low tech Italian classics to stuff into your suitcase

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Made in Italy is renowned for shoes and bags, fast cars, alta moda and serious furniture design.  Hiding behind the big names and famous brands are the artisans; leatherworkers, furniture designers, glassblowers, mosaicists, shoemakers; craftsmen…

the paper table cloth guide to dining in Rome

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A writer I do not know personally, but whose writing I very much like for its directness, recently wrote of a Roman trattoria; why can't we have more of this unpretentious shit in Sydney?  She hit the nail on the proverbial head because Roman…

outdoor museums: shopping in Rome

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If a city, especially one like Rome, is a great outdoor museum, then shopping is one of the (legitimate) ways of exploring it.  Lexically speaking to do the shopping or fare la spesa is a needs based activity, consisting mainly of a…

when in Venice

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What is there not to say about Venice?  After meandering a few hours away amongst the tight streets and crooked bridges, following the famous arrows that lead - or to the train station, or to Rialto - it dawned upon me.  The silence.…

fresh air and unsalted bread: Lubriano

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I first came to look at a house here in Lubriano on the basis of an entry in the Slow Food Guide Osteria d'Italia.  My reasoning being that it is always good to have one really good restaurant a town, especially for when special people like…

mini city guide: Milan

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When I lived in Sydney I used to think that her architecture reflected the desire to look out: to gaze upon the drunken beauty of the harbour.  While Melbourne, being more geographically staid, was more inward looking, turning back towards…

through the mountains and down to the sea: an Australian road trip

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A road trip has to have a destination, even though by its very nature it's a journey where getting there is what it is all about.  Motels and cabins, ice-cream cones drippy in the hot wind on a sleepy afternoon main street, the mandatory fish…