Welcome to Frog Hollow Farm at Word Press.  For several years I had blogged as Frog Hollow Farm Girl through Blogger, but have decided to start anew at Word Press at the recommendations of a few friends and family.  I haven’t deleted my Blogger site because it is full of so many memories and descriptions of family, friends, travel, delicious food and life here at Frog Hollow Farm. You can find it at froghollowfarmgirl.blogspot.com if you have some time to check out some of my past posts.

Several months ago my husband and I found a great apartment in Florence on the Vacation Rental by Owners website (vrbo.com) and decided to go for it and rent it for three and a half months.  We are leaving next week and will be staying through the summer.  Florence has been a vacation destination of ours for several years, and I really wanted to experience the city differently than a tourist….to shop in the markets and cook some delicious meals and to walk without having to stop in and buy something at every pottery shop I passed.  Yes, it will be hot there, but our plans are to take the train up to Lake Como and some cooler destinations during the month of July.  Our children will be joining us for a week in the middle of May, along with friends later in May.  A favorite niece from Sicily has also found some time in her busy schedule to visit us for a few days.

One of our first stops will be for aperitivo at the Corona Cafe on Via del Corso in Florence. This is a truly decadent collection of food and one of my goals is to find some simpler, more local aperitivo bars.  Here’s a link that tells you a little about Italian aperitivo and how it differs from our American Happy Hour. http://www.walksofitaly.com/blog/food-and-wine/italian-aperitivo

This is a photo of the aperitivo at the Corona Cafe we took a couple of years ago.  That was the first time I had tried a drink called a Spritz, made with Aperol, Proseco and a slice of orange.  It is a really delicious drink that is cooling and pretty to look at and has become one of my favorites.

So, beginning next week I hope to memorialize this wonderful trip via my new Word Press blog and hope that each of you enjoys my day to day reporting.

Ciao bella!