Tuscany is wine country in the way that Paris is fashion country. It is not just that they make good wine here. It is that wine is woven into the fabric of daily life. The hills are patchworked with vineyards that the same families have tended for generations. The people speak of vintages the way … Read more
Not all Italian food is great. I tell people that, and some don’t believe me, and perhaps you will come to that realization too. Maybe it comes when you bite into a piece of pizza in Naples and suddenly understand why people get emotional about dough. Maybe it hits you in Bologna, watching a grandmother … Read more
Some travel experiences show you a place. Cooking classes let you taste it, knead it, and bring a piece of it home. There’s something deeply satisfying about standing in an Italian kitchen, your hands dusted with flour, learning to make pasta from scratch from someone who learned the exact same technique from their grandmother. It’s … Read more
Every travel guide, every seasoned Italy veteran, and probably your cousin who studied abroad in Florence will tell you the same thing. Never eat near a famous landmark. Walk ten minutes away. Find the alley with no English menu. That is where the real Italy lives. And you know what? They are absolutely right. For … Read more
Most tourists zip through Bologna on the high-speed train between Florence and Venice. That’s a mistake. A big one. Bologna has three nicknames, and they tell you everything you need to know. La Rossa – the Red – for its terracotta rooftops and its left-leaning politics. La Dotta – the Learned – because it’s home to the oldest university … Read more
Val d’Orcia. Rolling hills that shift from bright green in spring to soft gold in summer. Rows of cypress trees standing like dark sentinels on ridgelines. Little stone farmhouses that haven’t changed in centuries. My wife still talks about the first time we crested the hill near Pienza and just stopped talking. We sat there … Read more
My wife and I have a rule when we travel through Italy. We never order the same wine twice in a row. This rule has led to some disasters. In a small trattoria outside Orvieto, I once ordered a local red that smelled like a barnyard and tasted even worse. My wife took one sip … Read more
I still remember my first meal in Rome, standing in the shadow of the Pantheon. The waiter called me over with a smile, the menu had pictures of spaghetti and meatballs, and I thought I’d found heaven. Instead, I found lukewarm pasta from a bag and a cover charge that made my eyes water. The … Read more