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As you may or may not know, I'm on my honeymoon in April. So, you've got a whole month to savor these lovely posts: take your time, come back often, and enjoy!
And don't forget to take note of your absolute favorite post from the list. There will be prizes, people, prizes!! Voting to be held by secret ballot in early May...details to come.
(BTW, any comments that the authors sent along with their posts are in parenthesis. I include this disclaimer because Tracie B. knows that I personally would NEVER use the word fart on my blog. At the very least I might write "scoreggia" or something like that. Which is actually probably vulgar in the end and therefore worse, but hey, might I remind you that I live in Rome and as vulgarity is pretty much the the hallmark of Roman dialect, please cut me a break!)
Since this is my home turf, I'm pulling rank and going first. It was hard to choose, 'cuz there's just so much oddity and fun around here, but in the end these are a few that are close to my heart:
- Bread and Tulips (I don't generally talk much about "my story" on the blog, but this was one time when a little healthy reflection made me appreciate how far I've come on my adventure here.)
- Do You Knead? (The story of making homemade pasta for the first time)
- One Day in Naples: Part One and Part Two (I didn't intend for my Naples day trip to become two posts full of photos, but the things I saw were way too good not to share. Remember the two cars stuck in the alley? Love it.)
- Odes to the why and the weird: Ten Things I'll Never Understand about Rome and Roma è Strana (The quirky, endearing mysteries of my adopted city)
(*The ones with stars next to their names are ones I chose myself...pals of mine who didn't have time to send me their faves and gave me permission to choose my favorites, or Italy bloggers who I wanted to share with you on this line-up, or a mixture of both!)
Ann: My Life in Italy
Annika: Dove Mi Porta il Cuore
Arlene: NYC/Caribbean Ragazza
Avery: La Dolce Vita
*Brendan: Brendan Eats and Drinks in Italy
My pal and former colleague, a New Yorker voluntarily transplanted here in Rome, shares his food adventures in the bel paese.
Cherrye: My Bella Vita
- Love Thursday: Italians and the Mercatino
- My Bella Vita...hmmm...
- Il Cedro...Coming Soon to a Town Near You
- What Do Zorro, a Ladybug and a Piccolo Cowboy
- French Fries for Jesus
- Rosy-Fingered Dawn
(has a sunrise picture from Anacapri and a brief blurb about the Homeric language the title is alluding to) - The Last Supper (talks about the thrill of going to Milan and actually getting to see Leonardo's The Last Supper)
- Bypassing the Queue (tells the story of our trip to the Vatican Museum and lucking into a guided tour that let us bypass the huge line already present at 9:30 a.m. It also has a tip about where to get your tickets for the Colosseum)
- By the Dawn's Early Light (has a sunrise picture from a harbor in Naples lookout out towards Mt. Vesuvius)
I couldn't bear not to have Diego, a young Roman journalist, on my list. He writes in Italian (with the exception of one post in English that I've included here) so unfortunately not everyone is going to get the joke, but for those of you who speak Italian or even study Italian, do yourself a favor and bookmark his blog. His posts are clever, well-written, and often laugh-out-loud funny.
- The Five Things I Miss About the United States
- Inchiesta: "Donne, è arrivato l'arrotino!" (this was the post that brought me to Mr. Diego's blog, when I was doing some online research for my own post about the arrotino.)
- Loffa: Due fratelli, un nome, un destino (after more than 5 years in Italy, this post taught me a new word in Italian, and had I been drinking milk, it would have been coming out my nose for how hard I was laughing)
- Schifotombola 2007 (a sort of white-elephant annual bingo tourney, where the real competition is in finding the most ridiculous and tacky prize)
Ellen: M.A. Peel
Heather: Yummy Sushi Pajamas
Jeff: Jeff in Puglia
- Things New to Me
- * Jeff catches his local pizza maker, Cosimo, tossing the dough (I took the liberty of adding this one to Jeff's other entry. I love his series of pizza-making videos, and all's I'm gonna say about the grand finale is, bet you've never seen a pizza with Sofia Loren's "assets" before?!)
Jessica: Finny Knits
- Photos from last trip to Rome
- Trip to the mountains and ocean
- Food tour
- Nutella in Italy
- Gardening in Rome
Loulou: Chez Loulou
Michelle: Bleeding Espresso
- Conquering Evil (One Plastic Red Horn at a Time)
- The House of Violets
- Fava Beans and Cream Puffs
- Drowning Our Sorrows
- Love Thursday: Making it Pretty
- It Could Just Be Me (It could just be me - making fun of my thirtysomething mammone neighbors who can’t do anything without the help of their parents – and both sets of parents are there 24/7! Making fun of them is one of my favorite pastimes)
- The Milanese and the Neapolitan: North vs. South
- Abbiamo Mangiato Oggi: Cristiano's Nonna
- Let's Make a Deal (Trying to get a good deal on a pap smear at the gyno...)
*Roman Wine Co.: The Official Blog of The Roman Wine Company (Brendan strikes again on this blog which is a celebration of Italian wine through the business he shares with his Irish pal John)
- February archives: Sicilian wines, Primitivo vs. Zinfandel, Barbera
A truly delectable blog exploring la cucina Italiana here in Italy. Try not to lick your screen.
- Santa Polenta!
- Zafferano (Saffron Tiramisù)
- What's collecting in your recipe folder? (Meditteranean-Style Dinner)
Sara: One Hot Processor
- Like I Said, I'm Just Happy it's Over (it's not quite Italy, but close)
- Bellissima Roma (Rome - my favorite pic is the Gladiator smoking near Piazza di Spagna)
Tamara: Woman with Stylus
Tracie B.: My Life Italian
- English Word Use in the Italian Vocabulary
- I Never Thought It Would, But It Happened To Me (this one's about ironing...the italiana's favorite past-time...)
- Living Dangerously (bare feet! BARE feet!)
- Italy Romance vs. Reality (the word fart is in THIS one here)
Now comes the hard part... which one did you like the best? Sharpen your pencils and start your lists...
[UPDATE: The votes are in and the winner is... drum roll please... Michelle a.k.a. Sognatrice of Bleeding Espresso for Conquering Evil (One Plastic Red Horn at a Time). I selected a prize I know she's been wanting: she gets my copy of Eat Pray Love, heading down to Calabria soon. Go ahead and check out her winning post!]