Linda Frey came to our birthday celebration last year and ended up getting more than a lousy t-shirt. Below is what our grand prize winner had to say about her week at our Umbrian villa. After reading, make sure to RSVP for Bella Italia’s 9th Birthday Bash on Facebook or by calling the store at (301) 654-2667.
(And Can't Wait To Go Back!) Read more
Linda Frey came to our birthday celebration last year and ended up getting more than a lousy t-shirt. Below is what our ...
How can a cooking class last from 9:30am until 3:30pm? Continue reading Light Lunch
How can a cooking class last from 9:30am until 3:30pm? Ernesto Parziani, the owner of Perbacco, the best restaurant in our village of ...
How to beat the heat on a blistering Sunday in Umbria? How about chilling out and cooling down with our buddy Simone? That’s how we spent our Sunday. A little eating and drinking was thrown in for good measure. Continue reading Sunday with Simone
Great friends, great food Read more
How to beat the heat on a blistering Sunday in Umbria? How about chilling out and cooling down with our buddy Simone? ...
Over the past several days Suzy and Erin have been taking Italian lessons with our friend Augusta Pardi, the “poet” of the Pardi family but also a distinguished teacher who spent a number of years teaching in Toronto and other places around the world. This week and next her classroom has been la Fattoria del Gelso and her students two eager American women. I was not invited to join the class. For whatever reason or reasons. Continue reading Language Lessons
Over the past several days Suzy and Erin have been taking Italian lessons with our friend Augusta Pardi, the “poet” of the ...
Greetings once again from Umbria. Il cuore verde d’Italia. The green heart of Italy. Not doing a great deal here on this trip – we have a few guests in tow with us, but no planned itinerary, no pressing program of things we have to do, to check off, as is the case with our organized food and wine tours. Just a lazy, relaxing but thoroughly enjoyable summer visit. Continue reading Keep it Cool
Greetings once again from Umbria. Il cuore verde d’Italia. The green heart of Italy. Not doing a great deal here on this ...
Dinner at the villa. Under the stars. In front of the big screen.
It is a tradition that was just waiting to be born. Continue reading Cinema Paradiso
Hard to beat a movie under the stars Read more
Dinner at the villa. Under the stars. In front of the big screen. It is a tradition that was just waiting to be ...
Apologies for the time away from posting. It must have been very hard on both of you. But you must certainly be able to understand our brief absence. For a week we have splashed in the sun warmed saline sea off the island of Ponza, a tiny rock of an island a little over an hour’s hydrofoil ride from Anzio. There’s not much to tell about our visit here. Just a little swimming, a little breathing in the clean, cool salt air, a little seafood here and there and a little chilled white wine. Just normal stuff. Continue reading Ponza in Pictures
The tiny island full of greatness Read more
Apologies for the time away from posting. It must have been very hard on both of you. But you must certainly be ...
Massimo Fichera died on Thursday. He was 83 years old. Continue reading Riposare in Pace
Massimo Fichera died on Thursday. He was 83 years old. On Friday the Italian newspapers were running the story of Massimo's death. He ...
We’ve been on Ponza for a number of days now, having left Sicily in our rearview mirror but saving a special place for it in our hearts. This is our fifth visit to this little known island and our days are filled with sun, sand, water, seafood and wine. It is, truth be told, a little slice of heaven. Continue reading Sounds of Ponza
We've been on Ponza for a number of days now, having left Sicily in our rearview mirror but saving a special place ...
Today is our last day in Sicily. A week spent on this exotic, magical island has, as was the case with our two previous three and four day visits, not been long enough. It has been an interesting, fun packed visit, with experiences galore – culture, people, history, food. And plenty of relaxation. Choosing a place on the beach in a fairly remote corner of Sicily has been an excellent choice.
As we move on to Ponza tomorrow, we will miss Sicily. Continue reading Sicily Ya Later
Today is our last day in Sicily. A week spent on this exotic, magical island has, as was the case with our ...
For our penultimate day in Sicily our plans called for a drive toward Palermo to the town of Monreale, a community that could be described as a Palermo suburb perched on a mountain. The purpose of our visit was to meet with Maria Grazia, the owner of Elisa Messina Ceramics, a Sicilian ceramics studio that we were introduced to by the Italian Trade Commission (ICE) back in December. The day would also give us the opportunity to spend a little time in and around Palermo. Continue reading Unreal Monreale
The Enchanting Little Town Read more
For our penultimate day in Sicily our plans called for a drive toward Palermo to the town of Monreale, a community that ...
Some time between bedtime on January 14 and the morning of January 15, 1968, while Americans crowded around their black and white television sets watching Bart Starr and the Green Bay Packers dismantle the Oakland Raiders in just the second installation of a new, exciting professional [American] football championship that would come to be known as the “Super Bowl,” the inhabitants of the Belice Valley, a poor, rural area in southwestern Sicily were being jostled from their sleep by a magnitude 6.1 earthquake. That earthquake leveled a number of towns, among them Salaparuta, Poggioreale and Gibillina, claiming 380 lives, displacing over 70,000 people and shattering a rural lifestyle that tied these people to their land, their villages and their past, a way of life that was ingrained in villagers from their birth until their death. Continue reading Salapalooza
Some time between bedtime on January 14 and the morning of January 15, 1968, while Americans crowded around their black and white ...
