liz taylor — giornale di barganews

Leaving

I almost lost heart. Opening a French bank account in order to secure the house I want to rent in Provence was dragging on, and after a week of pondering on my documents they said they wanted more and it would take a further two weeks… I thought that was the end of the road, some other interested party was bound to get their dossier in to the estate agents for vetting long before I could. But Ulrike was undeterred, [...]

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05/27/2012 10:45 am

Cinipide – somebody should do something

There was a quotation on my “thought for the day” calendar recently that said “I thought to myself – somebody should do something about that. Then I remembered – I am somebody.” I live up above Barga, on a hillside surrounded by chestnut forests looking out across...

01/19/2012 12:46 am

Home at last

It has been a gloriously sunny day and I have just come back from walking Tufo, Simonetta and Marco’s beautiful and lively white German shepherd. He leaps into the back of the Twingo and we drive further up the mountain road towards Renaio which is normally very quiet, but I had forgotten the significance...

11/24/2011 6:01 pm

Campaigning for chestnuts

Well, perhaps writing another post in a week was a touch too optimistic, I blame the Italian homework. And my days go by with little to hold them in any kind of framework which is still a luxury after all the disciplined years, so I forget to notice time passing. I arrived for a lesson an hour...

10/17/2011 9:31 pm

Taking steps

Those who have been around a while may recall that occasionally I make noises about learning Italian – this year it’s my priority, I really must try, etc. Friends in the UK assume I am fluent, understandably, I’ve had over three years to get to grips with it. I set out with high hopes, bought the...

09/15/2011 1:56 pm

Chestnut time – but for how much longer?

In the Media Valley and the Garfagnana chestnut forests are an integral element of our landscape, they have supported communities for centuries and remain a significant part of the local economy. A familiar backdrop to life in these hills, we take them for granted, they are always there. But… Imagine...

08/04/2011 12:11 am

Parties

The summer season is well underway and Barga is humming with visitors. In the morning the terrace of the Alpino hotel is lively with chatter, the old town has many more explorers, English newspapers are back in the newsagents, and everyone is doing their best to escape the current African heat of mid-day....

05/09/2011 1:43 pm

Traditional herbal remedies – who cares?

On April 30 the Traditional Herbal Medicinal Products Directive came into force, so now herbal medicinal products must pass new EU approval procedures and be licensed for sale, or be prescribed by a registered herbal practitioner. If you are feeling like you’ll pass on this one and move on I totally...

03/03/2011 8:52 am

Changing Times

It has been a week of bitterly cold north winds often turning to gales, the trees lashing back and forth, many small branches torn and scattered. Dry, brown, chestnut leaves billow around the terrace this way and that eventually settling in every nook and cranny. There is an open passage at the side...

12/27/2010 7:23 am

Little confusions – Liz Taylor

The last couple of weeks have been diverting, sudden snow keeping me cocooned up here, though quite happily as it is so lovely, apart from frozen pipes, no water and flu. But everything passes and all is well now. I have had a few forays out and am beginning to get the hang of Barga, it’s not very...

07/22/2010 6:53 am

Tuscany – so what is it really like?

I am happy to say that I get a lot of emails from readers and it still amazes me that they come from all over the world. Many are from people who long to live in Italy and would be delighted if I could pass their details on to someone I might know who has a job and/or home available for them,...

06/26/2010 3:28 pm

The Duomo, Barga

Thunder and lightening by the hour and sometimes the whole night, pouring rain and a chill in the air have beset us for long enough and at last it is looking a little lighter and brighter. I drove up the Serchio valley to Barga this week, the river swollen and brown instead of its usual beautiful...

03/30/2010 6:43 pm

A new life in Tuscany – Greening

I have been reclining like a Roman at a banquet for a while now. I am having treatment to re-align the tail of my spine and am confident that before long it will settle down, but presently it is tender. Walking is fine, but sitting is not, so time in front of my computer is shortlived and...

12/14/2009 1:14 am

Please welcome a new writer to barganews

Over the past few months I have been reading a well written, witty and at times moving blog published by an Englishwoman as she documents how she grapples with the ups and downs of living the “Italian dream” – getting away from the English weather and island way of life and instead...