Tuscany’s unsalted bread is not for everybody – some love it, some don’t. A new mill and bakery south of Siena is making everybody happy. The Mulinum Buonconvento encourages farmers to organically grow ancient grain varieties. The flour is then ground and transformed by the local Mulinum. Continue Reading →
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 →
Halfway between Siena and Florence, there is a little farm that seems to have been sitting on its hill forever. Fattoria Corzano e Paterno produces excellent wine and olive oil, and a variety of Tuscan sheep cheeses that I can never resist. Continue Reading →
In April 2022, Venice will host Homo Faber, an international exhibition that champions artisanship from Europe, and this year also from Japan.
We’re especially excited about the opportunity Homo Faber provides to discover the workshops of Venetian artisans. To find a workshop (most are free) browse the ‘In Città’ section of the Homo Faber website, select a category (e.g., glassblowing or bookbinding) and book your spot early.
You can use the website as a resource even if you’re not in Venice this spring. It showcases some of the best artisans and workshops in town, and many of them offer visits and activities all-year round.
We found the workshop of Piero Dri like this. At Il Forcolaio Matto, the talented Venetian craftsman produces oars and forcolas, the crucial parts of any gondola.
HOMO FABER – from April 10 to May 1, 2022. Many of the 15 shows will take place in the beautiful spaces of the Giorgio Cini Foundation on Isola San Giorgio Maggiore.
At the junction of Umbria and Tuscany lies the Val di Chiana, a wide fertile valley boasting lovely medieval villages, beautiful rural landscapes and the eponymous Chianina cattle breed, from which the best bistecca Fiorentina is prepared.
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 retail therapy, mind you, centered on genuine time-honoured artisan creations!
Why on earth did I think that Italy no longer held any secrets for me?… I came down with a bump when my beloved sister Victoria Trauttmansdorff made me discover a gem of a little Florentine restaurant situated within the lively Sant’Ambrogio market.
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, she wanted to hire a young cellar master. So she got in touch with the University of Siena to ask whether there were any graduates looking for a job. And the answer was: No, unfortunately they Continue Reading →
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 visiting Florence: “Will I easily find a place to park?” Continue Reading →
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 the “Manhattan of the Middle Ages”, as it is nicknamed, is also one of the best places in Italy to see… contemporary art!
