A while back I was sat in a bar at 9am destroying a chocolate croissant (In case you’re worried about why I was in a bar at that time of the morning don’t worry that’s the Italian word for café). While contemplating my addiction to sweet, […]
The first few months of my beautiful bambina’s life was quite tough on everyone, as I imagine most first time parents would admit. She suffered from colic and spent a large part of most days screaming her little lungs out as me and my husband […]
Summer has finally arrived here in Calabria and what an entrance it has made! It’s strutted its stuff, reached for the sunglasses and firmly planted itself here ready to get temperatures sweltering and making doing anything virtually impossible. There are two tell-tale signs that we are in full-swing; 1) the shopping centres are empty, not a single pedicured, high-heeled, stilettoed foot is parading in giro and 2) in schools the students are dwindling, staring wide-eyed out the window and dreaming of the beach, even their fidget spinners aren’t helping. As towns empty the beaches fill up, especially here in Calabria where the beaches are its pride and joy. However, like all good things in Italy there is a certain etiquette or unwritten code that you must adopt if you want to enjoy the beach Calabrese style… (more…)
As a Londoner arriving in provincial Italy it is fair to say I was a fish out of water. Fresh faced and bursting with enthusiasm for my new home, with a wealth of world travel behind me, I wasn’t going to let inhibition stand in my […]
Think about the Italian language. You’re swooning aren’t you? Of course you are, it’s as natural as gelato; you can’t help yourself but indulge in it. Just thinking about it makes me sigh, that musical sing-songy nature which oozes charm and romance. No wonder it’s admired the […]
Effortless Style. Those two words seem to epitomise the Italian race. It’s in their genes. And me, plagued with my inherited English awkwardness can just look on and admire how an entire population can manage to do even the simplest, mundane of tasks with such effortless elegance. An excellent example of this is Aperitivo, or as the average Brit would call it pre-dinner drinks. Whereas the English settle for a lukewarm pint and a packet of cheese and onion while slightly shivering on a bench in a pub garden the Italians have managed to make the whole thing into an event, peppered with inviting words like “spritz” and “stuzzichini”.
