August 15, 2015
My birthday is Ferragosto, August 15 — Italy’s biggest summer holiday. The country practically shuts down, and everyone heads to the beach, the mountains, or the countryside. I think of what I might be eating today, were I sitting in the rolling hills of Tuscany, for example. The meal would…
August 7, 2015
“Tourists don’t know where they’ve been; travelers don’t know where they’re going.” Paul Theroux I’m fascinated by Italian towns that are under the radar of most tourists. Mantova (English: Mantua) is one such place. This is “Italy’s Sleeping Beauty City” – in Italian, “la bella addormentata”. Mantova is a city…
July 23, 2015
Why not grab the fridge, too? After years and years, the last-minute struggle of sitting on my suitcase and jamming that extra toothbrush in has become second nature to me. We all strive to pack “light and right”, but in the end very few have the ability to do it….
July 10, 2015
For six years my husband and I made our home only an hour from the border, and two hours from the capital, of Slovenia. This tiny country offers gently rolling hills and lush valleys, tucked between Austria to the north, Croatia to the south and Italy to the west. Barely…
July 1, 2015
Continuing on the theme of Italian wine from two weeks ago, I’ve been reminiscing about a brief stay on Lake Maggiore a few years back when I discovered some interesting wines. Gattinara and to a lesser extent Ghemme, products of the fickle Nebbiolo grape grown in the relatively chilly environment…
June 15, 2015
Just back from western Tuscany, where I had the chance once again to taste some delicious, if lesser known, Italian white wines. The hardest to find here in the US is Vermentino, known in France as “rolle”. The grape is widely planted in Italy’s Piedmont region, where it’s known as…
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