I’m always excited when I’m invited to take part in a creative workshop and so when Leonardo Leather and Gold asked me if I’d like to take part in one of their new Make Your Own / MYO labs leather experiences, I jumped at the opportunity! The Leonardo Leather & Gold store is located in the […]

Stop and energize on the slopes in Italy with a Bombardino, the ultimate winter cocktail!

A shoe & Accessory brand founded & created in the Rennaissance city. I always love discovering new fashion brands and so you can imagine my delight when I was recently introduced to a beautiful new Florentine brand called PAVóNE FIRENZE.  Founded in 2019 by Creative Directors Angela Testani and Massimo Brilli, PAVóNE FIRENZE is a […]

You know Spring has arrived when you start to see Baccelli (fava beans) in the markets and on Tuscan tables. Known also as fave (fava beans) in the rest of Italy, Baccelli is the Tuscan word for fava beans.   These beans always remind me of my Nonno in Australia as he used to grow so […]

As I ride my bike around the city, I often stop to take photos when something catches my eye, which happens a lot in Florence, as you can imagine! One day when picking up my boys from a play-date in Piazza D’Azeglio, I noticed a great font on the signage of a cafe & bistrot.  […]

Mugello, as I mentioned in my last post is known as the green valley of Tuscany. The Mugello territory was very much loved by the Medici family (in particular Lorenzo the Magnificent) and they left many signs of their dominance in the area, not only with their buildings (notably the Villa of Cafaggiolo in Barberino, […]

Shopping & Lunching in Mugello at Europe’s most beautiful outlet! I don’t think I am alone when I say how happy I am that Tuscany has moved into the yellow zone of Covid-19 restrictions, offering us more freedom to move around.  As much as I love living in the centre of Florence, I also love […]

Tuscan Master Craftsman in Ceramics since 1979 One of my favourite crafts here in Italy is ceramics and I have fond memories of the 10 person table setting including pasta bowls, plates and salt & pepper containers that my parents had shipped home after one of their trips to Italy.  One of my first ‘souvenirs’ […]

I will never forget my joy when many years ago, I found my very first porcino mushroom. I really couldn’t believe my eyes when after what seemed like endless hours of climbing up and down a mountainside in the hills above Pistoia, about an hour from Florence. There he was in plain sight, almost like […]