And Now the Letter H–hamburger with an Italian accent

Today I discovered Hamerica.  Make that Hamerica’s. It’s a chain restaurant in Italy “dove vivi l’esperienza degli States e provi i migliori hamburger fatti in Italia con un gusto completamente americano.”  Best hamburger in Italy, they boast. Just like being in the States. Walking through Rimini this morning, we passed what used to be Picnic…More

Ours Are Better–more hamburgers per piacere

One of our current favorite restaurants in Rimini is Nud e Crud. It’s just across Ponte di Tiberio, the 2000-year-old Roman bridge that takes you from old Rimini into San Giuliano, which is fisherman Rimini (and Fellini Rimini). Nud e Crud translates roughly as plain and raw. The food is simple and consistently excellent. A…More

Made to Last–the water, the fabbro, and tonino guerra

When we arrive in Serravalle, the village Tizi is from in San Marino, and open the apartment, as soon as we’ve wheeled suitcases through the front door, I drive down to the street below the building to turn on the water. To do that, I visit our tombino. Our little tomb. There are four of…More

Broken–passing, stopping, showing up

“You’re going to freeze your ass off,” Tizi says.  I’m piling tin-foil food containers on a tray so I can walk them over to the neighbors. It’s a February evening in Michigan, dark at 6:00 p.m., cold and damp. There’s no snow to speak of, just bone-chilling 30 degree weather, what my mother-in-law called “aria…More