Author Archives: Aunt Jane
What’s your Italian culinary top 10?
If you had to list a culinary top 10 for Italy, what would make the cut? Well, earlier this year, the good people over at the Perennial Plate, a 2013 James Beard Award winning online weekly documentary series, attempted to do that in a less-than-five-minutes-and-exceptionally-well-made video. I can’t find fault with a single choice. And, […]
It’s All Greek to Me
It’s Throwback Thursday! Today’s fabulous destination? A 2007 trip to southern Italy, and our visit to Paestum’s incredibly well-preserved Greek temples. Paestum was at one time a Greek settlement, founded in the 6th century BC, in the former Magna Greca. It’s located in present day Campania on the Cilento Coast, which is south of the […]
Cose Preferite: Italian Ceramics
Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday have put me in a shopping frame of mind, especially for unique and beautiful items, which brings me to the topic of Italian ceramics (“maiolica” in Italian), a great way to bring Italy into your home. Throughout Italy, you can find hand-crafted pottery and earthenware, made according […]
Puglia in New Jersey
Blogging about one’s vacation is not without repercussions. If you go to cooking school in Italy, for instance, the friends and family who’ve been reading your blog expect you to cook for them when you return home. Last month, I spent a week at The Awaiting Table Cookery School in Puglia with my friend, Anne […]
Markets, Castles and Lakes — Marche, September 2010
It’s Throwback Thursday, so we’re returning to Marche, our destination in 2010. Written on the second or third day into our two week stay, this is a great example of the pleasures of “slow travel.” Each day here seems to melt into the next. Since we’ve arrived at Casa Zazza, our temporary home in Le […]
I ♥ Olive Oil (and I’m not talking about Popeye’s girlfriend)
One of the things I try to save room for in my suitcase when returning from Italy is olive oil, preferably nectar from the place or region I’m visiting. It’s a way to bring back, literally, a part of of the place where I’ve been staying, because it comes from the fruit of trees growing […]
Surely, you joust!?!
It’s Throwback Thursday, so I’m sharing a post from a previous blog about the Arezzo jousting festival in September of 2008. I arrived to an Arezzo abuzz with energy because it was the weekend of the annual jousting festival. The town is divided into four quarters (or Quartiere), and each of the neighborhoods compete in […]
Your house is my house — Part III
Searching for your home away from home in Italy. This is my 3rd post about finding the right vacation rental in Italy. So, if you’ve determined renting a vacation home is right for you, and have a good idea of your basic requirements , then you’re ready for the fun part: searching rental listings for […]
Your house is my house — Part II
Make your list, and check it twice — Determining the criteria for your perfect vacation rental in Italy. Every time I share pictures and posts from my trips to Italy, inevitably I get asked about how I found our vacation rental property. What I’ve learned over the years is that it’s less about what rental […]
Your house is my house – Part I
Are you vacation rental material? Every time I share pictures and posts from my trips to Italy, I inevitably get asked about how I found our vacation rental property. What I’ve learned over the years is that it’s less about what rental agency or website I use, and more about knowing what kind of experience […]
Aunt Jane In Italy 