Travel tips-Restaurant reviews-Recipes
This post in a big thank you – grazie mille – to my lovely friend Annette who invited me to spend the last few days of my week in Tuscany at her home in the Italian mountains. Comano is a village of just 700 residents in the Lunigiana region of the National Tuscan-Emilian Apennines Park, which has […]
Read MoreIt’s amazing how much you can see and do in 24 hours! I’d been to Lucca before but nearly 20 years ago, and it seemed an ideal stopping-off point on my journey from Florence to my friend Annette’s home in Comano, where I’ll be staying for the weekend until I go home on Monday. Just […]
Read MoreMy lovely Italian friend Lucia recommended Trattoria La Casalinga – literally, ‘Trattoria of the housewife’ – to me when she heard I was coming to Florence. It’s just off the Piazza Santo Spirito, which has become one of my favourite areas in Florence. It’s in Oltrano – the ‘other side of the Arno’ river – […]
Read MoreI’ve had a wonderful morning of exploration in an area of Florence slightly away from what’s become my ‘usual’ walk through the city. I’d read about the Officina Profumo Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella, a 13th century pharmacy founded by Dominican monks in 1221 shortly after their arrival in Florence. It’s one of the oldest […]
Read MoreThe weather is gorgeous here and it’s easy to walk to most sights from Hotel Cellai so I decided to visit some places I missed a couple of years ago. The day started with the hotel’s wonderful buffet breakfast. It’s really superb offering pretty much anything you’d want from fruit, cereal and yoghurt, to meats, […]
Read MoreI’m in Tuscany for a week, starting with 3 nights in Florence. I loved coming back here a couple of years ago after a long break so much, I wanted to return again soon. I’m staying in the lovely Hotel Cellai again. My morning flight from Heathrow took me to Pisa. There is an airport […]
Read MoreI have a policy on the blog that I only review hotels I really like; places I want to – and do! – return to again and again. It was my third stay at Grand Hotel Sitea in Turin a couple of weeks ago and without doubt I’d choose to stay there again next time […]
Read MoreI’ve been to Turin three times over the last two and a half years and have come to like it a lot. They’ve only been short weekend trips so this in no way claims to be a comprehensive guide to eating in Turin, but I’ve done a lot of sampling in my time there and […]
Read MoreThe sun was so gloriously hot that I could only contemplate finding somewhere for lunch with tables outside. I’d passed Farmacia in Piazza Carignano a few times and noticed it’s always busy so decided that was a good place to head at lunchtime. There was a short queue but fortunately a table became free fairly […]
Read MoreIt’s been a joy to come to Turin again and have such glorious weather. The sun has been shining in a clear blue sky; temperatures during the day hit the low to mid-20s (though it gets chilly at night) and it’s just the perfect weather for making the most of a long weekend in this […]
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