Sneak Peak of our travel app Inside Italy

I am very excited about the launch of our Trust&Travel-Inside Italy app. The travel app takes our blog one step further and allows us to share all the Italy insight we have discovered over the years: the tiny vineyards, unknown artisans, quiet chapels, and family-run restaurants that make this country so special. Continue Reading →

Special Gem: a newly opened Palazzo on the Grand Canal

Whenever I’m on a vaporetto on the Canal Grande, I admire the facades of the palazzos lining it and wonder what’s behind them. Most of the buildings on the canal were the exquisite homes of the city’s patrician families. Some still are – as in the case of our Palazzo Ca’nova (a bit about its history here).

Some have been turned into museums. Palazzo Vendramin Grimani opened its doors to the public only last year. The Palazzo goes back to the 15th century and was lived in by the same family until 1959. It now belongs to a foundation. Having undergone complete restoration, it will host exhibitions.

In 2022, during the Venice Biennale of Art, the palazzo shows works of Bosco Sodi. The Brazilian artist prepared the show while staying at the palazzo and shared some enticing ‘behind the scenes’ on Instagram.

Palazzo Vendramin Grimani – April 23 to November 27, 2022 (closed on Wednesdays and Thursdays).

 

Katharina's Italy

Medici Villas and Gardens

Look what I’ve just found! A website about the 14 UNESCO heritage Medici villas and gardens in northern Tuscany. In the past, I visited many of them, but finding these properties required quite a bit of detective work. Thanks to the new Medici villas website, planning a visit has become much easier.

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INVITATION TO A VENETIAN OPENING

How did you celebrate, dear readers, your leap into the New Year?… I sincerely hope you had a smooth and joyful transition, and that 2020 is holding lovely surprises in store for you.

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THE SEVEN-YEAR… SPARKLE

Okay, time to crack open a bottle of champagne : the 200 mark is now being reached!

Yes, dear readers, since 2012, the year I started the Trust & Travel blog, 199 riveting articles have been published before the one you are now devouring – no. 200, as it turns out, and a good opportunity, I thought, to forego the usual travel insights and give you a bit of an update on all the exciting things that have taken place over the last seven years in our little sphere of activity.

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PAOLO AT THE PALAZZO

You never know what life has in store for you… Years ago, when I lived in Florence, I met and became friends with Paolo Fiumi, a then budding architect. At that time, though, I never imagined that some day I would work with Paolo for the refurbishing of a palatial apartment right by the Grand Canal in Venice.

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TOUCHING WOOD…

I really love giving books as Christmas presents, especially books about Italian art, handicrafts, touring, food and wine. And there won’t be any exception to the rule this year, since I’ll be offering to three of my friends the beautiful “Woodworking : Traditional Craft for Modern Living”.

The authors of this book, Andrea Brugi and Samina Langholz, an Italo-Danish husband-and-wife duo, very nicely show how anyone, without the tools or expertise of an artisan, and by blending Tuscan elegance with the sleek lines of Scandinavian design, can turn bits of reclaimed wood into stools, egg cups, clothes racks, and what have you.

Exclusively crafted in their Maremma workshop, Andrea and Samina’s olive wood creations can be found on their website, in selected shops around the world, and on their Instagram.

 

Katharina's Italy

A Master of Contemporary Design and Architecture

When thinking of Italian art and architecture, most people see, in their mind’s eye, Roman ruins, Renaissance masterpieces and Baroque churches. And we may even wonder whether the bel paese, in this particular sphere, has ever made it into the Modern Age…

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A Fine Venetian Linen Designer

I think I have already told you this once, perhaps even twice: I have been in love with linen and fabrics for a very long time, especially Italian ones.

Lying just a leisurely ten minutes’ walk from our Palazzo Ca’nova, one of my favourite shops in Venice happens to be successfully run by a highly talented fabric designer: Chiarastella Cattana.

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A Nice Little Mess in Montisi

A few weeks ago, under clear blue skies, I was on my way from Montalcino to Perugia when the fancy of a good Italian coffee insidiously took me. I decided to make a stop in Montisi, a lovely village which I hadn’t visited in ages.

I was strolling down Montisi’s main street, heading towards the bar I had made out from a distance, when I got sidetracked by a little shop on my right. Atop the entrance I could read the words Macelleria Casini – “macelleria” being the Italian word for “butcher’s shop”. Not a single chunk of fresh meat was displayed in the window, though; just a colourful kaleidoscope of printed textiles.

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