When in Maremma, I often stop in Grosseto for a quick lunch or a bit of shopping. On my last visit, I noticed many ‘for rent’ signs stuck on empty storefronts in the town centr ...
At the end of the 19th century, Mariano Fortuny acquired palazzo Pesaro degli Orfei, a 15th century Palazzo in the center of Venice. The eclectic Mariano Fortuny was a painter, pho ...
Art, theater, film – who doesn’t love a peak behind the scenes? Which is exactly what the Florentine museum Casa Buonarroti provides during the Artemisia Svelata (Artemisia Unv ...
I am just back from the small town of Lubriano in northern Lazio. I went for the Infiorata, the flower carpet procession held for the Ascension. ...
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 exqui ...
In March 2022, the most important Donatello exhibition ever opens its doors in Florence. Over 50 museums from all over the world have lent works by the famous Renaissance master. T ...
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 ...
The inspiring 2021 Venice Architecture Biennale explores the most crucial question: “How will we live together?” ...
I feel we could all use some good news from the bel paese…. I have always been an ardent admirer of British actress Emma Thompson. In addition to her great performing skills, thi ...
On October 5 of the year 1554, more than 250 orphans were bluntly expelled from the Republic of Siena. The city had been under siege for 9 months and its government decreed that th ...
Last month, my daughter returned from school one day with an elated heart: “Mummy, I have to write a theme about some artists! Female artists!” I responded with a big smile and ...
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 ...
This happens to all of us: time and time again you pass by a place without ever paying much attention to it, and then one day, God knows why, you finally decide to stop and have a ...
If the shoe fits, wear it… Well, I will gladly sport any Italian quality shoe that fits me! – did I ever tell you that I’m a bit of a footwear appassionata too? Italy’s fir ...
On our way back to Paris from Italy, in August, we decided to pull off the highway in Aosta, the capital city of the bel paese’s smallest and least populated region. The p ...
People have often asked me: “What is the best time of year to visit Venice, Katharina?” And invariably my answer has been: “Off season, especially in wintertime. And if you w ...
Originally established in 1895, the world-famous Venice Biennale is holding this year, until the 24th of November, its 58th edition – and I will not miss it, needless to say, for ...
Even though my work is firmly rooted in the bel paese, it never ceases to offer me opportunities to meet new people from every corner of the world and learn about their customs and ...
In my unremitting quest, along the roads of Italy, for new properties to add to our Trust & Travel catalogue, I often give in to one of my guilty pleasures: retail therapy. But ...
When I drop by a village bar in Italy, I often see, hanging on the wall, a black and white photo showing the town’s central piazza filled with lively locals – a scene which unf ...
A few months ago, I could have given you a thousand good reasons to visit Sicily – if you needed any. But this number, in my book, has recently gone up to one thousand and one, l ...
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, ...
April 1st,1939. The spectre of an all-out war in Europe is looming. The Anglo-American writer and philanthropist Iris Origo – then owner of the La Foce estate in the Val d’Orci ...
Years ago, during a dinner in Montalcino, I overheard winemaker Donatella Cinelli Colombini tell the story of her winery. When she started producing her own Brunello wine in 1998, ...
In large cities, one of the greatest challenges posed to car owners is, of course, parking one’s beloved motorcar. This is one of the top five questions I hear from our clients v ...
San Gimignano… A lovely Tuscan town famous for its 13 medieval “tower houses” – and which I invited you, in a previous article, to visit in the much quieter wintertime. But ...
At any time of the year, our Palazzo Ca’nova Borsato apartment offers a breathtaking view of the Serenissima’s Grand Canal. But during the world-famous Carnival, this view beco ...
Rumour has it that the great Tintoretto, born Jacopo Comin in 1518, and nicknamed Il Furioso for his phenomenal brushstroke energy, had written this inspirative motto on the walls ...
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, ...
You certainly are familiar with the sound of the harpsichord, and would probably recognize the instrument itself if you saw one. But have you ever seen how it is built? Last week, ...
