Supporting the Artisans
Not being allowed to travel to Italy is excruciating. My first suggestion, to lessen the pain, is to visit our new website (www.insidersitaly.com) and begin […]
Auguri Mamma !
Today would have been my mother’s 99th birthday, and I am having a nostalgic time reviewing all of the celebrations enjoyed over the years in […]
The Italian Foods of July
To bring Italy closer, while you are there, and Italy is here, some of my favorite Italian foods of July. Spaghetti alle vongole is not […]
Bringing Italy Closer
I can hardly wait — as hardly can you, I know — till you move from dreaming of Italy to planning for Italy and then, […]
Waiting for You
It is devastating for me, an American, to know that at present Americans are not permitted travel to Italy or to the European Union. Italy […]
“But I would rather spend this summer in Rome with my family than in Phoenix.”
Yesterday’s Politico included a cogent article by Dan Diamond and Sarah Wheaton that is too pertinent not to share with those who love Italy… and […]
Conversation with a Restaurant Owner
Marjorie: Hello hello, is this La Locandiera ? Restaurant owner: Yes yes hello, good day. Marjorie: This is Marjorie Shaw from Rome. I had a wonderful, […]
LIBERAZIONE !
In Amalfi, Saint Andrew will — as longstanding tradition requires — soon be celebrated on his feast day, June 27th. Although social distancing will curb […]
The Italian Foods of June
As you are there, and I am here, I want to share with you the foods of June in central Italy. In a country that […]
Authentic Venice
Last night Nicola Zingaretti, the governor of the Lazio region, secretary of the Democratic Party and a recovered COVID-19 patient said : “The Italians have […]
Happy New Year !
Happy New Year to our new friends and our old ones ! More than ever, in 2018 we are longing to share our Italy with […]
Christmas in Rome
One year, a beloved repeat client wrote us : “we really need to come to Italy this Christmas to get away from the shopping malls, […]
Vigilia Dinner with Sixty
This evening my lagotto Teddy and I stopped in the foyer of the apartment building of my history teacher who lives a block away, so […]
Philosophy of Travel
We’ve written on our philosophy of travel before. In an increasingly globalised society — one where wearying sameness produces irreparable cultural damage and makes your trip […]
Taking Kids to Italy
Does any other country have as many names for children as does Italy ? First you are a creatura (a “creature”), then a bimbo or […]
My Christmas with the Animals
The circumstances were such that I was in Rome without dear children and husband this Christmas : they went ahead on a family holiday to Washington. […]
Home
When I returned back to Rome, after nine days by the sea in Marblehead MA, I was in the first hour taken by three things. […]
Letter from Rome
All over Italy, the swifts, swallows and martins fill the morning and evening skies with their melodious cries. It is spring in Italy and how absolutely […]
Celebrating Differences
Today I was pondering the imminent opening in Milan of Starbucks, Italy’s first of that American chain. That Starbucks has arrived here, in a country […]
The Joy of Preparing for Italy
When I first begin working with our Ultimo service travelers, I give them what I require first when I plan my own trips : wonderful […]
Intensity of Flavors
When I have been away from Italy for more than a week or so, I am all the more struck by the differences on my […]
Agretti and Longing
Does it happen that eating certain foods creates a fully three-dimensional feeling inside of you ? The feeling I have when I eat agretti is […]
Primavera !
Spring is here ! In Rome, we are celebrating with vignarola, which is spring in your bowl, a combination of artichokes, peas, fava beans, spring […]
The Truffle Dog Who Would Not Truffle
When we chose our lagotto romagnolo puppy, the last thing in our minds was the breed’s unsurpassed ability at sniffing out truffles. White and black truffles. Of which Italy […]
Italian Father’s Day
Italian Father’s Day falls today, in coincidence with the feast of Saint Joseph, an older dad whom it is nice to celebrate with various wonderful […]
Memories and Holidays : The Presepio
Everyone who celebrates Christmas has Christmas memories. Mine go back more than 40 years and are nearly all memories in Rome. And most of them […]
What makes an Insider’s Italy City Hotel ?
