Arrived on short note. The car loaded with goodies. Santa’s helper didn’t stay long. Every day we came back from work we were wowed: 

First day: home made cookies 💫 

💯 compliments from the lucky people who got to try them already 🥰

First Christmas gift 🎁 is ready.

Second day: The most beautiful Christmas decoration 💫

💯 compliments from the neighbors.

Each window is decorated differently. So very creative & beautiful! Such a talent.

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas 🎄

Wondering who the helper was?

We treated her for a beautiful Swabian dinner in a gondola.

A very first visit of the Christmas market 💫

Ludwigsburg is definitely one of my favorite Christmas markets.

T ⭐️ H ⭐️ A ⭐️ N ⭐️ K you, mum! 😘

Thank you for coming and turning the house into a festive Christmas spirit! It all looks amazing!

Back to work. A business trip to Romania. A car accident. Raclette & fog. A little snow. Freezing temperatures (it’s getting to the direction of Glühwein). My least liked month of the year. So…. We focused on the nice things: meeting friends. Lightning up rooms with candles, organizing December, Christmas and New Year’s Eve. Enjoying home-cooked winter-style dinners. A glass or two red wine included. Netflix series (Christmas movies are best in November 😁). The fire is on, keeping us cosy. We are wrapped in blankets…

Our garden is also ready for winter. Picking last red & green tomatoes, hubby producing ketchup with it. 

Last time for this year cutting the grass. 

We are ready for December! 💫

…back in cold, grey, rainy & foggy (sometimes sunny) Germany. Forecast: low temperatures, maybe even snow. 

Italy, we miss you already. Your wine was so good. And the sky so blue. And the sun shining every day. And the locals so friendly. 

That’s why we made a little “trip” last night. Getting the bus to the next village to dine in the favorite steak house. Primitivo included (why do you think we’d go by bus… 😉🍷).

It was delicious. We had a great Italian night out.

Our mind is still in beautiful warm Italy. Not ready for all the Christmas craziness yet. Still time.

Driving along the coast to Palermo, the capital city of Sicily. Time to surprise hubby with a sightseeing tour in a different style. 

Changing cars: Mini Cooper was parked and… we were discovering Palermo in traditional Fiat500 cinquecentos from 1976.

No seat belts. No roof. Not even doors – only in Italy. 16 horse power. And: it’s not true that cinquecentos can park anywhere. 

All we needed: a valid driver license, experience in driving with a stick and closed shoes. Easy for us.

Ready. Steady. Go! 🏁

We had a blast and the coolest tour guides. We “just” followed them and hubby copied their Italian driving style. Good that we had time to adopt that style already. 

Communication between the 2 Fiats via walkie talkies. And that made it feel even more like travelling through time. 

Perfect weather, feeling the Dolce Vita and cruising through Palermo’s iconic landmarks in a green Cinquecento.. passing by Falcone-Borsellino murals, Piazza Marina, Cathedrals,  Massimo Theater… and so much more. 

There’s places, where even cinquecentos cannot pass thru, so we walked. Wow! Beautiful! 

Quattro Canti (Piazza Vigliena): “Quattro Canti” translates to “four corners“, each decorated with statues representing the four seasons.

Parking the cars and visiting Ballaro Market, the traditional market in Palermo selling fresh produce, Sicilian street food, souvenirs… wow! It’s loud, when the vendors are shouting to attract the customers, and the area is characterized by string cultural integration.

Let’s talk about the mafia. Sicily is infamous for being the origin place of the Italian Mafia. Following Sicily’s official inclusion into Italy in the 19th century, the Sicilian Mafia developed as the government failed to maintain citizen control. The Mafia soon became notorious for its extreme violence and involvement in illicit activities, triggering an active anti-mafia movement in response.

While the Sicilian mafia is in decline, street art seems to be on the up.

A beach stop. Including local delicious biscuits. 

Not only we had fun cruising around in the beautiful Fiats. People loved seeing them and would take pictures and give a thumbs up, we felt like celebrities! Lol. 

