Tuscan Traveler is a window into living and writing in Italy. I once planned to visit the magical city of Florence for a few months and that adventure lasted fifteen years. Inspired by expats and locals, I learned the unique customs of both food and life Italian style. I wrote for over ten years about Tuscan food, Italian life, and many of the less visited places in Florence and Tuscany. Those articles became this website – Tuscan Traveler. That led to the publication of two books: Italian Food Rules and Italian Life Rules, as well as a series of Florentine mystery novels. – Ann Reavis
Favorite Tuscan Traveler Articles
Italian Food Rules – No Cappuccino After 10am: To sip a cappuccino after lunch is a direct and major violation of an Italian Food Rule. Italians believe the fresh whole milk that makes up over half of the contents of this drink plays havoc with digestion. To order a cappuccino after 10am, unless you are breakfasting after said hour, is seen as suspect behavior worthy of at least a slight frown, advancing to a worried shake of the head, and can escalate to outright ridicule.
Tuscan Traveler’s Picks – La Specola Museum: The Museum of Zoology and Natural History, best known as La Specola (because of the astronomical observatory and a weather station installed in one of the rooftop towers of the palazzo in 1790), is an eclectic natural history museum in Florence, located near to the Pitti Palace on Via Romana.
Tuscan Traveler’s Tales – Expatriate Stories, Frederick Stibbert’s Museum: Coming of age in 1859, Englishman Frederick Stibbert settled in the villa his mother Giulia bought in Florence at the edge of town in the Montughi neighborhood. He was wealthy due to a large inheritance that he was determined and able to increase by means of financial dealings in Italy and in the rest of Europe. His real passion, however, was art.
Mangia! Mangia! – Dante Would Have Loved the Prato Bread Festival: Tourists are frequently surprised when they first taste traditional Tuscan bread that is always made without salt. Tuscans, especially those from Florence and Prato, would not eat it any other way. Dante agreed.
Tuscan Traveler’s Tales – Beach Life Italian Style: Only death or divorce will get you a spot in the coveted first row on an Italian beach. In a country where there is a socialistic equality in most things – health care, long lines at the post office, job security, good food – the beach is not one of them.
Books by Ann Reavis
