Piero was my hairdresser in Rome. The first time I saw him, he was smoking a cigarette outside his salon near Campo dé Fiori, talking to a friend. I liked him right away. He was relaxed, self-confident and adorable.

Piero spoke just a few words of English when I became his client and I spoke very little Italian. I brought a picture torn from a magazine of how I wanted my hair to look. It was of Jennifer Anniston several years into Friends - a stick straight, face framing do. ...

Question: Do you have any recommendations about finding an
apartment in Rome?

Answer: This question comes up a lot, so here are my 4 best tips for finding a home in Rome:

Tip #1. When you arrive, pick up a free paper called Porta Protuese. It has classified ads in Italian. If you know even a little Italian (and have an Ital/Eng dictionary handy) you’ll do fine. These ads run by Italians will have more housing options and less expensive choices than going through...

The fall and winter bring what is known as the Acqua Alta or extreme high tides to the city of Venice. It has been well documented that besides rising sea levels the city itself is sinking and plans have been in the works for decades to protect this jewel. However what can be done to save Venice if even the weather is conspiring against it:

...

I just read the first few pages of Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert on Oprah's website. I don't know why I haven't picked this book up yet. It's receiving a lot of attention and has been on the NYTimes paperback bestseller list since January. I'm planning to take it read it on the Texas beach next week.

Anyone else read it? I'd love to hear your comments.

This summer, I read Four Seasons in Rome: On Twins, Insomnia, and the Biggest Funeral in the History of the...

I was reading a post this morning on the Life in Italy forum about winter time in Florence:

http://my.lifeinitaly.com/f14/florence-winter-1656.html

The post by forum member James.Derek reminded me of my own experiences traveling through Italy during the cooler months. It is true, one person's winter is another person's spring.

The winter of 1995/96 was a very cold and snowy one for New England and two months before I would visit Italy for the first time I was...