d42 | Katharina's Italy

Enlarge 0 Comment

BIKING ALONG THE TYRRHENIAN SEA

Some day – hopefully in a not too distant future – we’ll be able to cycle along the Mediterranean coast on a dedicated bike path that will stretch from the Eternal City all the way to the French-Italian border in Ventimiglia. According to an official project ratified in 2016 by the regions of Liguria, Lazio and Tuscany, the local cycling trails which already exist will be complemented with many new sections so as to form the uninterrupted 1200 km long Ciclovia Tirrenica!

Continue Reading →

Enlarge 0 Comment

TESTING WATERS IN TUSCANY

Ah, springtime!… Longer days, blooming trees, twirling swallows and, above all, – I may have mentioned this to you before – my very first swim of the year in the Mediterranean!

This inaugural sea dip usually takes place in April somewhere on the Tuscan coast. This year, though, because of a persistent cold North wind, it looked as if this ritual might have to be postponed to some later date. But having finally decided against any rain check, my family and I tried our luck at one of the South-facing bays on the Monte Argentario peninsula, and found nothing else there than a little patch of paradise…

Continue Reading →

Enlarge 0 Comment

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 food of Liguria and Northern Tuscany.

Continue Reading →

Enlarge 0 Comment

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, since I’ll be offering to three of my friends the beautiful “Woodworking : Traditional Craft for Modern Living”.

The authors of this book, Andrea Brugi and Samina Langholz, an Italo-Danish husband-and-wife duo, very nicely show how anyone, without the tools or expertise of an artisan, and by blending Tuscan elegance with the sleek lines of Scandinavian design, can turn bits of reclaimed wood into stools, egg cups, clothes racks, and what have you.

Exclusively crafted in their Maremma workshop, Andrea and Samina’s olive wood creations can be found on their website, in selected shops around the world, and on their Instagram.

Enlarge 0 Comment

In Audrey Hepburn’s Two-Wheeled Wake

I did it, at long last! Wandering about the streets of Rome on Italy’s iconic motor scooter, the Vespa!

I had been dreaming of this since I had first seen, as a child, the 1953 romantic comedy film “Roman Holiday”, in which the beautiful woman I was lucky enough to call my godmother, Audrey Hepburn, drives through the Eternal City astride a silvery, fidgety Vespa.

Continue Reading →

Enlarge 0 Comment

An Autumn Swim in the Mediterranean

They are everywhere… Over the last twenty years, the monotonous Monobloc – a lightweight stackable polypropene chair, often white in colour – has proliferated like mushrooms all over the world, and most noticeably at beach bars and seaside resorts.

The numbers make your head spin: a billion Monoblocs have been sold in Europe alone, and I’m told that one Italian manufacturer turns out 10 million units a year!

Continue Reading →

Enlarge 0 Comment

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, that Livorno’s market is probably the liveliest and most impressive in the whole of Italy, I decided it was high time for a visit.

Continue Reading →

Enlarge 0 Comment

A Sweet Pre-Latin Aperitivo in Vetulonia

Before moving to the bel paese, I had barely heard about the Etruscans, a rich and remarkable civilization who flourished in ancient Italy until they were conquered and assimilated by the more powerful Latin polity.

The ancient Romans often referred to them as the “Tusci”, from which “Tuscany” has been derived. They also borrowed from them many of their ingenious inventions in agriculture and road construction.

Continue Reading →

Enlarge 0 Comment

My Sweet Tuscan October

“Designers want me to dress like Spring, in billowing things. I don’t feel like Spring. I feel like a warm red Autumn…”

These words – which I can easily relate to – were delivered during the 1950s by Norma Jeane Mortenson, also known as Marilyn Monroe.

Continue Reading →

Enlarge 0 Comment

A Cool Place to Visit this Summer

The Leaning Tower of Pisa… Who has not seen it, at least in pictures, and tried to imagine what it feels like to be at its top, precariously tilting some 50 meters above ground?!… The prospect of such a thrill will definitely make your children pull you by the arm: “Mum, Dad, let’s climb up there!”

But in the high season, when you’re assailed with the hot spells and sightseeing hordes, even the most magnetic landmarks get a lot less attractive – to youngsters and grown-ups alike! So it’s always nice to have in store satisfactory alternatives.

Continue Reading →

Search

BIKING ALONG THE TYRRHENIAN SEA

TESTING WATERS IN TUSCANY

LIVORNO’S GREAT SNACK

TOUCHING WOOD…

In Audrey Hepburn’s Two-Wheeled Wake

An Autumn Swim in the Mediterranean

One of Italy’s Most Beautiful Food Markets

A Sweet Pre-Latin Aperitivo in Vetulonia

My Sweet Tuscan October

A Cool Place to Visit this Summer

Subscribe to Katharina´s Italy

LINKS