A sunny afternoon in Stintino

As often happens in Italy, things get a bit dicey on Sundays, and the bus I thought I was going to take this morning to Sassari en route to Alghero doesn't actually leave til 3:30. So the lovely Rita at Il Silvestrino said I could stay in my room all day (would NEVER happen in the states), so I'm enjoying a final leisurely few hours. Bought some provisions for a little picnic including fresh strawberries that look absolutely amazing, and will have lunch on my terrace, then maybe take a final walk to the beach before I head out.

Things are really waking up around here today. It's a national holiday on Monday so the Italians have descended and stores are opening up. Fortunately for my wallet, there isn't much to buy, though the gold and coral jewelry this island specializes in is beautiful. But I'm going to wait til I get to Alghero where there is more choice.

Okay, time to get away from the computer and enjoy the afternoon.
Ciao, ciao!
Paola

sailing away in sardegna

Ciao, amici--
I'm ending my first week in Italia and have dutifully been recording experiences in an actual paper diary, so will post along with photos when I return. In case all of you were worried, my trip is turning out well despite my change in plans. I've been in the small village of Stintino for the past four days, hiking around and mostly spending time at an incredibly beautiful beach and having some of the best meals I've had in Italy--local lobster, which was sweet and wonderful, spaghetti with bottarga, which is tuna or mullet roe (like caviar) and may not sound appetizing, but was incredible, unbelievable desserts, most filled with ricotta cheese and topped with local honey and of course lots of the local red and white wines. I'm staying at a fantastic family run hotel, il Silvestrino, where they are treating me wonderfully and where I have a terrace that is much, much larger than my entire place in New York City. Yesterday, spent an amazing day at the beach and even got to go in the water, which is this amazingly clear, azure color that I have never seen anywhere else. Today, spent the day on a catamaran on a day trip to Assinara, a national park on an island that used to be the site of a maximum security prison. Now, the only things there are turtles, white burros, wild pigs and birds. I was the only english speaker on the boat; everyone else was sardinian and after they literally asked me about 20 times if I was alone, and why was I traveling alone (they repeated in shocked voices, sola?! sola?! in Italy, the women don't seem to travel or do much on their own, especially 44 year old women. But after they got over their shock, they adopted me and we had a great pasta lunch on the boat, went on a hike, and generally had a great time. Tomorrow, I'm off to the Catalan-influenced city of Alghero via Sassari, where I'll look around a bit before changing busses. Will troll around there for a while and take a day trip or two, then my friend Wes will come meet me and we will go to Cagliari for a festival where the locals dress in traditional costumes and parade in the streets. Then, one night in the small village of Cuglieri where my friend Wes has gotten a place, then back to Rome for two final days.

So far, so good. Lots of solitude, but broken up nicely with company. And I'm tearing through all my novels! And studying Italian.

Ciao belli!
Paola
Stay tuned for photos when I return!

A slight change in plans...

Well, life works in unpredictable ways, I guess. Sadly, the friend I was meeting up with in Sardinia (and staying in a house in a little village with) has to return to the states suddenly because his step mother died. Sad for him, for his family, and a bummer for me, expenses wise and mostly, companionship wise. I wasn't counting on this much time at the beach in Sardinia alone, sans transportation. So I extended my hotel stays (luckily, both were fairly inexpensive) and am planning to do a lot of reading. I'm bummed, but will make the best of it. How bad can a 10 day stay at two hotels on the beach in Sardinia be? So, this afternoon was a bit difficult, learning the news, trying to make some new plans. My friends have been a huge help to me, making reservations and being incredibly sweet.

Had dinner in Testaccio tonight at an old-fashioned Roman trattoria with good food and a very grumpy waitress. Saw old friends--I wish we'd had a bit more time together to get to know one another again, but it felt very nice seeing everyone. And I've been loving zipping all over Rome on the back of Federica's motorbike. What a way to see Rome! They took me by Renzo Piano's new performance center, which was interesting looking--not a particularly dignified or graceful looking building, but interesting to see.

