When I think about Limoncello immediately I find myself in Italy. In particular on the Amalfi coast wandering the side streets, following the fragrance of the beautiful sumptuous lemons that seem to be in baskets out the front of every door or shop front.

From memory there are two types of Limoncello, a sweet liquor in a small, thin bottle that is super sweet, or the turbo charged punch in the mouth digestivo that has you reciting poetry to a fellow tourist. This recipe is like the later, but certainly can be diluted or sipped gently, but here you go……

So many writers have to taken to the page to transcribe their daily thoughts, to reflect and preserve, to vent, to articulate, to understand, to create. Diaries and journals can be a way to write your life into being and a place of comfort and joy. Always the diary is a humble companion on a journey, whether you are traveling out there in the world or not. Here are few of my own humble moments from my travel diary in Liguria, Milan, Siena, London, France…

And now these thin volumes hold a moments of joy, gratitude and promise.

Some of my diaries I have kept and some I have thrown in the fire place, it turns out if you write journals for thirty or more years that they are going to take up some space. The only ones I have really hung onto are my travel journals, obviously I would never want to erase them in any way, but I guess I have realised over time what a great resource they are…. And I think another beautiful layer of the travel journey….

Solo travel is make or break in my opinion and not for the faint of heart. However, traveling alone can be a lot of fun too. I love sharing the journey of travel with family and friends, yet I know there can be plenty of wild and beautiful moments when you take the reigns and travel solo.

There is something about food that weaves its way in and out of life, that we cannot deny. When I wrote this some time back I was in the middle of the day to day yet, musing over women and food, and how everything was pulsing around me, the orchard, the sunshine, the books on the shelf, the mentors I would seek to understand through the many resources on my bookshelf….. Julia Child, Elizabeth David, Nigella Lawson, Diana Henry. These writers and culinary mentors were singing to me, and somehow I was in the middle of it all, somewhere between the daily and the sublime, reaching for a pear, scrawling down words, moments, memories, menus, and recipes.

If you are in the mood to be transported to the dreamy world of Southern Italy look no further than Nadia’s, ‘A Vegan Summer in Southern Italy: Recipes and Culinary Adventures’. I love this book for not only its visual beauty but its recipes based on plant based cooking and the traditions of Southern Italy. Food is more than the sum of its parts, it is culture, tradition, place, flavour and that connection between family and home.

If you are looking for something fresh in the city where modernist architecture meets villa, meets green oasis, look no further than the Villa Necchi Campiglio. Before I visited this architectural marvel I had seen the villa in a number of films. Recently in the ‘House of Gucci’, ‘I am Love’ and the Series ‘Made in Italy’. I was rather intrigued when I discovered it was in fact a museum and an institution of design and modernist principles in the leafy streets of Milan.

Have you ever wondered how the effervescent Spritz drink customarily enjoyed at Aperitivo time in Italy became a cultural icon? Once a purely Northern Italian cocktail and now very much a sign of the Good life wherever you are.

Come with me on a journey to Turin, we will board the Italo service at 10.35 at Milano Centrale and arrive an hour later at the Porta Nuova in the beautiful and the elegant Torino in Piemonte. Travel days are such great experiments, where occasionally the spontaneous finds you, willing and open.

I thought it would be great to share a little more of the adventure and what happened next in Italy on the journey from Liguria to Milan. On the last days of this recent trip there was much to savour and explore. I love the adventure of it all and the time to reflect on moments that continue to inspire along the way.

This was such a joy to record while still in Italy. It was Aperitvo hour and I was sitting at a little outdoor Cafe/Bar called Fatamorgana. It was late on a Sunday and I had just visited the Basilica of Santa Maria Assunta, one of the prettiest churches up on the edge of the sea with beautiful chandeliers dangling from the spectacular ceiling of frescoes…..

I often think that Genova is the most wonderful assault to the senses, a bustling port city and the capital of Liguria. A place with a vast history as a Maritime Republic and naval power close to the border of France, and on the beautiful Italian Riviera. These days, a historic city full of character, culture, beauty, urban decay, personality and dare I say chaos. But a beautiful welcome chaos. I love the play of ancient buildings, palm trees, history, Belle Époque architecture, bright blue sky and the multi-cultural layers that have made this city what it is….

Ciao from Italy and Welcome to Podcast #48,

I was in Parma when I recorded this share at an outdoor Cafe, O’Bistro in front of the Palazzo del Governatore on Strada Garibaldi. I was sipping a cappuccino and had a sweet moment of inspiration…..