What being on Italian Reality TV taught me about myself
Casting Call This is the first in a series of entries I’ll be writing about my recent experience being cast as a local expert in a new reality tv show that spotlights four of Italy’s most beautiful and beloved locales: Taormina, Lago di Garda, Napoli and the Chianti (my episode), and features three contestants’ proposals […]
September, full of promise
A typical Italian high schooler’s stack of books. Dictionaries not pictured. Back to School, il rientro/ritorno a scuola First things first, back to school happens later here in Italy than in the majority of US States. While I write this, Florence is fairly empty, there is little traffic, and people are definitely still at […]
Croce e delizia, a blessing and a curse: On chosen exile, place and home
Road Trip! “Expatriates voluntarily live in an alien country, usually for personal or social reasons. Hemingway and Fitzgerald were not forced to live in France. Expatriates may share in the solitude and estrangement of exile, but they do not suffer under its rigid proscriptions.” Edward W. Said, Reflections on Exile I have been back in the […]
Tennis Lessons & Tennis’s Lessons
Italian tennis champion, Jasmine Paolini, celebrates a recent victory Pickleball fans, do not despair! As I told a few pickleball enthusiasts in an online discussion group who were convinced that the sport had not yet made its way across the Atlantic, if you are planning on coming to Italy, you will be able to play […]
Rocking the Cradle of the Renaissance
Music, especially live music, is a big passion of mine, so when June comes around and I smell summer in the air, all I can think about are concerts and festivals. Italy is synonymous with music and the country hosts some of the best music festivals, artists, and concerts in the world year round. Anyone […]
Remember to look up!
I recently read a great article in *The Times about a Pier Paolo Pasolini and Pasolini-film-inspired journey through Italy and I fell in love with the idea because it is exactly the kind of bespoke cultural experience, tailored around one’s passions and loves, that I encourage my clients to embrace. With this article in mind, […]
Sustainable and Sustaining Florence
Earth Month Special Feature 🌳 This strikingly beautiful city, the cradle of the Renaissance, might very well be experiencing a second Renaissance or, at the very least, it’s making mighty efforts to rebrand itself. Always an exceedingly popular tourist destination, Florence has never had problems drawing visitors from the world over who flock to experience […]
Taxing Italy
Demystifying the process of filing tax returns in two countries 🥸 As a US expat parent living in Italy with minor dependents am I eligible for the US child tax benefit? It’s April and that means one thing for those of us from the United States, it’s time to file your tax return! Let’s be […]
Mimosa: the flower, not the cocktail
Why was it that I hadn’t heard of International Women’s Day until I was living in Italy as a young adult? Most Italians I knew were quite familiar with the origin story, which had played out in the U.S., and were quick to share it with me. They also were eager to teach me that […]
Confetti and Stars
Filastrocca Italiana, Italian Nursery Rhyme (translation mine) Buon giorno, Febbraio,Dear February, hello, che mangi frittelleyou, that eat fritters che butti nell’ariaand up to the sky coriandoli e stelle!confetti and stars you throw! In my house, Carnevale is serious business. For many years, however, I routinely forgot about it. As a US expat in Italy, Carnevale […]