I am pleased to add this interview to my Taking the Plunge series Sophie Charlotte flourished in ways she never dreamed of after a move to Florence: When did you move to Florence, and what motivated you to make the move? I turned my long distance relationship with Italy into a long-term commitment in 2010, and I chose Florence. Florence has always represented
Read MoreItaly Travel
Post #3 What to do after receiving the Permesso
The Road to Italian Citizenship is Long It is long even when you have Italian grandparents, and when you don't have that, or EU citizenship, the road is ten-years long. I'm five months into my ten-year process and here's how it's stacking up: I received my coveted permesso di soggiorno (permit to stay) in June about a month after I applied.
Read More
The Best Way to Get Your Wine in Italy
Join me for fun in a wine shop in Puglia and learn about the tradition of vino sfuso Vino Sfuso used to the be common way for Italians to get their wine. They would arrive at a nearby winery with their demijohns and fill them with "loose wine." This tradition is not so robust anymore in many regions where people now opt to to get their wine at the supermarket. Many mom-and-pop
Read More
What to do in Gallipoli
"Era considerato l'oro verde," (It was considered green gold,) Marco says as we leave the whitewashed light of the via, and take a tunnel-like stairway down to a cave under the street. I'm in Gallipoli, on the Ionian coast of Puglia, with Italian friends. This area was once part of Magna Grecia (greater Greece,) and Gallipoli's Greek name was Kallí Pólis (beautiful
Read More
Italy’s Pilgrimage Route: How to Plan (part 2)
Packing lessons learned from walking the Via Francigena When I packed for my 40 day solo walk on Italy's pilgrimage route, I thought my pack could be a fifth of my body weight. Wrong. I had to eliminate 6 pounds from it to get it down to 13 pounds— a tenth of my body weight. So if you weigh 130 pounds, your pack shouldn’t be more than 13 pounds (in Kilos, a person weighing
Read More