The Chiavenna Economic Forum (CEF) — “Italy is broken,” says Giuseppe Balzeretti, a respected architect here. “It is financially, politically and morally bankrupt. And, in its present state, it is an embarrassment to the great civilizations that have preceded it.” I am paraphrasing here, leaving out a lot of profanity, shortening it by about 12 paragraphs […]
Naples, Italy — This is not a story of “Luxury Walking, Wining and Dining.” It is a story of greed and addiction and, believe it or not, it’s pretty amusing. Too good not to pass along really. A friend of ours was recently on his way home from Capri and had an hour or so layover […]
Chiavenna, Italy — There is nothing glamorous about international air travel, but it’s still a miracle. Thirteen hours after hopping into a cab in Queens, we were lugging the suitcases up our Italian path and into the garden. The fatigue of jet lag adds to the cloudy and magical effect of plopping down thousands of miles […]
Flushing, Queens — The next time you take in a Mets game, you may want to show up a few hours early and explore the surrounding neighborhood. Flushing Meadows is home to the U.S. Open and the sculptural ghosts of the 1964 Worlds Fair. On the weekends especially, the park is a buzz of activity. While […]
Ozone Park, Queens — I’ll begin where I left off, back underneath the A Train on Liberty Avenue. As I said in my previous post, life in Queens is a bustling, multicultural experience and usually it is as noisy as it is diverse. It is the classic urban symphony of sirens, trucks, car horns and boom […]
Ozone Park, Queens — During the winter months, we wander the great outdoors of the Pacific Northwest. Soon, we will be heading off to the rocky slopes of the Cinque Terre. But the shoulder season finds us back at the Fabricatore family homestead in Ozone Park. This is the other New York. The one far removed […]