A Celebration for the Senses
One of the things I love about living in Anghiari is that it’s a small town with a big city vibe. It’s rare to go for more than a few weeks without some event or celebration. And they almost all center around food, which makes it even more appealing...
Ghouls, Goblins, and Church
Halloween has its origins in ancient Celtic traditions concerning the end of the year and the disposition of souls to the otherworld. Eventually, the Catholic church got on board and moved their All Saints Day to November 1, making Halloween All Hallows Eve. Then November 2 is All Souls...
Road Trip
We took a road trip recently to the Adriatic coast. We’ve decided that now that things are somewhat settled for us, we should take an overnight trip about once a month. We’d like to go to places we’ve never been, but since we’ve been traveling here for over 20...
Germans and Italians
Germans and Italians have a history. Well, Germans and a lot of people have histories, but the one with Italy is complicated. They’re neighbors, but completely different in their worldview. They’re both European, but with very different sensibilities. They both flirted with Fascism, then took very different path forward. ...
The Tree of Life
Few things are as iconic of the Italian landscape as the cypress tree. This is especially true in Tuscany, where you see them lining curving drives and punctuating even the most humble vistas. Their neat, columnar shape make them ideal for wedging into a garden to provide vertical structure. ...
Sunday in Florence
One of the absolute best things about living where we do is that we are less than two hours from Florence, one of the greatest cities in the world. To finish up my birthday week, we decided to spend the day in Florence just because we could. We had...
A Birthday on Two Continents
Birthdays roll around every year to remind us that as much as we don’t like to think so, we are getting older by the minute. They provide us with the framework we need to mark time. I can watch other people age, but I live my life not through...
Saturday Night in a Small Town
I’ve spent many Saturday nights in small Southern towns. My formative years were full of them. But nothing beats Saturday night in a small Italian town. Steve and I went to our favorite bar, the Bar della Sport (we call it the sports bar) on Friday for our happy...
The View from the Other Side
I used to walk every morning before work in Atlanta. I took the same route and walked the same pace. On the weekends, Steve and I would walk Millie together. Sometimes we would go on parts of my morning walk, but in the opposite direction. It was always amazing...
Gluttony and Other Virtues
Santuario della Verna I really don’t know what my fascination with St. Francis is. I was raised Southern Baptist and we didn’t do saints and such. But for some reason, St. Francis strikes a chord with me. Maybe it’s because he was all over this part of Italy. Maybe...