At the end of August we spent a week in Florence with my family. Compiling this post, it's no wonder we were all so tired by the end of it – we did so much. It's a city with a lot of things to do, art galleries, markets, viewpoints, eating your weight in gelato. So if you're… Read more of "Things to do in Florence"

I've been a Wes Anderson fan for a long time (favourite film: The Royal Tennenbaums, or maybe Darjeeling Limited, but The Grand Budapest Hotel was great too, ok I love them all). So when we ended up in Milan for a couple of days this spot was at the top of my list in big capital… Read more of "Special Places: Wes Anderson's Bar Luce in Milan"

In September, we spent 6 weeks in Italy. We travelled by train from Rome down to Naples and Puglia, and then back up to Bologna, eating everything we could along the way. Song: April Kisses – Eddie Lang. For all the deets, have a look at my posts on Italy: 48 hours in Rome, the… Read more of "La dolce vita, Italy (video edition)"

Emilia-Romagna is widely considered to have the best food in Italy. Now, I'm not saying that's the only reason we decided to spend a month there, but it may have been a factor. The area is home to a lot of Italian favourites, like parmesan cheese, stuffed pastas and tagliatelle… Read more of "What to eat in Emilia-Romagna, Italy"

Bologna's historic buildings are covered in tags, with new ones popping up all the time. Like Lisbon and George Town, street art is encouraged in Bologna. But if you want to see the good stuff, you need to get out of the city centre. Via del Lavoro Northeast of the centre, just… Read more of "A street art guide to Bologna"

We arrived in Bologna on a Tuesday evening after a long train journey from southern Italy. As we walked around the city on that first night, all we could talk about was when to come back – a month didn't seem like long enough. The thing is, Bologna is beautiful. It has two… Read more of "Bologna la rossa"

Parma is a smart, compact city in Northern Italy that's best known for two things, prosciutto di Parma and Parmigiano-Reggiano. The food here is some of the best in Italy, with a focus on local, seasonal ingredients, but that's not all it has to offer. With its cobbled streets… Read more of "A day in Parma"

It's kind of hard not to become obsessed with food in Italy, and at Modena's daily market that obsession will reach new heights. With many of the stalls still run by the same families since the market opened in the 1930s, it's obvious how much care and pride the owners take in… Read more of "Mercato Albinelli: Modena's foodie market"

It doesn't happen often (after the year we've had we're kind of spoilt now), but our first glimpse of the ancient sassi of Matera blew us away. Surrounded by dramatic scenery, the sassi are crumbling grottoes carved out of a rocky ravine. Walking around the labyrinth of alleyways… Read more of "The sassi of Matera"

Puglia is a region in the heel of southern Italy known for its pretty towns, great local ingredients and unique architecture. We spent our first week there in a big trullo with nine of our friends from London. We drove to nearby towns, went on long beach walks and cooked our own… Read more of "Five charming towns in Puglia, Italy"

We came to Naples for the pizza. Naples is more gritty than pretty, there's washing hanging out of every home and graffiti all over the streets. Walking down the cobbled alleyways, you'll see families sitting outside chatting loudly and people gathered to watch football matches… Read more of "The best pizza in Naples"

The architecture, the colours, the history, the gelato. Obviously two days isn't enough to explore this wonderful city, but if that's all you have, here's our 48-hour Rome itinerary with a mix of sightseeing, local areas and good food. Day 1 Morning Start the day with a quick… Read more of "48 hours in Rome"