Archive for April 2017
Book review: Flawed
I picked up this novel, by Irish author Cecilia Ahern, by chance. I liked the premise, and I was struggling through a novel that infuriated me more than it interested me, so I decided to take a break from it with another, much different novel. It’s good I didn’t notice that the novel was the…
Read MoreThe Polish Cemetery at Montecassino
Today is a holiday in Italy – Liberation Day. It seems fitting to remember today all those who sacrificed their lives during fierce fighting on the Italian peninsula during World War II. I recently posted about my visit to the 6th century abbey at Montecassino that was destroyed during the war and rebuilt from the rubble.…
Read MoreBeach reading season 2017 officially begins (for me…)
It’s that wonderful ‘event’ that rolls around each year – the official start of beach reading season! For me, it often happens around the Easter holidays, when the weather in Rome starts turning almost summer-like. I often take my kids to one of our favorite beach spots near Rome – the wonderful town of Sperlonga.…
Read MoreThe best of both worlds: Austrian & Italian delicacies at the Bolzano market
We were lucky enough to be passing through Bolzano on a Saturday morning – market day – and enjoyed our brief walk around the city in a dazzling (and unusual) sunny February day that felt like May. For those who don’t know the northern Italian city of Bolzano, it is the regional capital of the…
Read MoreDo you hate when a movie adaptation of a novel changes its setting?
How many times has this happened to you? You read a book, you enjoy it (or maybe you didn’t even enjoy it so much, but you’re still curious about how it could be adapted to the screen) and then you hear the film is coming out. Great, right? But instead of the x original location…
Read MoreRebuilt from the rubble: Italy’s 6th century Montecassino Abbey
A Sunday morning in February, I found myself in Cassino, a small city south of Rome at the edge of the Lazio region. This outing, like so many others of its kind, was for a running race of my youngest son. It’s a pretty long trip from Rome to Cassino, but the February day was…
Read MoreWriters: Finish your work!
Enjoyed a column in the latest issue of The Writer, in which television screenwriter and playwright Norman Barasch offered authors some valuable advice: “The most important thing about writing is to make sure – once you’ve started a project – don’t stop in the middle if you can help it. Just get to the end,…
Read MoreEarly morning jogging … in Oslo
I’ve written a few times how much I enjoy jogging mornings when I’m travelling. I’ve already written about early morning jogging in New York, Durres, Albania, Agadir, Morocco, Vitorchiano, Italy and the Bahamas. I had the nice chance to enjoy it again on a recent visit – to Oslo, Norway. I was (extremely) lucky with…
Read More