Ciaotraveler

Would you think this charming rustic red brick carriage home with the blue shutters may be English, French or European maybe?  This stylish cutie is located in  Brooklyn Heights. It's  a cozy 700 square feet over two floors, has a living area and kitchen on the first floor and a bedroom, home office, and a bath on the second.  It was featured on Curbed for sale at a lofty $995,000.  Lets compare the Celeste Blue shuttered house to similar ones in France .  It's always fun to look--continue...

          Celebrating...100,000 views!  I'm delighted that my blog has reached 100,000 views thanks to many visitors. Several years ago when I started posting about "all things Euro" it was a way to share experiences and my love of European villas, landscape, icons, flea market finds and design.  My trips to Europe began 40 years ago with my sister and I traveling a route of nine countries. Since then, I've enjoyed many more trips to different parts of Italy, France and England.   One memorable trip was studying art with my cousin's Uncle who has taught drawing and painting every summer in Lucca for over 40 years. It was a wonderful experience to study with a painting Master--a legend in the town of Lucca's cultural arts program. John DelMonte stands alongside the opera great, Puccini, in promoting Fine Arts in this small Tuscan city.   Here are just a few photos with some new ones I've published since I started the Ciaotraveler bl...

                                               Boscolo Exedra Hotel Rome  Read more at US Mag. It was disturbing to hear that Soprano James Gandolfini passed while on a workcation. The Emmy-winning actor's suddenly passed in Rome, Italy on Wednesday, June 19, 2013 at just 51 years old.  T he Italian-American icon was in Rome with wife   Deborah Lin ,   his 13-year-old son, Michael, nine-month-old daughter Liliana and other family members. Gandolfini was also in the region for the Taormina Film Festival in Sicily ; he had intended to attend the festival's closing ceremony this weekend, receive an award and participate in a roundtable discussion with  Marisa Tomei .  Gandolfini and his family were staying at the five-star Boscolo Exedra Hotel in Rome, and is believed to have suffered a fatal heart attack in his room.  I...

T he elegant Villa Pizzo was the setting of singer John Legend and model-actress Paula Patton's recent wedding in Lake Como, Italy.  Given its many fabulous old world, elegant 5 star hotels, Como is one of the most sought after wedding locations next to Tuscany in Italy.  See more...

We've seen the front of this Studio City villa near Los Angeles where supposedly the Kardashians lived this past season, but did you know its not really their home?  The villa, known as The Piazza di Sono, was i nspired by the Medici castle in Florence.  The Kardashians don't want the front of their real home recognized so they use this one instead.  By the way, it's also been used in True Blood.  I always thought the Kardashian interior design, which is mostly a black and white contemporary theme with a marble white kitchen, didn't match the exterior design of this villa.  The villa is very ornate traditional and currently for sale.  See it here at Curbed  here .   Do ya' think reality doesn't mean real?  Quite the puzzle...