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 ...
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 dis ...
The first thing I do when I arrive in Venice? I head out for a glass of wine and a plate of sarde in saor. The sweet and sour preparation of sardines – often served on a slic ...
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 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 ...
Are you a pescatarian? Or do you travel with friends who are vegetarians but you’d still like to try the famous fegato alla Veneziana (calf’s liver Venetian style)? Osteria La ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 arti ...
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 ...
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, ...
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 ...
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 th ...
The 2018 architecture biennale runs through to November 25. The program is based on the theme Free Space which has been put forth by Irish architects and Biennale head curators She ...
The luxury of loving Italy… These are the very last words of Italian Hours, a collection of essays which the great Henry James wrote about the bel paese more than a century ago, ...
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 – ...
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 ...
My mother had a little smile: “Katharina, I would love to spend another holiday in Italy. But I worry about Daisy…” Daisy… the cutest wire-haired dachshund on Earth! ...
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 ...
During the time when I was working on the renovation of our Palazzo Ca’nova, I took countless walks in the area around it, just to explore, stretch my legs, get some fresh air… ...
Good news, I’m starting to be “with it” as far as social media are concerned. You may remember the article I posted in late August about the Trust & Travel Instagram acco ...
It is no secret among my friends that I am a little old-fashioned when it comes to communicating via social media. I still get on the blower a great deal (the smart version) and am ...
Are you planning to take a holiday, for the very first time, in an Italian villa or farmhouse? If so, chances are that, at some point during your stay, you will run into a small ou ...
I was introduced to Jane da Mosto a few months ago at a social and arts event in Venice. Holder of a zoology degree from the University of Oxford as well as a Masters degree from t ...
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 ...
“The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.” Aristotle, the ancient Greek philosopher, enunciated this, and would proba ...
“And that is how Italians are. So terribly physically all over one another. They pour themselves one over the other like so much melted butter over parsnips. They catch each ...
It was last summer, during my very first visit to the Ca’nova Palazzo. At one point, escorted by the delightful owners of the premises, I walked into one of the spacious rooms an ...
A few weeks ago, as you may remember, I started to tell you about the three outstanding apartments which we will soon be adding to our Trust&Travel rental catalogue. These thre ...
Even though we still have to give the project the finishing touches, I can no longer wait to share this with you. We’ll soon be adding to our rental catalogue three beautiful apa ...
“In seed-time learn, in harvest teach, in winter enjoy”… William Blake, the great English poet and painter, wrote these words two centuries ago. ...
Blue… midnight blue, electric blue, royal blue, sky blue… According to public opinions polls conducted in Europe and North America, blue is the most popular colour with both me ...
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 ...
“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. ...
Last week I got a telephone call from my friend Jessica in New York, who had holidayed in one of our Trust & Travel villas in the spring of 2014: “You won’t believe this, K ...
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 ...
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 ...
Few Italian artists have captured the colours of the Veneto Renaissance, its luminous spaces and its splendid architecture as effectively as Paolo Veronese (1528-1588). A series of ...
I used to get a little confused with the thousands of museums and archaeological sites which Italy can boast, particularly with their policies concerning entrance fees, opening hou ...
Phew! I’m a little out of breath. I have just spent a week running around Italy! And now I am at the Venice airport waiting for my return flight to Paris and thinking: “Gee, it ...
“Have you ever been to the Arte Sella biodegradable exhibition, Katharina? – The what? Biodegradable exhibition?! Where on earth is that being held? And for how ...
Attentive readers will not have missed the fact that I have continued my conversation with Francesca Papafava; owner of the Country Estate Frassanelle. We discussed the topics of h ...
In the last but one Blog, that perhaps you have read, in a one-on-one conversation, Francesca Papafava describes the history of her Country Estate and imparts a few insights in to ...
I recently visited Francesca Papafava at her country estate, Frassanelle. Francesca grew up in Milan and decided 10 years ago to manage the family property and this was what we tal ...
“You are going to love the place, I told my sister, after my brother and I picked her up at the Venice airport. – I’m sure I will, she replied. Judging from the ...
“So, what wonder are you promising us today, Katharina? my brother asked me on the fourth day of our family holiday at the Villa Valmarana. – Well, today I suggest we get roman ...
True, I may have a slight tendency to use superlatives when I write, talk or dream about Italy. Superlatives which, however, needless to say, are always well-founded and fully just ...
“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 ...
Villa… A word that calls to mind images and lifestyles which very few people would turn their back on. Here is how the Oxford English Dictionary defines “villa”: A countr ...
“I love the signature of this blog; I find it a perfect combination between nostalgia and current times.” Amiek Krakers, Shanghai ...
This week’s topic is once again related to a “rare” item I purchased for a song many years ago. Not at a flea market this time, but at a charity sale. A set of six modernist ...
“So, where do we go now?” my friend asked with a wry smile as our car stopped for the third time at the same crossroads. We had been driving around the country roads of the Ven ...
As American author Justina Chen Headley wrote in one of her novels: “Adventure in life is good; consistency in coffee, even better.” ...
“How about letting our little friend here perch on your hand? – Um… well… Is he in a good mood?” The “little friend” whom Stefania was introducing me to was a ...
My obsession with good food and restaurants should be somewhat familiar to you by now, I guess. Well, we all have our little failings and addictions, don’t we? This week, I’d l ...
“Phew! We got there, at last!” You left home early this morning and have been travelling all day. Now it’s the evening and you have just arrived at your Trust & Travel de ...
Can you guess… When, in the middle of the day, at work in Paris, I suddenly long for Italy or feel a strong urge for anything Italian, what do I do most of the time? Well, ei ...
Even though he tried, over the phone, to sound calm and composed, I could descry in his voice and tone that he had been thrown off his usual balance ...
This must have happened to you too… One day, your eye is for the first time caught by a very peculiar house, shop or façade, and you think to yourself: “Gee, I’ve walked ...
When I go to Frassanelle – one of the estates featured in our Trust & Travel catalogue, – I sometimes turn into a cavewoman. Or a “grottowoman”, to be more prec ...
Last night, I managed to break into a cocktail party where I met a slightly eccentric English aristocrat: – Catharina ! Posh name ! With a C or with a K ? – With a K. Or wit ...
“I need a new look, I need a new look!” Every time I run into Madame Loiseau, one of my Paris neighbours, this is what I hear: “Don’t tell me I don’t, because I do! Il fa ...
