…the beautiful beach cove, I had read about and dreamt about while researching Puglia last winter, which is isolated in a nature preserve just north of Galipoli and west of Nardo’ – is where I just happened upon a small B&B sign (Villa Chiara) that was the happy serendipitous answer to the 3pm question ‘where ..
Tag : Italy
…never happened this year since it would cost the farmers more to harvest them than they could then sell them for – leading to some sad but beautiful fields of rotting watermelons as far as you can see – one of many local agricultural anecdotes, aspects, stories, visions which have brought me here to the ..
…is a pleasure the way all Italian markets are, where you are given an instant taste of the precise season, climate, weather, landscape, culture, economy, history, habits, and personalities of the region, and this morning it was mushrooms, mushrooms, mushrooms – all gorgeous varieties – being cleaned and prepared by expert knife-wielding hands at my ..
…the Italian town I have been curious about and yet to visit was conveniently on my way from Aix-en-Provence to Brindisi, so after a long windy scenic train ride along the French Riviera with front row seats to the late August bikini-clad bathing French masses, I arrived in this pretty but rough around the edges port ..
…was sad to say this morning at 10:15am as we took off from Fiumicino, USA bound for a couple of weeks before returning to bounce around Europe for projects, talks, research, and even a little recreation for most of the rest of..
…is the village overlooking Lake Bracciano north of Rome where we traveled this afternoon to interview Massimo at Agriturismo Acquaranda, for the Roma Mangia Roma book, to hear about his experiences with food, in particular with making cheese on the land where his father made cheese (which it turns out that he doesn’t even eat), ..
…in the Sabina of Lazio was the destination of our morning road trip to visit Oretta Zanini de Vita (the font of inspiration and information regarding cucina Italiana and staunch advocate for taking food seriously as culture at the highest level) at her house in the country – built in the 70’s with found windows ..
…was my last minute destination of choice this morning to escape the city for a day, biking to Termini and hopping on a train to take me to the ancient and current Roman beach resort town, and yes there are picturesque beaches, and yes there are Roman ruins, but most enchanting is the historic hill ..
…and financial woes are making international news, with austerity plans in the works (here is an Guardian editorial by my political hero from Puglia, Nichi Vendola), and this afternoon as I’m biking by Palazzo di Montecitorio – the Italian Chamber of Deputies – I pay special attention to the usual modest assemblage of protests and ..
…is mostly my reason for stopping off on my way north to Germany – to my old island home (from 1990-91 while studying at I.U.A.V. – though it sure has changed in that short time – with the tourist mobs now seeming to run the place) since I avoided the stresses and crowds of the ..
…along the stunning coastline of the Italian Riviera in Levanto just north of Cinque Terre is made possible thanks to the re-routing of the train line inland, which made it’s previous path through a series of cool grotto-like cavernous tunnels available for dedicated paths for people moving on foot or t..
…or ‘five lands’ are the colorful Ligurian villages hugging the rugged coastline of the Italian Riviera which have maintained their precious antiquated state, partially due to their inaccessibility by cars, prompting a 1997 UNESCO World Heritage Site designation, which resulted in recent ramped up tourist activity – evidenced by our Italian friend and host who ..
…is the Ligurian beach town where my friend, and before that her her mother, grew up spending summers in a cute yellow house on the main street of town which her grandparents bought decades ago, and here is what we like about this place: almost all of the buildings have elaborate hand-painted trompe-l’oeil architectural details ..
…conducted yesterday just blocks from my studio on the top floor of a modern Monteverde apartment building was with Gianfranco Baruchello (b. 1924) – the Roman artist whose book “How to Imagine” and 1970’s farm as art project Agricola Cornelia have been a recent inspiration – and we got comfortable in the living area of his ..
…is the most idyllic and purely conceived of hilltop Lazian towns which we have made a Sunday pilgrimage to, around Monti Cimini and dominated by the great pentagonal Renaissance genius of Villa Farnese (where upon entry into its hollow cylindrical central courtyard we were drawn by sounds of Mozart into the first great painted room ..
…is what I have been up to (as any Italian friend who I have bored with endless Puglia talk and questions over the past six months knows well), becoming increasingly fascinated by and fixated on this most southeastern region of Italy (heel of the boot) the more I learn – like their gay green anti-mafia ..
…the sad deserted wastelandish no-mans-land 1988 iconic civic center with town hall, theater, housing project, and modern piazza elevated on a parking podium by renowned Italian architect Aldo Rossi (with whom I did my thesis project at the I.U.A.V. in 1991) is what I happened upon on my way out of town today – while ..
…a massive architects gathering in it’s first year in Perugia – is where I headed this morning to hear from a few of the endless list of design world personalities partaking in a four day series of talks, events and conversations including Aaron Betsky, Petra Blaisse (who described some recent garden and curtain projects), Stefano ..
…is the medieval hill town we have traveled an hour north of Rome to visit this morning – having been on the top of my list of obscure places to visit in Italy for years – which was the supposed home of the Holy Prepuce (foreskin of Jesus) and later condemned and vacated in the ..
…is what now occupies the small Roman village which was sacked and abandoned to malaria in the Middle Ages just off Via Appia Antica south of Rome – and here we are today for an Easter picnic surrounded by many extended Italian families with the same idea, shaded by the rustic rambling rickety timber picnic ..
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