United States
I'm a freelance journalist from a small town in rural Virginia. When I was 18, I started traveling internationally and developed an interest in food and culture. My other interests include pop culture, social justice, and music. I have worked as a freelance writer since 2017. I have written for local publications in Virginia and North Carolina, as well as international publications based in Italy. In 2022, I graduated from The American University of Rome with a degree in English Writing, Literature, and Publishing.
For business inquiries, contact me at: margaretkovick@gmail.com.
By Margaret Kovick When you hold an Appalachia Press card in your hands, you know you're holding something special. The paper, made of Italian cotton, is thick and strong but soft to the touch. The designs, often minimalistically featured against the raw paper background, are aesthetically vintage but full of attitude.
Ah, the Trevi Fountain. It's hard to think of Rome without its glorious stone facade coming to mind. It's an icon of Roman history and pop culture through the likes of Federico Fellini's La Dolce Vita, the 2003 Lizzie McGuire Movie, and the 2016 Fendi fashion show that featured the fountain as a backdrop.
Don't order a cappuccino after 11 a.m. Yes, it's normal to drink your coffee standing at the bar. Don't ask for a to-go cup. If you order a latte, prepare to be confused. Anyone visiting Italy for the first time has likely heard one of these lines. In Italy, coffee culture is sacred.
Black History Month Florence is an initiative dedicated to celebrating Blackness and Black history. Its work focuses on artistic and academic creation, curation, and promotion in Florence, across Italy, and someday, throughout Europe. Every February, the month recognized internationally as Black History Month, BHMF puts together a digital program showcasing different exhibitions and events centered on African and African Diasporic culture and history.
A man of many names: L'Avvocato, Prince of Italy, King of Italy, and the Rake of the Riviera, Agnelli was not only a symbol of economic growth and Italian excellence but of an unwavering reckless passion for life. On his 100th birthday, Agnelli remains a defining figure in Italian history.
Father's Day is celebrated differently around the world, but Italy might take the cake on how to make the day the sweetest for dads. From custom-made cards and sentimental gifts to a signature desert dedicated to Saint Joseph (the first "earthly" father figure), Father's Day in Italy is full of religious and cultural traditions.
Venice is a city of mystery and majesty. It is the floating city, the Queen of the Adriatic, the city of mirrors, and the city of masks. One can't help but wonder how it is possible for such a place to exist.
In early November 2019, Louis Pisano, a Milan-based Black social media influencer and writer, went on an Instagram rant condemning the television show Tale e Quale. Tale e Quale is a televised singing competition that airs on RAI 1, Italy's national broadcast channel.
It's no secret that the pandemic threw a massive wrench into the travel industry--for better and for worse. While limiting and restricting international travel has been a means of trying to control the spread of covid-19, the tourism industry, and the countless cities and countries it supports, have suffered.
Don Pasquale, conjoined with the MAALOT Roma hotel , is nestled unassumingly along Via delle Mur atte. Just a two-minute walk from the Trevi Fountain, it is located in the former house of the 19th-century Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti.
More than 5 million Americans visit Italy every year, making it one of the most popular destinations for American tourists. One of the most popular reasons for traveling to Italy is to experience the world-renowned Italian cuisine, including classic pastas and pizzas.
The former stomping grounds of Roman elites, the area is known simply as the "Castelli Romani" for the many Roman villas scattered throughout the region's small towns. Built atop a volcano crater, the Castelli Romani are nestled around the Colli Albani, Alban hills, and Lakes Albano and Nemi.
Despite growing case numbers, the population of the country is caught in a tug of war between reopening the economy and protecting at-risk individuals from infection. How did we get here? On 21 Jan., an American man in Washington State tested positive for the novel coronavirus after returning from a trip to Wuhan, China.
Lago di Nemi in Italian, Lake Nemi is 33 metres deep and nestled among the Colli Albani, the Alban Hills. Two small towns hug the lake, Genzano and Nemi. The name "Nemi" comes from the Latin Nemus Aricinum, meaning "Grove of Ariccia," referring to the nearby town of Ariccia.
After months of lockdown, almost 250 thousand cases of coronavirus, and tens of thousands of deaths, Italy has started reopening its borders, signaling its confidence in the future. Though the country has suffered, strict efforts to prevent the spread of the virus and protect the population have proven to be successful.
The Eternal City is home to dozens of neighborhoods with their own distinct personalities and characteristics. As it turns out--there are many ways to live like a Roman. This list will help you get to know some of Rome's most popular neighborhoods and decide which Roman way of life is best for you.
Sorrento is a small town with a population of 16,000, but its residents are warm, welcoming, and passionate about their culture. A short train ride from Naples and Pompeii, Sorrento is a picturesque escape from busy city life.
The request was based on the fact Montanelli, a figurehead of Italian journalism, bought a 12-year-old Eritrean girl and made her his wife while he was serving in the Second Italo-Ethiopian War in 1936. The Sentinelli's request was made in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement, and comes as several other statues of controversial figures are removed in the US and UK.
First time visitors in Italy will immediately notice hole-in-the-wall shops and corner stores marked by big, blue or black "T" signs. It stand for Tabaccheria (Tabacco shop). To tourists, tabaccherie are a mysterious phenomenon. For Americans, they seem like gas stations without the gas. For Scandinavians, a compact corner of a 7-11 sans the sandwich bar.
Ponza is a popular summer vacation destination for Italians, especially Romans and Neapolitans, as Rome and Naples are only a short drive and ferry ride away. Known by some as "Capri without the tourists," Ponza is a worthy vacation destination for travelers who want to experience summer the Italian way, basking in the beauty of the Mediterranian.
