The Return of the Fireflies
We were having dinner with friends the other evening. In Florence, a beautiful house with a garden. A summer storm forced us to eat inside. But the h...
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Francesco Sorelli
Stefano Caffarri
Helen Farrell
GUIDE TO ITALIAN LIVING
Good wine is made in the vineyard
How many times have we heard the phrase “Good wine is made in the vineyard”? There’s no getting away from this simple rule...
Summer: at last!
The hills swim with light and ripple with ears of wheat. With a constant, incantatory murmur, the yellows of straw and hay wave in the breeze beneat...
The poppies grow...
In Tuscany, May is the month of poppies. Perfect goblets of scarlet, silky petals; flowers at their most essential, with no secrets inside. They begin...
Iris, the flower of Florence
The morning air is full of scents, and the pollen is dancing through it. I rub my eyes and start sneezing. Good to see that my allergy has arrived ri...
The Picnic Mythology
Anyone who thinks that Manet’s Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe represents the first picnic in history is much mistaken. In actual fact, the origi...
Time of the Wild Tulip
As I write, new colors are bursting up around Poggio Casciano: the bright green grass that carpets the entire landscape, the countless shades of sprin...
Casentino: a hidden gem
Legend has it that in building Florence’s Palazzo della Signoria, now the iconic Palazzo Vecchio, the architect Arnolfo da Cambio was aiming for...
Pruning: rest and rebirth
It’s winter, and the vines are enjoying some well-deserved respite after the harvest. The leaves have fallen to the ground and the bare branches...
The Summer of St. Martin
“The Summer of St. Martin lasts three days and a bit” goes the Tuscan adage. In late autumn, there are usually three or four days in which...
Elaion, treasure from afar
Dozens of questions can be asked about extra-virgin olive oil: many authoritative means of communication have tackled the matter from different points...
Chestnuts, a source of life
Growing chestnuts has left a lasting mark on Italian culture since the Early Middle Ages, when the Apennines acquired a circular system of nourishment...
The Orchard of a Timewaster
A few years ago, when I was reading anything and everything I could get my hands on, I came across a book called “L’Orto di un Perdigiorno...
Savoring the harvest
Few other moments symbolize the essence of the country life in such a clear, timeless and deeply rooted way as the vendemmia, the grape harvest. With ...
Vendemmia: a resounding word
September is significant: it’s the month of “resolutions”, of “starting afresh”, of “new goals” that we inte...
One summer’s day at Montemasso
Picture yourself travelling up and down on the same day at the height of summer. Heading south of Florence and up a few hundred meters into the hills....
Vinum, the Etruscan legacy
Few ancient peoples elicit charm and mystery in equal measure: the legacy of the Etruscans became sedimented in the country’s past, fully comple...
Discovering lost citrus
Giuseppe Arcimboldo’s reputation far exceeds the breadth, and perhaps also the depth, of his artistic output. The artist from Lombardy is one of...
The Wine Cellars at Poggio Casciano
A mysterious and isolated world lurks beneath the striking bulk of the Poggio Casciano Villa, dominated by the inescapable perfume of wine, redolent w...
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