Italy Travel Memoir

From Palermo to Castiglione di Sicilia to Alimena, Sicily holds great secrets from the past and unspoken promises. Now, slowly shaking itself free of the Mafia, Sicily is opening itself up to visitors in ways it never has before. Sicilian Splendors explores the history, politics, food, Mafia, and people which John Keahey encounters throughout his travels during his return to Sicily. Through conversing with natives and immersing himself in culture, Keahey illustrates a brand new Sicily no one has ever talked about before.

Lured by Venice’s colorful history and its labyrinth of walkways, canals, and bridges, Barry wanted to be more than just a tourist. He convinced his wife Debbie to join him in his Venice experiment, a one-year cultural immersion. Through their initiation into Venetian society, Debbie and Barry discovered the close-knit family of its inhabitants and the oddities of living in Venice, the improbable city built upon millions of tree trunks driven into the mud sixteen centuries ago. From the exasperating bureaucracy to high tides endangering their ground-floor apartment, these expatriates get ...

Bestselling Author Ivanka Di Felice serves up a fresh batch of adventures in her cherished Tuscany. With a sprinkle of wit and a lot of affection, she introduces us to a vibrant array of characters, including her spirited elderly father who adds his own unique flavor to the mix. From amusing encounters with locals to humorous mishaps in everyday life, Di Felice's tales whisk us away to the very essence of Italian charm. Come along on the escapades as we venture inside Tuscan villas, lend a hand in olive-picking, and luxuriate in the revitalizing waters of thermal baths. Journey through the ...

Having three generations of her family living under the same roof was once part of the Italian dream for Rosie. But when her party-loving, whiskey-drinking, poker-playing 85-year-old mother moves over from Ireland to Italy, Rosie’s longed for dolce vita in Umbria is anything but sweet.

Around the time Elizabeth Gilbert turned 30, she went through an early-onslaught midlife crisis. She went through a divorce, a crushing depression, another failed love, and the eradication of everything she ever thought she was supposed to be. To recover from all this, Gilbert took a radical step. She got rid of her belongings, quit her job, and undertook a yearlong journey around the world, all alone. This is the absorbing chronicle of that year.

Best-selling and beloved author Frances Mayes discovers the hidden pleasures of Italy in a sumptuous travel narrative that crisscrosses the country, with inventive new recipes celebrating Italian cuisine.

As the most celebrated European to explore Asia, Marco Polo was the original global traveler and the earliest bridge between East and West. A universal icon of adventure and discovery, he has inspired six centuries of popular fascination and spurious mythology. Now, from acclaimed author Laurence Bergreen, comes the first fully authoritative biography of one of the most enchanting figures in world history.

Two intrepid curmudgeons. An SUV with red plates. Ten thousand miles of twisty roads. What could go wrong? Changing zip codes every day? But of course! Folding your mirrors to squeeze through narrow lanes? Sign us up. Eating unidentified animal parts? Why not? But sorting out the trash in Sardinia? You need a Ph.D. for that! Driving Italy is the irreverent memoir of our winter chasing the sun from Paris to Corsica, Sardinia, and Sicily, fighting Covid, the GPS, and each other, and falling in love with Italy. If you like a good chuckle, spunky non-heroes, and the road less traveled, you'll ...

Imagine living in Italy for one full year. This was always the dream and promise Ilene and Gary made to each other. This story is an invitation to witness the magic of Italy through the eyes of two new Italian citizens. Listen to their own authentic voices, in alternating chapter format, sharing their story, raw emotions, laughter, triumphs, challenges, and experiences in this intimate format.

More than 20 years ago, Frances Mayes - widely published poet, gourmet cook, and travel writer - introduced readers to a wondrous new world when she bought and restored an abandoned Tuscan villa called Bramasole. Under the Tuscan Sun inspired generations to embark on their own journeys.

When Ivanka and David discover the downside of their “too good to be true” Chianti region house, they resume searching for their dream home in Tuscany. Join them on a harrowing journey as professional house hunters, while you peek into Tuscan villas, apartments, and haylofts. At long last, they find an idyllic spot, surrounded by rolling hills graced with vineyards and olive groves, distant stone villas, and clusters of cypress trees. But the home has been vacant for years. Follow their adventures as they embark on renovations, endeavouring to bring the abandoned house and garden back ...

