I just received this notice of cheap tickets to Venice, Milan, Florence (and other European cities) on Lufthansa. Now’s your chance!

A wall along the canal features this singing bluebird and it makes me smile every time. Whether intended or not, it feels “sunny” to me and perks me up. My Grandma would have liked it. Her favorite color was blue. It’s a blue sky Autumn day in Milano today. Mid-60s. Not a cloud and hardly [...]

Many years ago a Mexican man named Angel worked for us in the orchard. He lived up the valley on the land of a neighboring orchardist, in one of the one-room, plywood-sheathed homes available. In polite company, they were called “Pickers’ Cabins”; most of the time they were called “Pickers’ Shacks”. The cabins weren’t much. [...]

Imagine having the apartment seen here and looking out your window every day to the mosaic of the three saints on the Basilica of San Simpliciano. (And San Alessandro at the right is looking directly into the window!) There’s also the gargoyle-laden capital at the top of the column just outside the apartment window. What [...]

This sign stopped me. I grew up hearing the name “Rossignol” in connection with skiis. Here was a cool old bike shop and it had cool old-style bikes inside, plus some swanky, new ones. But no skiis. I hope they never paint that sign.

Knowing absolutely that I need LIGHT coming into my eyes and surrounding me, especially where I’m working, I’ve been adjusting my apartment ever since I got here. My first attempt was to abandon the loft with its desk, shelves and somber lighting. In July I set up a “morning desk” and an “evening desk”. As [...]

After a little afternoon nap, I booted myself out the door for a stroll. It was just after 3:00, the quiet time of the day in the city. A mostly gray sky with a little chill in the air. Nice to head out and wander. Just two blocks from home, I saw my Fashion Design [...]

Sitting in my spam trash are 15,201 spam “comments” that have come in since September 5! (Yes. That’s fifteen thousand+.) I’ve managed to create enough filters that I haven’t had to purge each of them individually, but I’ve still had to spend much-too-much time each day clearing out the crap. In fact, I think I’ve [...]

At almost  4 months’ time here (with a few side trips away) I have now gone through a one liter bottle of Extra Virgin Olive Oil and I just bought my second bottle. And by the way, even though I’ve eaten more meat (bresaola and prosciutto! Mmm) and cheese in the last 4 months than [...]

What a street market! I rose up out of the subway this evening at 6:00 and immediately stepped into a one block section of tented stalls hosting vendors from the many regions of Italy. Wow. Cheeses, meats, spices, pastries, dried fruit. As they say “over the top”! One stall in particular had what I can [...]

Wow. An absolutely gorgeous day in Milano. Is this what Fall is like in Italy?! Sunny after some 2:00 a.m., drenching downpours recently. Fresh air, yet nicely warm. No humidity to be bothered with. It was a day that screamed for a bike ride along the canal. Fish are always present in the Naviglio Pavese [...]

Nope. It’s not a Vespa-type scooter or a little car. It’s a little fish. A couple of months ago, while at the Saturday market, I was overwhelmed by the seafood choices I had no familiarity with. No halibut, salmon or rock cod here. There was fish I knew nothing about except for a couple I [...]

Excuse me, but, I’ve NEVER seen head-to-toe plaid on an Italian woman before. I don’t think I’ve ever seen PLAID (but you KNOW I’m going to start keeping track!) Granted, I’ve only been here 4 months, and it’s been summer time… Maybe, now that the weather is cooling, women country-wide will pull their plaid wool [...]

It seems that gondolas (gondole) are the worldwide symbol of Venice. The tourists love the show of the sleek boats and their often-stripe-shirted boatsmen (gondolieri). By evening time, wandering around Venice, accordion music and deep-throated song floats up from the canals, answering the dreams of those that have paid for rides, and adding to the [...]

Journal Entry: 12 September 2009 (I know… It’s been a few weeks since I traveled there, but it’s been a busy time…) “This place SO stimulates my senses. It absolutely delights my eyes at every turn. Every crop. Every surface. Every combination of signage and stone and wrought iron. I could wander this place indefinitely. [...]

Heading back home to Milan, sitting at Sea-Tac awaiting the Seattle-London-Milan flights after a VERY crazy-busy, chuck-full two weeks here in Seattle. I had thought that some time here would be a break from the intensity of Milan. Ha! What was I thinking?! I need to go back to Italy to ease off a bit. [...]