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I’m happy to have connected with Cinzia Rascazzo, a native of Lecce, who with her sister Marika founded the Stile Mediterraneo Cooking School. The school celebrates southern Italian cuisine, that’s been handed down in their family from mother to daughter for generations (As Cinzia says: “No Italian men were ever admitted into the home kitchen!”). Cinzia has a beautiful blog, with great travel advice for the area and also recipes, for such classics as Orecchiette with Cime di Rapa , that was featured in La Cucina Italia magazine. And check out the ebook they wrote: The Cuisine of Southern Italian Women: Mediterranean Secrets for aRead More →

JULY 30, 2014: THIS TRIP IS SOLD OUT! Sign on to the mailing list on Susan Van Allen’s website to get news about Golden Weeks in Italy in 2015!   How about joining author Susan Van Allen for a Beautiful Italian Adventure this fall? 2014 will be her Third Annual Golden Week in Italy… Raves are in for the last two: “A wonderful Italian experience of a lifetime for all of us!!”–Gayle, from Chandler, Arizona, Golden Week guest 2013 This year we’ll discover Southern Italy, aka The Mezzogiorno… “Susan’s humor, knowledge, and surprises really made this vacation one of my very favorites!”–Lynda, Boston It will beRead More →

Grazie Mille to  All of You Who Shared ONE of your Favorite Places in Italy with us I loved reading every comment. It had me dreaming of places I’ve stayed, and scheming to get to ones I have not yet experienced. My husband picked 3 names at random out of the pasta bowl…So drumroll… Annette Piper will receive a One Year Subscription to the Award Winning Newsletter Dream of Italy, plus fresh Olive Oil from Puglia Lynn Goodman will receive a signed copy of Letters from Italy: Confessions, Adventures, and Advice Anne Woodward will receive a signed copy of 100 Places in Italy Every WomanRead More →

To Celebrate the Holidays: A  GIVEAWAY! 100 Places in Italy Every Woman Should Go, 2nd Edition Letters from Italy: Confessions, Adventures and Advice & AN ONLINE ONE YEAR SUBSCRIPTION TO THE AWARD WINNING NEWSLETTER DREAM OF ITALY, PLUS A BONUS OF FRESH OLIVE OIL FROM PUGLIA Will be given away to commenters selected in a RANDOM DRAWING It’s NOT a CONTEST, anyone who comments can win! TO PLAY: Complete This Sentence In The Comment Section Below: ONE of  My Favorite Places in Italy is ________________________ Write the first thing that comes to your mind. It can be a city, village, museum, restaurant, monument, shop, caffe, garden…Read More →

It’s a pleasure to connect with Catherine Faris, who turned a dream of living in Italy into a reality. Eighteen years ago she visited Puglia with her husband Brian and three children and they fell in love with it. Today the children have grown, Catherine and Brian have quit their jobs, moved to Italy, and immersed themselves into life in Martina Franca. Catherine beautifully chronicles their experiences on her Nuovastoria blog, bringing us an insider’s experience of the place, with posts such as a recent one about making a traditional Pugliese condiment: Plic e Plac.  In 2013, Catherine and Brian delved deeper into joining in with Puglia’s traditions, launching the Pascarosa company, thatRead More →

One of the many great things about CW Adventure (formerly Country Walkers) trips is their native guides. I loved a trip to Sicily I went on with them, where along with the spectacular scenery and food, we had full on cultural immersion with the wonderful Loredana Grasso, who grew up right near Mount Etna. Her stories about cooking with her grandma were great, also her hit on Italy’s political scene, and her passion for her homeland–from every flower on the trail to the delicious almond cookies of Taormina. I’m grateful a CW Puglia Guide and Lecce native, Marcello Polignano has joined in to give his advice forRead More →

My dear friend Carol Malzone, a dedicated Italofile, author, and founder of Flavors of Rome, was singing the praises of her new Italian teacher, Sandra Sicolo. Sandra grew up in Bitonto-Bari, Puglia, moved to the USA in 1989 with her husband and two children, and immediately began teaching Italian and doing translation work. The family now lives in Boca Raton, Florida, where Sandra has founded a popular cultural organization: All Italian Things, Inc., that promotes and preserves Italian culture, through entertaining events, cooking and language classes, AND group trips to Puglia that are designed and led by Sandra. I’m so grateful she has joined inRead More →

It was such a pleasure last spring to finally meet Rossella Rago, host of a web series I adore: Cooking With Nonna.   In each episode Rossella brings in a Nonna from a different region of Italy, who tells the story of how she learned to cook in the old country, and then demonstrates a specialty. In some episodes Rossella brings in her very own Nonna Romana, who along with Rossella’s parents, came from Mola di Bari, a tiny fishing village in the region of Puglia. My caffe date with Rossella at Lavazza in New York’s EATALY stretched into entertaining hours. Rossella regaled me withRead More →

I’m so grateful to have met so many fellow Italofiles through the Blogosphere. One of the most fascinating is Melissa Muldoon. Many know her as La Studentessa Matta=The Crazy Student, who writes a wonderful blog, in Italian, featuring her funny and passionate reportings about Italian current events and culture, including such goodies as a colorful recent post about La Festa della Bruna in Matera. It was great to finally meet Melissa in person last month when we joined in with Le Donne d’Italia in San Francisco for a Passport to Italy event at the Museo Italo Americano. She’s as charming in person as she appears inRead More →

I was enchanted and amazed when I came upon the blog, A New Life in Italy (Puglia in Fact). The posts are hilarious–from Isabelle Duranceau Jowett–a French Canadian who moved to the UK in 1997 to pursue a career in motorsport marketing, which lead to a career in event marketing and sponsorship (Formula One then Coca-Cola), a husband, and two children… As if that’s not enough for one life’s adventure, in 2006, Izzy and her family headed to Puglia for a better life and to build a dream: a glampsite in Castrignano del Capo, just up the hill from the seaside town of Leuca, inRead More →