Perhaps it is easiest to explain by introducing you to one that has all of the criteria. It is smaller rather than larger. It is […]
Amalfi in November
Last weekend in Amalfi reminded me how the Italian summer goes on and on. Early November on the Amalfi coast means tintore and pedirosso grapes […]
Primavera alla Landriana
Spring at Landriana. We bring you here our photo essay of the 18th edition of Rome’s premier annual flower and garden show; our third review, […]
It’s the Journey not the Arrival that Matters, Italo !
An announcement is made, while we’re en route, that the train will be delayed by 30 minutes to an hour. Alas, it hasn’t happened yet […]
… More on Winter in Italy, Journey to Puglia
Last month, to further celebrate winter in Italy, we left our home in Rome to travel south to Puglia — an easy three-hour drive to […]
Winter in Italy – Carnevale !
Rome has not the elaborate and extraordinary costumes and masks of Venice (we’ll post photographs from a prior trip in another blog) but this year […]
How Do I Love Thee ? (A Story of Mud)
Italy, how do I love thee ? Let me count the ways. Or tell of one experience yesterday when, after tripping on stairs, I found […]
Frappe and Castagnole
After a winter that has really not been a winter, in Rome we are preparing for a possible tiny dusting of snow. This […]
Celebrating the Simple
I was taken by a remark in this weekend’s New York Times ( “The War Against too Much of Everything”) : “ ‘As our planet […]
Le Nonne
While they are not behind the desk, nonne (grandmothers) in many ways direct at least six of the hotels we love most, and where we […]
Winter in Italy
About 80% of the travel planning we undertake is for trips that occur between May and October. When — we think — the best time […]
The Christmas Presepio (by Nathan Louis)
The Presepio comes from the Latin word meaning to enclose and today it means manger, a Christmas nativity scene. Presepi come in all different sizes. There […]
“And we walked ! How we enjoyed walking ! “
When I asked my mother last night, as we twirled the pasta together, what Rome was like during her childhood in the two decades before […]
A Path Less Taken
Time and again our clients request the Cinque Terre — a destination in the Liguria region consisting of five seaside towns connected by historic walking […]
An Evening with Carlo Noro
Last week’s dinner organized by Slow Food here in Rome was among the best meals we have ever eaten anywhere. Both Carlo Noro’s remarks about […]
Summertime in Italy ?
When May starts we begin to think about the summer ahead — about plans made and not made, about how the precious summertime weeks can […]
Magic at the Pantheon
As the children gamboled through the Pantheon, one of the world’s most interesting natural/architectural events there took place. Hierophany – from the Greek roots hieros, […]
The Gardening Event of the Year
Those friends who do not love gardens please read no further. Those who love gardens — or people or dog watching, because both are great […]
Happy Birthday Rome !
AUGURI CARISSIMA ROMA ! You don’t look a day over 2765 ! Once I threw a rooftop birthday party for my city in which everyone […]
The Pyramid
If the sun is bright A small tunnel gives no fright And Claudio la Rocca can shine a light On this spectacle in white Then […]
Hope on the Motorway
On the way to Umbria on Friday we stopped near Terni for gas, air in the tires and for me, an espresso. We stopped at […]
A Roman Easter Feast
We are between research trips this weekend, and are happily at home in Rome. On Saturday we marketed. On Sunday morning we Easter basket hunted. […]
Awaiting the Swifts
Two days ago I wrote about a saint, Joseph, who is associated with a pastry. Today another saint, this time associated with a bird. Or […]
Buon San Giuseppe ! (Happy Saint Joseph’s Day)
Today is Father’s Day in Italy. And also the feast day of Saint Joseph, the day when Italy wide, Italians celebrate Mary’s husband with a […]
Buona Festa della Donna !
