The aperitivo experience is a major aspect of Italian tradition.

Traditionally, an Italian aperitivo is actually a pre-meal drink taken as an appetizer. Having an Italian aperitivo has become a common ritual where people meet at a bar to partake alcoholic or non-alcoholic beverages with small bites of olives, nuts, cheese, crisps and other similar snacks. In the last years it has slowly replaced the whole dinner process, since many bars in Italy offer, during the aperitivo time, buffet Italian food including pasta, pizza, mozzarellas and may other delights!

Verona, between Lake Garda and Venice, is undeniably one of the most beautiful cities in Italy. Internationally, Verona is recognized as the home to the world’s most famous romance between Romeo and Juliet. Holidays in Verona are a great way to explore different facets of Italy’s artistic, historical, and cultural heritage.

Verona has everything you need for a short break. With so many accommodation and villas options you will not have to worry about where to stay in Verona. The city is actually a UNESCO World Heritage Site besides being the setting of Shakespeare’s famous tragedy.

If you say “Volare” you immediately think of Italy’s most famous worldwide song (whose title “Nel Blu dipinto di Blu” was changed into “Volare” in Dean Martin’s version). It immediately transmits the light heartedness, the fantasy, the irony that are typical of the Italian people and their way of life.

In Chicago, when you say Volare you immediately think of Benny Siddu’s restaurants, that like the mythic 50s song, transport you to the country of the sun, with their delicious regional dishes, their rich Italian wine list (about 350 labels, one of the best in Chicago, topped only by “Benny’s Chop House”, Siddu’s steak house, that contains 2500 labels), their interior design so full of colours, candle sticks, paintings (by famous painter Matt Lamb), give the impression of being in a typical Italian trattoria, simple and elegant at the same time, with the kitchen in plain view, the red brick oven, the Carrara marble bar.