What a day! The first day of our Cucinapalooza cooks tour went off smoothly even in the face of an ambitious itinerary. A day of butchering pork in Rome followed by a visit to a winery in Montefalco in Umbria followed by dinner at the villa. Add to that a series of live streaming events from the winery and the villa that we shared with an audience assembled at Bella Italia in Bethesda, Maryland and you have one great start to what is shaping up as a unique, entertaining, informative and enjoyable week. Continue reading Stream a Little Stream for Me →

Just about two years ago, as Suzy and I were finalizing our plans for our trip to Germany to pick up our new car, we faced an unusual situation.  How to spend a couple of weeks between Munich and our villa in Cannara where we had a few commitments planned.  We had already drawn up the broad outlines of the trip – a few days in Germany followed by our first visit to the northern Italian region of Trentino.  From Trento we were going to head east to the Veneto and visit Treviso (too many “T” towns for Suzy) and then work our way down the Adriatic coast before landing home in Umbria.  We were, after all, buying a new car and wanted to give it a good workout. Continue reading Italian Memories →

Defining Italy is a difficult task because like an onion there are so many Italys (Italies?), layer upon layer of realities rolled into one. And over the years we have been fortunate enough to experience a number of them – the cosmopolitan, fashionable Italy, the culinary Italy, the historic Italy, the artistic Italy, the traditional Italy, the family Italy. Since we settled in the country just under five years ago one of our favorite Italys is or has become the rural Italy – although it is just as likely that we settled in the country because of our love for the rural Italy. In this country Italy men and women not so much toil in their fields as they are part of them, taking from the land and from those fields that which is offered up with great appreciation and respect, without taking for granted what a privilege it is to be sustained by this incredibly bounteous land. Continue reading Country Strong →

Thursday was ceramics day. A rainy, cold, overcast day visiting Deruta, the nearby hill town where the art of ceramics gained a foothold in Italy and dug its roots deep. A place where the art of fusing earth, water, fire and air has been practiced and developed and perfected for nearly eight hundred years. On this day we were exposed to the grand sweep of history of this art form and got to spend time with some of its best modernpractitioners. Continue reading Museum Peace →

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 →

With so much history, with an incredibly complex and interesting culture, with natural resources galore, not least of which is the sea that surrounds this enchanting and intoxicating island, one could almost overlook food as a source of adventure and pleasure on a visit to Sicily. But then one wouldn’t be Bill and Suzy. Continue reading Island Fare: Sicily →

We’re not in Kansas anymore, Toto.  The phrase seemed all too appropriate as we wound our schoolbus-sized Mercedes Vito maxivan through the renaissance streets and alleyways of Florence, a town whose thoroughfares were laid out at a time when oxcart was the prevalent mode of transportation.  There is a reason Smart Cars are so smart. Continue reading Routine Traffic Stop →

As our regular reader(s) will know, we spend our days traversing the boot trying to discover the real Italy, the Italy lived and experienced by Italians that goes beyond the touristic but also beyond the simply romanticized ideal that most Americans have of this overly romanticized country. And although we have had some great successes in unearthing these moments, the mere act of trying to discover them, as Heisenberg’s theory tells us, often changes them. It is often best, we have learned, to sit back and let them come to you.

Such was yesterday, a leisurely stroll around Rome with Elizabeth Minchilli, a woman with the background and experience to know and understand the real Rome as few people do and the temperament not to share it, but to allow it to show itself off to us. Like a shy pet that recedes to back of the cage when strangers startle it, Elizabeth was able to coax Rome from under the rock and by the end of the day it was cooing and letting us stroke its belly. These types of days are rare indeed. Continue reading Roamin’ Eyes →

So we’re back in Italy after five days in London. Back home. It’s strange how a place where you can barely speak the language, where your clothes look out of place and they can spot you as a foreigner a mile away seems like home. But London felt like the foreign land and Italy like home. Rome sweet Rome. Continue reading Meet Rome Hilton, Paris’ Little Sister →