Despite slacking a bit on my ‘locals i love’ series, interviewing cool people I meet around Florence (and Italy) – I am happy to introduce you to my latest interview – Elena Angeli whom I met via the Yelp community in Florence. A sweeter person you could not meet, she always has a smile on …
I know things have been a bit quiet of here but I call it the fault of colder weather. While yes, technically I should be holed up at home tapping away my computer while sipping mug after mug of hot tea. Ps. Hot tea & coffee is my Florentine version of a ‘heater’. Houses are …
You know what time it is.. basically its the time when I put on my writing hat and find the coolest events around Florence & Tuscany for the month of December, a beautiful time to be in town. I have been snapping photos of the Christmas lights set up around the city and Florence definitely …
While I honestly can’t remember the last time I actually spent Thanksgiving with my family, tis the life of a maybe-forever expat, I do however still value the holiday – or rather any day that prompts you to reflect on the things you should be grateful for. Personally, I truly feel thankful to have so …
While I wouldn’t consider myself a person that constantly craves sweets, when I do – it’s an itch that pretty much is mandatory to scratch. Luckily, living in Italy has provided a plethora of ‘sweet escapes’ to indulge in like tiramisu, panna cotta, various torte and much more. Thank god I live on the third …
A Florentine winter – while this year the cold has creeped in a lot slower than normal, personally I officially class the first day of ‘inverno’ as the day I finally turn on the riscaldamento (heater) in my house. If you don’t already know, gas & electricity are very pricey in Italy and this is …
You might be wondering why I am talking about Bavarian food living in the gastronomic heaven that is Florence, Italy. Of course, when you live here and enjoy the fruits of the mediterranean diet on a daily basis – and trust me, you know I do, you sometimes crave a little something else. While I …
Have you ever dreamed about zipping around in a vintage car in the hills of Tuscany pretending to be in a cheesy yet romantic movie based in the 1950′s where everyone clothes stayed crisp in the hottest temperatures (makes you sort of imagine that everyone must have had some serious body odor) with Frank Sinatra’s Moon …
“Truffles – anyone who does not declare himself ready to leave Paradise or Hell for such a treat is not worthy to be born again.” - Maurice Goudeket, ‘Close to Colette’ (1955) Some people hate them, some people are so obsessed they pay 1,000′s of euros for them. Of course I am talking about truffles. While, I …
Normally, you would never think of Italy as a place for vegetarians. This is a land known for bistecca, cured meats and all sorts of delicious goodness. That being said, the traditional Mediterranean diet is very vegetable based and healthy to boot. Personally, I tend to eat very little meat – just out of habit …
“Please take a look at my business card, I find it the best way to meet ladies.” chuckles Mario as he cheekily slid a card across the table with the words ‘are you free’ and ‘I am single’ written among the typed details of his work. I had to give him a bit of credit, at …
Yep, we have finally arrived at the month of November when tourists start to dwindle and the air (might) just get a little chill to it. Actually I don’t want to say a word because this past week was so gorgeous in Florence, that I just want to pretend that the real winter won’t ever …
Minestrone soup Minestrone in Italian literally means ‘big soup’ and is considered a true staple in the Mediterranean diet. The cuisine that is best well-known in this country are normally the ones with humble beginnings which is fabulous because I am pretty poor myself {take a look at average salaries in Italy} yet I like …
To be honest, if you asked me about the Italian region of Le Marche a few months ago, I would have likely sported a blank stare and admitted that I absolutely knew nothing of this area of il bel paese. And what a shame that was! While I am slowly but surely trying to visit …
Sometimes you just need to take the bull by the horns and make Florence your own personal tourist destination. With the recent news of my good friend Katie’s approval from the US embassy for her and husband to move to the states, a few of my friends decided to celebrate with a Saturday funday with …
I’m slightly ticked at myself for taking so long to write about my adventures in beautiful Anghiari, in the province of Arezzo. I was there during my whirlwind in Sansepolcro for the Palio della Balestra earlier this month. This small town is best known for the date of June 29, 1440 when Filippo Maria Visconti {Duke of …
I often get asked ‘Where do you meet people’ in Florence, Italy?’ It’s a subject I have touched on before but I really thought it worthy of its own post. It is true that The Florentines as people have a reputation for being very closed and I really don’t have a ton of Florentine girlfriends, more acquaintances. Instead …
Let’s get lost in the mysterious Capo Caccia – a few kilometers north of Alghero with underground caves discovered in the 1700′s by local fisherman. The most famous cave being the Grotta di Nettuno or ‘Neptune’s Grotto’ which is only reachable by boat or by the treacherous 645 Escala del Cabirol {goat’s steps} staircase carved into the rocks …
This coming weekend I am joining a group of Italian bloggers and special guests {Ernesto de Matteis, Gian Luca Sgaggero, Milena Marchioni, Ramona Pizzano, Valentina Dainelli, Valentina Piccini } for a trip back into time to visit the ancient town of Sansepolcro in the province of Arezzo. Legend is that saints Arcano and Egidio returned from the Holy …
I absolutely love September in Florence. The weather gets a little cooler, the Florentines have returned to town and to work and there is a lively buzz around town. There are lots of events around town, cool art, Vogue’s Fashion night out, truffle sagra, harvest festivals and this girl wishes she could clone herself to …
