Do you recall the moment in which summer began? That one particular event, that first cold beer perhaps or that first time dining outside of which you now know: yes, that was exactly my first real moment of summer. I remember exactly where and when my summer started this year. It started with rain. A …
Weekly blog #148: Arrivederci, beautiful (Italian) summer Read More »
Last week, my time in the deep south of Italy came to an end. In last Monday’s blog, I told you how I had just arrived in Brindisi, the very last stage of my trip. I also described where exactly I had been the week before, as we had travelled through almost all of Puglia, …
Weekly blog #147: Puglia and Matera, a true experience Read More »
In my previous blog, I described how I, after arriving in Puglia in the deep south of Italy exactly a fortnight ago today, took a break from social media, the never-ending stream of text messages and even my email. A digital detox, so you could call it. And even though I shared the odd update …
It may seem strange, but today, for the first time, I’m flying from Maastricht Airport, the airport closest to home. It’s one of the few airports around here (read: Eindhoven, Düsseldorf, Brussels…) with a direct flight to Bari in Puglia, and that’s exactly where I’m going this August. But before I leave and my blog and Instagram …
Weekly blog #144: Off to Puglia! But not before doing a little recap first… Read More »
It’s the first of August, I have not been in Italy for almost a month now, and the summer holidays are about to start for most Italians. In a fortnight, on the 15th of August, it will be Ferragosto and I don’t have to be in Rome to know that everywhere you go these days, signs …
It’s the beautiful art of slow living that was invented by the Italians and that they named so very poetically: il dolce far niente. In other words: the sweet art of doing nothing. An endless lunch on Sunday afternoon, followed by lounging in the hammock with your sun hat on, while the languid sounds of jazz …
Weekly blog #139: How ‘il dolce far niente’ became a dire necessity Read More »
As you know, there’s a new blog every week. Every single Monday again. No matter if it’s Christmas or the middle of summer, and no matter if I’m running around at the Eurovision Song Contest or lying on a beach somewhere in the south of Spain. There are times when I type the blog in …
Although summer only officially starts this week, it unofficially already started when considering the fantastic weather of the past week. In the Netherlands, from where I received tons of sunny photos last weekend of family and friends who were at the waterfront, who went out dancing at festivals, who were collecting hay from the fields, …
Last Wednesday, my parents returned to the Netherlands after we had spent a wonderful holiday together in Rome and Frascati, a small town in the hills south of Rome. Although it was only the last week of May, the temperatures were already unusually high. Up to 35 degrees, which made it a real high-summer holiday. …
What a week! I started the week in Turin and ended it in Rome. And in between, I enjoyed the lovely weather in the Netherlands for a few days. All in all, I dare say it was a rather messy week. It all started in Turin on Monday morning when I overslept so badly (read: …
Weekly blog #133: From Turin to Rome with a pitstop in the Netherlands Read More »