Trust and Travel - Come inside the villa

My 10 favourite Moments in Italy in 2011

I have been going through my photographs of 2011 and came upon a few memorable moments. This year was my first blogging year. Having to come up with news for my readers actually made me do things which I have been wanting to do for years. February in Paris I have always thought that running [...]

A Room with a (Fabulous) View: The Hotel Palazzo Guadagni in Florence.

When I first came to Florence at age 18, my then boyfriend taught at a language school for foreigners on one of the city’s most beautiful squares, the Piazza Santo Spririto. The Palazzo in which his school was located stood on the corner of the square. It was an imposing renaissance building with an elegant [...]

Drinking in History: The Story Behind the Caffè Pedrocchi of Padua

Last month, The World of Interiors, my favorite decorating magazine, published an article about the Caffè Pedrocchi, a 180-year old café in the heart of Padua. While I’ve walked past this café countless times (and even once arranged a dinner for clients there), I never truly gave it much thought. My mistake. The article, artfully [...]

Setting Table with Dior: Visit to a Luxury Ceramics Outlet near Padua

A few years ago, when I was still living in Florence, a friend returned from a business trip in the Veneto in northern Italy with a magnificent set of dishes, which have stuck in my mind ever since. Oversized and finely hand-painted, these plates, serving dishes and bouillon cups were decorated with a random scattering [...]

The Most Natural Coastline in Tuscany – Lago di Burano

It’s a warm day in the Maremma, with a soft breeze blowing down from the hills. Humidity rises from the marshes of the Lago di Burano and leaves a filtered effect to the daylight and softens the scenery. Seagulls launch for their lunch and tortoises bask in the sun. Lago di Burano in southern Tuscany [...]

A Table on the Frassanelle Green: a Perfect Place for a Lunch Break

The day I went to visit Frassanelle, the owner, Francesca Papafava, took Katharina and I for a leisurely late lunch at the Parco delle Colline Ristorante located on the Golf Club of the estate. The restaurant is tucked away in the lush vegetation of the Frassanelle historical park, surrounded by the gently sloping Colli Euganei. [...]

Venetia: Are these Grottoes Real or Fake?

Yes, it’s true. When Count Alberto Papafava, a 19th century Romantic painter set about redesigning the layout of his estate at Frassanelle, just outside of Padua, he did not want to have to choose between his favorite landscapes and so decided, as was typical of many Romantic gardens of the period, to put a little [...]

Street Food in Florence (Part 2)

This is the second part of Kate’s investigation into where to have a light bite when you are spending a day in Florence. You can read the first part of the article here. Verrazzano Via dei Tavolini, 18r www.verrazzano.com closed on Sundays This wood paneled old-school lunchery is among the best in town. Don’t be [...]

Craftmanship in a Florentine Princess’s Garden

Near Florence’s train station in Via della Scala, a long and imposing wall runs for at least a hundred meters. There is a gate, but it is completely closed and the wall is too high to be able to steal a peak at what lies beyond. Having lived in Florence for many years, I know [...]

Tuscany: Treat Yourself To Wine Tasting At Castello di Potentino

Why not meet Chris Goodhart and let him guide you skillfully through a tasting of Potentino’s four fine wines? Piropo; Balaxus; Lyncurio . . . . named after precious stones, they conjure up haunting beauty. Sacromonte is a tribute to Monte Amiata, the Etruscans’ Mount Olympus, whose fertile volcanic soil nurtures the vines which produce [...]