Welcome!
I’m here to share my thirty-five years of Italy experience and expertise with you.
I've been going to Italy since the 1980s, when I first went at age 19 on a ten-dollar-a-day backpacking trip. By the next year I was living there, learning the language. By the 1990s I was leading teenagers on summer abroad trips to Italy.
After creating my own wedding in Italy in 1998, I started a business organizing weddings in Italy for foreigners. I did that for six years but I was never as interested in weddings as I was in Renaissance history, so I went back to university to get a master's in that subject.
I’ve taught at colleges in the US and in the Middle East. And since 1998 I’ve continued planning trips in Italy for clients on the side.
After a divorce and traumatic illness, I walked Italy’s pilgrimage route solo. This is great way to get off the beaten path in today’s world of over-tourism. Check out my memoir about it here.
In 2017, I moved to Italy for the third time. (I had two prior iterations living in Italy). And, I made it through (and passed) the challenging (understatement 😅) guide course, and I'm now a licensed guide to Florence’s museums.
Recently I went through a very interesting process buying an apartment in Florence and spending a few years remodeling it and boy, did I learn a lot. 😉
My aim is to help you become more savvy about your trip or your move to Italy! I advocate slow travel, and authentic experiences—always hoping to nudge tourists away from selfie-obsessed hit & run tourism.
I hope you’ll consider supporting my work by subscribing, and don’t forget to share my Substack page with your Italy-loving friends.
Paying subscribers can ask me anything in the chat, and interact with each other. Non-paying subscribers can ask questions at the end of posts.
Subscribers will receive my monthly posts, and my quarterly newsletter, (which I’ve been writing & sending out since 2015) and more!
Advantages for subscribers:
Quarterly newsletter.
PDFs of my walking guides to various Italian cities.
Special lists of my favorite places to eat and to get off the beaten path.
Be the first to know about online courses I’m offering or future Tuscan Salons I’m creating (the last one sold out quickly).
Welcome gift.
Paying subscribers are always eligible for a discounted tour with me in off-season.
Thank you for your support! 😍
Subscribe at the yearly rate of $45 to receive all of the above mentioned goodies. If you subscribe at the VIP tier, you’ll also receive my 2.5-hour Intro to the Florentine Renaissance video course.
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