Tasting Wine with Friends
The grape varieties and resulting wines here in Italy are numerous and quite different than in the U.S. What better way, then, to learn about the wine I'm drinking than to take a wine-tasting class....
The Perfect Summer Lunch
When it's beastly hot outside, what could be a more perfect lunch than sublimely-ripe melon with culatello prosciutto, and some near-fist-sized, plump, fresh figs? Add artisan pasta dressed...
Sardenara: Not-Quite-Pizza, with Anchovies
Last Friday, after my whirlwind morning in Genova, I continued on to Sanremo for what was likely my last visit with my "landlady" Sandra and her husband, Mauro, before my departure from Milano. I...
Marina Pavani: Antiques in Genova
It all started with hat forms on Milan's Grand Canal. Five weeks ago I went to the Mercatone Antiquariato - Antique Market - along the Naviglio Grande and saw hat bases made of coarse fabric. They...
Turgid Toes
I just took my shoes off as it approaches midnight and I have turgid, little, sausage toes! It's still 81 degrees out on these 90+ degree days and I'm so grateful for the invention of air...
For Grace Received
Two years ago, in exploring one church after another, I noticed cathedral walls laden with silver framed medallions bearing the letters "GR". Some were tied with a pink or a blue ribbon. There may...
U.S. Geography & Culture Lesson
More often than not, when I'm talking to Italians and they tell me they want to travel to the U.S., they all say the same thing: they want to go to New York, Miami… and Niagara Falls. (Huh? Niagara...
The Italian “Umm”
"Allora…" I hear it all the time, and I did 2 years ago when I was here… so much so that I asked about it. It's the Italian "umm", the bridge between thoughts. The pause. The word that says, "give...
“Fatto a Mano”: Wingtips
"Made by Hand". I so love the traditional handcrafts at home in each country and culture. Over time there are those things that have developed that are either functional, decorative or both, and are...
Rice Green and Sky Blue
Late afternoon. High 80s. Hot, humid and sunny. Perhaps not the best time to get out on my bike, but quarter-til-five on a hot day is better than quarter-til-one. In the late day sun, the rice...
Mako & Ma Qing Sheng
Two Chinese and one American strolling together along the Naviglio Grande speaking Italian, their only common language. Now if that doesn't make you smile, I don't know what will. I had gone back...
Earl & Matthew
How do you give a 13-year-old a whirlwind overview of Milano and other spots in Italy? I had grown up picking rocks off of Earl's parents' waterfront on Three Tree Point, just down from the house I...