Gentili Turisti (Dear Tourists): So, you’re going to Italy…brava! And let’s talk. International travel is thrilling, fun, and expands your world and your soul in ways that nothing else can. (If you don’t have a passport, I highly encourage you to get one.) Traveling to Florence is especially cool because, holy shitaly, buongiorno…it’s FLORENCE. Between…
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Preface: I wrote “The Tale of the Elephant Turd” in 2007ish as an email to a school secretary who’d heard one of my sons tell the story, thought it was hilarious, and wanted to know if it was true. It was, and is, 100% fact. I had an epiphany to make it a blog post…
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Whenever anyone tells me I’m “living the dream,” I think of Reilly and Jonesy from Letterkenny. For the unfamiliar, it’s set in rural Canada, irreverent, obscure, and possibly the most hilarious and quotable television series in the history of humankind. For context, each episode opens with the line “There are 5,000 people in Letterkenny. These…
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Moving to Italy? Benvenuto! I wrote a separate article on the visa process that comes before the Permesso, so if you’re reading this because you’re researching moving to Italy, you might want to start there. (I also wrote one on making sure you really do want to move here.) The (In)Famous Permesso di Soggiorno If…
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Benvenuti! Disclaimer: I talk more people out of moving to Italy than into it. Not because I’m gatekeeping, but because I think it’s important to understand that sì, Italian life is beautiful, but it isn’t a postcard. If you come here expecting una passeggiata nel parco (a walk in the park), you won’t be primed…
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And stay (reasonably) sane in the process. Whether it’s for a year or forever, getting an Italian Long-Stay Visa (aka, National Visa) is the first official step to living in Italy full-time. A lot of people say they want to move to Italy, but I wrote an article on why you probably actually don’t that…
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…actually, you probably don’t, and here’s why. I mean that sincerely, not in a “wink, wink” way. The reasons people want to move to Italy are infinite. It’s not that it’s not stunning (it is) or that la dolce vita is a lie (although it kinda is). It’s that Under the Tuscan Sun sentimentally omits a…
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Ciao a tutti, this is an updated version of a USA National Prosecco Day article published in 2018 on the official day, which is August 13th. Because I’ve been busy, today is the 15th and Ferragosto in Italy – a national holiday and the Festa dell’Assunzione di Maria (the Assumption of Mary), so let’s raise…
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Who was Hedy Lamarr? If you’ve never heard of Hedy Lamarr, it pains me that you’re not alone, so I’m making it my mission to change that. She’s best known for being an actress, but that’s not how she changed the world. Among other things, she was a brilliant inventor who shaped the future with her…
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PEEING IN ITALY: THE BASICS The fact that an entire blog article devoted to peeing in Italy exists should be your first indicator of what an adventure it can be. Despite the cheeky (bahaha) tone, my goal is to prepare and educate you so that from the moment you step onto Italian soil, your risk…
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