After flying in just one week ago for a fun-filled, fleet-footed, family romp through Firenze … the time to bid, “ARRIVEDERCI” to Maddie and Blake arrived all too quickly. And so it was done. At 4:20am Saturday morning the driver escorted the zombie-walking and Flo-filled couple with their overstuffed suitcases into the minibus thereby reducing […]
March 11, 2022
With everyone together again it’s just like Christmas morning except without the jammies; that, and we’re gathered in someone else’s home – – – in Italy. We’re just as excited and running a frenetic holiday-esque pace as we go about fitting our lofty ambitions and long to-do list into a fixed time frame. Here is […]
March 6, 2022
One thing about ancient buildings and structures that’s easy to forget – maybe because of the wonder and awe they conjure up – is that they usually were embellished with beautiful art. Long since lost to the ages or invading hordes were: statues, friezes, tapestries, frescoes, paintings, woodwork, metalwork and more that all combined to […]
March 5, 2022
My heart is so full! We are together again after 7 long weeks.
March 3, 2022
I’ve walked or ridden by these bridges what feels like 50x since landing in Firenze. Today while taking an easy ride heading from West to East they were especially eye-grabbing. The names of each crossing (In order of their River-bound alignment) are: Ponte Alla Carraia (1944), Ponte Santa Trinitá (1944) and the Big Daddy of […]
February 27, 2022
After 42 days of living La Dolce Vida (and also La Pasta Vida… and La Vino Vida… and La Baccala Vida etc.) in Firenze, we’ve officially reached the halfway point of our self-titled, “Residenza” (as opposed to this being a vacation). To be sure, there are many, MANY people, places and things that we miss […]
February 26, 2022
After a few requests of wanting to know my morning routine is like I thought I’d share a few photos from one of my walking routes. This is the road right outside our villa. It has no sidewalks like most of Italy and is very narrow. Interesting tidbit – we noticed full water bottles along […]
February 25, 2022
Here are a couple of action shots demonstrating the expert cooking techniques learned during our two weeks with Anna and Simona. First, Anne is making the veal/beef/pork Ragù for the lasagne… a little while later at the same cook station I’m making crepes for the Crespella alla Fiorentina. By the time we return to the […]
February 22, 2022
Who’d ever have imagined that steamed and macerated turnip greens would create the foundation of a tasty gnocchi/pasta sauce? Well, here’s my lovely emoglie and burgeoning chef-de-cuisine expertly driving the tasty, leafy greens into immersion blender under the careful guidance of our teacher, Anna. “Not too much – add some oil – that’s good!” Simple. […]
February 22, 2022
Here’s a post for our Obsessive Compulsive blog followers (it most definitely takes one to know one) based on the once-in-a-century numerical date string of the day. My ride on Route 222 clocked in at 2:22:22 this ‘Tues’-day 2/22/22. I stopped twice for (what else??) two double-espressos. Today = TUTTO 2 (everything is 2). Ciao! […]
 | JHB on Ultimo Giorno |
 | Lisa Ford on Ultimo Giorno |
| JHB on Full Fam Fotos |
 | L. Brandt on Full Fam Fotos |
 | AMB on Tre Giorni |
The Brandt Blog 
March 12, 2022
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