Pino’s reconstruction team works hard – and as a unit. Now and then, they can team to feast, too! Late in June, Pino’s crew paused in the restoration work of tiny hill…
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On the last Sunday in August, my crowdfunding venture took to the wheels: Pino and I put on helmets, mounted his moto Guzzi and headed southeast into the mountainous Valnerina (Nera River…
The day following the Amatrice/Accumuli earthquake on August 24th (my birthday), Pino and I were enroute home to Assisi after yet another memorable vacation on the island of Ventotene. Although Ventotene, too,…
Not just here on Ventotene but all over Italy, cuisine is always a poetic palate-teaser. And not only: the appeal is to the eye as well. A visual work of art, each…
When you get off the ferry or the hydrofoil at the Ventotene port, you’ll see a landmark: mustached Vincenzo in carefully-ironed cotton shirt and shorts near his Ape (literally, “bumble bee”), piled…
Nothing like a “heart-healty,” low-in-gluten farro salad on a hot summer night. And you can even prepare it the day before and refrigerte. There are a couple essential steps to a stellar…
Yesterday afternoon in the main square of Ventotene, a police car and a couple cars of local officials were parked in front of the crenellated ochre Municipio. A group of firemen gathered…
In Ventotene’s port, sailboats and yachts rock at anchor and swim-suited vacationers stroll the curvy walkway serpentining alongside the boats, dotted with umbrella-covered outdoor tables for lunchtime or dinnertime snacks. Often during…
Why do I love Ventotene? “Let me count the ways…” as Elizabeth Barrett Browning put it. This island’s kaleidoscopic colors are certainly one of the enticements. Scroll through the rainbow hues: [slick-slider…
Every Ventotene stay means daily visits to the Aiello Forno (“bakery”). As I walked in this visit, past the refrigerator with ice-cream cakes and turned towards the cash register, I’d hoped to…