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The Discovery CompassThe Discovery Compass

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Culture & Lifestyle

My Life in Italy, Part 16: Two Weddings and a Funeral


What do The Nazis, Audrey Hepburn, Ronald & Nancy Reagan, Mikhail Gorbachev, Pope John Paul II, Margaret Thatcher, The Chernobyl meltdown and Mother Teresa all have in common? I knew you would ask! As always, if you are just jumping in, this will make a lot more sense if you start at the beginning of the series....

  • Michael Kovnick
  • September 2, 2026
  • 0
Culture & Lifestyle

My Life in Italy, Part 15: Race Against the Clock


Every time I think about a wedding, Wallace Shawn shows up in my head lisping about “mawwiage” and “twue wuv.” Sorry, can’t help it! It ruined weddings for me forever… in the best possible way. As with every post in this series, if you’re jumping in here, it’s like...

  • Michael Kovnick
  • August 29, 2026
  • 3
Small Group Travel

Small Group Tours in Croatia: 8 Checks Before You Book


Full disclosure before you read a word of this: I run one of the companies that offers small group tours in Croatia. So treat what follows as a method, not a recommendation, and run it on us too. Our own numbers are in here wherever they apply, including the place where our price comes in higher than every operator I...

  • Michael Kovnick
  • August 19, 2026
  • 0
Personal

My Life in Italy, Part 14: He Speaks! & Mirror in the Bathroom


As with every post in this series, if you are jumping in here, it is like jumping into the middle of a movie. Please start with Part 1, or this will make absolutely no sense. Yikes, it has been a long time since I wrote the last part of this series! This part is going to cover a fair amount of ground because by...

  • Michael Kovnick
  • August 17, 2026
  • 4
Small Group Travel

Best Small Group Tour in Italy: 10 Checks Before You Book


Full disclosure before you read a word of this: I run one of these companies. So treat what follows as a method rather than a recommendation, and run it on us too. I have put our own numbers in wherever they are relevant, including the two places we come off worse. The useful thing I have learned after 20 years of...

  • Michael Kovnick
  • August 16, 2026
  • 0
Culture & Lifestyle

Why There’s No Little America in Italy: 6 Reasons, and Only One of Them Is Romantic


I first came to Italy in 1983 and moved here in 1985. Nineteen years old, straight out of The Valley. There was no Facebook group. No welcome committee. No English-speaking realtor with a golf tan and a business card. Nobody handed me a list of “the American bars.” I found an apartment because a a friend...

  • Michael Kovnick
  • August 11, 2026
  • 0
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Culture
Culture

Basic Guide to Pronouncing Foods in Italian


    Learning a new language is terrifying. All the pronunciation rules you know and love in English are entirely irrelevant in this new language, its like being in primary school all over again. Right now Sam and I are...

  • Alyssa Saltzman
  • June 11, 2015
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Culture
Culture

Helpful Italian Words and Phrases


I know that when you are learning a new language, it can be harder than just having the words in front of you, its also about how in heavens name you’re supposed to be able to pronounce them! There are a lot of guides, but...

  • Alyssa Saltzman
  • June 3, 2015
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Culture
Culture

How to: Speak Italian like a Local


Before traveling any place that speaks a different language, you should definitely take the time to learn some key words and phrases to help fit in and know what is going on. Although finding some english speakers isn’t too...

  • Alyssa Saltzman
  • May 26, 2015
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Culture
Culture

How to Survive a Long Flight : Entertainment


Sometimes you get lucky and your flight will offer unlimited free movies of your choice on your in – seat entertainment, and sometimes your plane has nothing but the back of someone’s seat for you to look at. There are a few...

  • Alyssa Saltzman
  • May 19, 2015
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Culture
Culture

How to Survive a Long Flight : Health


Planes are incubators for sicknesses. And what really stinks is saving up your money, traveling across the world and getting to your destination just to spend the whole time sick in a hotel room.   Here are my favorite tips...

  • Alyssa Saltzman
  • April 30, 2015
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Culture
Culture

How To Survive a Long Flight : Sleeping


I started out wanting to make one big post about every tip I have for How To Survive a Long Flight, and then it got so long I realized I needed to break it up into more manageable posts, so I will post this one first because it’s...

  • Alyssa Saltzman
  • April 24, 2015
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Culture
Culture

Easter In Italy- The Holy Week


Easter in Italy It may be hard to believe just how important Easter is in Italy, here in the US, its not nearly as big. Easter in Italy is arguably the most important holiday after Christmas. Processions and Services...

  • Alyssa Saltzman
  • April 6, 2015
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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
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Culture
Culture

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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Culture
Culture

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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Culture Discovery Vacations
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Recent Comments


  • My Life in Italy, Part 14: He Speaks! & Mirror in the Bathroom - The Discovery Compass on My Life in Italy, Part 15: Race Against the Clock
  • My Life in Italy, Part 16: Two Weddings and a Funeral - The Discovery Compass on My Life in Italy, Part 15: Race Against the Clock
  • My Life in Italy, Part 15: Race Against the Clock - The Discovery Compass on My Life in Italy, Part 2: Where are the Walls? and How do I Flush?
  • My Life in Italy, Part 16: Two Weddings and a Funeral - The Discovery Compass on My Life in Italy, Part 1: “The Warm Table”
  • Robbie Huddleston on My Life in Italy, Part 15: Race Against the Clock

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