As we prepare to say goodbye to 2021 I know it’s hard for all of us to process that we are about to enter our third year of a pandemic. So much of the last year has been fog. A new concept of time and space. A vortex. Spinning through days, weeks, months and now years of stillness, uncertainty and for so many of us, pain and fear. We’ve seen light too. Rebirth, innovation, new ways of doing things, new ideas and even new outlooks. We’ve seen science in its glory too and how it has helped to save lives and I feel privileged to have been able to access vaccines in this current climate. &nbs ..read more

For those who know or follow me, this might old news already! But news I love reporting time and time again. My new book, How to be Italian has gone off to print and is scheduled for international release in October 2021. It’s truly been the privilege of a lifetime to become a writer, a published author. Twice! After the success of I Heart Rome: Recipes and stories from the Eternal City, writing this book has been a surreal and emotional ride – during a pandemic no less! I really had to dig deep to be creative during such a challenging time but Italy has always been my inspiration and muse an ..read more

Every year I sit down to write my year in review. To fit in with the theme for 2020, of course this one was different. It’s been the longest March of our life. A year no one expected, a year no one will ever forget. I’m sure I’m not alone in selfishly thinking on more than one occasion, couldn’t the greatest health, social and economic crisis of a generation happen on someone else’s watch? I still pinch myself. As one of my close friends so eloquently put it, we’ve never pandemic-ed before. And it’s impacted everyone on the planet in very different ways. This year I’ve felt alone, afraid, unsu ..read more

I’ve always celebrated the anniversary of the day I moved into my first apartment in Rome in Rome . Makes sense. Every year I make peace with and reflect on another year gone by in the Eternal City. The city I fell in love with decades ago and the city I’ve called home since 2011. This year nothing makes sense. Nothing at all. As we all try to process and manage life through the worst health, social and economic crisis of our time, it seems the only certainty is uncertainty. I don’t believe I have had even 1 conversation in the last 6 months without mentioning the word virus. Our liv ..read more

We all had hopes and plans this year. A global pandemic callously crushed them for many. For most of the world, leisure travel has been cancelled indefinitely with borders shut and a range of other restrictions. Even with much of the world slowly coming out of lockdown, sadly so many Italophiles won’t get to Italy this year. We know it’s not the same but businesses across the boot have mobilized to provide the best of Made in Italy to homes across the globe. From interactive cooking classes with local chefs to Italian wine and gourmet food packages delivered to your door, here’s how ..read more

Rome was set to celebrate one of the art world’s biggest anniversary years. But like many plans for 2020, the pause button has been hit. Read on for how you can still enjoy the occasion. First things first though. What’s the link between Rome and Raphael? Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino wasn’t born in Rome but the city became his home and his muse at a very young age. He spent the last decade of his young life (he died at 37) in the city where his works – the subject of a long rivalry between him and Michelangelo – can still be seen. The High Renaissance artist and architect was set to be honoured ..read more

I had plans this year.  Big ones. Like many people. My family was set to celebrate a milestone birthday and was planning to holiday together in Italy. I had returned to Rome just 6 weeks before, preparing to kick into rehab to manage the fallout from 8 surgical procedures in an 18 month period.  It felt like I blinked and I was then back on a plane leaving a lockdown behind me. Only to arrive in Melbourne to go straight into a 14 day self isolation, during which our State announced a lockdown.  I had plans this year.  So did my family and friends. So did my colleagues who w ..read more

60 million people in lockdown. Italians don’t have a reputation for forming queues. Nor are they a race you’d think would be ok with social distancing. Touching, hugging, kissing, socialising, togetherness. All defining characteristics of the Italian DNA. And yet here we are. 60 million people told to stay at home, go out for essentials and keep a metre distance from one another. No more passeggiata. No more morning coffee at the bar. And for the most part, that’s exactly what they’re doing.  When all this is over. When the emergency passes. When pandemic it is no longer. When the world c ..read more

Dear World, I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling like I want to take a time out. Even just for a minute. From terms like coronavirus and missiles and forest fires and climate change. Not because any or all of these aren’t matters of importance but because sometimes what we need is a little calm and a whole lot of perspective. And what Italy needs right now is for global travelers and the world to know that most of the country is open for business. I am a dual citizen. An Australian living in Italy, Rome to be precise. Not because – as I often get asked – I fell in love with an Italian (alth ..read more

Call me cheesy. A dreamer. Nostalgic. But when those John Lennon notes of War is Over start hitting the airwaves, a big lump develops in my throat. “And so this is Christmas and what have you done? Another year over, a new one just begun.” Those loaded words – what have you done? They strike a chord. Something so seemingly unimportant as a song lyric and yet here we are. The mind goes into overdrive. It’s easy to get nostalgic at the end of the year and look back on what was. And this isn’t just any end of year but the end of a decade. Promises made, promises broken, dreams achieved, dreams on ..read more