The Bittersweet Life

What mistakes do museum visitors make? Tiffany Parks, a regular museum visitor and someone who has led tours through the Vatican Museums upwards of a thousand time, shares her expert tips to make you…

Can you travel across nine time zones without more than a day's worth of jetlag? Tiffany is convinced that you can (without taking any pills). After decades of making regular trips across the ocean (…

Did you hear about the doctor who unknowingly bought an original Caravaggio painting at an estate sale? Yes. That happened. Today we talk not only about this unbelievable story, but also about the al…

Everyone has their favorite book, author, or series, but when children fall in love with a book, that love can border on obsession. (And how lovely that is to witness!)

Of course all demographics, fr…

Inspired by a passage in the book Outline by Rachel Cusk, today we discuss the complexity of living life in two (or more!) languages, and if you can truly be yourself in every language you speak.

Are…

It's the biggest soccer (aka football) (aka calcio) match of the year as Italy faces off against England in the European Cup. But who do cheer for if you're an Englishwoman living in Italy for more t…

Are you someone who has a hard time when things come to an end? Even when what's coming next might be just as good, if not better? Or possibly even when what is ending was never very good in the firs…

We hear from five-year-old Aurelio and his friend Jacopo on their very last day of Kindergarten—are they feeling the same sense of nostalgia that Tiffany's feeling, or are they just thrilled it's fin…

Are you a person who always travels to a new place? Or do you prefer to revisit the same place over and over? Today we explore the value of going to the same place again and again. We discuss how goi…

Last week Katy regaled listeners with the story of her adventure aboard the Sea Star, a 1965 classic yacht, and her experiences cruising the inland passage from Seattle to Alaska. If you haven't list…

What do you do when your partner of almost a decade—and husband of only a few short months—tells you he thinks you made a mistake in getting married?

Well, if you're today's guest, you pack your bags…

To conclude our series of wedding-related mini-episodes, Tiffany regales you with the most common traditions and rituals surrounding weddings that took place in Ancient Rome.

What words did the bride…

A private yacht called the Sea Star, a handful of strangers who would soon be friends, the inland passage to Alaska, and a few whales that like to show off—these are the ingredients in Katy's first p…

Last week we talked about food, cake, invitations, and the dreaded colors of black and purple. This week, on the third installment in the Italian wedding mini-series, we delve into the differences be…

Make-up. Unpleasant social obligations. Commuting.

Lots of things fell by the wayside during the pandemic. Lots of things that seemed absolutely necessary parts of life "before Covid" suddenly were e…

For the second installment in our series of Italian wedding-themed mini-episodes, Tiffany looks back on her wedding in Rome almost exactly ten years ago, and how she tried (and sometimes failed) to i…

Last week we talked about the labels expat vs immigrant, and specifically, why Tiffany, after nearly 17 years in Italy, still considers herself more of an expat than an immigrant.

Today, we replay an…

On occasion of her 10th wedding anniversary, Tiffany talks about Italian wedding traditions, particularly the ones popular in the mid-20th century. Ever wonder why Italians give sugared almonds at we…

Tiffany moved to Italy as an expat in the fall 2004—nearly 17 years ago. Since then, she's married an Italian and started a family, bought an apartment in Italy, and become an Italian citizenship, so…

Today we continue our conversation with Anna Sale, host of the popular podcast Death, Sex, and Money and author of bestselling book Let's Talk About Hard Things. 

On Part 1 of this interview, Anna go…