This was a lot of fun and made us smile. A perfect day to end our Italian Roadtrip. And hubby got complimented as “the best Fiat cinquecento driver on this tour”. Salvo might even consider letting hubby drive this mint Fiat with basket seats. 

Salvo has in total 10 Fiat Cinquecentos, and one looks nicer than the next. Here are some of the other beauty’s:

Unfortunately, it’s time to leave Sicily. Next stop: Palermo’s port for the ferry to Genova. >20 hours on the sea sounds longer than it was. 

Well, we soaked up the sun, got our vitamin C & D storage filled up. iPhone photo storage is also full. We slept a lot, chilled, moved, swam, chilled, read, painted…. So many fantastic memories, and definitely a trip to remember. It was divine!

Ready to go back home, not so ready for work on Monday. Lol. 

A last bit of Italy. Today we had a goal: going home. The air got crisp and fresh. We travelled towards fall, the summer seems now definitely ending.

We had the most wonderful 4 weeks in Bella Italia. Venice – Tuscany – Puglia – Sicily – each stop very different, and we loved them all. Amore 🫶 

Driving along the coast of Puglias heel, passing by vineyards (Primitivo 😍)… all the way to Calabria, the South-West or the “toe” of Italy’s boot-shaped peninsula. First impression: Calabria is very green & lush. 

Tropea for dinner. 

Taking the ferry from Calabria to Sicily via “Lo Stretto” or “The Strait of Messina”, a 3-8km wide strait under which earthquakes frequently occur – the last one in August 2025. Oh! Well, we got lucky. Arrived safe & sound in Sicily. 

Apparently, Italy’s government agreed to start the construction of a bridge connecting Sicily with the mainland, “il Ponte”… but lots of reasons speak against it (earthquakes, the depth of the sea, the mafia…). 

We arrived in Sicily. Up to 29C degrees. Wohoooo. Summer continues. Blue sky, sometimes a couple of clouds. 

The traffic is nuts, hubby an amazing driver, google navigating the way, me the street life: bike from the right, another one left, old man crossing the road, light is turning red, arghhhhhhh.

Well, we made it without incident… you just have to adapt to the Sicilian driving style. That rally training comes handy. Lol.

Once we made it out of the crazy city traffic, the sun is above us, the sea in front of us. It’s a beautiful ride.

We stayed in a farmhouse among vineyards on the slopes of Mount Etna, an active stratovolcano.

And here is the beauty “Mamma Etna” as the locals call Mount Aetna. Constantly active (last eruption in June 2025), today only smoking, and luckily not erupting. It is located above the convergent plate margin between the African Plate and the Eurasian Plate. 

Arrived at 1900 meter. What a ride. Etna’s highest point (at the moment) is 3357 meter.

Moving on from the top of Etna to the West coast of Sicily.

Sicily reminds us about Hawaii (green huge mountains, volcano), Vietnam (the Bays), and Arizona, California (the color of the mountains). And that’s why the “spaghetti western” films (low-budget films being made in Italy during the 1960s and early 1970s) are recorded in Sicily.

It looks like from a different world. Crossing Sicily in the middle was fun. 

We drove between sky and sea, the road winding along rocky cliffs, twisting and turning, leading up and down. And finally, we reached the coast again, always with this constant view of the blue.

We arrived in our final destination in Sicily, a place which was once used as a tuna fishery 🎣

Now it’s turned into a place with a villa located in a large Mediterranean garden that slopes towards the water. Lots of birds, geckos and butterflies included. It’s so very peaceful. Very charming.

Glad to have the geckos, there’s plenty of mosquitoes. They may look kind of different here, with extremely big wings, but eating us up as before. 

Sicily’s coastline is just wow! Stunning!

We enjoyed slow mornings, beach hours with Jack Johnson in my ear, thinking of where to have dinner and finding lots of beautiful places by chance. 

Dinner time after enjoying our aperitif.

We seem to be lucky again. Not only for the weather but Sicily is shutting down pretty much November 1st until March next year. Winter break. We keep holding on to summer. Just a little bit longer. 

Most villages are on top of the mountains in Sicily. Charlie and I took a gondola ride up.

Another day at the coast.

Sicily is different compared to Italy’s mainland. I am in love. Maybe it’s the dramatic and diverse landscape that really caught me. Mount Etna was a really unique experience. I am also in love with the coastal beauty: the variety of coastlines, from rugged, rocky shores to sandy beaches with clear Mediterranean waters. Maybe it is the mountainous areas to rolling hills and picturesque coastal towns? Don’t know what it is, but Sicily caught me 🫶 💛

Pizza in Sicily is different: unlike Neapolitan pizza, it is typically rectangular, with crispy dough, sauce, and less cheese. Toppings of anchovies, oregano, bread crumbs impart additional bold. 

Delicious 🫶

…and then I found this. In the middle of nowhere 🌞

Driving on…

Wow! Just wow!

The sun goes down at 5pm. Enough time to go home, shower and get ready for aperitif & dinner 🥰

Did you know that Sicily has a “Blue Zone” in Caltabellotta, a remote mountain town?

The term “Blue Zone” was coined by researchers studying regions around the world with the highest concentration of people who live to 100 and beyond. The five major Blue Zones are currently in Sardinia in Italy, Okinawa in Japan, Ikaria in Greece and Nicoya in Costa Rica. 

In case you want to get old but don’t live in a sun-soaked Sicilian village, you can adopt longevity-enhancing practices into your own life: keep stress level low, option for a Mediterranean diet, strengthen social bonds, move, move, move, and escape the city! 

Another reason to stay in Sicily 🌞

Our car looks more and more like a grocery store: prosecco from the hills, olives, oil & wine from Tuscany, pasta from Bari, Primitivo from Puglia, more wine from Sicily… mmmhhh, the next weeks are going to be delicious. 

Sicily, you are stunning. Your simple life style. Your fresh caught fish & how you prepare it for dinner. Your beaches, stunning colors! Wow! Magnificent. We loved being here, and we’ll be back for sure 💛 

We are heading on to Palermo. 

We are in Italy, so let’s talk about one of the three important drinks: cappuccino (the other ones are Aperol Spritz & vino 😎)

“Who invented the cappuccino? 

Like all great things in history, the origins of cappuccino are wrapped in legend, but the most popular theory has to do with an Italian monk and an Austrian waiter who had an eye for color coordination. 

Here’s what happened. Back in 1683, Pope Innocent XI sent the Capuchin monk Marco d’Aviano to Vienna to rally support against the Ottomans. At some point, between all the diplomatic negotiations, the friar found himself in a Viennese café, ordering coffee. One sip in – too strong. So, he asked for cream to soften the bitterness. 

Upon witnessing the resulting light brown hue, the waiter allegedly exclaimed, Kapuziner! because the drink now matched the earthy brown robe of the Capuchin monk. And just like that, a coffee icon was born.

But let’s be clear – this early version was nothing like the foamy masterpiece we love today. It was just coffee with cream: zero froth and none of that aesthetically pleasing barista artistry.

It wasn’t until the late 1800s, when the first espresso machine was invented (shoutout to Angelo Moriondo), that cappuccino finally started resembling what we know and love. The ability to brew espresso under pressure led to a richer, creamier coffee base, and with the advent of steaming wands, frothy milk entered the scene. Since then, cappuccino has become an Italian cultural icon.

What about the the “no cappuccino after 11 AM” rule:

If you’ve read anything about Italian coffee culture, you’ve probably stumbled upon the sacred rule: Do not order cappuccino after 11 AM, or risk being marked as a clueless tourist for eternity.

Why? Well, for Italians, cappuccino is typically a breakfast drink, not something you casually consume during your meals or even afterward. It all has to do with milk. 

According to Italian nonnas, drinking milk during or after a meal is basically a crime against digestion, right up there with swimming too soon after eating. A cappuccino post-lunch? Nope, didn’t hear that! And pairing it with pasta? You might as well be ordering a pizza with pineapple! The only “acceptable” alternative to the cappuccino on these occasions is a caffè macchiato, since it contains only a few drops of milk.

This whole “no cappuccino after breakfast” pops up in travel blogs, guidebooks, and articles as if we would actually gasp in horror if you ordered a cappuccino after 11 AM. Well, guess what? Who cares! 

In fact, I’ve personally witnessed Italians drinking cappuccino at night. Yes, at night.

So here’s my advice: drink your cappuccino any time you feel like it. Morning, noon, midnight – who cares? At the end of the day, if people in Genoa can dip focaccia into their cappuccinos without judgment, then why would anyone judge your late-night cup?” – an Italian

And that’s exactly what we did: No cappuccino after 11am? Well, we went ahead and broke the rules! We love our cappuccinos before and after 11am. And we were not the only ones. Lol. Seemed ok after second order was Aperol Spritz. Salute!

We had planned a trip to Puglia before, and then came Covid… this time it worked out and here we are. First time and in love.

That’s how crossing Italy from North-West to South-East looks like. Olives (oil) and wheat (pasta) are essential elements in that regional production. 

After an 8 hour road trip, we arrived in Puglia, a southern region forming the heel of Italy’s “boot”. It’s also called the “land of two” seas: the Adriatic Sea to the East & North and the Ionian Sea to the South. That explains that Puglia’s coastline is longer than any other mainland Italian region.

Puglia, that’s whitewashed hill towns, centuries-old farmland (olive trees, artichokes, tomatoes, eggplants) and hundreds of kilometers of Mediterranean coastline (including various kinds of seafood). 

First stop: Bari – Capital City of Puglia – where traffic is a little crazy, Vespas rattle through the old town streets, where awnings are stretched over balconies like icing on the cake. 

Just strolling through the labyrinth of alleys, jumping to the side to not get hit by a Vespa. Ciao, Bari! 

In front of the houses, wooden tables are lined up where Italian nonnas shape the pasta dough into orecchiette, Baris local pasta. 

The authentic ones are handmade by women of the old city district, where they offer them for sale on the thresholds of their homes in the arrow alleys. 

Orecchiette are made of durum wheat semolina: the dough is shaped into little finger thick snakes that are cut unto nail-size pieces. These are then flattened with the knifes tip, and given the shape of a tiny ear (that’s the meaning of orecchiette) with the help of the two index fingers. The Bari Orecchiette are usually served with rabbit in a sauce, braciole in a sauce, or broccoli rabe. 

In addition to fresh pasta, you’ll also find a nice fruit and vegetable shop.

My idea: pick up a few tomatoes & herbs, and we’ll have all the ingredients for tonight’s pasta dinner. Hubby’s idea: let’s go out for dinner and enjoy “properly cooked” pasta dishes! 

Thanks for the compliments on my cooking skills…

Bari life is happening outdoors. Rain or shine.

Bari was very nice. Time to move on to…

Passing Monopoli and getting ready for Alberobello, the home to “trulli,” stone huts with distinctive conical roofs.

I’m trulli in love with Alberobello 💕

Driving a little more south, all the way to the south of the “heel”. Oh mei. Found our little wild paradise for the next days. 

A simple stone house in a dream location, on the cliffs right next to a fjord. Anyone driving along the coastal road would not expect a house here – and yet it is here, nestled against the rocks. Wow! Wow! Wow! Breathtaking sea views. Maximum privacy – and a heated outdoor jacuzzi. 

Waking up to the sound of the waves. Fishing boats passing by. Espresso with an amazing sea view. Sun bathing. Reading. Sleeping. More espresso. And repeat. Life is good! It’s a pity how fast hours go by. 

Ready for watching the sunset?

