The Bittersweet Life

This week we discuss the new strict laws that have recently been signed into law by Rome’s mayor, Virginia Raggi. Feel like enjoying a gelato on the Spanish Steps à la Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday? Think twice! Want to climb on the back of one of the lion statues in Piazza del Popolo to snap that perfect Instagram-worthy shot? Better not. Tempted to strip off and dive into the Trevi Fountain? Only do it if you’re willing to pay a hefty fine and risk being exiled from Rome! Maybe you’re thinking, “But Rome wouldn’t be Rome without an impromptu picnic on the steps of a monument?” Or perhaps your thoughts run more along the lines of: “About time this city started to be treated with respect!” Whichever is your view, tune in to this week’s episode to hear our take. Here are a few articles about these new rules: with Tiffany as your guide! 

On this week's Bittersweet Moment, we offer a peek behind the curtain as Katy's sister Sara—one of our most ardent fans—interviews Katy about everything that goes into the podcast that listeners don't see (or hear). Learn how the name was chosen, how long it takes Katy to edit a single episode, the most challenging episode she ever taped and much more. Bonus: Katy offers some valuable words of advice for all the neophyte podcasters out there. -------------------------------------------- ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an with Tiffany as your guide! 

This week, we sit down with a BBC Europe producer Natalie Higgins to discuss the ins and outs of the journalist game, as well as her experiences living abroad in Rome over a decade ago, and her current expat experience in Belgium. Natalie shares her story of starting out as a university student studying languages, how she came about to decide on journalism as a career, and how her year abroad in Rome (where she just happened to be Tiffany’s roommate!) informed and influenced that decision. She also reveals what it takes to to go after a highly desirable career like journalism, and shares the strategies she used to get her foot in the door and set herself apart from the crowd. -------------------------------------------- ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an with Tiffany as your guide! 

On this week’s Bittersweet Moment, Tiffany and Aurelio chat about their recent visit to one of Rome’s most secret and best-hidden gems: the Tempietto of Bramante. Find out what makes this minuscule “temple” so utterly sublime, which ancient temple it was inspired by, and which domes around the world have been inspired by it. Aurelio also chimes in about his favorite thing about visiting the Tempietto. (Hint: it rhymes with Tempietto but begins with C-O-R-N.) -------------------------------------------- ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an with Tiffany as your guide! 

What are the instantly recognizable symbols that represent your city? And more importantly, what do you think of them? We hash out the whys behind the icons that make our cities (or the cities we travel to) famous. We also ask, do you travel to a city because of the icons there, or are they what make that place feel more familiar once you arrive? Is the purpose of a city symbol, like the Seattle Space Needle, the St. Louis Arch, or the Eiffel Tour, to lure travelers to a city, or to make them feel like they have fully seen it when they leave? And what about gastronomic icons? Can you really say you’ve been to Seattle if you haven’t had a cuppa from the original Starbucks? Would you really leave Lisbon without trying a cream cake from Pastéis de Belém? Can you go to New York without eating a Pastrami sandwich at Katz’s Deli? If you don’t sample a city’s local dish, will you have somehow missed out? Not experienced the true city? And in that sense, where does city icon end and tourist trap begin? We discuss all this and more on the latest episode of The Bittersweet Life. -------------------------------------------- ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an with Tiffany as your guide!