Summer (mostly) in the City
It’s been a while since I’ve spent the better part of the summer in Italy and for most of it I’ll be in Florence. This year is quite unusual and dictated primarily by my daughter’s eighteenth birthday which falls smack in the middle of the summer. Turning eighteen is a huge deal in Italy and […]
Oxygen
I just got back from a digital detox weekend in Tuscany where I spent 48 blissful, device-free hours. The ultimate goal of this particular retreat was to transform six stressed superwomen into zen superwomen. Sound like a mission impossible? Well, I thought so, too. Fortunately Sandrine Kom is persistent — yet always gentle — and […]
Under the Influence
Podcast – Making your dreams of moving to Italy a reality with Fosca D’Acierno
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 […]
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 […]
Il Corbezzolo: Eternal Symbol of Italy
Let’s talk about the strawberry tree, or arbutus unedo, in Italian il corbezzolo, and its importance in Italian culture. This photo was taken during a walk with Frankie, our Sicilian rescue pup, in the woods just outside of Florence.