Okay amici--not sure when I'll have easy access to a computer again...wish me luck in Sardinia.
Ciao!
Paola

A motorino ride in the rain

Tonight, Gianni, Federica and I had dinner at Gusto, a New York-y kind of restaurant with lots of good wines by the glass and of course, good pizza. We went by scooter, which I'm sure was way more exciting for me than it was for my friends, but I love zipping around the streets of Rome by night, as long as I'm not the one doing the driving.

Had a wonderful day walking to all my favorite roman sites: the forum, the ghetto, Campo Di Fiore, Piazza Navona, Trastevere (where I got a nice wave and a Salve! from the guy who owns the store across from where I used to live on Via della Scalla. He's still there, sitting out front, kibbutzing, or whatever the Italian word for that is. And of course, made my way to the Spanish steps, did a teeny bit of shopping, had pizza, gelato at Giolitti and am now back home safe and sound as the rain pounds outside.

When I return to NYC, I will post all the accompanying photos. But for now, to bed!

Buona notte!

I'm in Rome!

So nice to be here, staying with my friends Gianni and Federica in their lovely apartment near the Borghese Gardens. I'm jet lagged, bed is calling, and I'm having trouble with this Italian keyboard, so I'll keep this short, but had a very easy trip over the ocean, had some good gelato (my first of the trip) and had a pizza dinner out nearby with another friend who joined us. It was nice to listen to Italian swirling all around me. One of these days it will just sink into my skin and I'll know how to speak it. But for the moment, bed is calling.

Tomorrow, an all day walk, stopping at all my favorite haunts.

Ciao!
Paola

Last blog before Sardinia...maybe!

These are all the things I am NOT bringing on this trip:
1) My computer
2) Make up
3) A bag I have to check (yes, people, I am going to Italy for 2 weeks with just a carry on bag--the best bag EVER, a rolling backpack that really functions like a small carry-on suitcase and holds an enormous amount--plus a tote into which I'll stuff everything else to meet the two bag limit.

Here's what I am bringing:
1) My cashmere throw
2) Ear plugs and an eye mask
3) Too many magazines and books (I won't have a computer! I need to entertain myself)


I am traveling kind of lightly (for me) and plan to live kind of lightly (for me). We'll see what this will bring.

Ciao amici--
baci!
Paola

A radical proposal

I am not bringing my computer to Italy. The decision was made for me, after much indecision then a decisive tipping today toward bringing it. I'm trying to fly with only a small carry on and a tote (for two weeks!) and I absolutely cannot lug it--it's just too much stuff. (Is this what they mean by getting old?

I'm going to pack lightly, live lightly (or try, anyway), read, and write the old fashioned way, in a notebook.

(This isn't as radical as it sounds; my friend is bringing his computer and my sense is that somewhere, in the land of gadget obsessed Italy, I will be able to find an Internet cafe.) But my apologies to my 10s of fans for promising to blog and now, perhaps, retracting that promise. (I will if I can; if not, I will make notes in my diary and record it later. Almost like real writing!

Do you ever just look around your apartment....

...and think: I have to get rid of 90 percent of this crap! I have so many magazines, so many New Yorkers that I've never even cracked open, that I know contain things I'd be glad I read. But at a certain point, I have to throw all these baskets of magazines away. I don't look at them and they pile up and I think the dust is making me sneeze!!!! Maybe, on Saturday, as I pack for my trip, I'll throw out a ton of stuff and put even more in storage. I'm craving SPACE. Good thing I'm going to Sardinia. Bet there's space there.
Ciao bambini--
Paola

Babies and cherry blossoms

Two of my favorite things. That's my friend Diana's boy, Sebastian, who is 10 months. Diana is my friend who introduced me to the pleasures of Italian life; she lived in Rome for 10 years and along the way, after years of visiting her, I fell in love with Rome and with Italy. Now she is in L.A., too far away, but is visiting her home town of Park Slope for a week.

The other photos show me in a very unusual state: out of bed and ready to run around the cherry-blossom dotted Central Park Reservoir before 8 AM in the morning. I've been meeting my friend Allan who comes over from the east side, and we make our way around the reservoir while I listen to his dating foibles (hopefully, I'll have a few of my own to write about one day soon). Anyway, that's me, looking surprisingly awake and happy. It must be spring!

