Springtime in Italy
The windows are open to the day's remaining warmth while trout and green beans grill and steam for dinner. I had awakened this morning to bright sun direct into my bedroom, and the day held promise....
Portraits of a Regional Election
They put the temporary, scaffold-and-tin poster walls back up in my neighborhood just in time to feature advertising for the regional elections. Three inch holes are bored into the sidewalk, with...
Head Cheese & Olive Bread
After the flea market at Piazza dei Ciompi in Firenze last Sunday, I walked a few blocks further and saw yellow-tented stalls. Hmm. A food market: cheeses, meats, breads and a few other goodies....
Florentine Flea Market
A month ago I was given a hot lead from a girlfriend in Seattle about flea markets in Firenze. What I uncovered through some digging was that the "hottest" market happens on the last Sunday of the...
Linens & Buttons in Firenze
It was as a Camp Fire Girl in fifth grade that I learned to sew by stitching along the lines of binder paper. I've been sewing by machine and by hand ever since and fabric is one of the things that...
Heart of the Renaissance
If you haven't been to Firenze (Florence), put it on your "life list" of must-see places in the world. Really. Two years ago I spent a couple of afternoons exploring Firenze, but I hadn't been back...
Quite a Git-Up
As I was returning home from Firenze and taking the metro from the train station, this couple was practically "doing the one-two" on the subway! That's quite a git-up they've got going there. (No....
I Love Firenze! (Florence)
Winter Goes Grudgingly
Winter has been long and gray and holding tight, unwilling to give way. But it's late March now, and winter goes grudgingly, allowing spring to tip toe in. It's rained much of this last week, and I...
How to Patch a Chuckhole
There's an ingenious citizen taking action along the frontage road that borders the canal and leads to the bike path. Why wait until the city gets around to patching chuckholes on this minor road?...
Fractal Fibonacci Romanesco*
They call it "Cavolfiore" or Cauliflower here, but Americans call it "Romanesco Broccoli". Either way, it tastes great, it's absolutely beautiful, and it's math on your plate. The Romanesco is a...
Eat, That You Will Feel Well
Would you let 30 random strangers eat off your plate? Would you, in turn, eat off the plates of those 30 strangers? The Uovo Performing Arts Festival included one "performance" yesterday of 30...