--- title: Author Crystal King's Blog - Tasting Life Twice | Viva Italia! description: Viva Italia! | Author Crystal King muses on life, history, writing and food. --- # Tasting Life Twice Author Crystal King muses on life, history, writing and food. Browse by All Blog Books italy ancient rome Italian History Recipe Writing When in Rome food Feast of Sorrow fun historical fiction Bartolomeo Scappi Viva Italia! The Chef's Secret reading history Apicius Italian Language Renaissance 52 books Boston Cinquecento Publishing italian recipes grub street renaissance recipe roman video Ancient Roman Food Colosseum Culinary Delights books set in italy renaissance italy Ancient history YouTube authors cooking fiction music 52 books in a year Author Book Christmas Language Learning Maine Poetry Pope Roman Forum Scappi The Renaissance Venice Writer Writers Resources fantasy learning Italian travel writers Anne Rice Art Book Clubs Christmas carol Christopher Castellani Circus Maximus Florence Gillian Flynn Greek Harry Potter Honey Italiano Italo Calvino Latin Literary agent Marcus Aurelius Marcus Gavius Apicius Muse and the Marketplace Pantheon Papal conclave Pope Benedict XVI Research Roman Empire Sardinia Sistine Chapel Turkey Ursula K- Le Guin Vestal Virgin Wine ancient recipes architecture baking beauty blogging book recommendation book review christmas gift cibo cookies crystal king gelato giveaway holiday ice cream interview italian cooking literary literature middle ages new year's resolution rejection renaissance Italian food recipe roma rome sci-fi shopping social media special event summer television xmas 100 favorite books 1950s 1960s 1970s 2016 2017 320 AD 3D Achilles Aelia Agostino Chigi Alice Alina Reyes All This Talk of Love Amanda Palmer Amaryah Orenstein Anais Nin Ancient Greece Ancient Roman architecture Andrea Bocelli Anita Shreve Anjali Mitter Duva Anne Carson Anne Rampling Antonio Latini Arch of Constantine Arts Artusi Astrology Augustus Author Life BBC BDSM Baldassare Peruzzi Baroque Bell-ringer Bells Benvenuto Cellini Black tea BlogHer Bloggers Bologna Boodles Byki Cake Catholic Church Cellini Charles Dicken Chuck Palahniuk Clark Frasier Colleen McCullough Cologne Colum McCann Concord Cook Cookbook Corsica Cosimo de Medici Critical & Creative Thinking Dante Dante Alighieri David Bowie David Wishart De Re Coquinaria Doge's Palace Dormouse Durham Cathedral E-L- James Earth Egypt Eleonora Galasso Emily Browning England English language Ernest Hemingway Erotic literature Etsy Faint Promise of Rain Fifty Shades of Grey Fight Club Flamingo tongue snail Forum Forvo France Francesa Michielin GO Literary George Orwell Germany Gone Girl Gone Girl (novel) Google Translate Got Milk Grasso Grub Grub Street Muse Gunter Grass Hairstyle Harvard Harvard University Henry David Thoreau Henry VII of England Hunger Games Independence Day International Space Station Isabella Dalla Ragione Italian American Italian food J-R-R- Tolkien James Wood Jane Austen Janet Fitch Julius III July Justin Rowe Karl Lagerfeld Katie Caldesi Kennebunkport Maine Kessler Twins Keurig Kindle Deal Kit Harington Kurt Vonnegut L'Amore Esiste La Cucina Leicester Leonardo Da Vinci Linguistics Livia Lucca ## Posts about Viva Italia!: ![An Italian Roundup for September](https://blog.crystalking.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/img-11.jpg) [amatrice](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/amatrice) [italy](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/italy) [Katie Caldesi](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/katie-caldesi) [Viva Italia!](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/viva-italia) [cookbooks](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/cookbooks) [earthquake](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/earthquake) [Eleonora Galasso](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/eleonora-galasso) [food](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/food) [fun](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/fun) [Isabella Dalla Ragione](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/isabella-dalla-ragione) [Trajan's Market](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/trajans-market) [Via Dei Coronari](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/via-dei-coronari) I'm a voracious consumer of information, especially about *il **mio* *posto* *preferito** sulla terra *(my favorite place on earth), Italia. Why not share all those fun tidbits with my readers? I'm going to start doing these roundups more often. We can dream about *la **bella** vita* together.  ![Hidden Rome - Villa Medici](https://blog.crystalking.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/IMG_1930.jpg) [architecture](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/architecture) [Medici](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/medici) [Spanish Steps](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/spanish-steps) [Villa Medici](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/villa-medici) [Viva Italia!](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/viva-italia) [Blog](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/blog) [Cinquecento](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/cinquecento) [Italian History](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/italian-history) [Renaissance](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/renaissance) [When in Rome](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/when-in-rome) ![Buon Natale!](https://blog.crystalking.