This week my colleagues and I have focused our attention on several elegant brown and gold wicker baskets, with green satin cloth on the inside, and Italian tri-color ribbons and delicate locks and chains on the outside. Into these baskets, 1009 Italian electors – mostly members of parliament—have been placing their ballots for the Italian […]
An Elaborate Election in Italy Read More »
A few weeks ago, someone at Viking Books asked me if I would be willing to review John Hooper’s book The Italians on my blog. John Hooper is one of the most talented and experienced journalists living and working in Rome. He writes for “The Guardian” and “The Economist”; he has worked in Madrid and
Super Hooper and “The Italians” Read More »
This week my family of five – 2 parents plus 3 adolescents ages 19, 16, and 14, began a road trip to France. My husband came up with this rather risky proposition – he decided that we should use the first week of January to drive to the Loire Valley from Rome and visit some
Family Road Trip with 3 Teens – Recipe for Disaster Read More »
(SEE BELOW FOR UPDATE WITH INTERVIEW WITH FEMEN PROTESTER JANA ZDHANOVA) After my last post “The Roman Holiday Hamster”, I vowed I would take a break from writing about the Vatican and concentrate on Christmas. It took a lot of effort, but I resisted the temptation to write about Pope Francis’ Christmas speech to the
A Woman Locked up at the Vatican Read More »
Dear Blog Readers— Yes, that photo above is me—a crazed Roman Holiday Hamster running frenetically, non-stop in my wheel and never getting anywhere. This week, a young man asked me if I would contribute a blog post to his travel blog. I asked him what specifically he would like and he suggested a post describing
The Roman Holiday Hamster Read More »
“There are the living above and the dead below, and we are in the middle. And that means that there is a world, the middle world in which everyone meets.” – Massimo Carminati As posters for the latest “Hobbit” film were being splashed on billboards across Rome last week, police launched operation “Mafia Capital” in
Rome’s Middle World Read More »
Dear Blog Readers – I am learning through my tweeting experiences that animal photos are popular. My “Cataturk” waiting for the Pope at the Haghia Sophia was a big success, so I will start my Turkey Post 2 with another animal moment. The photo above is of the Pope releasing two doves outside the Cathedral
Pope Francis in Turkey – Part II Read More »
Dear Blog Readers- I am sitting in the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Istanbul waiting for Pope Francis and Patriarch Bartholomew I to arrive. A couple of blog readers have written to me asking “Where are you?”. They say they don’t see me in any of the shots on TV of the Pope in Turkey and I
Pope Francis in Turkey – Post 1 Read More »