It’s finally open again that winding road linking the medieval mountain town of Norcia to the tiny walled town of Castelluccio, perched like a quiet solemn sentinel over the Piano Grande –…
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If you blink, you might drive right past Castagnoli (pop. not more than 70), tiny frazione of Gaiole in Chianti. You might also be distracted by the sweeping panoramas of vineyards and…
It was a last-minute decision to head to Macerata, walled Marches hilltown not far from the Adriatic, for opera on an August night – but we weren’t going to miss Puccini’s “Turandot.”…
The scorching heat – daily temperatures over 40 C (well over 100 F ) – blistering central and southern Italy for all July and much of August has broiled our vegetable garden.…
When in central Italy from spring to late fall, you can’t miss feasting with the “locals” at a sagra (village food festival of local specialties cooked and served up by local volunteers).…
Bell peppers are in the garden now so la peperonata often adds flashy, bright colors – and perky Sicilian flavors- to summer dinners. I remember asking my husband Pino years ago what…
Prefer your “flag” with eggs or without? Clearly, I can’t be referring to that pennant you solemnly salute with hands over heart (perhaps?). This “flag,” that Umbrian tri-colored vegetable dish, la bandiera…
La Spezia, Liguria (see map) – As we pushed open the osteria‘s dark green wooden door, lace curtains on the windows, our spezzina friend Monia asked us, “Ever eaten in a seafood…
Back in our “farming years,” we’d ride our old Gilera motorcycle to nearby Bettona for peach-picking in July. I’d rather hoe corn, muck the pig stalls or even help on the haying…
Many scholars maintain that the late Etruscan life-sized bronze sculptural masterpiece, “the Orator” (now in the Museo Nazionale Aracaelogico di Firenze) was found near Tuoro on Lake Trasimeno. But you can’t convince…