This past weekend me and Frenchy went to the town of Castelfalfi located in Tuscany as part of a blogger event touring the 800 year old village. I was actually really excited to go since I read about this place in The Florentine a few years ago. Previously a ghost town, a German Travel company …
I love this photo. I like it so much that I bought it for myself, my dad and pretty much anyone who likes anything in black & white. The enigmatic appeal of the American girl in Italy. One has to look at a photo like this and say, wow – those Italians were so elegant. …
When anyone learns a new language – its invariable that they will often make mistakes early on. Some are fairly innocent, after all Italian has a lot of false cognates {words that seem similar to English words but aren’t, like camera which in Italian means room.} A fun conversation I like to have with my Italian-is-a-second-lnaguage friends …
Living in Florence, Italy for as long as I have – I could easily provide you with amazing photos of my city every day of the week like the one below {and I often do}. Of course as fun as that is – what about showing you some of the other things I have spotted …
When I first came to Florence, Italy – long before I ever decided to start writing this blog, I used to absorb myself in different blogs based here as inspiration. While now I tend to read a variety of both Italian and English ones, at the end time my Italian wasn’t so great and I …
Famous Forte Belvedere, an impressive fort designed in the 16th century by Bernardo Buontalenti for Grand Duke Ferdinando I with the additional purpose of protecting nearby Palazzo Pitti and the Medici family rule {you can also see the Medici family coat of arms above the main doorway}. I have always heard about this place for its …
You guessed it, in that slightly-cheesy photo, I am quite literally beating the beejesus out of some pasta dough. Just another Tuesday, right? Wrong. My first foray into the wonderful world of ravioli started at the ripe age of 28 years old. Store bought pasta always suited me just fine even if I admit I …
Without trying to be like a teenage emo kid listening to a spotify indie music playlist, I thought I would write a more personal post for a change. When I started this little baby of a blog of mine, I was very unsure about how much personal info I wanted to share. I thought about …
There is no secret that I love Boston. I loved this city before I even got to ever visit, which for the first time happened to be this month. I felt like I have already been to New England due to so many of my friends actually being from Beantown. I envisioned pretty downtown streets, …
This Sunday I had the awesome opportunity to go with my friend Debora/gourmet expert AmbasciatoreGusto to visit Fattoria LaVacchio, an organic farm located about 18-20km from Florence. Debora stocks products from the farm in her B&B in Florence and I was itching to try the famous ‘antipasto‘ {cheese & cured meat appetizer} that she kept …
When I was a student in 2005, the ‘other side of the river’ or ‘oltrarno’ to the locals was considered a scary place for us young Americani. All I knew about Piazza Santo Spirito was that drug addicts liked to hang out on the steps and that beyond the Ponte Vecchio bridge lay a very … Continue reading »
Last Friday I got the really awesome opportunity to see something I have been wanting to see for years in Florence. A private tour of the famous ‘Vasari Corridor’ – or 1 kilometer long secret passageway linking the Palazzo Vecchio – Uffizi Museum with the Pitti Palace and specifically commissioned for the famous Medici Family. What … Continue reading »
Now that the weather is slightly more acceptable to this Texan and the arno river is slowly melting, my mind is of course wandering to the thermal springs in Tuscany. Hot springs are naturally produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater from the Earth’s crust which never fails to impress me. Some famous ones … Continue reading »
Some people choose the people they live with at random, but when I was looking for someone to share my little peice of heaven in the oltrarno, I asked a very important question – Do you like to cook. Not only did I get a yes, but a ‘I love to bake’ which is a skill … Continue reading »
Locals I Love is back this Thursday (I’ve been good lately!) and this time I am getting to know someone who I work with who is really pretty awesome and instrumental to helping me finangle my way in an Italian office, she is Christine Lasso Montesinos. A Panamanian girl, an administrative assistant & assistant Manager … Continue reading »
It was about time ‘Locals I Love’ got a little love from the male gender. Naturally I am a girls-girl hence why so many of the interviews so far are women, but I will really try to mix it up a bit. After Aidan, Ivo was a great interviewee - and not just because he has … Continue reading »
This weeks ‘Local I love’ is actually not just one but rather two people, a very cool couple Emilia & Aidan. I met Emilia through my friend Katey at a blogger workshop she hosted about a year ago and I remember thinking what an amazing person she was. She has the kind of biography that … Continue reading »
While visiting Anghiari during my recent trip to the beautiful area of Valtiberina, part of our itinerary was a bike tour along the tobacco fields. I was super excited to get the chance to ride in this very green area of Tuscany after such a nice morning discovering one of the most beautiful borghi in … Continue reading »
We are back with yet another interview, this time by my friend Alexandra Korey. She is Canadian, an all-round communicator and an art historian. What’s her favorite drink, it may surprise you in being nature’s glory – water. I met her while working at The Florentine and we often see each other at various Yelp … Continue reading »
Somehow the time-witches as I like to call them, have taken the rug out from under me and made it become October already. September went by in a flash in my world and besides moving to a new apartment in the Oltrarno, I have also embarked on a number of very cool activities. This month … Continue reading »
