You are autumn
I am spring
Allow me to walk with you
Through winter
I’ll show what’s coming
Hand you bits of bloom
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Further down, on the receiving bank of this bridge
when I’m dripping from the humidity of one of your more sultry days,
You’ll brush my skin with a warm current of memory
And my chest will go on pause-
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20 anni fa volevo solo scrivere
ma sono andata in Italia ed ho perso la voce.
Occasional bursts of light kept me turning the corner
around and around the inner perimeter of a grave that I had dug;
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My new friend (born of another love) shows me:
I would not eat rotten meat!
Nor would I waste the purity of sustenance
Where integrity is pillaged in the name of taste
I was born a lover, my purpose is bliss
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You are a traveler of the road or of the imagination. If you cook and explore food culture, one of two explains You. The idea that a recipe can open up generations of memory and and knowledge excites you - and makes you a good listener. It makes you a traveler.
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Born in Ponsacco, Marty came to live with me in Lucca at the age of two months. Our home is a dreamy and wonderful town…a jewelry-box-of-a-city surrounded by a Renaissance wall which is actually a tree-lined boulevard filled with bicycles and joggers, walkers and lovers and, every morning, the two of us on our daily outing. Since Lucca is doggie-friendly (he has dinner at Burralli and cappuccino at Tessieri as well as a treat awaiting at the local butcher shop) I have tried my best to take him with me anywhere I go.
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This week, a discerning traveler and food critic inquired about joining our upcoming cooking tour in Tuscany this July. Here are a couple of her questions and our responses.
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We had a rough start and after the first year it could have dissolved into history. But I chose Italy again and again. Not because she was beautiful or romantic but because she asked a lot of me. It took a long time, many years, before I trusted that she wanted me. It took time to see that her demands were forcing me to build a framework for a new home.
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On one of our days together, we'll make our way up the same road on our way to Barga Vecchia. We'll explore the inner castle and the dining scene, get to know some of the folks who live there. We'll and take time to explore the Duomo di Barga and gaze over the Serchio valley from the top of the world.
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Enjoyment is the heart of every Traveling Native experience. In Marin County, it will look, feel, and taste like this...
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Inside Pretto, pages of poetic discourse warm the atmosphere of this very unlikely positioned refuge of hospitality. But the power of this ethical and mouthwatering eatery is greater than how well it stands out against its harsh backdrop. Pretto is, in itself, a hub of wellbeing. It was born of a desire to sustain the pure and honest work of local farmers and artisans who, in turn, sustain the integrity of the land out of gratitude for what the land gives.
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