ALOR

Art of Living On the Road

[alorconsulting]

Guilt Free Tipping in Italy, How Much to Leave

Tipping in Italy is like paying a good compliment. Always appreciated, never anticipated. Observations on where, when, and how Italians tip in Italy.

Una mancia (pronounced oo-nah MAN-chah) means tip as in gratuity in Italian. The very fact that there is a word for “tip” in Italian means that yes, tipping is a thing in Italy. Yet when asked, Italians themselves say tipping is not expected in Italy. Expected being the operative word because Italians do tip in Italy because tipping is a cornerstone of acknowledgment for excellent service. So…

View On WordPress

[alorconsulting]

How to Pronounce Caciocavallo

How to Pronounce Caciocavallo

Caciocavallo can be tricky for native English speakers to pronounce correctly on their first go. However, pronounced correctly Caciocavallo is a lyrical cheese name. Just listen to the way Caciocavallo is pronounced by the native Italians who make it in this video about Caciocavallo Podolico one of Italy’s most expensive cheeses! Video of Caciocavallo Being Made in Italy and Pronounced…

View On WordPress

[alorconsulting]

40 Cinque Terre Pictures, Italy's Most Colorful Destination

Pictures of Italy gallery with 40 mesmerizing photos of the Cinque Terre. A UNESCO World Heritage "cultural landscape" site since 1997.

View On WordPress

[alorconsulting]

50 Pictures of Verona, Italy the City of Love

A look at Italy's "City of Love" with 50 Pictures of Verona including Venetian Gothic and Romanesque architecture, cathedrals, frescos, statues, piazzas and bridges with stunning views.

View On WordPress

[alorconsulting]

Can You Really Live in Italy Free for a Year?

A recent Airbnb contest offered a year-long rent-free stay in Italy. Can a foreigner live in Italy? Italy's 90-day limit + types of long-term stay visas.

No, you cannot just live in Italy for a year. Not even if you win a contest. Or can you? As part of the 1 Euro House campaign, Airbnb is offering one lucky contest winner a year-long rent-free stay in Italy. The home is in the Province of Agrigento, in Sambuca a small rural village of about 6,000 inhabitants characterized by a unique blend of Italian and North African cultures and architectural…

View On WordPress

[alorconsulting]

Venice Food Recommendations 20 Restaurants & Cicchetti Bacari

Where to eat in Venice? 2 Italians, 20 Faves! Venice Food Recommendation Map with the best Bacaro for Cicchetti and Restaurants + Venetian Food Videos & Photos.

Venice, Italy absolutely, positively has amazing food. The best part? The Venetian food Venice is famous for is relatively cheap. Some of the best Cicchetti in Venice cost around 2€ a piece! We’re talking Tuna Polpette, Sarde in Saor, and my personal favorite Mozzarella in Carrozza. We’re serving up our favorite Venice food recommendations in a map, video, and personal photos. Don’t know who we…

View On WordPress

[alorconsulting]

How To Pronounce Cicchetti a Food Venice is Famous For

Getting ready for a trip to Venice, Italy? Check your Cicchetti pronunciation with a video by native Italian speakers. What Cicchetti are & where to find them.

Cicchetti (pronounced chee-KET-tee) are a Venetian food Venice is Famous for. So why is the word Cicchetti tricky for native English speakers to pronounce correctly? Possibly because the English pronunciation key for Cicchetti is /tʃɪˈkɛti/. Right… phonetics aside, I’ll give you another hint. There is no K in the Italian Alphabet. So why does it sound like there’s a k in Cicchetti? More on that…

View On WordPress

[alorconsulting]

BardoLesa Italian Alps Winter Event Hilarity

BardoLesa is an annual sled race in Bardonecchia, Italy and it's a blast. BardoLesa 2022 video, history, and where to get details for future events.

Last Saturday I attended BardoLesa in Bardonecchia, Italy and it was brilliant crazy fun. Campo Smith was awash in good cheer as 20 homemade sleds took the slopes. Each sled had its own theme and a daring team willing to race down a ski jump just big enough to send sleds and in some cases bodies flying. I’m happy to report despite some very cringe-worthy moments, everyone walked away on their own…

View On WordPress

[alorconsulting]

Living in Italy Virtual Chat + Meet the Filmmakers

Curious what it's like to live in Italy? This free virtual event with the filmmakers of 'Tied Into Me' a documentary about chasing la dolce vita in Venice, Italy is for you! https://tiedintomefilm.com/events/

A quick update! After interviewing the filmmakers of ‘Tied Into Me’ they asked me to be a part of their first virtual event to promote the film. Pretty excited to chat about life in Italy. This is a free virtual event on February 19th 12pm (CET)! You’ll get to see a long format trailer for the film, ask the filmmakers questions, and I’ll talk a bit about my personal experience living in Italy as…

View On WordPress

[alorconsulting]

Italian Home Renovation | We're In!

