The gradual disappearance of bookshops, especially the small independent ones, is something that has truly saddened me over the past few years. Just in Paris, for instance, close t ...
The best season to visit Italy can sometimes be… winter! Yes, the cold season. Take the small hill town of San Gimignano, for instance – known as the “Town of Fine Towers”, ...
I was in Florence last month, strolling across the Ponte Vecchio, when my phone rang. I answered it: “Hi Katharina, it’s Emiko. – Oh, Emiko! How have you been?” We exchange ...
Martin Luther, the famous priest and reforming theologian (1483-1546), once declared: “Beer is made by men, wine by God.” Well, this is a nice pronouncement. But I think I migh ...
A lunch at the beach… Few things in life make my family and I as contented as sharing a nice seaside meal with our best friends. My daughter and her young accomplices enjoy the b ...
Carry a chestnut in your pocket and you’ll never run out of money… No, this is not a piece of advice that I’m trying to give you. It’s a German saying: Eine Kastanie in der ...
Let’s start with a little quiz… The “thing” is edible, naturally liquid, and can taste of sage, artichokes, bananas, peppers, tomatoes or freshly cut grass. And when it is ...
The laws or quirks of fate, call it what you want… I had driven by this former petrol station at least a dozen times before, either in too much of a hurry to drop by, or frustrat ...
“Oh no, La Ménagère is closing down, really?”… This is a cry of disbelief one could hear on the lips of Florentines, over and over again, some ten years ago; La Ménag ...
When I think of the four seasons in Italy, they always remind me of… food. Well, first of all, don’t we say “to season a dish”? But the fact is that I can also connect each ...
In the heart of Tuscany lies a magnificent town which is exceptional in many respects. Founded by the Etruscans in the first millenium BC… Home to a historic center that has ...
If you like good coffee, as I do, the brandname Illy must be familiar to you. Last August, during a concert given in Tuscany by Mark Springer, I was introduced to Francesco Illy, a ...
In our last article, as you may remember, we embarked on a hibernal visit to Vicenza. This week, we shall continue, and conclude, our impassioned tour of the “City of Palladio” ...
How about starting with a quick quiz? Here are the clues… It is a relatively small but very cosmopolitan Italian city. More than two thousand years old. Lying about 60 kilometers ...
Let me tell you a secret: in my family, we are all big addicts. To the point of being incurable. There is one Italian dish we can never get enough of: the pici all’aglione. T ...
“Wine is sunlight held together by water”. A great Italian wrote that. Can you guess who? It’s the same man as the one who said: “And yet it moves!” I’ll give you the a ...
“Well, Anke, I guess we could call it a day, what do you think?” It was 9:30 pm. Anke and I were still in our Paris office, having worked industriously since the morning hours. ...
Today, for a change, we are going to put on our colourful aprons and perform some culinary magic. We’re going to do a conjuring trick improperly called, especially by non-Italian ...
Good heavens, where have I landed?… I must be dreaming. I couldn’t believe my luck. The day before, I had been leafing through a guidebook, looking for a hotel where I coul ...
One of my favourite places in Florence is the Mercato Centrale, also known as the Mercato di San Lorenzo, the largest food market in town. A beautiful glass and cast-iron construct ...
“A woman is like an artichoke: you must work hard to get to her heart.” You will never guess who said that… Inspector Jacques Clouseau. Yes, the French – and always gallant ...
The Kiss… The Tomb of the Poet… Nine Astrological Aspects… Cathedral no 6… The Grass Sofas… The Eternal Lunch… An Island in an Island… The Beauty and the Beast… Mak ...
In vino veritas. This is Latin and it means: “In wine there is truth”. Yes indeed, there is truth in wine, and a lot more as well – design, intent, know-how, genius and life! ...
Eight restaurants in the whole of Italy have three Michelin stars. Located near our Trust&Travel rentals in Frassanelle and La Montecchia – more precisely in Sarmeola di Ruba ...
October 2014… One month which Roberto Rossi, chef and owner of Il Silene, will not easily forget about. “I’m the happiest man on Earth, Katharina! he carolled to me, waving h ...
“Is there anything you’d like us to bring you back from our trip, Katharina?” That was last month. The day before friends of mine would leave for Sardinia. They wanted to bri ...
The reasons we, Northerners, love Italy are numerous. One of them, of course, is the sunshine and mild temperatures that reign all over the country when the rest of Europe is under ...
Italian food, one of the great wonders of the modern world! One of my great passions too, as you probably know by now. Today, I’d like to tell you about a one Michelin star resta ...
“Katharina, this Casalferro wine is absolutely divine! whispered to me one of my neighbours at table. – Divine indeed, I replied, and coming from the oldest winery in Italy, be ...
Every time my family and I go to La Foce for a short or long stay, buying una forma di Pecorino – an entire ewe’s milk cheese – is one of the first things I do on arrival. ...