Donne ! Today is International Women’s Day and the event, which dates from 1909, is being celebrated Italy-wide with imagination and gusto. Mimosa (Australian acacia) — […]
Private Biking Trips in Tuscany
The situation : you and family or friends wish a private bicycling trip in Tuscany, cycling exactly the distance and difficultly that suits you. Sustainable […]
These are a Few of Our Favorite Things
Not long ago, a client, trying to select whom to use among the agents listed in the Travel and Leisure “A” List for Travel Agents for […]
The Continuing Adventures of the Roman Winter
Having taken my cue from Rome children, I was over-dressed this morning at 7 when I slipped down the hill into old Rome to see […]
Blizzardiamo !
Here we are again, preparing for Il Blizzard. Il Blizzard is the new word of the moment, screaming from newspapers and television and radio weather […]
The Monday After the Roman Snow
Rome is still deep in the thrall of its rare snow. I visited my favorite lions in the world today, in Piazza del Popolo, to […]
The Snows of Rome
It was our plan to be in Venice this weekend, on a little research trip, but there was an uncharacteristic nip in the air and […]
Scenes from a (Snowy) Roman Terrace !
Schools across Rome were closed. We await the biggest snowstorm of the last 25 years, tomorrow, and on our terrace today had a little antipasto […]
What’s New for 2012 ?
We plan trips that we feel are the most interesting independent adventures in Italy. Rome, Florence and Venice are the cities that you continue to […]
La Passione ! (A Roman Terrace Garden)
Take one reasonably nice but uninspired Roman terrace, with ten years of accumulated, cluttered pots and four untended olive trees. Add plants – principally geraniums […]
Where Else ?
This city center, four-star, family-run Florence hotel is my children’s favorite. Where else, when there are children guests at Christmas-time, does the owner leave on […]
Buona Befana !
Florence’s Befana (or Epiphany Witch) spends Epiphany delivering toys and sweets to patients and staff at Meyer children’s hospital just outside of town, and then […]
Sulmona
Of all the many reasons I love Italy, one of the principal is the ability to change your world in a very short period. By […]
The Celebrities
Preparing for New Year’s Eve, I introduce our family’s three guests of honor : Le lenticchie (assurance of prosperity in the New Year) L’olio novello […]
The Perfect House
One of my favorite Christmas presents this year was “The Perfect House“. This is an elegant, charming memoir/travel diary by architect Withold Rybczynski chronicling his week […]
Good King Wenceslas Last Looked Out, on the Feast of Stephen….
Today in Italy is Santo Stefano, the day after Christmas, a national holiday, which gives everyone another day to celebrate with friends and family, to […]
A Roman Christmas : Fish, an Aqueduct and Preparing for Father Christmas
Our Roman family’s day-before-Christmas began, and as tradition dictates, with the selection of fish for the classic Christmas Eve feast. In our case two local […]
The Poetry of Roast Beef alla Fiorentina
Travelers for whom I’ve planned trips may know that I am vegetarian, though my restaurant reviews go beyond my personal choices and are suited to […]
The Smell of an Italian Christmas
My aunt, who was born in Rome, says she comes to Rome both to see me and to smell. Because the smells of Rome, she […]
A Neapolitan Presepio and its Makers
It was with some trepidation that I stepped off the Eurostar train in Naples last week. I was pleased to be there, a city […]
Putting Up the Presepio
The Presepio is up ! We are a little late, since serious enthusiasts of the Italian presepio (Christmas creche) will tell you that the presepio must […]
Shopping for Kitchen Items in Rome
This post came to be because so many of our travelers ask us for advice regarding special packable gifts that they can bring home with […]
Autumn ? No, Italian Indian Summer Goes On and On and On
We are stomping grapes on our Rome terrace today — anticipating a class trip that my son takes Wednesday to a local organic vineyard where […]
Uova da Bere
When I am lucky, the returning flight from our traditional summertime U.S. month arrives quite early. Time to drop bags, greet my mother, and then […]
Where have you been, Insider’s Italy ?
