More than halfway through my Goodreads Readers’ Challenge
We’re in July now, and I still have no idea where over half the year has gone. However, I have been enjoying a fun reading year. I’ve already passed the halfway mark to meet my Goodreads Readers’ Challenge for 2021. I’ve read lots of interesting novels, including some (new to me) authors and others by…
Read MoreEarly morning jogging in Rieti
In the late spring, my youger son and I spent a weekend in Rieti – a small city in Lazio’s northernmost region. While there, I rose early on Sunday morning to enjoy a short jog in the eerily deserted city. I started off at out hotel, at the top of this medieval hilltown and jogged…
Read MoreSurrounded by history at the Historical Novel Society Conference
Moonlighting has never been so much fun! Nor has it ever (at least for me) ranged from medieval times to the Renaissance, swinging on to the Gilded Age and speeding up to the Roaring 20s and the post-WWI world. Exhausting and exhilarating at the same time! Yes, you can find all that and more at…
Read MoreRestorative hiking in Abruzzo
My weekend escapes to the mountains of Abruzzo are always pleasant. But my most recent weekend jaunt was especially satisfactory. My younger son and I could both (finally) get away from the city, and with the scorching temperatures in Rome, and so the Apennine mountains in nearby Abruzzo was an excellent plan. Even more so…
Read MoreBook review: What the Lady Wants
I love historical fiction and have a softspot for America’s Gilded Age, so I was very pleased to discover What the Lady Wants. Not surprisingly, I loved the novel. This is my third Renee Rosen novel, each set in a different period of time. What the Lady Wants opens in 1871, on the eve of…
Read MoreEverything’s coming up roses – in Rome
Rome is always beautiful in the spring and early summer. One the things I love about the season is how colorful the blooming flowers look against the city’s imposing monuments. Nothing beats the city’s beautiful roses when they are in bloom. Each year, I make a visit to the city’s Rose Garden, just off the…
Read More900 posts!
I started this blog dedicated to travel, writing and reading – with a generous dash of all things Italy-related – back in 2012, and I’ve been at it ever since. Like all bloggers, it’s great to celebrate some milestones. So, I’m pleased to announce I’ve just reached (gulp!) 900 posts! No one is more surprised…
Read MoreAn imposing castle surrounded by olive trees in Nerola
Returning from a track race in the town of Rieti, about a 1.5 hour drive from Rome, my son and I decided to stop off an explore the little medieval hilltown of Nerola. Nerola sits on a hilltop 453 meters from sea level. Its name is believed to be derived from the ancient Sabine language…
Read MoreTalented writers make it look easy
Easy reading is damn hard writing. ~ Nathaniel Hawthorne Perhaps best known to every American school child for his novel The Scarlet Letter, American author Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864) was a prolific novelist, short story writer and essayist who certainly could speak with authority on the craft of writing. His observation back in the nineteenth…
Read MoreMeandering along Rieti’s Velino River
I was with my younger son for a weekend in Rieti, a town in northern Lazio – about one and a half hours from Rome. He was there to run, but since we were staying for the weekend, we had lots of time to wander around the town we know quite well, and we also…
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