An uneventful flight from Charlotte to Rome marks our summer 2014 return to Italy. The beginning of our summer odyssey of sun and islands, the countryside and world class jazz and finally a long overdue reunion with one of our first Italian friends who now resides, of all places, in France. Strap on your seatbelt, make sure your tray table is in its full, upright position and get ready to join us for five weeks as we dolce vita our way through the land where the term was invented. Continue reading Starita Struck→
Yesterday’s main Cucinapalooza activity featured a visit to the Perugina chocolate factory for a three hour class in chocolate making. Head over to Dolce Vita, our monthly online magazine for the whole story and check back here for more updates.
Cucinapalooza is upon us once again. Our second annual installment of last year’s week long cooking tour designed not to enable our budding chefs to leave here thinking that they can cook like an Umbrian but so they can return home knowing they can more think like an Umbrian cook. Continue reading Cucinapalooza II→
We’ve written before about Teatro del Sale, the Florentine members-only social/supper club operated by the owner of the city’s renowned Cibreo restaurant. But the opportunity to have lunch at Teatro is one of the main reasons that drew us back to Florence for our brief two day, beginning-of-the-trip excursion. That and trying to unlock the mystery of what makes Teatro del Sale so special and how we could translate its concept into the new Bella Italia. Continue reading Membership Has its Rewards→
We’ve written before about Teatro del Sale, the Florentine members-only social/supper club operated by the owner of the city’s renowned Cibreo restaurant. ...
As the sun comes up on a Saturday morning, the week long intermission between our first and second Food and Wine tours this month is already coming to a close. But as we prepare for the arrival of six new guests, we must look forward and not back at our week in Tuscany, the region next door where we discovered our love of Italy and which for many Americans is synonymous with Italy. Continue reading Tuscany Redux→
We’ve visited Assisi dozens of times, walking in the historic footsteps of St. Francis under the expert guidance of a local tour guide. And it never gets old or stale. Continue reading Assisi? That’s Easy!→
Day One of our Food & Wine tour, the first of three weeklong tours over then next five weeks, started as many do. With lunch at Simone’s le Delizie del Borgo restaurant in Bevagna. Continue reading Give Us This Day→
Although I don’t do it nearly often enough, I love to golf. And golfing in Italy, which I also do not do nearly often enough, is particularly enjoyable. There’s something about the light, the fresh air and the simplicity of the game in Italy that is completely appealing. And even if you play poorly, the food in the clubhouse is quite a bit better than what you’ll find back home. Continue reading The Universal Four Letter Word→
Until we started spending our Julys in Italy several years ago, the Fourth of July was always a big deal in our family. For years we would spend our summers together with the rest of my family on a mountaintop in western North Carolina and the Fourth always seemed to be important. There were pig pickings, local fireworks shows, picnics by the pond. And my brothers were always into doing their own fireworks display for the family, the two of them stopping independently in South Carolina on the drive up from Florida, stocking up on entire trunksful of explosives which they would choreograph for the family and a small group of friends and neighbors on a spot lower down on our property where the chance of setting the woods ablaze with an errant spark was smaller. Continue reading Go Fourth→
[This post was originally published in our monthly news magazine Dolce Vita, which you can find on this site under the menu heading of the same name. It is being reprinted in the name of simplicity, for those who don’t subscribe to Dolce Vita, and more importantly to meet my quota of posts for the week.
If you would like to receive Dolce Vita regularly, drop us an email or post a comment below and we’ll sign you up to receive it. It is free and it makes your butt look smaller.]
I could write a book about beaches. I grew up on one – Daytona Beach – a place most Americans associate with NASCAR, but which the town fathers had a different plan for, somewhat immodestly and perhaps a bit even more hyperbolically bestowing upon it the name “the World’s Most Famous Beach.” So seriously they took this absurdity that one of the radio stations my father worked at before my birth had the call letters WMFJ, which the owner settled on because WMFB was not available. Continue reading Life’s a Beach→
Perhaps it means we’re just getting old. But this year, at Bevagna’s Mercato del Gaite, there were not chants of “Bee-lee.” Continue reading Homeward Bound→
On the day after our Poseidon adventure, a day of relaxing and taking the waters at the Poseidon thermal spa, our life had anything but been turned upside down. To the contrary, our party cruise seemed to be on cruise control with smooth seas fore and aft. The only ominous cloud the horizon? Our Ischia idyll was coming to an end. Continue reading There’s Got to be a Morning After→
An uneventful flight from Charlotte to Rome marks our summer 2014 return to Italy. The beginning of our summer odyssey of sun and islands, the countryside and world class jazz and finally a long overdue reunion with one of our first Italian friends who now resides, of all places, in France. Strap on your seatbelt, make sure your tray table is in its full, upright position and get ready to join us for five weeks as we dolce vita our way through the land where the term was invented. Continue reading Starita Struck 
Yesterday’s main Cucinapalooza activity featured a visit to the Perugina chocolate factory for a three hour class in chocolate making. Head over to 
Cucinapalooza is upon us once again. Our second annual installment of last year’s week long cooking tour designed not to enable our budding chefs to leave here thinking that they can cook like an Umbrian but so they can return home knowing they can more think like an Umbrian cook. 
We’ve written before about 
As the sun comes up on a Saturday morning, the week long intermission between our first and second Food and Wine tours this month is already coming to a close. But as we prepare for the arrival of six new guests, we must look forward and not back at our week in Tuscany, the region next door where we discovered our love of Italy and which for many Americans is synonymous with Italy. 
We’ve visited Assisi dozens of times, walking in the historic footsteps of St. Francis under the expert guidance of a local tour guide. And it never gets old or stale. 
Day One of our Food & Wine tour, the first of three weeklong tours over then next five weeks, started as many do. With lunch at Simone’s le Delizie del Borgo restaurant in Bevagna. 
Although I don’t do it nearly often enough, I love to golf. And golfing in Italy, which I also do not do nearly often enough, is particularly enjoyable. There’s something about the light, the fresh air and the simplicity of the game in Italy that is completely appealing. And even if you play poorly, the food in the clubhouse is quite a bit better than what you’ll find back home. 
Until we started spending our Julys in Italy several years ago, the Fourth of July was always a big deal in our family. For years we would spend our summers together with the rest of my family on a mountaintop in western North Carolina and the Fourth always seemed to be important. There were pig pickings, local fireworks shows, picnics by the pond. And my brothers were always into doing their own fireworks display for the family, the two of them stopping independently in South Carolina on the drive up from Florida, stocking up on entire trunksful of explosives which they would choreograph for the family and a small group of friends and neighbors on a spot lower down on our property where the chance of setting the woods ablaze with an errant spark was smaller. 
Perhaps it means we’re just getting old. But this year, at Bevagna’s Mercato del Gaite, there were not chants of “
On the day after our Poseidon adventure, a day of relaxing and taking the waters at the Poseidon thermal spa, our life had anything but been turned upside down. To the contrary, our party cruise seemed to be on cruise control with smooth seas fore and aft. The only ominous cloud the horizon? Our Ischia idyll was coming to an end.