This blog is written entirely by James Martin, who has also taken most of the pictures. You can email him using the form at the bottom of this page. There are no paid posts on this blog.
He has lived part-time in the Lunigiana historical territory of Tuscany for over 20 years. Recently (it’s about time!) he wrote an app about his favorite places in this rural bit of Italy along the Via Francigena, and you can explore it by poking around the map:
Whereas the site called Wandering Italy is about destinations and empowering you to travel, the blog is mostly about Italian cultural experiences, most of them pointing out how life in Italy is different from life in Paducah, for example.
Italians are different. They are non-linear, preferring to yak with each other rather than staying stacked in a line silently seething over someone who seems to have cut in front. Of course, to the casual observer, this means that all Italians seem to cut in front of you which is only the case when you don’t know the rules, which are very simple.
The same applies to the Italian handyman, who, you are sure, exists to rip you off because that’s what you see on the tee vee, which supplies the viewer with a never ending supply of “alternative facts” because alternative facts are cheap to produce, like processed sugar and $7000 pills for a rare disease.
If you like to keep your indoor activities from your neighbors in a manner that doesn’t cost you an arm and a leg, you might find solace in my story concerning Italian Shutters. You can at least come away glad you can go to Walmart to purchase your cheap, made-by-political-prisoners-in-China window coverings instead of having to settle for artisan slats like poor Italians.
Or maybe you just want to sit down to a virtual plate of thinly sliced lardo without hearing in your mind the haughty tones of the food police, “oh, now that’s going to clog your arteries before you get back on the train!”
We do not judge. Not you. Not your lardo. You are free to dream at Wandering Italy. If that dream is of the most aromatic slice of fatback lasciviously melting over a slice of bread toasted over a hardwood fire, who are we to judge?
Have fun. Eat what you want. Dream good dreams. Then, when you’re ready, read the Lardo Tales
Hosting of Wandering Italy
We’ve recently changed to a much faster host, A2 Hosting after reading that their Turbo package was one of the fastest. Site transfer was smooth and easy, and we’ve had few problems, what quibbles that remained were quickly handled by the support staff.
Our Readers are Ecstatic!
(Actually, Wendy is one of our friends who can tell you where to go in Rome, how to use the latest of social media or teach you to make pasta correctly. See Flavor of Italy to see all she does.)
Contact Us!
Please, we do not accept guest posts or paid links. Opportunities for advertising on Wandering Italy is found on our Media Kit page. All content is written and photographed by James Martin, unless otherwise noted.