Category Archives: Italy

…and North Again

Posted on September 22, 2017 by

From Menton, with its glimmering sea and glittering inhabitants, we drove east along the coast and straight into Italy, where the buildings instantly lost their glamour and polish. Manicured gardens became market gardens, pencil pines were exchanged for olive trees … Continue reading →

Posted in France, Italy, Switzerland, Travel | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Rome: a City of Echoes, Illusions and Yearning…

Posted on July 26, 2017 by

… so says Giotto di Bondone, Renaissance painter. It was the middle of June. We were in Rome to celebrate a significant double birthday that suddenly felt, joyfully, incredibly insignificant among an overwhelming density of history and antiquities. Rome is … Continue reading →

Posted in Italy, Travel | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Childhood Holidays

Posted on August 11, 2016 by

My father found her hanging around outside the Australian Embassy on the Strand in London, just after Christmas 1975. She was already quite elderly, and ran out of puff at the mere mention of a hill. We called her Bella. … Continue reading →

Posted in England, Italy, Travel | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

“I can see clearly now…”

Posted on June 11, 2016 by

Last weekend, in a bustling café on a boulevard in the south of France, I watched two trays of Aperol Spritz heading to neighbouring tables, where diners were keen to kick off with a little splash of sunshine before brunch. As … Continue reading →

Posted in Food & Wine, France, Italy | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Dreaming of Tuscany…

Posted on November 15, 2013 by

Italy: the land of art, architecture and ancient culture, poetry, pasta and wine; of long, lazy, summer lunches at rough wooden tables strewn with wine bottles and the detritus of a simple feast; of broad, shady terraces overlooking vine-draped hills … Continue reading →

Posted in Food & Wine, Italy, Philippines | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Una Notte in Italia

Posted on September 4, 2012 by

School went back in August, which means we are back to horrendously early starts, long afternoons of soccer practices and weekends chock-a-block with rugby. If there is a spare moment, the boys are out in the back room madly killing … Continue reading →

Posted in Cooking, Italy, Philippines | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

A Splash of Heaven

Posted on August 23, 2012 by

When we left Florence this summer, I had secreted a bottle of twelve year old balsamic vinegar I had bought in the Mercato Centrale. Wrapped tightly in a pair of jeans and tucked into the bottom of my suitcase, it … Continue reading →

Posted in Food & Wine, Italy | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Gelato: a truly Italian invention

Posted on August 20, 2012 by

“Filipinos are not settling anymore for the commercialized, not-so-yummy, imported brands [of ice cream]” according to Filipino blogger Anton Diaz in his popular blog ‘Our Awesome Planet’. And indeed I have watched with fascination as local entrepreneurs create their own … Continue reading →

Posted in Food & Wine, Italy, Philippines | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

An End to the Affair

Posted on August 11, 2012 by

I first went to Florence on a decidedly pedestrian bus tour in the mid-1980s. We struck it lucky with the most magical tour guide, however, an English expatriate who was besotted with Florentine art. Sadly, I don’t even remember her … Continue reading →

Posted in Italy, Local Culture | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

A Culinary Mosaic

Posted on July 18, 2012 by

‘Italy, the country with a hundred cities and a thousand bell towers, is also the country with a hundred cuisines and a thousand recipes. Its great variety of culinary practices reflects a history long dominated by regionalism and political division, … Continue reading →

Posted in Food & Wine, Italy, Travel | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment