Yearly Archive: 2007

The streets of Florence are not safe on New Year’s Eve. Gangs of youths run amok, tossing firecrackers indiscriminately into crowds. Residents throw empty bottles from their windows. Rome, they say, is even worse. No matter, we usually spend New Year’s Eve at home, anyway. When we lived in Florence we enjoyably spent the last day of the calendar year foraging in our favorite haunts. Cheeses, nuts, olives and a salmon spread from the Central Market, bread and rolls from Verrazzanno on Via dei Tavolini, a small pork roast from Sandro Polleria on Via dei Cerchi, rosemary, carrots, zucchini and...

Sandy, my illustrator and my muse, joins me in wishing everyone a happy, healthy holiday. May all readers enjoy this wondrous season with family and friends. Take some time to reflect on what truly matters – it’s the Italian way! Best wishes for 2008 and if Florence is not on your agenda, it should be!

Christmas on Via Roma, the street where we lived in Florence, is celebrated like no other neighborhood where we have ever spent the season. Early in December, trucks deliver numerous terra cotta tubs containing perfectly formed evergreen trees that are carefully tucked against the exterior walls of the shops for blocks around. Once the planters are in place, each tree is decorated with white fairy lights. Similar white lights are strung across the street high above the pavement and while each block features the same dazzling color, every design is subtly different, so that when you look up and down...

Yesterday afternoon’s Tuscany workshop was a great success. Putting together local tour operators with people from Tuscan hospitality services was a brilliant idea and a suitable launch for Enzo Colombo as he takes up his new post in Toronto as director for Canada of the Italian Government Tourist Board. I arrived at the Columbus Centre in time for the evening event which included a speech by Enzo as well as a wonderful videotape of Tuscan scenery and art treasures which brought back many memories. Among the many items portrayed was Donatello’s David, my favorite work of art in all of...

The first Christmas card to arrive at our house this year is from Angela Caputi, a wonderful jewelery designer and entrepreneur we met while living in Florence. Angela was one of many local artisans who opened her doors and her heart to us while we were there. I showed up unannounced at her retail outlet on Via Santo Spirito and could see her working at her desk through a glass wall. When I spoke to one of her assistants about meeting her, there was no hesitation, and Angela immediately came to the shop floor. Angela speaks excellent English, far better...

Anyone who has traveled on the Toronto subway system or visited New York’s Grand Central Station recently could not help but see a sophisticated ad campaign about Italy. With the slogan “Italy for life” the two dozen different posters go beyond the usual photos of the Leaning Tower of Pisa to portray everything from spas to locations for business meetings. The posters sing about “landscapes where emotions come alive,” “culture that inspires” and “artistic beauty that fascinates.” You don’t need to convince me. Still, I wanted to find out more about the campaign so I called the Toronto office of...

The strike by the Writers Guild of America offers a glimpse into the future of intellectual property and how people get paid for cranial creativity. At the moment, 20 per cent of all U.S. homes have TiVo, which means TV programs can be downloaded and watched whenever the viewer chooses – without having to bother with the commercials. A recent New York Times article flat-out declared this means the end of television and drew a parallel to how vaudeville performers must have felt when talking movies arrived. If there are no eyeballs watching soap ads, why should Dove bother spending...

Of all the people we met in Florence, the one with the most impact was Peter Porcal, the resident art historian for the Ontario College of Art and Design (OCAD). Now in his early sixties, Peter has led his “children” for more than two decades. That’s Peter pictured at the top of the blog adroitly holding a spray of peppers. Click on the photo to enlarge it for a closer look. Every Wednesday morning, he takes successive classes of students somewhere in Florence to see Renaissance art. He also leads day trips and weekend excursions to the antique sales in...

Prior to going to Florence, I knew there were two stories I wanted to tell: the pressing of olive oil and the tasting of vintage wine. In November, when the olive harvest was in full flight, the opportunity arose for us to see how olive oil was made. It was our landlord, Roberto Bianchi, who made the arrangements for us to visit Villa S. Andrea in Montefiridolfi, 20 km. south of Florence. In addition to harvesting their own olives, Villa S. Andrea also acts as a co-operative. Signor Bianchi takes his olives there for pressing, so he was able to...

As a writer, you make some assumptions about who your audience is. In the case of Fantasy in Florence, I imagined that most readers would be over forty and looking for a change in their lives. Wrong! Turns out students are reading the book, too. Here’s part of an email from a post-grad student who read the book as a break from her regular studies. I’ve left out her name, faculty and school. “I just finished reading your book, Fantasy in Florence. I wanted to write to you to tell you how much I enjoyed it! I lived in Florence...

Andrew Waite’s wonderful installation, Crop, so glowingly described in my earlier post about Nuit Blanche, is on display until November 15 in the Mediterranean Garden at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Burlington. The name of the McCaul Street gallery where Crop appeared during Nuit Blanche was Prime, not Pride. My apologies to all concerned.

On Sunday, November 18, Sandy and I will be among the honored guests at the annual Writers for Wellspring benefit in London, Ont. This event will feature such well-known writers as Kelley Armstrong, Jacquelyn Mitchard, Heather O’Neill, Maggie L. Wood and Joan Barfoot. We’re in esteemed company, but I hope the other authors will excuse me for specifically citing Joan Barfoot, who is honorary chair that day. In the 1960s Joan and I worked together on The Gazette, the student newspaper at the University of Western Ontario, and I have fond memories of her fine work way back then. We’ve...

Chapter openings are important because they need to draw the reader in with a promise of an interesting time. The opening scene of October just up and presented itself to me on Via Roma, right outside our apartment, when we spotted Jean Chretien meandering along. Despite the fact we’d never before met, he knew we must be Canadians because we were grinning foolishly at him in the shock of recognition. The former prime minister chatted easily and filled us in on why he was carrying two shopping bags from Tod’s, the luxury leather goods store. Ecco! I had my chapter...

Sandy and I taped an interview last night about Fantasy in Florence for Viva Domenica, a lifestyle variety show that will air on Thanksgiving Sunday, October 7 at 6 p.m. Eastern on TLN, the Italian language channel. (Check your local listings. In Toronto, Rogers carries TLN on channel 35.) I’ve been in a lot of green rooms – as they call the waiting room in TV – but never with a more diverse group. Other guests who gathered to tape their segments included Father John Borean who helps run an orphanage in El Salvador, Mike Marcantonio on home-made wine, Lee...

Until very recently, I had never heard of Ann Hamilton. Saturday night we were part of her “listening choir” at Nuit Blanche, the all-night art celebration. Hamilton, who represented the U.S. at the 1999 Venice Biennale, is an installation artist who teaches at Ohio State University. As part of her contribution to Nuit Blanche she led the two-dozen member choir in our offering, which consisted of standing silently, eyes closed, in a line inside the Ontario College of Art and Design, listening to the noises around for twelve minutes. We then repeated the “performance” outside on McCaul Street. Some passersby...