Ciao--4 more days until Roma!!!!
Paola

spring time in sardegna

...it has a certain ring, doesn't it? My TWO WEEK trip to Rome and Sardinia is shaping up nicely. I am getting unbelievably excited, with little of my usual pre-trip I-don't-wanna-go-how-will-work-survive-without-me-angst. I WANT to go.

Here's my itinerary thus far:
April 20: land in Amsterdam, transfer to Rome, stay with Gianni and Federica
April 23: Fly to Alghero, Sardinia, a town with a strong Catalan influence--apparently, street signs are in Spanish, food has a Spanish influence. Transfer to Stintino, a fishing village in Northwest Sardinia, near what is supposed to be one of the nicest beaches on the Island, La Pelosa. I'll be staying at a hotel on the beach, Il Silvestrino, for a few nights, my friend Wes is comming to meet me and we will drive down the coast, stopping at some ruins at Tharros, a few beaches perhaps, then ending up in Cuglieri, a village where Wes landed an apartment by swapping his own in Brooklyn. (My new favorite way to travel--apartment swapping. So cheap. Free, actually. Much less complicated (I imagine) than couple swapping.

Anyway, the plan is to hang in Cuglieri, read, (D.H. Lawrence's The Sea and Sardinia, Henry James's Italian Days and I'm trying to choose between two novels--one by Francine Prose, one by Rachel Cusk, lent to me by my well-read friend, Nancy. The beach, of course, hiking, biking along teh coast, day trips (isola di San Pietro?), then to Alghero to stay at La Punta Negra
on the beach for two more days in luxury. I fly back to Rome to spend two nights in Trastevere with my friend Sara, so I get a day in my old 'hood, then back to NYC, hopefully more rested, more fit and well fed--I need to get back into the healthy Mediterranean way of living.

Worked out with my trainer in Central Park, doing some running, jumping jacks, lunges, etc., etc. It was great, but I'm bummed because after I did laundry, I put on a clean pair of jeans and they were...a little tight. I've been snacking a little more this week. I've got to reign it on in. Losing weight is TOUGH. (For me, at least.)

I tried a linking experiment in this post. For some reason, I can't get the linking thing right.

Ciao belillisimi!
Paola

How narcissistic is it...

...to sip some wine and take photographs of yourself? Is it just, like, totally lame?
Ciao,
Paola

Book excitement!

Can't believe I'm at this phase of the book, but SELF is currently considering some essays from BTBD--maybe even two essays! And other editors are clamoring! It's exciting but I'm walking around with a constant nervous/excited/slightly anxious knot in my stomach. It's as if the project is taking on a life of its own, which I guess means it has legs, but is scary too. This is going to be a real, public tangible thing! That I created! Out there in the world! It really is like a baby!
Ciao bambini--
Paola

The well-made bed

I'm having a getting and spending weekend (but mostly spending). Starting with the getting, I've shifted my focus to the publicity of the book, and for the first time, actually getting excited about it. I'm starting to have some ideas--like making my quest for a sexpert body (and self) a part of the book's story.
For instance, I rented a place in Trastevere where I could look out over the Roman street life and the shopkeepers sitting in front of their shops gossiping every morning, worked on the book, had gelato every day, traveled, learned Italian, and (rather rapidly, given the circumstances, healed a broken heart. IF ONLY ELIZABETH GILBERT HADN'T DONE ALL THIS FIRST. I SWEAR I DIDN'T GET THE IDEA FROM HER!

Ahem. Anyway, I healed my heart in Rome, started a blog called Rome is Where the Heart Is, and immersed myself in other women's stories about sex, while not getting any literal sex at all, but feeding my body and soul and brain in the most sensual way possible. There's a story there, no? Then, she returns to NYC, starts dating up a storm, hires a young, cute, gay personal trainer and drops 20 pounds...only 15 more to go! It's amazing how much easier running is getting--I even pass a (very) few runners around the reservoir lately, as opposed to solely walkers.

