I want to be Home to Italy!

This trip to the North was important to launch Mature Solo Travel.
But I miss my month in Italy.....

Prenda mi a casa!

I shall be back on line with Home to Italy in June, see you then

An Italian Smile

A friend in Florence, Italy who offers the great apartments for rent that you see posted here, just sent me this photo as I leave for a trip that is NOT home to Italy.......

Just a reminder of what I will miss if I don't return to Italy every year....

Florence Italy Apartment rental with a view

Renal apartment in Florence

Another wonderful opportunity to Live Italian while on holiday in Tuscany       an apartment in Florence!

Ref: Apartment rental, VANNA

Although a  basic apartment  on the top floor (second) of the building, it is very light, quiet and tastefully furnished by Vanna the owner.

Vanna is a real artisan dress maker, whom also works wonders with all sorts of buttons, frills, and material into purses, scarves, even slippers and necklaces are available for sale! 

 

 

Tucked away in this tiny street is the heart of the very old quarter of the OLTRARNO, area of  Santo Spirito. (across the river from the center of town)    Immediately entering the tiny building  gives a homely atmosphere climbing  the stairs dotted with paintings and plants.

The apt is to the rear of the building, has an entrance corridor leading to the lounge and dining area.    To the left separated by an arch, is the afrescoed double bedroom, and to the right 

The bathroom with draw curtain shower, the small kitchen  has a washing machine, microwave, cooking burners and fridge plus  lovely views overlooking the Carmine Church and gardens.

The apartment also has air conditioning.   750 euros per month, inclusive. 

 Contact our Florence/Tuscany expert for details:

Sheila Ford
Agente Immobiliare
Isc.CCIAA Firenze n° 2456
tel:(+39) 340 3431369

ZZZZZZ finally the end!

Zia, Zio, Zuccoro, Zuppa


 There are not many other entries for this topic.
 
Zio   Mia Zio   My Uncle
 
Zia   Mia Zia   My  Aunt

Family is very important in Italy and I marvel at the continued practice of Sunday lunch at Mammas house.   Relatives from the extended family are invited to holiday meals, special events or for the pleasure of food, wine and company.

Zuccoro:   sugar   the base for all the wonder dolce created in Italy.  From the breakfast pastry to the biscoti shared over a coffee in the cafe.    Just remember for every docle you need to walk a mile....

Zuppa:  soup    One of my favorite food in Italy is the thick, seasoned soups you don't find everywhere.   Perhaps soup is considered a 'worker' meal, but along with the wonderful breads in Italy, I could enjoy zuppa anywhere



Any other Z words in Italian?  Please share.

Y Yltour.com

http://www.yltourcongressi.it/

		Puglia Italy by Yltour.com VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

        While searching links to Italy on FB I discovered Yle Sambati from Lecce, Italy.

I had never traveled south of Naples and the SE portion of Italy was a part of Italy I wanted to see along with Sicily and all the out islands.

         If you are traveling solo or have a special interest, Yltour.com is the only company (my opinion) that can create a trip that is more than a vacation.  On my adventure Yle found a nonna for me (grandmother) who would teach me how to make pasta.

         The following year I learned to taste olive oil, met the dolce boss of Lecce (pastry boss), met a master artist in traditional paper mache, wine tasting, visiting an Italian market and cooking with Mamma!     I could have stayed there longer maybe forever.

What will you select for your adventure:  cooking, photography, hiking, driving in classic cars, wine and oil tasting, pastry, art, language,   just dream....      
 
