I love pasta. I love pizza. But variety in the spice of life, and I just can’t get behind the argument that it’s possible to eat pasta every day because there are “so many kinds.” It’s still noodles and sauce, and sometimes you want something different. My burning desire for “not Italian” can sometimes lead […]
I love the San Lorenzo neighborhood. It’s a bit off the beaten path and has plenty of cheap eats like Super Pizza. With a plethora of traditional, affordable restaurants, we had long raised a wary eyebrow at the modern design of Pastificio San Lorenzo. (These phone pictures won’t do it justice). The cool, contemporary restaurant […]
No government. No pope. Everything is just chugging right along here in Rome. I don’t know how you could have possibly missed this news item, but- the pope retired. I will leave the analysis of this nearly unprecedented act to those who know their history, like Tiffany. To summarize: Pope: Bye. Rome: You’ll be with […]
It’s been a rough week, for both personal and political reasons. I don’t want to think about bad things, like Berlusconi trying to bribe the electorate. I want to think about nice things, like amatriciana pizza. Amatriciana is a quintessential Roman dish. Well, it’s not from Rome, but it is from Lazio (the region Rome […]
Between the pope retiring, and the upcoming elections, Rome is all a flutter. The Pope may be stealing the international spot light, but walk down any street in Rome and all you will see are miles of campaign posters. In my humble, not-at-all eligible to vote opinion, this one is the best: C’mon, you guys! […]
Pitigliano is a town in Tuscany’s Maremma region that seems to grow spectacularly out of the cliff on to which it is built. The buildings, and the rocky crag for that matter, are all made of tufo or tuff rock. Pitigliano is a major destination in its own right, but it is also perfectly located to […]
After a great lunch in Sovana, we had earned a little R&R. We piled back into our cinque cento, clown car style, and set off for the nearby village of Saturnia. Exploring another Tuscan town was not the priority. Instead, we were on the hunt for thermal hot springs. The Saturnia hot springs are in […]
With a New Year’s resolution to make the most of our time in Italy, a few friends and I hatched a plan to get out of Rome for the weekend. One of my colleagues is from the southwest corner of Tuscany, so that seemed like a good place to start. We picked up our rental car […]