Well, it’s time to leave our little Puglia paradise…

Taking the sun with us. Holding on to summer. Just a little bit longer. Moving on to Calabria, the sole of Italy.

A love letter.

Dear Primitivo,

You are made from an Italian red grape 🍇

You got smooth flavors: blackberry, dark chocolate and liquorice.

You are a mouth full. So soft. 

You are a bold wine. 

You are wow!

You are originally from Croatia. You found your true home on the eroded limestone plateaus of Puglia in Italy. 

You can be shared (or not).

You go well with Italian pasta. Or anything else.

You are like a question with two answers, one for each sea: the Adriatic and the Ionian. 

You taste like reading or music at night. 

Your bottles are made out of thick glass, heavier than from other wines.

You embody contrasting pleasures, where the atmosphere becomes magical, almost bewitching. 

You got a dual personality, giving it a unique complexity and charm, like a moment suspended in time. 

You are fantastic!

You make us drunk. Regularly (since we are in Italy) 😎

Primitivo 🍷 you are my absolutely favorite red wine. Have always been. I found you in your home (not only in a shop in Feuerbach), tasted you. Love you! 

Of course a couple of bottles are coming home with us (if they don’t get drunk before…).

Apparently, in the Middle Ages, in an Italian town, women would put a mild poison into their husbands’ breakfast in the morning. Then, when the men came home late in the evening, they were given the antidote.

This poison was actually not harmful to humans. But if the men didn’t come home – because they were elsewhere – and the antidote was delayed, they would suffer headaches, nausea, shortness of breath, depression, pain, and vomiting.

The farther away the man was from home, the worse he felt. And when he finally returned, without knowing it, his wife would give him the antidote, and within minutes he would feel better.

With this horrible trick, men were deceived into believing that being away from home caused them pain and depression, and so they grew attached to their houses and to their wives…

Evil women?

Smart women?

Or are we enjoying me-time without hubbys these days?

You decide! 🇮🇹

Happy Sunday!

We arrived in central Italy, at Costa Toscana. Oh mei, a natural paradise, and a contrast compared to Venice.

We left Tuscany’s metropolises behind, and instead found the most charming villages and magnificent panoramas. Our route took us right into the heart of Tuscan postcard scenery.

We stayed in a farm house in a very charming location immersed in the Tuscan countryside: only a few minutes from the sea, olive trees and vineyards as far as the eye can see (the lands of Bolgheri).

The house was shaded by pomegranates, oranges, lemons, limes and olive trees. And plenty of mosquitoes. A wonderful green oasis.

A dreamy, hilly road perfectly lined by endless cypress trees. Love the smell of those trees, another childhood memory of holidays in Bella Italia. 

We were lucky again: extended summer in Tuscany, allowing for a last dip of the season in the sea. 26C degrees, sunshine and phenomenal blue sky. Good for us, less good for the farmers. Apparently not a good year for olives… too warm, too many insects. 

Tuscany is known for its gorgeous villages as well as the beautiful landscape, wine and olives. What it also got and maybe that’s still a bit of a secret: a stunning Mediterranean coast with the most beautiful beaches. 

The owner of the farm house is also a farmer and the harvest of olives for oil just started. Hello climate change, harvest time in the past usually started 4 weeks later, in November…

Our days were filled with sleeping in, reading, painting, siestas, beach hopping, dining or just enjoying the beautiful scenery…

The views, the light, the pace, the food, the culture, the art… truly la vita e bella in Italia! ❤️

We wandered slowly and enjoyed the views which stretched endlessly across olive groves and vineyards – perfect for quiet reflection. Tuscany invited us to breathe slower and live simply. In fact we haven’t moved more than 12km within the radius of our farm house. No need. It was just perfect. Peaceful. Relaxing. 

All roads lead to Rome. So does ours, kind of. 

This was our second time in Tuscany, definitely a place where our hearts are leaping. 

We are moving on to southern Italy. Changing from the Tyrrhenian Sea back to the Adriatic Sea. 

Arrivederci, Tuscany.