Archive for November 2017
Reason #5386 to love Rome: Elena’s Mausoleum at Villa de Sanctis
If it’s an early Sunday morning in November, I’m bound to be scouring the outskirts of Rome searching for some park I’ve never heard about before so my youngest son can participate in a cross-country race. This has been our habit over the last six years, and I must say I have discovered an amazing…
Read MoreI met this year’s Goodreads Reading Challenge
Perhaps list-making and checking off items on a list is a silly thing, but I can’t help enjoying the annual Goodreads Reading Challenge. I’m an avid reader anyway and – oddly, perhaps – I’ve always made lists of books I’ve read, so the Goodreads Reading Challenge was a perfect match for me. I love looking…
Read MoreOld world elegance in Biarritz, France
This past summer, a holiday in France’s Pays Basque saw us for the first time in elegant, seaside Biarritz. I’ve always been curious to visit this well-heeled watering hole. I have a soft spot for 19th century Grandes Dames, and Biarritz certainly fits the bill. Tucked away in the southwestern corner of France, along the…
Read More600 posts!
In case you are wondering, this is not my age. Can you tell I have snippy teenagers/pre-teens at home? But I’m a big fan of marking milestones, so why the heck not? 600 posts up on my blog deserves at least a pat on the back. I began my blog back in 2012 to post…
Read MoreCrunching through the leaves on my mountain bike in Abruzzo
I’ve written about it before, but it’s always a pleasure for me when I can make a weekend escape out to the mountains in Abruzzo. With my busy work schedule and my kids’ insane sports programs, this luxury is becoming rarer and rarer. With my older son off at a tennis tournament in Germany, my…
Read MoreWishing luck to all you NaNoers!
Once again we’ve reached November, the month where crazy writers around the world embark in Marathon writing sessions under the annual National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) challenge. The goal? To write 50,000 words of a novel during the month, and to do so by shutting down your internal editor and allowing yourself to be overtaken…
Read MoreTurin’s salon: Piazza San Carlo
Piazza San Carlo is the iconic square in Turin’s historical center. Its nickname to locals is the ‘salotto di Torino’ – Turin’s ‘salon’ or ‘living room’: the natural gathering place for locals and visitors alike. On a recent Saturday in Turin, it was here I had an appointment to meet with a friend of mine…
Read MoreAlice Munro on small town stories
“The writers of the American South were the first writers who really moved me because they showed me that you could write about small towns, rural people, and that kind of life I knew very well.” Alice Munro I like this quote from short story writer Alice Munro. And if anyone knows how to tell…
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