Visiting Rome during the Jubilee Oh Rome! my country! city of the soul! Lord Byron My love for Rome knows no bounds but visiting it, and Italy, are going to be tricky this year. I just returned from a whirlwind day and a half trip and put together some thoughts
I have been a list maker since I was a child and have dutifully written down my New Year’s resolutions, or buoni propositi per l’anno nuovo as we say in Italian, for as long as I can recall. When drawing up these lists, I am always extremely hard on myself,
The arrival of the holiday season has inspired me to put together a shopping and gift giving guide that I hope will prove useful to you all year round. Read on for my top picks for Clothing, Jewelry & Accessories, Kids & Family, Food & Wine, Learning, Experiences, Escapes, Self and
Let the games begin After we had finished shooting our day one intros, we ate dinner at a nearby restaurant with members of the production team and crew and spent the night at Rosso del Chianti, Marina Cecchini’s charming b&b in the heart of Panzano. I am an early riser
A rose by any other name I have always hated my first name, positively loathed it. Growing up in the 80s, all I wanted to be was a Melissa, a Jennifer, or a Lisa (like my sister). I wanted to be able to buy personalized useless trinkets and souvenirs with
Road to nowhere The 40-minute drive to Panzano in Chianti soothed my worries and agitation like a mystical balm. As the urban chaos gave way to the soft green hills of the Chianti, I was one of very few drivers on the road. I felt the tension leave my body,
Casting Call This is the first in a series of entries I’ll be writing about my recent experience being cast as a local expert in a new reality tv show that spotlights four of Italy’s most beautiful and beloved locales: Taormina, Lago di Garda, Napoli and the Chianti (my episode),
A typical Italian high schooler’s stack of books. Dictionaries not pictured. Back to School, il rientro/ritorno a scuola First things first, back to school happens later here in Italy than in the majority of US States. While I write this, Florence is fairly empty, there is little traffic, and
Road Trip! “Expatriates voluntarily live in an alien country, usually for personal or social reasons. Hemingway and Fitzgerald were not forced to live in France. Expatriates may share in the solitude and estrangement of exile, but they do not suffer under its rigid proscriptions.” Edward W. Said, Reflections on Exile I
Italian tennis champion, Jasmine Paolini, celebrates a recent victory Pickleball fans, do not despair! As I told a few pickleball enthusiasts in an online discussion group who were convinced that the sport had not yet made its way across the Atlantic, if you are planning on coming to Italy, you