FIND A PROGRAM BY INTEREST: cultural experiences through authentic travel programs We are happy to organize or book any activity from the large selection below. Our local staff will be delighted to help you arrange activities and excursions to make your holiday even more enjoyable. Fully escorted, Private, small groups tours: culture, food, wine, cooking classes, sport, painting, photography, Italian language camps are just some of our programs. We will escort you throughout the trip with a bilingual coordinator and Puglia expert.
COOKING CLASSES AT YOUR VILLA Culinary and Wine Classes at your private Villa. We organize private half day cookery classes right at your Villa, for your family and friends. Our cook and wine expert will bring everything is needed for this incredible culinary experience and serve a delicious meal you’ll have cooked together, paired with some great local wines.
WINE & FOOD TASTING TOURS Puglia is paradise to some amazing food, wine, cheese, bread and so much more. Let us custom your tour to cellars, mills, food markets, pastry shops, cheese farms where you can taste and meet the food producers.
PASTRY EXPERIENCE We organize a half day cooking experience in a traditional pastry shop where you will learn how to make biscuits, cakes and so much more, right with the local pastry chefs. Classes can be arranged either in the morning or in the afternoon and are set for singles, couples or small groups.
COOKING CLASS WITH A LOCAL MUM Cook with a local Mum preparing the real Puglia dishes of the peasant cooking style (cucina povera) and enjoy your preparation at the end of the class paired with some great indigenous wine. The cooking class can be provided at a wonderful masseria, in an oil mill, in a private kitchen of a Salento village. Ingredients to enjoy our cooking classes: lovely local mums and private kitchens, organic ingredients and new friends!
ITALIAN CLASSES Private Italian Language Classes at the place where you are lodged or at a place close to your lodge that you can easily reach. Your teacher will focus on your needs and teach you this lovely language in a very amusing and informal way. Italian classes are integrated with walks in the “daily” Italian lifestyle: local streets markets, cookery classes and more activities with locals only speaking Italian.
PRIVATE HANDS-ON JEWELLERY WORKSHOP Meet your lovey jewellery expert and create with her all kinds of multicolored gems and unique personal jewels. In the end of the lesson you will have your personal jewels as a souvenir of this beautiful creative experience.
PAINTING CLASSES AT THE MASSERIA A private painting lesson with a talented and skillful local maestro and a delicious lunch served at the end of your class. The maestro will give you a demonstration and teach you how to use colors and painting techniques. This painting class can be personalized. We will arrange an amazing picnic at the Masseria where the class will be held with some delicious Puglia selected cheese, cold cuts, organic bread, dessert and excellent wine.
SPORTS ACTIVITIES We provide a wide range of activities during your holidays, for children, couples and families alike: play tennis with locals, go sailing, snorkeling, diving, kite surfing and windsurfing, cycling, boat trips, fishing, family day out, sailing salento with lunch on board, yoga. BREAD MAKING WITH A LOCAL FAMILY We offers private bread making experience with a local family. We provide all the ingredients and equipment: whether you are an absolute beginner wanting to learn the basics or an enthusiastic baker, we would be glad to enjoy this authentic experience with you. The class is hands-on and you are actively involved in the process of bread making. We will teach you how to make several different types of bread.
CONCIERGE & BOOKING SERVICES FOR RESTAURANTS AND MORE We offer a complete concierge service for any need guests in Puglia may have: Typical Restaurants, wine bars & farmhouses, Stone pizza oven, transfer to and from Brindisi and Bari airport, city tours, escorted tours,shopping tours.
 PICNIC AND PRIVATE OIL & WINE TASTING AT THE OIL MILL Our English speaking personal tour leader will meet you at an agreed meeting pointand leads you to a traditional oil mill in one of the best areas of production of extra virgin olive oil in Puglia. You will first get a detailed introduction to the world of extra virgin olive oil in our area and the techniques of olive collection, the phases of the olive pressing process and the secrets for a good extra virgin olive oil according to the Mediterranean diet. After seeing the machinery, you will enjoy an amazing picnic amidst the olive trees together with local friends serving you different types of extra virgin olive oil of local production and indigenous wines. The picnic will be a spectacular Puglia experience of olive trees, extra virgin olive oil, wine, food and local friends.
POTTERY CLASS An expert ceramic artisan will teach you the secrets of the clays and help you creating unique objects: vases, jugs, plates and many other different objects. In the end the item you created will be baked in the oven and you can get it the following days and have your personal souvenir of Puglia. During this class we will offer you some very good wine!
MASSAGE AT YOUR VILLA Book a relaxing massage in the comfort of your own lodge. We offer private massages at your villa: our masseuse will come to your villa with her professional massage table, towels, oils, scents and gentle music. Our masseuse will put you at ease and make you feel relaxed and wonderful. This is a 50 minute massage.
A LECCE ORIENTATION - Walking Tour This half day tour is especially designed for those would like to get an overview of the magnificent city. You will be met by your guide at your hotel or a designated meeting point and thus begin your magical journey into the city of baroque. Our guide will share with you little known aspects of the Salento culture. They will also point you in the direction of the best of Italian shopping. At the end of this lovely walking tour you will also get recommendations on the availability of the finest local traditional cuisine and the names and addresses of some of the best restaurants in the area. Walking Tours in Puglia top destinations available as well.
ORDERING PUGLIA WINE AND OIL FOR YOUR HOLIDAY ACCOMODATION


Create Your Own Itinerary: if you would like a site that is not mentioned in our existing selection of tours we are able to eager you custom tour planning. Contact us and Yle, your personal Puglia trip holiday: info@yltourcongressi.com

http://www.yltourcongressi.it
Email	yltour@facebook.com         Contact Yle today

x,,,,,at the end of the alphabet

Well there is no X in the Italian alphabet so I shall speak about the xtra stories that did not fit into any other category:

      Everyone knows and most of us love Italian gellato, ice cream.  
While following Kelly Medford in Rome, to tell me her favorite gellato she shared with me an organic gelato store in the medico area of Rome.  

