A Local, Italian Sustainable Christmas Gift Guide
This past year at work I’ve been involved in a project called TCBL, a collaborative, EU funded project to increase
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What I’m Doing This Year to Learn About Wine
I only recently started drinking wine. Until age 40 I actually didn’t drink at all, so I’ve got a lot
Living in Italy: How I Stay Healthy
The first wintery days are upon us and with them, the first sniffles. Inevitably, my interns are all sick and
Refugees in Tuscany: New Book Questions Preconceptions
I love a good book. A good book grabs you, pulls you along and doesn’t let you out. Recently I
8 things that may surprise you about Italians
Stef and Nico are Dutch expats in Italy since 2008. Their adventure includes buying a home in remote Lombardy and
The Cost of Living in Italy: my Annual Budget
If you’re planning on moving to Italy or studying here for any length of time, you’re probably preparing a budget
Why I Started Drinking Wine at Age 40
This week I began the first of nine sessions of a Level I Sommelier class. Which in itself would not
ArtTrav 11 year giveaway!
It’s hard to believe that 11 years ago this October, I was a graduate student in Florence, spending one month
My neighbours’ secrets
He wakes up at 6:30am. Rat-tat-tat goes the toilet paper roll on its wooden holder. Whoosh goes the water in
The expat community in Florence, Italy
Ever since Florence, Italy became a stop on the Grand Tour in the 19th century, it has had a strong
11 green vegetables I never ate before moving to Italy
Growing up in Toronto, Canada, we had a pretty good variety of vegetables available to us thanks to the city’s
4 totally unromantic things you need to know before buying property in Italy
Sunny skies, long summers and delicious Mediterranean cuisine – buying property in Italy and moving here is certainly tempting. Recently,
The alphabet of impossible Italian translations
I work at The Florentine, where we do a lot of translations from Italian to English. Over the years, we’ve
The Italians by John Hooper, book review
A book in English that explains what is going on in the beautiful and ailing country of Italy is certainly
The expat and the holidays: should I stay or should I go
It’s that time of year again. When trees get trimmed and everyone asks “Are you going home for the holidays?”.
The smell of a Medici garden in the morning
The crunch of gravel under your feet. The distant hum of traffic, overtaken by tweeting birds, the whooping of a
How to find art that inspires when you think you’ve seen it all
Have you ever felt truly inspired in front of a work of art? Have you been a victim to Stendhal
Contemporary Italian artisans: holiday gift guide for her
I’ve written about the Maker movement before, and talked about how there is a new breed of artisans that use
Being picked up on a Vespa
When I first met the man who would become my husband, we were attending German classes in downtown Florence (don’t
How buying artisan-direct bucks economic trends
Amongst the suggestions made for sustainable travel, one I always repeat is to buy souvenirs from local artisans. But when