Italian home renovation recap and timeline, plus a look at what living in the Italian Alps for a year is like.

First please let me apologize. I was a bad friend and blogger in 2021. I had hit a wall. Moving to Italy in the middle of a pandemic was proving to be… hard. I basically ghosted the world and put all my energy into working out, learning Italian, avoiding headlines, and hiking the Italian Alps. Something tells me given the state of the world in 2021, you get it. How did you get through 2021? Did…

View On WordPress

[alorconsulting]

Agriturismo Home to the Best Authentic Italian Cuisine

If you're looking to experience the best, most authentic Italian cuisine on your next trip to Italy there is no better place than an Agriturismo. What to expect from Italian Agritourism.

Ever dream of eating your way across Italy heeding the call of “Mangia, mangia!” Then you simply must make plans during your next trip to Italy to stay at an agriturismo. What is an agriturismo? In Italy agriturismo means two things. Tourism in the countryside (overnight farm-stay) and the physical farm itself. As in I stuffed myself silly with the best Italian food I’ve ever had at an…

View On WordPress

[alorconsulting]

What Makes Caciocavallo Podolico One of Italy's Most Expensive Cheeses

Caciocavallo Podolico is one of Italy's rarest, most expensive, and hardest to pronounce cheeses. How Caciocavallo got its name, why it's so rare and how it's made.

Want to know something that made this cheese lover really happy the other day? If you count local varieties it’s said Italy has over 2,000 types of cheese! Another Formaggio Fun Fact? Among Italy’s cheesy bragging rights, is one of the world’s most expensive types of cheese! Caciocavallo Podolico. How expensive? Oh… about $50 a pound is all, and guess who has had it?! If you think this…

View On WordPress

[alorconsulting]

Pizzomunno Beach in Vieste, Italy

Pizzomunno Beach in Vieste, Italy

Remember the telephone game? Your friend would whisper a secret in your ear, you turn and whisper it on. Person to person eventually the narrative shifts and gets more fantastic and magical along the way. Learning about the Legend of Cristalda and Pizzomunno in Vieste, Italy felt a bit like a romantic version of the telephone game. My Husband Paolo was told about the Legend of Cristalda and…

View On WordPress

[alorconsulting]

Rome Budget Travel Diary Day 1

Rome Budget Travel Diary Day 1

From the moment Bello and I landed, we knew transportation ease and comfort would be sacrificed to save money. New Yorkers at heart, we opted for public transit. Airport to City Centro (Centro) with the express train was easy. The sacrifice part kicked in when we hit the Metro. For us, Rome was the start of a 90-day trip and we were lugging… everything. After navigating two stops, we emerged…

View On WordPress

[alorconsulting]

Are You Sinking Venice?

'Tied Into Me' is a documentary exploring a ubiquitous question "Is Venice Sinking?" through the intimate lens of real-life adventure. Daryl Smith is racing to save his houseboat after the 2019 floods in Venice. Can he save his beloved boat Gina?

It was November 11th, the day after my 46th birthday. Paolo and I were sitting outside La Sete, one of our favorite Bacaro in Venice, celebrating and contemplating. What would a second year of living in Italy bring? At that moment the answer was simple. Another round of Prosecco and Cicchetti. An hour later perfectly content and slightly buzzed I pulled out my iPhone to check my email. Subject:…

View On WordPress

[alorconsulting]

Italian is Difficult! 5 Tips to Make Speaking Italian Easier for Beginners

Italian is Difficult! 5 Tips to Make Speaking Italian Easier for Beginners

Forgive me friends, it’s been three months since my last post. Why the confession? I felt like I owed an apology to all the new followers I’ve gained during those three months. You see, after moving to Italy just over a year ago, I hit a wall. Social isolation, COVID fears, renovating a home in Italy, missing my family, and struggling to learn Italian, it was all a bit much. So I turtled. I flat…

View On WordPress

[alorconsulting]

A Break for a Tired Heart

A Break for a Tired Heart

You guys I can’t. I just can’t do what I’m supposed to do today. There is heartbreak in my family today. We lost our beloved Donder. Donder was a tenderhearted German Shepherd who just didn’t wake up this morning. He was almost nine years old. I can’t even summons the strength to look for the best photo of him for this post. Instead I’m sharing one from the last time I saw him. This is Donder. A…

View On WordPress