
While having a caffè, coffee before the show, we asked Massimo, the Odeon chief whether the concert was sold out. He said, “No! Ci sono molto sedie vuote, there are many empty seats.” Hmmm. (more…)

While having a caffè, coffee before the show, we asked Massimo, the Odeon chief whether the concert was sold out. He said, “No! Ci sono molto sedie vuote, there are many empty seats.” Hmmm. (more…)

Florence is the queen city of restaurants. There are literally hundreds of them, from quaint to elegant. From simple to gourmet. From traditional to nouvelle. Tourists pack the restaurants every night of the week, and all will gladly relive their favorites with you. But where can you find great traditional food at local prices? This is the real question. And with this question, the field narrows. (more…)

C’era una volta, once upon a time . . . in the Tuscan hills just north of Florence, Italy, lived some very poor farmers. Their homes were usually one room, built high in the mountains, where both family and animals dwelled together. Life was difficult, but they were thankful for what they had. (more…)

Our friends down the hill Sabrina and Roberto, hired Alessio Merciai, a local historian, to research and write the story of their beloved villa, Il Trebbiolo. They have been working non-stop for 10 years to restore it to the grandeur of its finest hour in the 16th century, and they’ve done a fantastic job. The book is now finished, so we picked up a copy the other day to check it out. It reads like a reverse murder mystery—instead of trying to find out who done it, as in something really bad, they are trying to solve the riddle of who done it so good, because it is such a beautiful place today. That alone makes this story very different from any other. (more…)