Everyone in the world needs a friend like Rebecca. Whip-smart, and a way with words that manages to combine humor with pretty much any awkward subject, talking with her always makes me walk away smiling. And I always learn something. Rebecca moved to Italy from Chicago in 1993 and shortly thereafter opened an agriturismo at the foot of Mount Subasio near Assisi, Umbria. She spends her time writing about the lovely region she now calls home for various print…
Eating local never used to be a “thing.” It was just something people did because they had to eat, before choice was even an option. Eat what you grow, grow what works in your region and voila, regional cuisines are born. Of course, as i’ve mentioned before in previous posts, I grew up on processed foods. Case in point, I’m pretty sure my favorite dessert was a bag of sour patch kids washed down with diet dr. pepper which…
Fulin: Chinese Food Becomes A Chic Affair
13.09.2016
If there ever was a reason to shout Hallelujah, it should come with a serving of the tastiest freshly-made dumplings from new restaurant Fulin — which I recently got to try first-hand in Florence. If you’ve lived in this city for awhile, you’d probably agree that Chinese food here hasn’t always boasted a great reputation. To keep it real, many Italians shun local Chinese food as strange fast food and foreigners (like me) haven’t yet found anything worth screaming…
September 2016 Events in Florence, Italy
31.08.2016
September always remains one of my truly favorite months. It represents Italy’s rich harvest period, a time of abundance or the hope of one during a country’s rich agricultural past. The cities swell with returning Italians, bronzed and relaxed after a week or three on the seaside. Kids ready for school, the buses filling up again. There’s a poignant energy that comes with the arrival of this month and to complete the pretty picture, you can bet your bottom dollar…
A Medieval Castle Turned Borgo Along An Ancient Roman Passageway When it comes to luxury hotels in Tuscany, or rather anywhere in Italy, the consumer is spoilt for choice. However what makes Il Borro something special lies in its 1,000 year-old past, the exact origins dating back to 1039. It was said to have been along an old Etruscan road and later a Roman one (clodia and the cassia), the area itself a political stronghold, becoming a battleground…
“Libero” shouts the Italian guy about 20 feet ahead of me. I can barely make out his figure, but I can certainly hear his yell. I could see he had moved slightly off of the landing platform where I, a nothing delicate sort of tall Texan is meant to land after hurtling down a zip line India Jones style. This was how last Saturday started.. It all really began at a picnic. A group of friends decided we…