Meaningful Travel
In these fraught times, it seems to me that the best thing to do is to immerse yourself in what is most meaningful to you. […]
“Phase Two” and Favetta
“Fase 2” has been announced, and all of Italy was listening. Last night at 8 PM, coinciding with most Italians’ dinner hour, Italy’s prime […]
La Festa della Liberazione
We added a second Italian flag to our windows today. Today is the Festa della Liberazione, marking the liberation of Italy by the Allies. All across […]
“I think it is a magic place”
While selecting photos for our new website (nearly ready to launch !) I came across this essay by Isabel, then aged nearly seven, dictated with […]
Happy 2773th Birthday, Rome !
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR ROME, ON YOUR 2773TH BIRTHDAY ! I love you so : you are the city where my grandparents arrived one hundred years […]
What is Normality ?
The reported number of deaths from coronavirus in Italy rose by 433 on Sunday, 49 less than on Saturday, taking the total number to 23,660. The […]
At Home : Letters from Italy at the Time of Coronavirus. Story Eleven : Spello
Much of what I love to wear is made by Paola. Paola is a transplanted Roman who moved to Spello in Umbria in 1996, and […]
Lockdown Pasquetta
Pasquetta is my favorite holiday of the year, and this is because I was born, grew up in and have lived most of my life […]
Easter Egg Hunt in Rome
In honor of a beloved family tradition, we present a blog of several years ago. Buona Pasqua ! Easter is not Easter without an […]
Good Friday in Rome in Times of Coronavirus
Good Friday in Italy is the one day of the year when the bells do not ring. This is odd, even if you are not […]
Waiting — or not — for Easter in Coronavirus Italy
I am not a Catholic, but in the past my own Roman Easter eve tradition has been to attend the mass at Sant’Anselmo, on the Aventino […]
At Home : Letters from Italy at the Time of Coronavirus. Story Ten : Naples (and the Presepio)
My friend Alberto is a gifted presepio artist who lives in the community of Barra in Naples. Alberto’s presepio, or creche figures, are remarkable 12 centimeter (3.75 […]
At Home : Letters from Italy at the Time of Coronavirus. Story Nine : Sicily
Silvia, owner with her husband of Mandranova, a Sicilian agriturismo inn our clients love, is as frank as ever : “The period we are living […]
Finding Solace in Pictures
In these days I have found comfort in reviewing photographs taken by my grandparents, and of my grandparents, from 100 years ago when they […]
Palm Sunday
Much of Italy awakened this morning to the sound of church bells, easier to hear than usual because in Italy there is essentially no traffic. […]
At Home : Letters from Italy at the Time of Coronavirus. Story Eight : Treviso.
Giorgia in Treviso is an outstanding cook. The best holiday meal I ever had was in her home when she lived in Rome : tiny […]
A Little Bit of Paradise
“La casa di campagna dei miei nonni materni, in questi giorni la sto pulendo e mettendo a posto.“ “My maternal grandparents’ house, during these lockdown […]
Pesce d’Aprile
Pesce D’Aprile ! “April Fish” ! April Fools ! One of my earliest childhood memories is when I was three, and the stocky doorman of our […]