Archive | March, 2009

new boy on the block – the heathen from Pisa

By far the most interesting new blogger on life in Italy is thepisanheathen (newer even than me!) .   Irreverent, controversial, challenging and highly original - he will make you laugh out loud and change your view of Pisa forever.  His is not the traditional tourist view of Pisa, thank goodness, but rather of life as it is for the [...]

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wild primroses and violets in Lunigiana

It is a warm and beautiful spring in our corner of Lunigiana.   Unfortunately, I forgot to take a camera with me when we went up the bosco on the weekend.   Where we cleared brambles over the last year or two, there are now wild primroses and violets.   Fortunately, Path to Self Sufficiency has a beautiful [...]

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thermal waterpark in Lunigiana?

Rumour has it that the always enthusiastic  mayor of Villafranca in Lunigiana is proposing a thermal waterpark  using the ‘special’ high salt content water found in a spring near the Magra river. Other proposals from the mayor include an 18-hole golf course (there are currently practice tees but not much more) and Villafranca’s very own motorway exit on [...]

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crickey, a two-wheeled Maserati – learning from Italian Cycling

An unlikely blog to follow I know, but every week I learn something new  from Italian Cycling Journal.   This week, legendary car maker Maserati unveiled two bikes, one for road racing  and the other for more leisurely use.   According to Italian Cycling Journal, Maserati bikes were available in the 1970s and has a photo to prove [...]

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when the plan doesn’t actually work – strikes, burglary, plagiarism, school menus and steet lights

As in other places, in Italy things don’t always go the way they should.  Empty holiday homes can be prime targets for burgers, who often systematically work their way through an area in a couple of days before moving on, one step ahead of the police.     2 Italy discusses the problem in southern Marche, where over 120 burglaries took [...]

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