People & Places

Easter passion in Oria

March 13, 2010

Most of the time, Oria is an ordinary Salento town with 15 000 inhabitants, cattedrale, castello and – in clear weather – a view of two seas. But Palm Sunday they turn back time 2000 years.

Italy and the love lock fad

March 11, 2010

2 Comments

Padlocks have become a lovers' ritual as trivial as the coins thrown into the Trevi Fountain and shoe tossing.

Photo from Italian bakery selling bread without salt

Tuscany’s bread without salt

March 8, 2010

16 Comments

Even though salt tax has long been abolished and the salt supply lines to central reestablished, people in Umbria and Tuscany still prepare bread without salt.

Splashes of spring along Ancona hills

March 2, 2010

0 Comments

Helen Hunt Jackson's poem about Poppies on the wheat inevitably brings spring time in Italy to mind.

Traffic fines in Italy

February 26, 2010

1 Comment

Fines for speeding, parking and driving in ZTL zones: The number of traffic fines issued in Italy has risen dramatically over the past years.

Trabucchi fishing in Termoli

February 25, 2010

4 Comments

Old fashioned fishing machines surround Termoli’s old town, and although the contraptions have lost their economic importance they are still in use.

Fresh fava beans wrapped up in cotton wool

February 24, 2010

0 Comments

The surprise of opening a long, lumpy bean pod and finding a string of green kidney shaped beans packed in soft cottonwool is pure magic.

Carneval in Rome today and 165 years’ ago

February 23, 2010

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Confetti still line the streets during the Roman carnival, but according to Charles Dickens people had more fun in the old days.

Venice fishmarket

February 19, 2010

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Elizabeth David’s classic cook book on Italian Food provides a vivid and sensual description of the tastes, colours and light at Ponte di Rialto fishmarket in Venice.

Tracing Fellini through Rimini

February 17, 2010

2 Comments

Tracing Fellini through Rimini: A word made up of straight lines like marching soldiers caught between towering mountains and the dark open void of the sea.

Fragrant quince trees

February 15, 2010

2 Comments

The low, frugal quince tree provides fruit for all senses and sense for all seasons.

Dinosaur tracks near Altamura

February 12, 2010

0 Comments

At least 4 000 dinosaur footprints have been found in a quarry in Puglia. But when we went to look for dinosaur tracks near Altamura there wasn't a lot to see.

Italy’s mourning posters

February 11, 2010

1 Comment

The Italian way of handling death takes some getting used to. Especially, their habit of printing death announcements on posters and pasting them on houses

The fortress of Volterra

February 10, 2010

1 Comment

When you zigzag your way up to the fortress of Volterra in Tuscany, you cannot help feeling a little bit intimidated by the bombastic buildings on the edge of the abyss.

Image of the the monastery in Santa Maria di Leuca

Leuca – The tip of Italy’s heel

February 5, 2010

4 Comments

One of the most striking and wonderful features about Salento is the light. And it gets better and brighter when you reach Leuca - The tip of Italy's heel.

Painting of Valentino on a wall in Castellaneta in Puglia

Castellaneta in Puglia – The city of Rudolf Valentino

February 4, 2010

8 Comments

Castellaneta. The city of Rudolf Valentino has 17 000 living inhabitants, a deep ravine and a problem with keeping the memory of a fading Hollywood star alive.

The Value of Old Olive Trees

January 29, 2010

6 Comments

Puglia's gnarled old olive trees can be more than a thousand years old and therefore they are protected as cultural heritage.

Famous Words about the Gothic Cathedral of Milan

January 28, 2010

3 Comments

Novelists describe the cathedral in Milano as "a curious marble mountain" and a "glorious structure in all its majesty and beauty" evoking those sights, we all have to see and judge for ourselves.

2 replies

Agness of eTramping says:
May 9, 2017 at 1:14 pm

Italy is so stunning and beautiful! Your posts are just awesome and informative!
Reply
- Mette says:
  May 13, 2017 at 6:16 pm
  
  Thank you. I really appreciate the feedback.
  Reply

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Feel free to contribute!

Easter passion in Oria

Italy and the love lock fad

Tuscany’s bread without salt

Splashes of spring along Ancona hills

Traffic fines in Italy

Trabucchi fishing in Termoli

Fresh fava beans wrapped up in cotton wool

Carneval in Rome today and 165 years’ ago

Venice fishmarket

Tracing Fellini through Rimini

Fragrant quince trees

Dinosaur tracks near Altamura

Italy’s mourning posters

The fortress of Volterra

Leuca – The tip of Italy’s heel

Castellaneta in Puglia – The city of Rudolf Valentino

The Value of Old Olive Trees

Famous Words about the Gothic Cathedral of Milan

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