Battle Scars

  One thing you will notice about the older buildings in Italy is that they have gone through so many decades of fashion changes and modernizations that the outsides tend to show their battle scars. 

Do they look better or worse?

What's Out My Window: The Light Show

  We had a dry thunder and lighting storm the other day. No rain ever came but the light show which lasted for hours, was wonderful. I took a little video to remember it.

Wine Tasting with Me

Name: Monferrato Dolcetto
Year: 2010
Description: Dolcetto is a red wine produced locally in Piedmonte. Despite it's name "dolce-tto" it is NOT a sweet wine. The first time I tried it I was expecting a sweet cousin to the Port wine but I was wrong. You can drink dolcetto when it is quite young, mostly you will find bottles that have aged for only a year. This also makes it an affortable wine so a great everyday dinner wine. In fact according to the Wine Lovers Page, if you age it too long the wine might loose it's flavor. Despite it not being sweet I do find it smooooth. Goes down easily. Maybe too easily because you'll find yourself drinking it like water at the table. Without having said too much about what it is I can tell you what it's not. It's not sharp and it's not strong. It's an easy wine. Easy on the wallet, easy on the palate, easy to love.
Price: 3 euros

A Day at the Sea Side (with video)!

 We spent a lovely day at the seaside and the sea was alive and wild! I had to capture it both on film and video. Let me know what you think.

What's Out My Window: A Movie in the Making!

  They were filming a movie just feet from my window yesterday. I believe it was a period piece, the 60's, because the actors and extras were in vintage clothes and the cars were fabulous and from that time. If you see it, whatever it is, watch for me waving out of the window!

Like a Movie Set

  This little corner of Pepino's Cafe and Gelatoria is so adorable that it's looks fake. Like Disneyland or a movie set. It's just too perfect.

Best Flavor Ever!

Grom's flavor of the month, or gusto di agosto, is a-ma-zing! If you are anywhere near a Grom (locations listed here) you must try the flavor only available in August. If you are a dark chocolate lover like me, this flavor is a dream.
It's:
1. dark chocolate fondente gelato
2. white chocolate chips
                                         3. candied figs
Bam! I have not been able to make it through a whole day with out a cup of it since I discoved it. So far best flavor ever Grom! If you have tried it tell me what you think.

Door Series #48

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang or Chi Chi Pow Pow?

  It's weird when something you know and love from your childhood is suddenly turned upside down when you watch it in another language. Of course the translation is always different. So I'm watching one of my very favorites Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and I was thinking that my generation in Italy grew up calling Smurfs, Puffi. Micky Mouse is called Topolino. It's a small thing but a big eye-opener for an expat on cultural differences. But even though the words are different, Tom still chases Jerry and runs into a frying pan and that's funny in any language. (That's Tom e Gerry in Italian).

Chitty chitty bang bang "coo chi face" in Italian


Sound of Music: "my favorite things" or in Italian "tutti insieme appassionatamente"

The Cutest Little Truck in the World

  I love this little 3 wheeled turquoise truck that parks itself in front of the church that houses the Shroud of Turin. It's full of souvenirs like postcards and prayer cards, plates and tea towels all with that famous image on them. The man who sell from the truck looks to be about 99 years old and he is the sole person with the rights to be parked in front of this pedestrian area and I just think that it's the cutest little truck in the world.

5,000 Year Old Woman Found in Italy

  Archaeologists are always finding amazing historical artifacts in Italy. But this find is quite unusual. In the tiny mountain village of Introd, Val d’Aosta, Italy, Archaeologists have unearthed a woman's skeleton dating to around 3,000 B.C. According to the archaeologists, the woman has been lying on her right side, with her head facing west, for about 5,000 years.

Link to story here.

The Nooks and Crannies: The Bedroom

Continuing in the effort to discover my design style, which I'm calling Cafe Culture Contempary, defined in my last home post, here is a post showing the nooks and crannies my Torinoi bedroom.

Door Series #47

My Golden Day in Torino

  I was delighted when Susan Van Allen, author of 100 Places in Italy Every Woman Should Go, asked me to describe what would be my perfect or golden day in my city, Torino. It took me a while to edit my list down to fit into one day but I think I came up with a good one. Check it out on Susan's web site here where you can also find other golden days from lot's of expats from all over Italy. Anything you would have added?

French Foodie

  I promise that this is the last post bragging about my trip to Provence. I just wanted to share few delicious french delights for all the foodies out there.

This is my new favorite wine which is only sold to restaurants so not just anyone can get their hands on a bottle. This wine had an uncanny way of being sweet on your tongue and finishing dry when you swallowed. Perfect.

  Appetizer: Mozzarella and tomato salad with black olives and a sticky sweet balsamic reduction dressing.

Prosciutto and melon with a rosemary ice cream

 Duck filet with cream peppercorn sauce and "fried" mashed potatos

 Sole with a cirtus sauce and fried zuchinni

 Nutella torte with hazelnut ice cream

 Sweet whipped cream cheese with forest fruits compote

 Rosè to finish, chilled, dry.

Bonjour from Saint Paul de Vence!

  After a week in France, I not only crossed a few things off my bucket list but I also added a few. My bucket list is quite casual and so I also decided that I should probably make it more formal and actually write it down. So the first thing on my list is going to have to be, Have a little home in what I now think just might be the most quaint and romantic place in the world, Saint Paul de Vence, Provence, France.

I took the liberty of selecting a few potential little houses.

Now it's true that this town has already been discovered by throngs of summer day tourists but I could deal with that because it's also full of artists, art galleries and handmade goods. It's even the final resting place of one of my favorite artists, Marc Chagall. The air smells like lavender and everywhere you look is a postcard.