Simple days well lived When we were living in Bergamo we made a handful of day trips to nearby Lecco, at the bottom of Lake Como. Lecco was only an hour’s drive away from Bergamo. A boat trip to Varenna or Bellagio was about 1 hour from there. We would take the boat somewhere, have […]
One of Italy’s top 10 holiday destinations The Cinque Terre on the Italian Riviera in Liguria, is one of Italy’s top ten most popular holiday destinations. It attracts around 2.5 million visitors every year. North West Italy’s other entries in that top 10 list are Lake Como and the Duomo di Milano. Both are around […]
An Introduction to Cuneo Province I guess because the wine regions of Le Langhe, Roero & Monferrato are so well known in their own right that it is easy not to recognise the wider province in which they sit. In fact the Province of Cuneo is the largest province in the Region of Piemonte. And […]
How to discover and enjoy Genoa Genova – Genoa in English, is the capital city of the North West Italian region of Liguria. It is a major European sea port, the busiest in Italy. Genova has a very rich history. As the capital of the Republic of Genova during the late Middle Ages it was […]
City at the heart of the Italian Lake District and gateway to the Alps Bergamo sits on the northern edge of the mighty Po Valley plain, right where it touches the foothills of the magnificent Alps. It is an ancient and important settlement located only 40 km to the North East of Milano and 30 […]
During the winter months the Aosta Valley offers winter sports for everyone. Whether you are young or old, beginner or expert, skier or non-skier. So, which winter sport would you like to try in Aosta Valley? Alpine skiing & snowboarding The first snow arrives normally at the beginning of November. The ski resorts tend to […]
Skiing in Piemonte region in Italy, you are spoiled for choice as it has a total of 1,255km of ski slopes served by 271 lifts located across 49 resorts. Torino hosted the Winter Olympics in 2006. International quality ski resorts can be reached in 1 hour – 1 hour 30 minutes drive from Torino, Cuneo […]
Skiing in the Aosta Valley in Italy is a great choice! There are so many great ski areas and resorts in Europe, so what is it that makes the Aosta Valley worth visiting? It has a great winter climate with many sunny days and as good a snow record as anywhere. Single resort or multi-resort […]
Lago d’Iseo & La Franciacorta Wine Area We go on a lot at The Good Life Italy about the Langhe wine region in Piemonte, and rightly so. But Lombardia has its own special wine area that is also a wonderful place to visit and get to know. The Franciacorta. The Franciacorta wine region is located […]
Torino is the Capital of the Region of Piemonte, one of the 4 Regions that make up Northwest Italy. The commune of Torino itself has a population of 870,000 whilst the greater metropolitan area of Torino is home to approximately 2 million inhabitants. Torino is an historic City that has its origins back in the […]
At the beginning of July the demoralising Covid shaped summer term of home-schooling was finally finished. Italy was mercifully out of lockdown. So it felt like time to take ourselves and the kids off on a cheap little holiday to the seaside in Liguria to celebrate. So, how we achieve our cheap family beach holiday […]
Goodlife Property up and running as of today Goodlife Italy is excited today to present our first Italian property investment opportunity. Hopefully the first of many more to come! This one is a large, characterful and traditional house in the village of Mombaruzzo, in the beautiful wine hills of Piemonte. A manageable renovation project. Habitable […]
An interview with Richard Noble who together with his wife Allegra, owns and runs a beautiful guesthouse in the Langhe area of Piemonte called Villa Ribota. Richard, thanks so much for agreeing to share your story with us. What drove you to move to Italy and buy a guest house? It was 2012 and […]
Remote working A report the other day said that thanks to Covid, only about 13% of office workers in London are now back at their desks. Desks that before lockdown they were obliged to occupy for 8 odd hours a day, 5 days a week. It’s a similar story in the other big cities throughout […]
An interview with Tom Durham – skier, mountain biker and entrepreneur, who lives with his wife Lorna and daughter Sadie in the lovely village of Gressan in the Aosta Valley Tom, thanks so much for agreeing to share your story with us. What brought you guys from Scotland out here to the Aosta Valley There […]
For a proper espresso, go to the Bar People have given me espressos made with their home or office espresso machines but it is never nearly as good as the ones served in the average Italian bar. At home it’s the Moka For coffee at home we have relied for years on a trusty […]
