Once upon a time I came on holiday to Italy and fell, like you, madly in love with everything. I thought to myself, this is where I belong; this is where I’m at my best; this is where I don’t have to apologise for being theatrical or dreamy or wearing heels every day or spending […]
An Interview with Penelope Green, Author of “When In Rome: Chasing la Dolce Vita“ If you’re wondering whether you can make it as an expat in Rome, look no further than Green’s award-winning When In Rome: Chasing la Dolce Vita for invaluable inspiration and insight. After living and working in the Eternal City, Penny moved south […]
The First Signs You’re Becoming Italian … It’s 10.30pm and you’re still deciding where to go for dinner. … It’s May but you’re still wearing stockings and closed shoes and a jacket because otherwise signore will look at you and shriek “troppo estivo!!” … Instead of responding with real words your reaction to anything in […]
The other night I was invited to a friend’s house for an impromptu dinner. I arrived at his palazzo around 11pm and even waiting on the street I could hear Bellini’s opera ‘Norma’, the aching cry of Maria Callas wafting from his open shuttered windows. These balmy nights render Rome so smug, ever conscious of […]
I’m writing this from a villa in Tuscany, lying beside a swimming pool, still drenched in sunshine at seven in the evening. And as Under-the-Tuscan-Sun saccharine as this sounds, there is even the dulcet chime of church bells echoing from the local village and a heady scent of campagna. My skin is golden brown; my […]
“Where does this myth come from?!” she shrieks, wheeling her bicycle down the cobblestone lane as I walk beside her. “Latin lovers indeed! Ugh! I feel like I should spread the word – Italians aren’t better in bed Maybe they were at the time of the Roman Empire but not in 2011!” I hope this […]
Expats in Rome Profiles If you’ve read my column before, you’re no doubt accustomed to me gushing about Rome. I’m not just filling the page with what I think you want to read. I truly find life here cinematic. I make choices in my day based on whether they would segue well into an Antonioni, […]
I didn’t really need to meet Alan Epstein in person. The interview was a pretext. I could easily have written this article merely referencing his book As the Romans Do. It’s not as though the book has just come out either; it was published in 1997. But when I read his story of an American […]
