RomaPolacchi

Williams Sonoma has a great resource for cooking Roman style at home. The informative and exciting website has recipes, wine, restaurant recommendations, and great photos. It definitely makes me want to work for Williams Sonoma and travel to Rome just to cook and EAT! Bringing Home Rome  is my newest obsession-as is this soup, pasta e ceci, which takes me straight back to lunch at my old school in Rome.

Rainstorms on Thursday caused flash floods all over Rome. For more pictures, click here. For videos, click here .

At the Legion of Honor in San Francisco until June 5th.

From now until December 28th, Museums in Italy will be open late (7-11 pm) and free on Tuesday (Martedi) evenings. Included are archaeological sites like Paestum in Campania, Hadrian's Villa at Tivoli, the Uffizi and the Accademia in Florence and the Borghese Gallery and Villa Giulia in Rome. For more details on museums that are participating around Italy, see the website.

Yesterday I received my Departures magazine in the mail. And last night I stayed up until midnight devouring every page of the beautiful issue. This month the magazine is all about Venice-where to stay, what to eat, where to shop. There are extensive sections on every sestiere (quarter) in the beautiful city and a great article on what to do with kids. Now I'm desperate to go to Venice-and as of yesterday I hadn't given the city a thought in months. That's the power of a beautiful magazine.

Starting August 21st, the Colosseum will be open for night tours (9:00 pm to midnight) until October 2nd. Tickets cost 15 Euros and reservations are a must. Be sure to request an English-speaking tour. For more information (only in Italian, unfortunately) go to pierreci.it or ask your hotel concierge to call the ticket office for you. The Baths of Caracalla will have a similar program through October 23rd.

A friend who is taking a day trip to Rome recently asked me what he should see. What a tough question-you could spend a day in Rome just getting lost! But if your time is limited there are a few sites that you can easily do in one day and feel as if you have seen a lot. To start, I would visit the Roman Forum . Try to get there when the doors open or just before they close so that you can avoid the crowds. If you have time and you haven't seen it before, pop into the Colosseum . I would also visit the Capitoline Museum . It has recently been remodeled and the equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius is on view in a spectacular gallery. The basement exhibit, with its fascinating collection of inscriptions, takes you out to the Tabularium to a gorgeous view of the Forum that I think you shouldn't miss. After your morning in Ancient Rome, walk over to Piazza Navona  (walk through the Jewish Ghetto and Campo dei Fiori to get there) for a light lunch and a few glasses of wine at Cul d...

Giambattista Valli is of my favorite Italian fashion designers and his decorating style does not disappoint. He takes his influences from all parts of Asia and, of all places, Texas! Take a look at his apartment in Rome on elledecor.com .  If only it was available for vacation rentals!

Aida and Rigoletto are on the program this summer at the Baths of Caracalla. See the New York Time s for an update on the shows and a link to the ticket website. Operas have been performed at the Baths since the 1930s-a truly Roman way to spend an evening.

Even the Romans love weekend brunch. Babette's (Via Margutta 1) has the best brunch buffet in the Centro Storico. For a 25 Euro fixed price you can enjoy the spectacular buffet, wine, dessert and coffee. The dining rooms and courtyard are beautiful in a casual and rustic way. The food is truly Roman with pastas, vegetables (fried cauliflower-amazing!), soups and breads. It's my new favorite restaurant in Rome! Be sure to make a reservation.

Garance Dore visited Santa Maria Novella in Florence recently. Gorgeous pictures! I just visited SMN in Rome which is not at all like the original farmacia in Florence, but is nevertheless always a pleasure. On this visit I discovered that they make honey in addition to perfume, soaps and all things fragrant. Divine.

I have 3 days in Rome coming up and have put together a short but sweet itinerary. I will be traveling with someone who has only been to Rome once, so I have included some must-see sights on this plan. We will also be visiting a few sites that I haven't seen in years. Day 1 : -Leonardo Express train to Termini -Lunch: Colline Emiliane near Trevi Fountain -Afternoon walk in Forum Romanum -Late afternoon visit to Capitoline Museum and a Jewish Quarter Walk -Dinner: Sora Lella on Tiber Island -Walk home through Campo dei Fiori and Piazza della Rotonda (Pantheon) Day 2 : -Morning visit to Borghese Gallery -Walk through Borghese Gardens, Pincio (perhaps a visit to Villa Giulia) -Lunch: Babette in Piazza del Popolo -Afternoon Via Condotti, Piazza Farnese, Via Margutta, etc. -Dinner: Trastevere (maybe-still TBD) Day 3: -8:00 am Vatican/St. Peter's -Villa Farnesina -Lunch in Trastevere at Checco or at Cul de Sac in Piazza Navona -Afternoon Castel S. Angelo, Piazza Navona, Via Condott...

There are ways to see the Sistine Chapel (and Vatican Museums) without 5,000 other people-some of them costly, some more reasonable. The cheapest way is to book your ticket online for the first entrance of the day (8:00 am). Not only will you skip the line, but if you are a fast walker, you can get through the museum and to the chapel before anyone else. You won't be all alone in the chapel, but it will be a much more pleasant experience than waiting in line with thousands of other tourists. Another way to see the Chapel with fewer people is to book one of the after hours visits that the Vatican is hosting every Friday through June. Again, you won't be all alone, but you will see the Chapel in a different light with much fewer visitors. Both of these options cost 15 Euros (the regular price of admission) plus a 4 Euro online booking fee. For a REAL private tour, see Viator.com for their exclusive after hours tour of the Sistine Chapel. For the relatively low price of about ...

Happy 2,763rd Birthday to the Eternal City! In celebration of Rome's Birthday, entrance to all museums in Rome will be FREE from April 16th to April 25th! See the RomaPass website for more details.

Watch a great video of NY Times "The Minimalist" Mark Bittman as he cooks the classic Sicilian dish, Pasta con le Sarde (Pasta with Sardines). In just 5 minutes, Bittman serves up a delicious and simple pasta that will bring you back to Palermo.

Yes, it's that time of year again. Time to get that villa in Tuscany booked! Travel and Leisure has a helpful list of questions to ask your travel agent or rental agency when confirming your dream villa. A few that I would add: 1. Does the property have air conditioning? (A must in summer in Italy). 2. How far is the nearest train station/major town? 3. Are amenities (such as housekeeping and chef services) available and negotiable?

Another new designer hotel has popped in Italy-this time in Milan, not far from the fashion district. The new Maison Moschino has just opened in a renovated 19th century neoclassical train station. Moschino's creative team was inspired by dreams and fairy tales to style fantasy-like rooms that start at 280 Euros. To read more about the hotel (and Milan Fashion Week) check out Contessa Nally's blog .