy alone. After all, how do you open a store in the country you copied your model from?

  • Michael Kovnick
  • May 10, 2019
  • 2
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Things that make me scratch my head
Things that make me scratch my head

The Tuscan Connection to Groundhog Day & Punxsutawney Phil


Groundhog Day in Italy?   Well, not really, but let’s say Punxsutawney Phil may just have a long lost ancestor in Tuscany.   Every year, Phil gets taken out in a bug celebration for what we, in America...

  • Michael Kovnick
  • February 2, 2017
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Culture
Culture

7 Things Americans Can Learn From Italians – My Take


An article recently appeared on HuffPost Travel that went quite viral.  It is a list of 7 things that would make Americans  better off if they would adapt from Italian culture.  The article (Original Linked Here)...

  • Michael Kovnick
  • February 16, 2014
  • 5
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Cooking
Cooking

Olive Garden cooking school in Tuscany?


Updated 02/2014 Olive Garden is one of those places that really sets my blood to boil. Every time I hear the word ‘Hospitaliano’ I begin to cringe and twitch. When I hear them say ‘When you’re here,...

  • Michael Kovnick
  • February 4, 2014
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Culinary
Culinary

Food Marketing Terms That Really Chap My Hide…


Many of my posts here are about the oddities I find living in Italy as an American, but the reverse holds true as well. Having spent so much time in Italy, when I come back to the states, there are things that are normal to...

  • Michael Kovnick
  • April 26, 2013
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Personal
Personal

It’s A Small World After All


In our business, we meet people from all over the world. Small World stories can be expected from time to time. You know, “Hey! That person is my neighbor”, or “We went to the same school”, or “we...

  • Michael Kovnick
  • March 24, 2013
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Culture
Culture

Send Up The White Smoke : The Vatican You Didn’t Know About


Just ten miles from our home base of Soriano bel Cimino is the city of Viterbo, which is practically unknown internationally. However, this city of roughly 65,000 residents holds a place in history that is especially relevant as...

  • Michael Kovnick
  • March 4, 2013
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Random Posts


Cooking How do they get the flavor out of the food in the states?

How do they get the flavor out of the food in the states?

Michael Kovnick / November 5, 2006
Tours My Favorite Culture Discovery Location – Alyssa

My Favorite Culture Discovery Location – Alyssa

Alyssa Saltzman / June 13, 2019
Cooking How to Survive a Long Flight : Health

How to Survive a Long Flight : Health

Alyssa Saltzman / April 30, 2015
language How to: Speak Italian like a Local

How to: Speak Italian like a Local

Alyssa Saltzman / May 26, 2015

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Culture
My Life in Italy, Part 12: “Bury The Mice In The G...
Posted by Michael Kovnick on August 5, 2020

12th part in a series of the story of an American moving to small town Italy in the 1980's, learning the culture and finding a...

Culture
My Life in Italy, Part 11: “Winter is Coming...
Posted by Michael Kovnick on July 17, 2020

If you are just jumping in here, please start with Part 1. It is January 1985 now, and the weather has been in the mid 70’s...

Personal
My Life in Italy, Part 10: “Paola Meets The Megalo...
Posted by Michael Kovnick on June 30, 2020

In Part 10 of the My Life in City series, we are back in Los Angeles. But this time, it is Paola's first time in the United...

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