There is something inspiring in a train station. The coming, the going, the energy of the crowds or the sadness of an empty platform - everything adds to the air of possibility and adventure. And freedom, of course. It's all three of these that entice Francesco, a university student living outside ...
Book Review | Todo in Tuscany
There are a lot of reasons to fall in love with a house in Tuscany. A sweeping view across the rolling Tuscan hillsides, finding a piece of Italian history going back generations or a setting in a charming Italian village. While Louise Badger and Lawrence Kershaw found all those things in ...
Book Review | Among the Cloud Dwellers by Giuliana Sica
Every life deserves a little magic. If you feel like yours is missing that little spark, then boy oh boy do I have the book for you! One of my favorite summer reads so far has been Among the Cloud Dwellers by Giuliana Sica (published by Gemelli Press). This book is a beautiful blend of romance, ...
Annual Reading Meme 2011
I’ve never been much for memes. While I enjoy reading them, and have even taken my turn at writing one, I’ve never felt like the questions related to my life in a way that made me want to return year after year. For the past few years, however, I’ve been keeping a reading journal where I note down ...
Book Review | Gelato Sisterhood on the Amalfi Shore by Chantal Kelly
The beautiful Amalfi Coast, travel stories, history, traditional Campania recipes and, of course, gelato – I think I fell in love with Chantal Kelly's book Gelato Sisterhood on the Amalfi Shore before I finished reading the back cover. It was a joy to dive into the story and join Chantal Kelly as ...
Book Review | Traveling with Pomegranates: A Mother-Daughter Story by Sue Monk Kidd and Ann Kidd Taylor
A few years back now, my mother read Traveling with Pomegranates: A Mother- Daughter Story by Sue Monk Kidd and Ann Kidd Taylor. I don't recall now just how it happened--chance, a recommendation, a gift--but I do know it was a treasure. As she read the story and shared about it with me, it became an ...
Book Review | The French Gardener by Santa Montefiore
I've just finished reading a delicious book, with a story so good that it lingers in my thoughts and I don't want to let it go. I picked up The French Gardener by Santa Montefiore on a whim in the Omaha airport last March, when my carry on was already loaded down with too many books. I had heard ...
Cookbook Review: “Mamma Agata – Simple and Genuine” by Chiara Lima
Sometimes you happen across a cookbook that you know you'll treasure for the rest of your life. That's how I felt when I first looked through Chiara Lima's beautiful cookbook Mamma Agata - "Simple and Genuine" Italian Family Recipes. I've written many times here on Ciao Amalfi about my adventures ...
Cookbook Review: Cooking Up an Italian Life by Sharon Sanders
I enjoy cooking throughout the year. But when the weather begins to feel cooler, and the sycamore leaves turn that light golden hue, I find myself looking forward to the evening hours and preparing dinner. The first rainy day—with a cool breeze blowing down from the mountains—has come and gone, and ...
