Shopping

Jun 7, 2022
Cheese & Wine at the ‘Corzano e Paterno’ farm

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, an ...

Jul 15, 2019
TENUTA LA FRATTA

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 ...

Jul 6, 2019
SHOPPING IN STYLE

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 ...

Mar 6, 2019
CASATO PRIME DONNE

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, ...

Feb 18, 2019
FLORENCE AND YOUR… AUTOMOBILE

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 ...

Feb 4, 2019
IN DAYS OF OLD AND OF NEW

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 ...

Jan 2, 2019
LIVORNO’S GREAT SNACK

Every once in a while – and always when I’m embarking on a New Year – I feel the urge to gorge myself on a delicious cecina, a chickpea flatbread which is the typical street ...

Dec 13, 2018
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, ...

Aug 14, 2018
One of Italy’s Most Beautiful Food Markets

I have always loved wandering in the aisles of markets, covered or open-air ones. So when I found out, in Giulia Scarpaleggia’s excellent cookbook, From the Markets of Tuscany, t ...

May 14, 2018
Under the Tuscan Sun

When actor Colin Firth, an Academy Award winner, and Eco Age founder Livia Firth decide to actively foster a little-known refugee project in Southern Tuscany, you can reasonably su ...

Mar 26, 2018
Italian Leather Craftsmanship

My love for the bel paese has always been closely related to my passion for fine leather bags. And when I say “fine leather bags”, I don’t necessarily mean Gucci or Prada – ...

Mar 12, 2018
High water in Venice

I had been to Venice a hundred times before, at least, and never, ever had I witnessed the phenomenon which I had been reading and hearing about for more than twenty years. And the ...

Jan 29, 2018
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 ...

Oct 26, 2017
The Italian Capital Within Arm’s Reach

Good news: all roads lead to Rome and, in some cases, will take you back to your starting point before the end of the day! I experienced this two or three times last summer. After ...

Jun 28, 2017
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 ...

May 2, 2017
Across the Big Blue Sea

By now, dear followers, you are as convinced as I am that Italy is a dreamland, aren’t you? And I think I told you once that the bel paese is the country which boasts the highest ...

Mar 28, 2017
Cosy, Multipurpose and Florentine to the Core

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 ...

Feb 28, 2017
Sure-footed with Venetian Furlane

In order to properly oversee the restoration, decoration and final touches of our new exclusive project in Venice – the Ca’nova Palazzo with its four superb holiday rental apar ...

Nov 9, 2016
Sartorial Elegance in Montalcino

“You have created most of these lovely dresses and jackets, Renata? – Yes, Katharina, my sister and I have designed them. The bags and scarves too. – Wow! Talent obviously ru ...

Jun 16, 2016
Italian Porcelain Art at its Peak

My friends were stealing a glance at me with a quizzical eyebrow. I know what they were thinking deep down inside, especially their two teenage kids: “You’re really taking us t ...

Feb 10, 2015
Florence’s Artisan Quarter

Like the Seine in Paris, the Thames in London and the Styx in the Underworld, an old dignified river flows across the city of Florence, dividing it, inevitably, into two river bank ...

Sep 29, 2014
Another Exceptional Tailor

“If you are out to describe the truth, leave elegance to the tailor.” You will never guess who said that… Albert Einstein. Here is the story of another great Italian tailor w ...

May 18, 2014
Lucca – One of Italy’s Great Antique Markets

Last week, I was tidying up a cupboard in my Parisian flat – it needed it badly – when I stumbled upon a small ceramic vase I had bought at Lucca’s antique market a few years ...

Feb 14, 2014
My Tailor is… in Umbria

“I think it’s high time I bought a new suit, Katharina! Would you accompany me to my tailor’s boutique to help me choose? I trust your taste.” ...

Nov 28, 2013
Christmas shopping in Siena

“Mummy, are we going back to the Christmas market this year? You know the one where the houses are all yellow and orange?” Her bright eyes filled with hope and anticipation, my ...

Main Shop
Apr 18, 2013
Very Old Florentine Apothecaries

Pharmacies, drugstores, chemist’s shops, dispensaries– whatever you call them – are not exactly the kind of place most of us like to hang around. We go there to buy some medi ...

MY plates - in the end I got them!
Jan 4, 2013
The Cream of Italian Ceramics

“I’m really fond of these plates, Katharina. Where did you get them? – A little less than a thousand kilometers from here. – Let me guess… In Italy, right?” Yes, in Ita ...

Hand sewing of a bag
Dec 7, 2012
My Favourite Leather Shops in Florence

One of my closest friends has been dreaming of that for years: a dark green belt made of the best Italian leather. She’s lucky because Christmas is around the corner, and I know ...

Dried spagetti
Nov 30, 2012
Tuscany, so sweet to your tastebuds… once again!

No, I did not know what good, real good pasta was until… Here is the story of one the great gastronomic discoveries of my life. I was dwelling in a Tuscan farmhouse near Merc ...

1930-1940
Nov 2, 2012
The Design Genius of Ferragamo

The last time I ran into Mrs. Loiseau, one of my Paris neighbours – I introduced her to you in my very first article, – she was wearing flashy sling back shoes which she had j ...

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