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/img-69.jpg) [Andrea Bocelli](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/andrea-bocelli) [italian](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/italian) [italy](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/italy) [music](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/music) [Natale](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/natale) [Viva Italia!](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/viva-italia) [Blog](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/blog) [boun natale](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/boun-natale) [buone feste](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/buone-feste) [Christmas](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/christmas) [Christmas carol](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/christmas-carol) [fun](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/fun) [merry christmas](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/merry-christmas) [video](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/video) [xmas](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/xmas) One of the most well-known Italian Christmas carols outside of the US is *Caro Gesu Bambino* which means "Dear Baby Jesus." It's a newer carol, dating to about 1960 and one of the earliest American-known singers to cover it was Frankie Avalon. The [lyrics are here ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caro_Ges%C3%B9_Bambino) (Italian and English) if you are interested, and below, Italian treasure Andrea Bocelli does a beautiful version of the song. Buon Natale my friends! And Buone Feste to those of you who are celebrating other holidays. I wish the best for you and yours this season.  ![The Fabulous Kessler Twins](https://blog.crystalking.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/Alberto_Lupo_with_Kessler_Twins.jpg) [1950s](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/1950s) [awesome](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/awesome) [italy](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/italy) [Kessler Twins](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/kessler-twins) [music](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/music) [musica](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/musica) [Viva Italia!](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/viva-italia) [1960s](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/1960s) [1970s](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/1970s) [Blog](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/blog) [dance](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/dance) [Germany](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/germany) [spetacolo](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/spetacolo) I was watching the Italian station [RAI Interational](http://www.raitalia.it/) the other day and one of the things that I love about the station is that they have little segments with snippets from variety and music shows over the last 40 years or so. It's a fascinating look at the wacky, beautiful, funny and talented side of Italian performers. One of the things they showed last night was a bit from a show that the [Kessler Twins](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kessler_Twins) did. The Kesslers hail from Munich and were well known in Europe back in the day, particularly in Germany and Italy. Here's a sample of their awesomeness:  [italy](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/italy) [travel](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/travel) [Venice](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/venice) [Viva Italia!](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/viva-italia) [Blog](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/blog) [Colosseum](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/colosseum) [Doge's Palace](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/doges-palace) [drone](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/drone) [video](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/video) [When in Rome](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/when-in-rome) I'm not entirely sure what I think about drone technology. It has incredible possibilities and on the flip side, terrifying possibilities. On the incredible side of things, I love that you can be an armchair traveler and have a birdseye view of beautiful places in the world. One of my favorite videos of this sort is this wonderful view of Rome by drone. It makes me feel desperate to be there again, walking the streets where my novel's characters once walked.  httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTw-kvXS9Sk ![Rome Aerial Views Are Breathtaking](https://blog.crystalking.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/157404246_80_80.jpg) [ancient rome](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/ancient-rome) [italia](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/italia) [italy](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/italy) [Viva Italia!](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/viva-italia) [aerial view](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/aerial-view) [Blog](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/blog) [Colosseum](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/colosseum) [roma](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/roma) [When in Rome](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/when-in-rome) ![Dante and Roberto Benigni - Tutto Dante](https://blog.crystalking.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/florben.jpg) [Italian Language](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/italian-language) [Viva Italia!](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/viva-italia) [Blog](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/blog) As someone learning Italian, I feel especially fortunate that I live in a city that lets me pick up at least one Italian channel on cable. In this case it's [RAI](http://www.rai.it), but not the channels you would see in Italy. Instead it's a sanitized, washed out version for Italian audiences, mostly consisting of Italian game shows, soap operas,* calcio* (soccer/football depending on where you live), funny variety music shows and a smattering of news. Every once in awhile there is a gem, though, like the show Il Provo Del Cuoco, which is a cooking/cook-off show. ![Adorable Italian Ad: Armando's Dream](https://blog.crystalking.