Ten years ago, I was enjoying overpriced cocktails at trendy bars in San Diego. These days, you can find me sipping 1-euro beers while watching old-timers play card games in the mountains of Italy.

Not everyone dreams of living on Lake Como with superyachts and five‑star hotels in the background. For a lot of people, the best lake towns to live on in Italy are the quieter ones, on smaller lakes ...

Down in the old town of Mussomeli, the party is just getting started. Around 6,000 people are crammed into the narrow streets around the Madonna dei Miracoli church, bodies pressed against bodies, ...