The Pines of Rome

Posts in Lifestyle

My Italian Ancestors

The idea of fate fascinates me: that a thousand tiny decisions–even things that happen before you were born–conspire to lead you down one path in life instead of another. I started this story by describing the unexplainable pull I have always felt toward Italy, without which it’s virtually impossible that I would have met my maritino. Perhaps it’s more of a stretch to think that finding my great-great-grandmother’s wedding ring somehow had an influence on my destiny, but that is how it seems to me.

LifestyleTiffany ParksDecember 29, 2011personal, my story, anscestors, my wedding Comments

Reading Italian Maps

Click here to read my interview over at Reading Italian Maps. Maja, the author of that fantastic blog, is starting a feature clevered entitled The X-pat Factor, in which she will be interviewing expatriates living, working and blogging in Italy. I was thrilled to be her first subject! Check it out, particularly if you are considering taking the plunge yourself to move to Italy!

LifestyleTiffany ParksNovember 9, 2011Comment

A Room with a View, Fate, and the Allure of Italy

In a scene from one of the greatest films ever made, (in fact it is my all time favorite film, and has been since I was twelve years old) two English gentlemen, a vicar and a young unmarried man, are walking through a field in Surrey, talking about fate. They had previously met by chance in Florence, and their paths have once again crossed, by happenstance, it seems, in the south of England.

Lifestyle, PersonalTiffany ParksAugust 29, 2011 Comments

Are Italian Women really Unhappy?

An article in last Thursday’s Telegraph bearing this provocatively titled article has created a bit of a buzz among my expatriate friends here in Rome. So I'm here to ask the question: Are Italian women really the unhappiest in all of Europe?

LifestyleTiffany ParksAugust 22, 2011 Comments

Stuck in the City on Ferragosto?

Then lucky you! Because while nearly everyone you know is getting sunburnt and dehydrated under the hot August sun, or steaming in traffic, or fighting a crowd of rowdy sea-crazed Romans, or perhaps even getting stung by a jellyfish, you can immerse yourself in the air-conditioned and inspiring culture you can't find anywhere but Rome.

LifestyleTiffany ParksAugust 14, 2011 Comment

Seen in Rome: Priests like Gelato too

Rome is a place brimming with photo opportunities, from nuns buying corkscrews at Ikea to gladiators in the metro, not to mention the real wonders. Now, I may not be a decent photographer (well, maybe I'm half-way decent. If youask me to take your photo, I will make sure you are in the center, and that you can see whatever is behind you, and not, say, the pavement)...

LifestyleTiffany ParksAugust 2, 2011Comment

The Villa of Dreams

How lucky am Ito take my regular exercise in the grounds of a glorious Baroque villa? Complete with manicured gardens, meadows, fountains, lakes, and hundreds and hundreds of my beloved Roman pines? I write of the Villa Pamphilj, a summer haven sprawling over Gianicolo hill and into the valley behind it, created in the 17th century and originally called Bel Respiro.

LifestyleTiffany ParksJuly 17, 2010 Comments

An Ode to Trastevere

When does buying olives and cheese nearly make you cry? When you are buying them at the loveliest, sweetest, most delectably delicious salumeria in the most perfect and adorable neighborhood in the greatest, most beautiful city in the world... and when you know you are soon to be leaving that magical neighborhood with that wonderful shop.... (perhaps forever?)

LifestyleTiffany ParksJuly 14, 2010 Comments

The Day it Snowed in Rome

In spite of the season, today I have decided to share some photos I took this past February, when it snowed (in Rome!!). It was an extremely rare storm, the likes of which hadn't been seen in the eternal city for nearly a quarter of a century. I had always promised myself that if it ever snowed in Rome I would head straight to the Pantheon to see the snow come down through the occulus. And that is precisely what I did. Here are a few of my favorite photos from that day, February 12th 2010.

LifestyleTiffany ParksJune 3, 2010 Comments

Perfection and Embarrassment

After a glorious May Day--a national holiday here--in which my passion and love for this country were at an all time high, Italy has once again caused my naive admiration to come crashing down to a new low. This morning I was enchanted. At five minutes to midnight, I am disillusioned.

LifestyleTiffany ParksMay 2, 2010Comment

A blog exploring Rome's Art, history, culture, customs, quirks, and curiosities