I am just back home from a two-week trip to Italy. While there, I was always on the lookout for traditional music, which I admit is hard to find. (Our guide books didn't mention it at all.) I asked at the hotel desk, and the clerk, though polite, was completely flummoxed.

Then we decided to join a guide for our tour of the Vatican Museum, and it turned out she was a trained singer. We asked her where to find traditional music, and this is what she told us:

Go to a newagent's and buy a magazine called Roma Che (1 euro). Look in the calendar for world, ethnic and international music. We did this and found a wonderful harp concert that very evening. What joy it was to hear beautiful music from Ireland, South America and Italy in a friendly, uncrowded setting.

I didn't ask, but there may be a magazine like that for each major city. So for Mudcatters who are travelling, this is another method for locating that hard-to-find traditional music.