Where have you been, Insider’s Italy ? Where indeed ? Walking with sheep on the Transumanza of course, but principally at work developing an unprecedented […]
Primavera alla Landriana
We spent all of yesterday at the Landriana garden fair and horticultural display. This four day arcadia, at Tor San Lorenzo, is the spring-time event […]
Happy Birthday Dear Rome on your 2764th Birthday !
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR ROME, ON YOUR 2764TH BIRTHDAY ! I love you so : you are the city of my birth, my mother’s birth, my […]
Gardens !
While our North American friends, family and clients are recovering from the (presumed) last snow storm of the season, Insider’s Italy travelers have for over […]
Pesce D’Aprile
Italy-wide, pranks, jokes and tricks are underway, marking a national festa called “April Fish”, or April Fools. This centuries-old celebration appears to be associated with the […]
The First Week of Lent
Still revelling in the memory of the pastries there on offer during Martedi Grasso celebrations, I today went to my neighborhood pastry shop in pursuit […]
Ravenna
“Nowhere else in the world are there such relics of the fifth and sixth centuries, and, unlike many Italian cities, Ravenna is easy to understand. […]
FAI : Italy’s National Trust
How many of you know that since 1975, Italy has had a National Trust called FAI that adopts frescoes, gardens, parks, castles, stretches of coastline, […]
Buon San Valentino
Especially to those in love, the Italian Saint Valentine is a person of note. He is the patron saint of beekeepers too, perhaps related to […]
Non la digerisco
Italy wide, wander any market (with your Travel Plans we will tell you about favorites in every city that you visit) and in front of […]
An Antidote to Winter: Paestum
When I am in New York in the dog days of winter, with cold and snow and grey the theme of the season, the Italian […]
Two Tuscan Inns with Award Winning Wines
Either of these Insider’s Italy inns would be top favorites even if their vineyards did not produce wines that win top international and Italian wine […]
Week of Culture
From April 9th through 17th, every national museum Italy wide is free. National museums are already free for European citizens under the age of 18 […]
Future recall and wonderment
Surely one of the things we most wish for our children is that they tuck away experiences for future recall and wonderment. These are the […]
Happy New Year !
Tantissimi auguri di Buon Anno to you all ! Our January 1 celebrations included a walk along the Servian aqueduct (41-54 A.D.), 20 minutes from […]
Nathan in Florence
I am Nathan and seven years old. This is a blog about my adventures in Florence, which is one of my favorite cities. First A […]
Isabel in Florence
My name is Isabel and I am six years old. Here I am dancing with lots of other children made of marble and who are playing […]
Your Favorites
Today is the shortest day of the year, and from tomorrow we will have more light. And as we dream of longer days — remembering […]
On a Cold Winter’s Day
On a cold winter’s day, what better place to find solace than in the frescoed house of Livia ? Off came my coat when I […]
Our Inns Grow the Food that You Eat
While in North America some resorts and hotels are just now cultivating their food in-house, many of our country inns have always done this, offering […]
Family Reunions
Insider’s Italy is a family company run by three generations. My mother provides ideas, my husband Robert and I organize the day-to-day running of business, plan […]
When to Splurge ?
Often you ask us if you should consider spending a little bit more in particular locations. As we know our hotels so intimately, and […]
Seasons
Perhaps it is that our children are in a Waldorf school, where seasons are celebrated so regularly. Perhaps it is that I am at our […]
Bravi i Musei Italiani !
For those who’ve travelled around Italy as long as have I — since the 1960s — the improvement in Italian museums is a wonderfully pleasing development. […]
Think Small
“ The small landholders are the most precious part of a state ”. Thomas Jefferson. The clients I’ve helped for 20 years know that my […]