The south has fried chicken.  Tuscany has ciaccia fritta.  It’s basically fried bread.  What’s not to love, right?  Ciaccia is a flatbread that is used for sandwiches with meat, cheese, veggies – whatever you want to stuff it with.  The ciaccia is sliced and stuffed, kind of like a...

Fall has slowly been taking hold here for the past few weeks.  The days are cooler and the evenings are downright chilly.  You definitely need a jacket and socks.  No more t-shirts and sandals after the sun goes down. No more aperol spritzes for our cocktails.  It’s just too...

It’s a beautiful Sunday and we decided to take a day trip to the Adriatic Coast and have lunch.  It’s less than 100 miles but it takes a good two hours.  That’s because you have to drive over the Apennines to get there. The Apennines run pretty much the...

Our apartment was once the servants quarters for the palace next door and is most certainly the closet I will ever get to living in a palace.  The palace is the Palazzo Taglieschi and is now a museum.  After living here for six weeks, we finally went to the ...

Gelato is one of the great mysteries of life.  Why is it so thick, rich and creamy?  Why does some taste so much better than others?  Why does a little cup of gelato not make you feel like you’ve overdone it?  Why can’t I have it everyday?  Well, of...

David and Edith were only here for ten days, but we managed to see and do a lot in that time.  In addition to seeing major sights and well-known cities, we took them to the Sagra della Polenta, or Blessing of the Polenta, in Monterchi.  It may not be...

David and Edith wanted to travel through the Chianti country (for good reason – it’s unbelievably beautiful) and go to Assisi.  Being the good hosts and tour guides that we are, we obliged them. These are two of our favorite places and both are a very manageable day trip...

People ask us all the time what we miss about the US.  The only thing we really miss are the people dear to us – our family and friends.  We miss them terribly.  Sometimes so much it hurts.  Our grandchildren are growing up without us.  Our oldest had his...

Our friends David and Edith just got here for a visit.  David is one of Steve’s oldest friends and they grew up together in Rome, Georgia.  So, it’s very fitting that we’re getting to see them in Italy (not Rome, but still).  We have a lot of things planned...

It’s getting to be very fall-like here now and it’s perfect convertible weather.  Makes those 90 degree days a distant memory (well, maybe not so distant).  The BMW with no AC is not quite an antique, but it’s close.  It was quite a car in its day, and it...