Join bestselling author Ivanka on a journey through the heart of Italy. From the cobblestone streets of Rome to the sun-kissed vineyards of Tuscany, Ivanka and her Principe Azzurro (Prince Charming) navigate the joys and challenges of Italian life. With humor, warmth, and an unwavering passion for la dolce vita, she invites readers to immerse themselves in the vibrant tapestry of Italian life, discovering that being Italian is more than you think—it’s family! Ivanka opens the door to the vibrant, sometimes chaotic, and always heartfelt world of Italian family life. With vivid ...

From the time she first felt called to its gates as a high school student fascinated by Dante and Italian thanks to a life-changing teacher, Rome has been a fixed star around which Alizah Holstein’s life has rotated—despite the fact that she bears no Italian heritage, and has never lived there long enough to call it home. In this kaleidoscopic yet intimate memoir, her shifting relationship to a vibrant city layered with human history becomes a lens on why we look to the past, on the mysteries of affinity and desire, and on what it means to grow up.

Bestselling Author – Embrace the Italian vibe! Watch 'You Want to Fa' l'italiano' and feel the magic of Italy in every beat! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpNv1PHlQxI&ab_channel=DavidandIvankaDiFelice On arriving in Italy, we made the same mistake other foreigners make: we compared how things were done in Canada with how things were done here. Although we admired the inimitable beauty of Italy, its infamous bureaucracy and other inconveniences annoyed us. The list of culture shocks was long. And, naturally, the way we did things back home was superior. I am not quite sure when it ...

Annette Joseph's years in Italy revealed this truth: Italy, in all its multifaceted, glorious history and culture has to be experienced in full. Over almost three decades, Italy has fed, entertained, confused, excited, lured, promised, lied, satisfied, occasionally disappointed, and utterly enchanted her. She's left, but can't stay away - she'll always return. Always. Just like a beloved partner....

An execution by hanging for a man driven insane in his cell by delays, a sumptuous costume ball on Fifth Avenue attended by 1,250 guests, barbers arrested for opening their shops on Sunday mornings, opium dens on the Lower East Side – this is the New York of the late 19th century, seen first-hand and described in this book by Adolfo Rossi, a journalist for the Italian-American newspaper Il Progresso. He details the three years he spent living and working in New York, the fascinating, and oftentimes humorous events he witnessed, the people, both famous and ordinary, that he met, and the ...

Delicious staples of a great meal, bread, cheese, and wine develop their complex flavors through a process known as fermentation. Katie Quinn spent months as an apprentice with some of Europe’s most acclaimed experts to study the art and science of fermentation. Visiting grain fields, vineyards, and dairies, Katie brings the stories and science of these foods to the table, explains the process of each craft, and introduces the people behind them.

The Coach to Como After Gary announces that he will no longer fly, his wife, Poppo books a coach holiday to Lake Como. One week later, with the newly acquired kittens dropped off at the cattery, Gary and Poppo embark on a twenty-four hour coach journey to Italy. While the book itself is a narrative account of a journey to Lake Como, The Coach to Como is ultimately the story of survival, recovery and evolution. A colourful but incredibly honest account of the journey Gary has undertaken since he came to terms with his ego, his internal struggles with life, BDP, Bipolar, loneliness, ...

An Italian memoir. Laine gave up her job as a nurse, sold her home and gave away most of her belongings. She has three desires bubbling at the heart of her choice: to write a book, paint a picture and climb a mountain before she died. A man with a van took most of her remaining belongings, along with her basset hound Basil, down to the heel of Italy over 1,500 miles away, where she would spend the next four years. If it all seemed like a folly, then she was willing to take the risk. She moved to a house that she had only spent a week in the year before. She knew no one and yet she had ...

To all outward appearances, Ivanka’s life as a middle-aged ex-pat in Tuscany seems delightful. (Middle-aged is a rather comforting, if delusive term, since few live to 102.) She lives with her charming husband in a gorgeous villa in the rolling hills outside of Florence. The views are stunning, the neighbors are delightfully quirky, and perfect pizza is a short drive away. Yet despite the beauty surrounding her, and notwithstanding the passing of time, Ivanka still struggles with grief over her father’s death. A decade of living in Italy has taught her that above everything else, it’s...