One of my favourite places in Florence is the Mercato Centrale, also known as the Mercato di San Lorenzo, the largest food market in town. A beautiful glass and cast-iron construct ...
“A woman is like an artichoke: you must work hard to get to her heart.” You will never guess who said that… Inspector Jacques Clouseau. Yes, the French – and always gallant ...
The Kiss… The Tomb of the Poet… Nine Astrological Aspects… Cathedral no 6… The Grass Sofas… The Eternal Lunch… An Island in an Island… The Beauty and the Beast… Mak ...
Like the Seine in Paris, the Thames in London and the Styx in the Underworld, an old dignified river flows across the city of Florence, dividing it, inevitably, into two river bank ...
Cogito ergo sum… Fluctuat nec mergitur… Ave Imperator, morituri te salutant… How is your Latin these days? You don’t have, I guess, that many opportunities to practice ...
The reasons we, Northerners, love Italy are numerous. One of them, of course, is the sunshine and mild temperatures that reign all over the country when the rest of Europe is under ...
Every time my family and I go to La Foce for a short or long stay, buying una forma di Pecorino – an entire ewe’s milk cheese – is one of the first things I do on arrival. ...
It was in July 2000, I remember, in the late afternoon. I was sitting in a Tuscan bar with a good friend of mine. I was leafing through a local newspaper when I came upon a heading ...
When travelling around Italy to visit the houses and villas featured in our Trust & Travel rental catalogue, I always try to see or do something new. This keeps my job interest ...
“Have you ever been to the Arte Sella biodegradable exhibition, Katharina? – The what? Biodegradable exhibition?! Where on earth is that being held? And for how ...
Victor Hugo once wrote: “Dear God, how beauty varies in nature and art! In a woman the flesh must be like marble, and in a statue the marble must be like flesh.” ...
It was in June, last spring. My husband, daughter and I were in the Maremma, and friends of ours were visiting us with their two children. One morning, we decided to go to the town ...
“Buona bruschetta, Katharina! – Buona what? – Buona bruschetta! You’ve never heard this before?!” No, I had never heard this greeting phrase b ...
“Mummy, are we going back to the Christmas market this year? You know the one where the houses are all yellow and orange?” Her bright eyes filled with hope and anticipation, my ...
At about this time of year, every year, when the days are getting shorter and colder, Tuscany is busy extracting its highly prized “liquid gold”: the extra virgin olive oil. Th ...
I have mentioned Tuscany’s highest mountain, Mount Amiata (1738m), several times in some of my previous articles. I have never told you, however, about its neighbouring Monte Lab ...
I have just returned to Paris from Italy, where I spent the end of the summer. I have discovered many new things that I would like to share with you in the upcoming weeks. As every ...
“The discovery of a wine is of greater moment than the discovery of a constellation. The universe is too full of stars.” Benjamin Franklin I have never discovered a constellati ...
The sanguine enthusiast who was sitting next to me in the stands clapped his hands in a burst of joy and glanced at me briefly: “No hour of life is wasted that is spent in the sa ...
If you happen to be in Florence in May, there is a special event you must make sure not to miss. This year again, from May 16th to May 19th (Thursday to Sunday), the 19th edition o ...
Off the beaten track… This is where I need to venture once in a while. And usually I don’t regret it: more often than not I get to run into something that makes a strong, p ...
“I’m really fond of these plates, Katharina. Where did you get them? – A little less than a thousand kilometers from here. – Let me guess… In Italy, right?” Yes, in Ita ...
Villa… A word that calls to mind images and lifestyles which very few people would turn their back on. Here is how the Oxford English Dictionary defines “villa”: A countr ...
No, I did not know what good, real good pasta was until… Here is the story of one the great gastronomic discoveries of my life. I was dwelling in a Tuscan farmhouse near Merc ...
This week, for the half-term school holidays, my family and I are staying at one of the two houses of our Trust & Travel Il Fontanile estate in Tuscany. We like to come here ...
The last time I ran into Mrs. Loiseau, one of my Paris neighbours – I introduced her to you in my very first article, – she was wearing flashy sling back shoes which she had j ...
It was a very special day indeed. Special evening, I should say. It was high summer. The Italian sky was slowly turning into gold and copper, as it so often does at the end of the ...
Tuscans celebrate the rhythm of the seasons with an array of festivals and feasts adapted for each period of the year. Autumn is particularly colorful as the leaves change and th ...
You are a stone broke student with three pennies in your pocket and an immoderate passion for antiques. Wandering up and down the alleys of a colourful flea market, you stumble upo ...
“How about letting our little friend here perch on your hand? – Um… well… Is he in a good mood?” The “little friend” whom Stefania was introducing me to was a ...
