Welcome to Racconti–Stories of Itlay & Beyond.
I started writing a blog of our experiences in Italy during the spring of 2013. My husband and I keep returning to the Bel Paese and each time we explore a new region and try to find a way to slow down a bit more. Before our first trip to Italy, I studied Italian a bit and was able to communicate pretty well. The Italians make it easy to practice the language, so I’ve been studying Italian ever since. It has opened the doors to some great adventures!
Usually, we base ourselves in a town and stay in an apartment for awhile. We try to use public transportation for a majority of the time, but Bob loves driving the country roads and autostradas of Italy for parts of the trip. Recently, we tried a home exchange, which has been great.
The purpose of this blog is to share my experiences and provide some helpful tips on travel in Italy, other areas of Europe and a few great places in the Pacific Northwest and Northern California. When I return from each trip, I will update the Restaurant Pages as quickly as I can. The places I list, are some of our favorites—not only for the food, but also for the great service we receive.
I don’t claim to be an expert on any subject. I just like to share my insights and hope to pass on some tips for traveling, especially in Italy—my favorite destination.
Buon Viaggio a Tutti-Marta
Stories of Italy
Racconti 
I’m enjoying reading about your eating adventures in Paris. It makes our lunch at the Old World Deli with a sample of wine from Argentina sound rather ho-hum, but then this is the city of subdued excitement 🙂
We had an interesting experience in the ESL class yesterday. In response to my inquiry about where Maria Gonzalez was, her mother Lillia told me a long story in mostly Spanish and we thought we were understanding that a big Tormento had destroyed her casa. She had nothing left, and they were all very sad. I tried to confirm my understanding with Modesto (who has just a few more English words that Lillia) and then we wrote a dramatic story on the board about the storm destroying her house and the students copied, read, and practiced speaking the words in the lesson… Later we found out that the Tormento which I interpreted to mean the storm.. was really an expression for the terrible situation of her being kicked out of the subsidized housing because a son had been arrested. As Connie said, it was about a storm, but the storm was in their head and life, not the weather. Good thing was they were engaged in the lesson, even though it was fiction!
Thanks for the Like!
Hi Guys,
Just to let you know I mentioned you in my last blog post.
Please check it out.
http://www.discovergreatplaces.com/hiking-in-italy/
Br,
Neno
Grazie Mille,
Your site is very informative. It will be fun to learn about more hikes!
Marta
Grazie mille. I hope to write a new post soon!
Grazie, Neno,
I hope to be writing more soon. We’ve been in Lucca where we walked part of the Francigena Trail.
Marta