That is what co-owner Miranda Innes calls women who show up in at her Moroccan B&B alone. Yet I would not recommend it for the feminine faint of heart. A woman alone in a souk with her own pocketbook in tow throws Moroccan male concepts of where a woman should be into high disarray and makes the politically incorrect American male construction workers look like priests. “Luscious Lips!” “Hello Money!” “Thank you; no thank you; damn...
As I was installing a lightning bolt on this British lad's forehead, a la Harry Potter, his older brother watched carefully, and then signed up for a shooting star on his forehead: Harry Potter and Merlin as relatives! It was indeed a day full of magic. Once a year Paciano offers
Maggione. Opening night, in June. Built 9 centuries ago, between 1150 and 1170, the Castle of the Knights of Malta is impeccably restored, and is the first castle I have seen that I have ever wanted to live in. The cypress trees are ancient and much taller than most you’ll see in Umbria. They have been protected by knights, benefactors and skilled gardeners. You walk into the main courtyard– its a bit older, only 15th century– and immediately smell...
Venice, Christmas Eve You leave the grand space of San Marco’s campo, with its four horses and St. Mark’s body, clipped as goods of war, now bringing credentialization to the duomo. Walk along the water’s edge, and you’ll feel this stolen grandeur fade. Four stairs down step the platform closer to the water, where no doubt aqua alta splashes regularly when storms and high waters brew. Keep walking, another block or two.To your left across the...
Castiglione del Lago (PG), Zona Industriale le Pucciarelli. In the middle of an Italian industrial zone, I found myself listening to an Ommagio a Edith Piaf, sipping French wine (George Deboeuf Beaujolais-Villages), nibbling delicious and beautifully rendered pasteries, and chatting with friends from Australia and Great Britain. Manola Rosati was singing, and Eleonora Conti accompanied her on the piano. This presentation of music, wine and food was the gift of owner and master pastry chef Michael Piselli who has created a delightful...
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