Past EVENTS

Grazia’s tiramisu demo was amazing! We are so grateful to her for getting up early to teach us how to make authentic Tiramisu! Make sure you download her app 'Cook with Grazia' for this recipe and many more!

More about Grazia: Her career has focused on food. She started writing articles for the Italian magazine ‘Food’ while studying business and economics at the University of Parma in the Emilia-Romagna region. This area is a culinary heaven, named ‘The Food Valley’ because it’s home to delicacies such as Prosciutto di Parma and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. She stayed for 10 wonderful years. Later, she lived in Amsterdam and Milano, where she earned a master’s degree in journalism. Grazia has also worked for websites and has freelanced for food and travel publications, such as, ‘Slow Food.’Grazia moved to Oregon in 2001 and spent the better part of 17 years in Portland. In Portland, she was busy raising three kids, juggling family, work —and getting dinner on the table quickly. Grazia was the founder of, Scuola Italiana di Portland, where she served on the board of directors as president for 11 years.

Grazia feels blessed to have lived in Portland, a city enthusiastic about food. She now lives in Lerici, Italy, a coastal village close to the Cinque Terre. It’s a one-hour drive from Parma and Florence, where she is able to enjoy the authentic Italian flavors that she hopes to share through her app and food blog, ‘Cook with Grazia!’

January 2021

Part-Time Adventure or Full-Time Life in Italy

Our Holiday Event this year was extra special! We got to enjoy beautiful Italian music sung by Pina Di Rosa via Zoom. This will definitely be a highlight of December with Pina singing traditional Neapolitan songs as well as other Italian Christmas favorites.

Here is a link to the recorded presentation: Pina Di Rosa & Tim Uecker in Concert

This exceptional presentation helped us get into the Italian Christmas mood and start putting the tragedies of 2020 behind.

Thanks to Antimo Cimino who moderated this event with four of his friends directly from Italy (all excited to get up at the crack of dawn to join us live!). Igor Scomparin from Venice, Bice Della Piana from Salerno, Daniela Leopizzi from Lecce, and Agata Di Fede from Catania. They shared regional Christmas stories and traditions unique to their areas and gave us a sense of similarities and differences in the Italian Culture.

Antimo Cimino is the founder of the Experiential Travel Company VoomaGo (www.voomago.com) as well as the CEO of Cultural Global Labs (culturalgloballabs.com). These two companies are the perfect reflection of Antimo's passion for Travel, Language, Culture, Food, Experiences, Diversity & Inclusion, Leadership and Wellness.

Here is a link to the recorded presentation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Clnhb_4EWv8

OCTOBER 2020 EVENT

Italy's Many Voices: 50 Shades of Latin

by

Angela Zagerella

Angela presented a history of the Italian language and the complex linguistic landscape of regional languages, aka 'dialects'. Angela is a professor of Italian Studies at Portland State University.

Anita Sanseverino from the East Coast focused on the illustrious history of this once royal kingdom going back to her origins as Parthenope, the Greek city which was the beginning of Naples. She took us through this history, with the various rulers who occupied Naples, and why the unification of Italy might not have been the best thing to happen to the city. And she discussed why Naples should be on everyone's list to visit!

Here is a link to her recorded presentation: Celebrating Naples

For Anita's bio, click here: Anita Sanseverino Bio. Check out her web page at https://www.anitaitaliamoremio.com/

For films, art, music, and famous people resources for Naples click here. NAPLES