With its trio of green, white, and red splashed across Italian restaurant signs all over the world and printed on T-shirts in tourist kiosks across the country, the Italian flag is an icon of Italy and Italian culture. But stripes of greed, white, and red weren't always synonymous with Italy...
"I don't think we should be here," Charlie says, glancing nervously at the monstrous brick buildings looming in front of us. Their shadows, cast by the weak yellow light of flickering street lamps, span across the cobblestone footpaths in front of us. I understand his hesitation.
There was no logical reason to go to Naples. I had never heard of the city. But I had stumbled upon a job opportunity to work at a hostel there, and, as any 18 year old would, I accepted. When I first stepped foot on Via Toledo, after a taxi ride straight out of fast-and-furious, I was disoriented.
Though they are often glamourised by movies and entertainment, their existence impacts Italy on a political, economic, and social level, and their effects vary from region to region. Though the term "mafia" is now widely used to describe organized crime groups in Italy, it originally referred to someone who was suspicious of authority.
Rome is known as being a sanctuary city for stray cats, but the true extent of Rome's love for animals has been evident in Rome's legislation since 2005. While Italy has national laws for animal rights and enforces European legal standards of animal welfare, each region in the country is responsible for writing its own legislation for pets.
Floyd died in police custody in Minneapolis after now ex-Officer Derek Chauvin held his knee on Floyd's neck for 8 minutes. A video of the incident went viral, immediately sparking protests and riots in Minnesota. As of June 1, protests calling attention to police brutality and systemic racism have spread across more than 140 American cities.
On 28 May, Black Lives Matter protesters gathered outside of the American Consulate in Milan in response to the recent death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old African-American man who was killed by a member of the American police force on 25 May in Minneapolis.
Tourists in the Eternal City may be taken aback by a recent addition to the ancient cityscape: legal marijuana shops. They're hard to miss, with storefronts plastered with bright green marijuana-leaf decals and the occasional flashing "LEGAL" sign. Despite appearances, Rome is no Amsterdam.
As Italy attempts to live with the virus during phase two of lockdown, many businesses are still struggling to make sense of the future. While government loans and assistance can take months to arrive, the mafia is seizing the opportunity to infiltrate businesses in exchange for immediate, liquid funds.
However, many tourists who visit Naples leave without really getting to know the city. Often used as a layover city for trips to Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast, Naples can be overwhelming for first-time visitors who are not prepared for its loud, lively atmosphere.
Located under the shadow of Mt. Vesuvius, only a few kilometers north of the picturesque Amalfi Coast and a short train ride away from the historic sites of Pompeii and Herculaneum, Naples is one Italian city that falls off the beaten tourist path for many foreigners.
Her style of leadership can be summed up by her two nicknames: "The Iron Chancellor" and "Mutti" (Mummy). Though it is difficult to remember a time when Merkel was not the face of German politics, her rise to the top was not always set in stone.
Where the majority of Americans want to follow social-distancing mandates for the greater good, a vocal minority believes lockdown measures impede civil rights. The U.S. has the highest number of covid-19 cases in the world, with 852,703 cases and 47,750 deaths.
In late February, as the Covid-19 crisis was beginning to take a heavy toll on Italy, Germany stood out as the country with the second-largest coronavirus outbreak in Europe. As Germany's infection cases rose steadily--peculiarly--the death toll did not. Over the course of the Covid-19 crisis, Germany has functioned as a guinea pig for prevention practices and come out on top.
On March 15, the Norwegian University of Science and Technology posted on their official Facebook page, to encourage students studying abroad to go back to Norway, if they were "staying in a country with poorly developed health services and infrastructure and/or collective infrastructure, such as the U.S."
From Albania to Venezuela, here is a list of the countries that are contributing to Italy's fight against the coronavirus. On March 25, a group of 30 Albanian doctors and nurses arrived in Bergamo to offer their assistance in the city's overrun hospitals for the next month.
On Feb. 29, the French Government banned gatherings of 5,000 people or more in an effort to curb the spread of the coronavirus. The ban, instituted by French Health Minister Olivier Véran, follows President Macron's wish of minimising the spread of the virus at all costs.
In the midst of the UK's transition out of the EU, Gibraltar, a UK territory on the southern coast of Spain, is lobbying for open borders. With a population of only 32,000 and close economic ties with surrounding Spanish cities, Gibraltar will face serious complications if the Gibraltar-Spain border closes following Brexit.
The original bridge, called Ponte Morandi after its architect, collapsed during a rainstorm on 14 Aug. 2018, causing 43 fatalities. The new bridge, designed by Renzo Piano, is already setting a new high standard for safe and transparent infrastructure in Italy.
The Irish general election on 8 February resulted in a near three-way tie between Sinn Féin, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. Sinn Féin, long considered a secondary political party, surged at the polls --threatening the two-party system Ireland has functioned under for the last century.
P.za Vittorio Emanuele II On sunny days, Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II, Esquilino's biggest and most central piazza, is the perfect spot for a picnic and don't miss the pop-up gelato shop outside the entrance opposite the Vittorio Emanuele metro stop.
According to MilanToday, at 12:50 p.m., two women, thought to be around 30 years old, boarded the ATM line 95 bus. They seemed to be drunk, and one of them was carrying a bottle of Amaro Montenegro. They sat down next to each other in seats reserved for disabled passengers.
Black History Month is recognized in many countries worldwide, but until recently, it was not widely observed in Italy. It celebrates the importance of black individuals, African and African-diasporic cultures, and civil rights events. This year, more Italian cities are hosting Black History Month events than ever before.