Celebrate the Relaunch of BalanceontheBall.com!
For the past couple weeks, I've been working on redesigning BalanceontheBall.com, the website for my first book, Balance on the Ball: Exercises Inspired by the Teachings of Joseph Pilates. I'm…
Autumn in Friuli: Top 10 Things to Do
1. View the Barcolana sailing regatta Founded in 1969, the Barcolana sailing regatta takes place in the Gulf of Trieste on the second Sunday in October, beginning near Castello di…
Land of the Sbilfs: Turn back time in the Carnian Alps
This piece was originally published in the June-July 2013 issue of Dream of Italy under the title "Simple Pleasures in Friuli's Carnian Alps." Hidden in the mountains of northern Friuli–Venezia…
Food Festivals of Friuli: Final Thoughts
It occurred to me, after visiting these—and other—festivals, that part of Carnia’s allure was the promise of stepping back in time, to an era where life was simpler. Where every…
Food Festivals of Friuli (Part 5): Festa della Zucca
The Festa della Zucca is held annually on the fourth weekend of October in the town of Venzone, nestled in the foothills of Friuli's Alps. On this autumn trip, I…
Food Festivals of Friuli (Part 4): Festa dei Frutti di Bosco
The final stop on my festival tour that July was Forni Avoltri, located in Carnia’s far north near the Austrian border. Celebrating the berries of the forest, this festival was…
Food Festivals of Friuli (Part 3): Mondo delle Malghe
My next stop that summer was Ravascletto, which I would use as a home base for a hike to nearby Malga Pozôf, as well as for the Mondo delle Malghe…
Food Festivals of Friuli (Part 2): Festa del Prosciutto
My bus ride to Sauris was one of the more hair-raising I have endured. After changing buses two times—and squeezing myself into a seat amid a sizeable group of motion-sick…
Food Festivals of Friuli (Part 1): Festa dell’Asparago di Bosco, del Radicchio di Montagna, e dei Funghi di Primavera
The Festa dell’Asparago di Bosco, del Radicchio di Montagna, e dei Funghi di Primavera—celebrating wild asparagus, mountain radicchio, and spring mushrooms—is held every May in Piano d’Arta, a hilltop hamlet…
Food Festivals of Friuli: Celebrating the Bounty of Italy’s Carnia Mountains
Tucked away in Italy’s northeast corner, Friuli–Venezia Giulia stretches from the Adriatic Sea to the boundaries of Austria and Slovenia. It is along the region’s Austrian border that the flat…