Beach 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 MoreDiscovering Norwegian stories
I love the idea of learning about new authors and new novels while traveling. On a recent trip to Norway, a visit to a bookshop and a chat with the women working there left me the new owner of Neil Gaiman’s Norse Mythology. It’s been years since I’ve read the Norse legends. To be precise,…
Read MoreSella ronda – a 42 km ski loop in the Dolomites
Ever since I returned from my ski holiday I’ve been waxing poetic about these beautiful mountains in northern Italy. I’ve already written about skiing in the Dolomites and the base we loved in Selva di Val Gardena. This week I’m going to write about a trail – the Sella ronda, that will get you to many…
Read MoreMy to-read list has just lengthened – the Bailey’s Prize Longlist is out!
I’m always thrilled for the announcement of the Bailey’s Women’s Prize for Fiction. Every year, the Bailey’s Prize recognizes the best fiction of the year penned by women authors. You may ask yourself, Why a separate list for women? Some feel women are not yet equitably represented on the lists of other major literary prizes.…
Read MoreA skier’s paradise: Selva di Val Gardena, Italy
I already wrote about skiing in the spectacular Dolomite Mountains (Dolomiti) in last week’s post. This week, I’d like to concentrate on the little town of Selva di Val Gardena, which we used as our home base during our week-long skiing holiday. Selva – or its German name of Wolkenstein or the slightly tweaked Sëlva…
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