Before leaving, Mimi wrote in our guest book, “ This was definitely the highlight of our trip…(and)…to be honest, I never want to leave this place.” And while staying here in…
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Generally I don’t have bookings for guided tours in February: for me, February is dedicated to making videos, writing on my blog and exploring Italy. When Pino must head off somewhere to…
Near Pino’s childhood home in Cardillo, a small Palermo borgata (small suburb, urban outcrop), a grandissima pasticceria/bar, Pasticceria/Bar Gardenia, draws in customers from all over. The tempting goodness on rows and rows of shelves does it:…
Time passes quickly as you wait in line for fresh seafood at the stand of Claudio in Palermo. Pino, his longtime Palermo friend, Nino, and I joined the waiting customers there on…
Our olive harvest this year in mid-November took a couple of days. And here are the crates of olives after our first day of picking: …and here is the abundance at the…
I decided to title this blog note with a phrase from tour guest, Sharon. After our Perugia/Deruta tour with Sharon, her husband Jerry and friends (Linda and Glenn), she wrote me this…
The people from Assisi are assisani, and those from Perugia are perugini. From Spello, spellani. The citizens of hilltown Montefalco are montefalchesi and derutesi live in Deruta while folignati live in Foligno. But can you guess the name of the inhabitants of…
Farm neighbor Chiarina was dicing the carrot for her pasta sauce when I dropped in one recent morning, her husband Marino nearby and how he beamed when I asked him about his…
In the Deruta countryside, Giuseppa opens home and heart to all. When you arrive, Giuseppa comes out of her house, perhaps with her two beloved Jack Russells and that welcoming smile says…
A box of Carnaroli rice in the kitchen cupboard, a pot of meat broth on our stove, a hefty chunk of orange winter squash on the table and snow flurries and biting…