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.

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, ...

Tired of squeezing through crowds in Rome or rushing from museum to museum in Florence? If you’ve done the big Italian cities or simply want a calmer, more romantic escape, it’s time to slow things ...