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Piedmont’s Barolo lovely wine country with town of Barolo in centre. Dreaming of exploring magnificent Italian countryside, strolling in medieval hill towns, browsing small town markets, staying in an agriturismo/farm inn run by a local family? Some people have asked us for a cooking school tour in the countryside with accommodation within walking distance of [...]
Margaret at Istituto Italiano di Cultura Artusi show I’ve just finished reading a little gem of a book, “Little Bets: How Breakthrough Ideas Emerge From Small Discoveries”. Author Peter Sims tells stories of innovators from comedian Chris Rock to Steve Jobs at Pixar to show eight main ways to nourish creativity through small steps. Fascinating [...]
On February 16, Trenitalia announced that under certain conditions, you can take 1st and 2nd class trains between all Italian cities for “Mini” fares of 9 Euros (about $12) and up on all their trains except Excelsior and Excelsior E4 and Executive levels. “What’s the catch?” Trenitalia.com says, “The MINI offer can be booked up [...]
view from Ravello’s Strada Panoramica down over Minori An American woman phoned me with questions about a cooking school and culture tour for her and her husband with a delightful family in Sorrento. They were going to fly into and out of Naples. As well as the four night cooking tour, they wanted to explore [...]
colours in Vernazza with the steeple of Santa Margherita church Almost four months after the tragic floods devastated Vernazza and Monterosso, two of the five coastal towns in the Cinque Terre, businesses are starting to re-open. At savevernazza.com/traveladvisor you can see a long list of what restaurants, bars, gelaterias, markets and accommodations are open or [...]
Bologna’s lovely, lively Piazza Maggiore in the historic centre On Skype I talked with our long time Bologna cooking tour colleagues, who’ve lived in Bologna for 40 years and grew up nearby. How to find good places to eat in Bologna where locals go? The question was more complicated than that in Bologna, they said. [...]
women goofing around at the villa hotel cooking school above Sorrento I think it’s so important to celebrate and mark big milestones in life, especially with people you care about. Special times to congratulate ourselves and look back on what we’ve enjoyed and accomplished so far. Two years ago I celebrated my big 6-0 with [...]
What makes a place or experience “romantic”? Everyone’s ideas differ widely. A centuries old, “interesting” conversation between men and women, isn’t it? If I had a man in my life and his ideas of romance miraculously coincided with mine, where in Italy would I suggest to him? I like beautiful nature, walks, water and lights [...]
Detail of Rome’s Piazza Navona Katie Parla’s new Rome For Foodies app, gives you all kinds of delicious details on 135 places in Rome that Katie has carefully selected by eating or drinking in them. Do much do you envy her for this research project? Katie is a long time Rome resident, food journalist for [...]
Florence’s Ponte Vecchio by night. Lots of people out walking! Whether you’re in Rome or Naples, orVancouver, New York, Sydney, London or Hong Kong, it pays to plan to travel safely. My seven top tips as a woman who often travels alone: Wear a money belt. Since my backpacking days in Italy 40 years ago, [...]