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/ArmandoDream.jpg) [advertising](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/advertising) [italy](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/italy) [Viva Italia!](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/viva-italia) [amando's dream](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/amandos-dream) [Blog](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/blog) [cibo](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/cibo) [food](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/food) [fun](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/fun) [pasta](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/pasta) [Short film](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/short-film) [When in Rome](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/when-in-rome) I stumbled across this fantastic advertisement for [Grano Armando](http://www.granoarmando.it/en/) pasta and I had to share. It's an adorable, beautiful mini-film of sorts, about a young Italian boy with a special dream. The cinematography is wonderful and I love the characters in the film. I think it does the trick--if I saw Grano Armando pasta, I think I'd be pretty inclined to think about buying it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfLzvxnazsA ![White Smoke and a New Pope](https://blog.crystalking.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/creationman.jpg) [Pope Benedict XVI](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/pope-benedict-xvi) [Vatican City](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/vatican-city) [Viva Italia!](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/viva-italia) [Blog](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/blog) [Pabili](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/pabili) [Papal conclave](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/papal-conclave) [Pope](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/pope) [Pope Francesco](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/pope-francesco) [Pope Francis](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/pope-francis) [Pope Francis I](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/pope-francis-i) [Sistine Chapel](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/sistine-chapel) [Vatican Museums](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/vatican-museums) [When in Rome](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/when-in-rome) Unless you've been living under a rock, they chose a new [Pope](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope) yesterday, Pope Francis I.  I watched this particular conclave with interest, not because I'm Catholic, but because the book I'm currently writing takes place in [Renaissance Italy](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_Renaissance), about a cook who was responsible for feeding several conclaves that had to choose a Pope.  I wrote more about that in a [previous blog post](https://blog.crystalking.com/crystal-king/blog/2013/03/01/the-renaissance-papal-conclave-what-did-they-eat). ![Italy from Space](https://blog.crystalking.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/italyspacelong.jpg) [italy](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/italy) [Mediterranean Sea](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/mediterranean-sea) [NASA](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/nasa) [Sicily](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/sicily) [Viva Italia!](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/viva-italia) [Blog](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/blog) [Corsica](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/corsica) [Earth](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/earth) [International Space Station](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/international-space-station) [Sardinia](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/sardinia) [Space](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/space) Magnifico!!  A shot of Italy from space, [courtesy of NASA](http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_2349.html), taken by one of the "Expedition's 32 crew members aboard the International Space Station flying approximately 240 miles above the Mediterranean Sea on Aug. 18, 2012." ![Italia in Primavera](https://blog.crystalking.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/gelato.jpg) [firenze](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/firenze) [italy](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/italy) [la musica](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/la-musica) [Lucca](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/lucca) [travel](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/travel) [Vanessa Peters](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/vanessa-peters) [Vatican museum](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/vatican-museum) [Venice](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/venice) [Viva Italia!](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/viva-italia) [Blog](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/blog) [Bologna](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/bologna) [Florence](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/florence) [primavera](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/primavera) [roma](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/roma) [spring](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/spring) [When in Rome](https://blog.crystalking.com/tag/when-in-rome) The planning has begun! For our tenth anniversary (and for research!!), my husband and I have decided that Italy is definitely in our future for a week or so in the spring. We'll spend some time in Rome for sure, because it is where our heart of hearts reside, but [Florence](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence) is also on the agenda, with perhaps a stint in [Siena](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siena) for a night. ![](https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=1481231558851356&ev=PageView&noscript=1)