Now, about the bed. I shopped and spent and shopped and spent this weekend, though in my defense, everything was something I vaguely needed. I bought two beautiful spring summer dresses in Varazioni, both easy, packable, hand washable and not extremely expensive ($100 each). Then I bought a pair of Ralph Lauren pillowcases in the perfect shade of melon/apricot and a certain deep, jewel-toned pink that I associate with India and Italy. Then, I went lower end today and bought a set of 1000 thread-count sheets (yes, you read that right) in Egyptian cotton in a somewhat rundown neighborhood store that sells no name brands, but you can sometimes find nice, much cheaper stuff in there.

The major splurges that I DIDN'T need, that I NEVER need, because I work at SELF magazine and I get free or $1 products regularly, but I am a product JUNKIE, were the following: An Acqua di Parma body cream in the scent of Sicilian oranges, an Aveda candle in the scent of Shampure (it's one of their shampoos, and smells amazing--I can't even describe it but it's the ultimate in clean and fresh; a Nars concealer and makeup brush from this cool new product store called blue mercury Actually, that could be a fun topic for me to write about in my new anthology: She's gotta have it: 21st century little addictions, a book about guilty pleasures and even guilty non pleasures. I could be honest and funny and it wouldn't embarrass anyone related to me.

Okay, enough blogging. Time to start living. (Actually, time to work on publicity for my book. I also want to study Italiano.

Ciao--
Paola

The Eighth Deadly Sin?

Gossip.
It's not the new year, but I'm making a resolution. I will do my best to stop gossiping, whether spreading news good or bad (unless it's job related, which I believe is helpful in terms of getting a feel for how things are going in the magazine world).
You are all hearing me. Call me on it if you catch me doing it.

Above, my newly straightened, newly cut ultra chic sexpert hair!!!

Question: I have cherry blossoms in full flower in my apartment. Could they be making my allergies act up? I sneezed literally about 20 times in a row this morning. It was not pretty. Thank god for Allegra.

Ciao amici--
Paola

P.S. I now have Lori Partridge, Marcia Brady hair. Tastes are shaped and cemented early on people!

Spring has sprung

...at least it has inside my apartment. If you can't bring the girl to the cherry blossoms, bring the cherry blossoms to the girl, I always say.
The only thing I miss about living in Connecticut is the changing of the seasons. It's just not the same in the city, even with Central Park. But I'm trying to feel the spirit!
Ciao--
Paola

Class of 1981 rocks

That's the year I graduated from high school, and that's Robin, one of my best friend's from senior year in high school. She was in for the weekend a few weeks ago; we both went out to New Jersey to see the son of another high school friend have his bar mitzvah.
Thirty years. I still see the teenagers in us.
Ciao, belli--
Paola

Happy birthday, Caleb!

Little boys, little boys everywhere, because Caleb is turning NINE! I can't believe it. Jordan is staying over at my house tonight while his younger brother Caleb gets to have some space with his friends for his birthday slumber party. He's already reminding me more of a teenager than a little boy. It's so amazing how you turn around one day and suddenly they're almost grown up. I know, I know, a very cliched thing to say, but that's what it feels like. But I'm always going to be the cool aunt (I hope). Though when Jordan was telling me earlier tonight that he wants to grow up to be a professional football player, I found myself thinking that football is one sport I wouldn't want him to play...too many concussions. And he weighs about 60 pounds! Lucky, there are very few Jewish, 4 foot tall, 60 pound professional football players.

Ciao amici--
I'll be in Roma and Sardegna soon--! And I don't remember any Italian!
Paola

Back to blogging, which means...

...my computer is fixed! I called Geek Squad, someone came to my house the next day (within a four hour window), and fixed my Dell laptop in 5 minutes, after I'd spent hours and hours on the phone with Time Warner Cable and Dell and spiked my blood pressure and released all kinds of nasty stress hormones.

Long live geek squad.

Ciao belli--
Paola
P.S. Dell even gave my a refund of $250 for their On-call service. If you're thinking of ordering Dell On Call, DON'T.