Search results for: Golden Day Ten (Page 11)

I began dreaming about Stresa, a jewel of a town on Lago Maggiore, in high school when I read Ernest Hemingway’s Farewell to Arms. At the end of the story he deserts the army and heads to Stresa, to the arms of the British nurse he’s crazy about. I fell into romantic imaginings about Henry and Catherine at the Hotel des Iles Borromees… More recently, I’ve discovered Stresa Sights, a beautiful blog written by Dana Kaplan (a New York native), who now lives part time in Stresa and fills her posts with gorgeous photos and great up to date info for travelers to discover theRead More →

For more fun in the Italian Alps, I’ve been hearing raves about Bella Baita B&B, a mountain retreat about an hour from Torino, in Serre Marchetto, on the French border in the Val Chisone. Guests write that their stay here was “a trip of a lifetime”. Most tell me first about the location, with its amazing views of the alps and fresh mountain air, and all the wonderful hiking, cycling and skiing around there, but then they rave even more about their hosts, Marla and Fabrizio, two profesional chefs who love guests. Marla is an American wizard of a pastry chef (so be prepared for amazing breads and sweetsRead More →

We’ll leave the Aeolian Islands, and head to an elegant spot in Sicily: cliffside Taormina. After Goethe “discovered” this place, it became a hotspot for artists, writers, and glitterati–beloved by Oscar Wilde, D.H. Lawrence, John Steinbeck, Truman Capote, Tennessee Williams, Liz Taylor, Monica Vitti, Sophia Loren…you get the idea. As my Sicilian friend Loredana Grasso says, putting it nicely, “It’s a gem, it’s picturesque, it can be…touristy!” Which is why Loredana is helping me guide you along a Golden Day, giving her insider’s tips. I have had some lovely stays in Taormina, with Backroads and Country Walkers, which is where I met Loredana. She is an adventurousRead More →

One of my favorite memories of Italy 2010 was spending time with Renée Restivo in the beautiful baroque town of Noto. Renée is Sicilian-American, and I loved hearing her stories of Sunday dinners at her Aunt Sadie’s in Astoria, Queens–which is where her passion for Sicilian cuisine was born. She went on to work as an assistant at top culinary schools in New York and Italy. Then, while visiting her Sicilian cousins, she became enchanted with Noto and decided to create her own company, Soul of Sicily, here. Last October, I showed up in Noto and got the chance to sample Soul of Sicily’s cooking classes (deliciousRead More →

We’re sticking around southeastern Sicily–home to those dreamy towns that showcase the Sicilian Baroque. Years ago, I was lucky to ride a bike into Modica, get wowed by the architecture and taste the town’s famous chocolate. The visit was all too brief. Which is why I am so grateful to have found Katia Amore online through her Love Sicily website and blog, which is full of great info about the area and mouth-watering recipes. Katia was born in Modica and grew up amidst  a family of great cooks. After years of working in the UK as a university researcher in ethnic relations, she returned with her husbandRead More →

As we approach Thanksgiving, there is much to be grateful for! To Celebrate,  We’re Giving To Commenters,  Selected in a RANDOM DRAWING   TEN BOOKS ABOUT ITALY AND A SUBSCRIPTION TO THE DREAM OF ITALY NEWSLETTER    TO PLAY: Complete This Sentence In The Comment Section Below: One Golden Moment in Italy for me was __________ OR One Golden Moment in Italy for me will be _________ Write the first thing that comes to your mind,  for example: –Tasting that panino–prosciutto and ripe fig–that morning in the Campo dei Fiori or –Seeing Titian’s Assumption for the first time or –Soaking in that outdoor thermal tub in Bormio, surrounded by the  snow-covered Dolomites, thatRead More →

I first encountered award-winning writer/photographer Jann Huizenga years ago when a friend mailed me one of her beautiful travel articles that was published in the New Mexican. Jann’s story was about the Val di Noto–an area of southeastern Sicily that’s been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. I’d become enchanted with the place while on a Backroads biking trip–oohing and aahing over its fields of wildflowers and herbs, hills of almond and olive trees, and best of all its villages: Ragusa Ibla, Modica, and Noto–which are among Sicily’s many hidden treasures– fabulously adorned with stunning Sicilian baroque architecture. Jann first visited the area in 1990, when it was rundown and virtuallyRead More →

To get to the enchanting island of Ortygia, you cross over a bridge from Siracusa and enter what feels like a way-back machine. Traffic is limited here, so all is slowed down and peaceful. This was the land where the sea nymph Calypso lured Odysseus. A Golden Day here begins at the morning market, that’s not large, yet impressive with enthusiastic vendors and varieties of fish–from glistening sardines to gigantic tuna. It’s also a great place to buy capers or chocolate from Modica to take home. Ortygia’s masterpiece is the Piazza Duomo, rectangular-shaped, flanked by buildings that elegantly showcase the Sicilian baroqoe style. At the center of it all isRead More →

Through the wonderful way that Italian connections happen,  my friend Carol Coviello-Malzone, (author of Flavors of Rome),  introduced me to Chef Andrea Tiberi, a young, super-talented gentleman who was born and grew up in Umbria–on a farm just outside of Assisi.  Andrea’s passion and gift  for cooking took him up the professional ladder (he’s cooked for The Pope!) and four years ago he moved to the USA to head  up Eatalian, a company that promotes the cuisine of Italy–through catered events and deliveries in the Connecticut Tri-State area. Eatalian also offers fun cooking classes (in collaboration with Select Italy) in a cool Soho Loft space. One of Andrea’s most beloved spotsRead More →

 I was reading  Eat Pray Love–the part where Liz Gilbert describes one of her new friends, (named Elizabeth), and I was struck by this line:  “With an apartment in Rome, a house in Umbria, an Italian husband and a job that requires her to travel around Italy eating food and writing about it for Gourmet, it appears that the second Elizabeth must have saved a lot of orphans from drowning in a previous lifetime.” I guessed (correctly) that this Elizabeth had to be the wonderful writer Elizabeth Helman Minchilli. For decades my Italian travel file folders have been filled with Minchilli’s beautiful articles I’ve clipped from magazines sheRead More →