What a wonderful surprise when I walked into this charming small store.   It was early in the day so there was no line out the door.
The assortment of flavors and colors was capturing.

Engaging the server in conversation she was reluctant to be photographed or to let me write about our conversation.  But the hand made chocolates and other deserts were enough to tell the story.   There are 2 or 3 locations.  The flavors were very original and the next customer spent 15 minutes just selected which she would have!    

Piazza lessons in Como:
I had seen a sign for a pizza school in Naples years ago and although I searched I never found more information  So it was a surprise when I visited the pizza/focaccia store in Como with the young women I met at the tourist office. 
  

They selected the lunch location and what a surprise to find it was the same place I had 'discovered' the day before.
While photographing the exterior, so that I could blog about my 'discovery'  the owner came outside and told me (in Italian) that he also offered a pizza school at another location in Como.   He is from Naples where pizza was born but without a wood fire oven, the taste is different.  

Leather bags in Lecce
While strolling in the city center one evening I passed a small shop with leather bags displayed outside.   When I stopped to look the owner invited me into the store to view a large assortment of very stylish bags in interesting colors.   Yes there are great fashion stores around the main square in Lecce but like Rome or Milan, the prices are not always affordable for this traveler.

I always plan a stop in Florence to buy my leather gifts and a purse every year.   But what a surprise to find hand made bags, the owner was downstairs making more, at affordable prices..... I shall be back even if I did buy 2!

who ate my post last night?

After posting my X story last night, blogger has removed it from my file!   Have not had that happen before.....

W Wine from Italy

Wine:

When I walk down the aisles of wine displayed in stores, I always smile when I see vino di Italia.
I will read the label to see if I have visited the region or town where the wine is 'created'.

                                   I had a lesson in how to open wine, taste it and enjoy


Yes, I did just write 'created.   After attending a wine tasting with Yle (Yletour.com) I learned that wine has history, many steps and stages of production and many skilled hands to become the liquid treasure Vino.

And every region is passionate about their wines.  

In Orvietto I had a lengthy conversation with a woman at her wine shop.  Neither she nor I fully understood the entire conversations (Italian/English) but she easily conveyed her love for the popular white wine that I carried back to my hotel.  

Wine is revered in Italy......Each region has their famous wines and wine production is an art.  So it was a pleasure to have Michele show me how to appreciate a wine tasting.  (see video above)

Yltour.com conducts specialty food and wine tours throughout the year.    Her first collaboration with Robertson Fine Wine Tours was this April.    http://www.robertsonwinetours.com/italy/english/tours.php 
Robertson tour cover the regions of Piedmont, Tuscany, Puglia, Basilicata and Sicily as well as wine and cooking vacations.

All still photos are property of Yltour.com

V is for Vegetarian In Italy

When thinking of Italy I never think of a vegetarian diet.
I enjoy the meat sauce, vitello (veal) and pollo too much.
There must be 30+ ways Italians prepare port products but those are not my favorite.

		Veggies in Sorrento VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

When I lived in Sorrento I passed a vegetarian restaurant every day.   It may have been the ONLY V restaurant in town.

When I returned last year the restaurant had moved to a larger location and now included a grocery story.
You can eat in or take food ‘away’. Take away is not a common practice in Italy.  I have seen it in pizza restaurants and small stands that sell croquetta  I  have also been told that you don’t take the remaining food home from a restaurant.
Perhaps service dishes family style helps prevent this.


Yle with Yltour.com in Lecce, Italy, was my first encounter with an Italian Vegetarian.  Her  travel company even offers planned  vacation breaks for you to learn to cook vegetarian while visiting    See my post at:  http://tinyurl.com/b4jl2rr

U is for Umber

If you have ever seen artist paints, the ones in the little tubes, you know the name burnt umber....

Well that color may originate from the incredible color of the stone in Italy.

And most of the homes  are OLD and are of stone, not  wood, vinyl or synthetic stucco, but real hard stone.

The stone can almost seem alive as it glows in the morning sun, darkens as the day progresses and finally become cool (in color and temperature) at the end of the day.

I have asked my 'travel friends' in Italy how they truly can stand all the beauty around them?   I am not sure some of them even notice it.  Today you find everyone with their face in an electric box, large or small.  Never looking up or interacting with anyone around them.

The photos will share the visual warmth the stone project and after thousands of years, the stories.