During our last trip to Italy, we headed to the Pantheon (in the interest of full disclosure, I did not know the difference between the Parthenon and the Pantheon until rather recently. I also cannot tell the Olsen twins apart. Tell no one of my secret shame). It was at the suggestion of Jessica at…
There are parts of our Rome trip which I would like to share with you, but I can’t. I would like, for example, to share with you the name of the restaurant where Rand’s friend Fleur took us, but I swore to her that I would not. I willfully forgot its name and location. I…
They are four-inch-tall, rhinestone-studded confections. And they were probably a mistake. – And yet, I regret nothing. I found them in a boutique near Piazza Navona, as the rain fell on our last morning in Rome. I saw them in the window, and stopped abruptly. The way romantic leads do in Hollywood movies. I stopped,…
In the wake of a few miserable hotel stays, Rand has hit his limit. He has, apparently, had enough of toilets that don’t flush properly and continental breakfasts that look like the remnants of a cold-war-era kitchen after a particularly harsh winter. “We’re going to start staying in nicer places,” he told me the other…
My husband is a lovely and trusting soul. He has this persistent and annoying belief that humans are good at heart, despite my greatest attempts to contrary. I can’t seem to quash his faith in people, nor eliminate that sparkle of hope that permanently shines in his eye. Behold: – That doesn’t mean I haven’t…
I feel like Billy Pilgrim: I have come unstuck in time. A friend asked me where exactly I had been recently, because she had followed my antics through Rome, then there was something about Air France, then something about Boston, and she was utterly confused. Why I very much would like to claim that I…
I saw this sketch in a little kiosk that sold old maps, postcards, and prints in the center of Rome: – Lovely, right? I kind of wish I had bought it. But mostly, when I look at it, I can’t help but think of this: – Still, those chariot drivers must have needed something to…
Italian interior design hurts my brain. You’d think that for a country so well-known for its clothing, the inside of homes and hotels would be more fashionable. Instead, they’re what I imagine people in communist Russia thought the future would look like. The decor is weirdly sparse. Even in homes where people have been for…
… but never asked (mostly because you had never heard of it before). – During our last trip to Italy, Rand and I spent a few days in San Marino, which is not far from Bologna. Prior to arriving, my knowledge of the place could be summed up thusly: It was the answer to a…
Tales of Food, Feminism, and Fury
by Geraldine DeRuiter
Available Now!
In Hardback, e-book, and audiobook from these booksellers:
