Reason #5388 to love Rome: Sant’Agnese church
I recently returned to visit the beautiful early Christian church of Sant’Agnese, a church I hadn’t been back to in years. Since the Roman metro line has been extended, it’s even easier to get here via the B metro line, where it has its own stop: Sant’Agnese. This 7th century church, designed like a basilica,…
Read MoreA hilarious take on the literary classics from Thug Notes
Way back when I was in high school, Cliff Notes were the preferred reviews both for kids like me who loved to read and wanted to learn more and those who hoped to avoid reading the full novel by instead skimming the short summary and the accompanying literary themes. Today there’s a hilarious new take…
Read MoreDiscovering the center of Italy – in Rieti
My twelve-year-old son has been running since he was seven. This year, he decided to change coaches and teams. Although he lives and trains in Rome, his competitive new team is from the northern Lazio town of Rieti. This is the northeastern tip of Lazio, extremely close to the regions of Umbria and Abruzzo. In…
Read MoreWho controls whom? Vargas Llosa on characters who have a mind of their own
“It becomes apparent that the author cannot mold characters as he pleases, that they have a certain autonomy.” – Mario Vargas Llosa A wonderfully insighful observation by brilliant Spanish-Peruvian author Mario Vargas Llosa. I doubt many authors would question this wisdom. After all, as writers, you may have clear ideas on how your characters should…
Read MoreEscaping the city on the ski slopes of Abruzzo
My kids had a week of school vacation in February and they wanted to go skiing, and I was happy to exchange the office for the ski slopes for one glorious week. There’s something special about escaping the city to take temporary residence in the mountains. Our mountain escape of Ovindoli, in the region of…
Read MoreShivers on the slopes: Book reviews
I spent last week skiing with my sons. I always enjoy skiing, but one of the activities I enjoy most after an exhausting day of physical activity is curling up in a warm space with a steaming cup of tea and reading a good novel. When we ski, my kids and I ski from the…
Read MoreThe Eternal City blanketed in white
I first began this blog post in 2012 and one of my first posts was about Roman snow, namely, an unusual snowstorm that hit the Italian capital and shut down the schools for two days. Six years later, white powder has fallen on the Eternal City once again, and these Roman school snow days seem…
Read MoreReading and writing inspiration on the slopes
When this post goes out, I will be at the end of a week on the slopes. Skiing holidays are always regenerating. I love to be out in the mountains, breathing fresh air, and exercising each day. And at the end of the day when I’m physically exhausted, I love to curl up with a …
Read MoreReason #5387 to love Rome: Il Mercato Centrale
This was a great addition to Rome’s Termini train station, in the center of Rome. Following a similar outlet in Florence, Rome’s Mercato centrale opened less than two years ago, and it is open daily from 8:00 am to midnight. It opened in the spectacular Cappa Mazzoniana within the Termini complex – and impressive space…
Read MoreThree cheers for translated fiction
Many moons ago, I was in a Book Club with a member who proclaimed we should “never” read translated fiction. “After all,” she loved to stress, “we’ll never run out of fiction written in the English language.” Yes, technically I suppose this is true. But what a narrow world view… Not surprisingly, I didn’t stay…
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