ANNA FILA ROBATTINO SAYS "HERBS ARE SUPERHEROES!"
“Anna’s passion is contagious, and we meander for hours. But she knows when the exploration is over and it’s time to sample our rewards. Anna will disappear as we linger on the large patio below her library, patiently awaiting a sumptuous lunch full of herbal concoctions. Carafes full of tisanas containing various herbal teas, soups full of vegetables, and breads flavored by homemade oils and vinegars are laid out on the long wooden table.
Read more
FLOATING GODDESSES
“I just let the interior of the city give me clues to a personality as I walked along her long, broad, inviting boulevards, cutting through vast parks and statues floating everywhere, like goddesses protecting their city, applying a sympathetic vibe.” Excerpt From A European Odyssey: How A Boxer’s Daughter Found Grace Statue of Eliška Krásnohorská a Czech feminist author. 1847-1926 Sculpture created by Karla Vobišová-Žáková:Czechia’s first female professional sculptor in 1931.
Read more
SMALLEST DOC IN ALL OF ITALY
In the autumn I began using our fireplace and by early winter I kept the fire going all day long. It was an elaborate stone structure with a large glass door and air valves funneling warm air throughout the lower story. This was clever because our home wasn’t built in classic Piemontese style with multiple rooms. The lower story was one, long, spacious room with windows extending across the front of the house to optimize the view.
Read more
LIFE AS A LIVEABOARD
When life becomes a struggle, emotions move at their own pace. I was grateful to live aboard our sailboat MADI back in 2010; it changed my life. Excerpt from “A European Odyssey” “As far as I was concerned there were two projects to complete. The first was to get our boat into ship shape and the second was to make sure I followed her lead. From the moment I moved aboard Madi there was the promise of transformation.
Read more
BOHEMIAN AND ITS IDEALS, INCLUDING TRUTH, LOVE AND BEAUTY
Pic from Prague, a place that really allowed me to open up my mind and spirit.
Read more
HEADLESS STATUES OR WOMEN IN REPOSE
“On a regular basis Colette and Godot were taken past the American Academy where I fantasized Gore Vidal was studying at the library doing research for Julien. This weekly sojourn took us to the seventeenth century Villa Pamphili located in the quarter of Monteverde. This is where Via Aurelia begins with her dramatically high, dark grey walls stretching up to the sky until a tiny world opened up for us alone.
Read more
RESTAURANT WITH A VIEW
In Agliano, Piemonte, located in northern Italy you can enjoy the spa - and the view isn’t too bad either.
Read morePEASANT RECIPES
Peasant recipes from Piemonte are world famous - they also do fancy just fine
Read moreFINDING YOUR ELIXIR
“Expectations were exceeded on a weekly basis in Prague. A neighborhood store confirmed suspicions that elusive Bohemian ideals might be hidden behind patterns of another kind. I found a retailer where I could mix my own elixir of scents and oils with various olive oils, specialty liqueurs, brandies, and whiskies of all kinds. After making a purchase the young saleswoman wrote the name in cursive with a large white pencil on the artisan styled clear bottles.
Read more
Why hello, New Year!
Read more
WHY I NAMED MY DOG GODOT.
Godot did arrive. Post party. When I’d do the dishes, think about people’s stories, relive the memories… Godot did arrive.
Read more