So, here are the 4 more reasons why you should spend more time in Italy: Weather Yes, the weather in Italy is significantly warmer and dryer than in the UK and the rest of Northern Europe of course, which is brilliant. But it is also just as variable, maybe more so, which I think is […]
The origins of La Zuppa alla Valpellinentze This recipe comes again from Nonna Anita, our lovely neighbour and landlady. Anita kindly offered her help in teaching me some typical Valdostana dishes. The other time we made Frittelle delle mele, and now we are preparing La Zuppa Valdostana or or its more common name in Italy […]
Apple fritters – frittelle di mele This recipe comes from Nonna Anita, our lovely neighbour and landlady. She is always bringing us plates of warm apple fritters, as well as lots of other goodies from her garden. Yesterday afternoon I got to hang out with her in her kitchen and she showed me how to […]
Pumpkin risotto with goat’s cheese – Risotto alla zucca e formaggio di capra This recipe comes from our local friend Olimpia who also happens to be our neighbour. She is an expert in making all kinds of risottos, pasta dishes and desserts. We are sharing this recipe because pumpkin risotto is a perfect dish for […]
A drive from Aosta to Alba From our home in Aosta it is an easy two-hour drive to the historic Piemonte town of Alba, capital of the world-famous Langhe wine area. We have made several trips to Alba and relish the change of environment from Alpine to something more typically Italian. The drive down from […]
North-West Italy So what does North-West Italy have to offer as a place to live or to visit on holiday? Firstly there’s the Mediterranean Sea. Secondly you have the high Alps. Thirdly it is an area of stunningly beautiful and varied countryside. It has fantastic local food produce and a favourable climate means it can […]
The Aosta Valley currently attracts a total of around 1.1 million tourists every year, resulting in approximately 3.1 million night-stays. Not bad for the smallest Region in Italy, with a resident population of just 120,000! Mind you, there is plenty of space to go round. The Aosta Valley has the lowest population density of all […]
It was the best euro 2,000 I ever spent and the wisest decision I ever made when I bought our burgundy red, 10 KW Ravelli wood pellet stufa back in 2014, when we moved into our apartment in Gressan. Sitting there reassuringly in the corner of the living room, next to the tele. He has […]
Bergamo – restaurant heaven When we lived in Bergamo we loved walking around in the town centre. It is a very friendly and easy going place with great downtown shopping. The cobbled stone streets were also great for helping Olly to fall asleep in his pushchair. We have some lovely memories of evening drinks or […]
What is an aperitivo According to the definition, an aperitivo, from the Latin ‘aperitivus’ (that opens), is a drink, usually but not necessarily alcoholic, that you have before eating, which is designed to ‘open you up’ to a feeling of hunger. Torino – birthplace of vermut and the aperitivo The ancient Greeks and then the […]
It was the best euro 2,000 I ever spent and the wisest decision I ever made when I bought our burgundy red, 10 KW Ravelli wood pellet stufa back in 2014, when we moved into our apartment in Gressan. Sitting there reassuringly in the corner of the living room, next to the tele. He has […]
Everyone deserves a little luxury and pampering in life, a little break from all the rushing around. The thermal spa at Pré Saint Didier, in its beautiful Alpine surroundings close to Courmayeur in the Aosta Valley, is just the perfect place for it. I have to admit that before I discovered Pre Saint Didier I […]
Skiing doesn’t have to be all downhill I have never been a skiing virtuoso. I am more than a little bit afraid of speed and I haven’t really had proper lessons. At least not from anyone who actually knows what they are talking about (sorry Ian). My skiing motto is “relax and enjoy the view”. […]
After two months of lock-down due to the COVID virus, we couldn’t wait to get back out into the nature again. As soon as we were allowed to, we headed up the road to beautiful Valsavarenche, at the heart of the Gran Paradiso national park, for a hike. We decided on this area for our […]
The other day Anita and I, together with our friends and neighbours Tom and Lorna, hiked all the way from our homes in Gressan up to Pila. It took us 3 hours 45 minutes and Tom’s gadget recons we did 20,000 steps. Our ‘frazione’ where we started is about 600m above sea level. The arrival […]