Yes. Italy has supermarkets. Most of our shopping was done locally, especially in the local Mamma e Papa alimentary (deli). But when we did shop at the Supermercato, while there were similarities, there were many differences. 

And don't forget to wear a plastic glove to handle the fruits and veggies, or helpful nonna will put you in your place!

All photos copyright 2025, J.Finzi

During these days of uncertainty, fear, frustration and fatigue, it's often the little things that bring a smile to our faces... In this case, I was sitting down for a midday snack, mindlessly peeling a clementine as I was tuning into a YouTube travel video, when I looked down and saw I had peeled the skin into a perfectly beautiful star.

Look for the little things and build from there.

Hoping you are all well...

--Jerry Finzi

At long last, here is my collection of Classical Rome. Rome is filled with history reaching back to the Ancients at nearly every turn.

Enjoy...

--Jerry Finzi

Photos copyrighted 2019, Finzi Photography - All Rights Reserved

When we planned out Voyage to southern Italy, one of the things on my bucket list was to stay in a trullo--the pointy roofed stone houses of Puglia. Trulli are dotted throughout the countryside, some in the more ancient style of chopped-top cone, others abandoned and in ruins, and many in farm complexes made up of as many as 6-8 trulli. Their roofs can be adorned with painted hex symbols by their owners and they are topped with a wide variety of finial, sometimes in the shape of stars. They are restored into B&Bs and year-round villas with some being very chic. But nothing can prepare the Voyager when he visits the UNESCO town of Alberobello, with over 1600 trulli clustered in the town center.

In Alberobello, there are many wonderful gift shops, and while some offer the standard tourist kitsch, what I loved about the town is the amount of local artisans offering their hand made products. You can buy beautiful jewelry in the many different religious and pagan shapes found painted on the pointy roofs, local pottery and ceramics, wooden bread stamps carved with your initials, hand made pocket knives (I came home with a sommelier version)... but my favorite local craft are the miniature trulli. They are all made using local stone to mimic the real stone and techniques used to built the real trulli. There are tiny ones that you can hold in your hand and large ones that you can place in your garden.

--GVI

The Christmas season is nearly over with the Epiphany only 3 days away. We will be sad (as usual) to take down the Christmas tree, the decorations and take the lights down from around the outside of our home. This part of Christmas is a bit sad, but then again, we have had wonderful friends visit us, gave each other gifts from the heart, and have had amazing culinary feasts: Lisa's panettone and Christmas cookies, my chocolate pasticiotti, breakfasts of eggs Benedict, panettone French toast, chocolate croissants,  and of course, our Baked Ham on Christmas Day and Wild Boar Stew for dinner on New Year Day. We also enjoyed our annual cheese fondue and Greek salad on New Year's Eve with good friends, noisemakers and chilly Prosecco.

I don't know why, but our home felt especially warm this season... if not for the fireplace and mantle that I built last year, certainly for the love we feel for each other in our little Finzi Famiglia.

I just wanted to post some photos of the warmth of our home for you all to share. Please have a safe, healthy and Happy New Year!

Il tuo amico sempre,

--Jerry Finzi

Photos taken from our hot air balloon above Tuscany with our Pilot, Stefano Travaglia and his wife Gianna. Contact Balloon in Tuscany (Idea Balloon) On Facebook.