The Bittersweet Life

Rome not only has more fountains than any city on earth, it also has the most beautiful ones, from the delicate Fountain of the Turtles (nispiration for Tiffany's book Midnight in the Piazza), to the massive Fontanone on the Gianicolo Hill and so many others. In fact, the early 20th-century Italian composer Ottorino Respighi was so inspired by Rome's fountains (four in particular) that he wrote a symphonic poem about them.  On this episode from our archives, we talk about the four fountains that inspired this masterpiece, and play some of that glorious music. So pop in your earbuds, close your eyes, and we'll transport you not just to Rome, but to Resphigi's Rome. The Bittersweet Life podcast has been on the air for an impressive 10+ years! In order to help newer listeners discover some of our earlier episodes, every Friday we are now airing an episode from our vast archives! Enjoy! ***Katy's sister Dana has recently been diagnosed with stage 4 agressive brain cancer. To help with the staggering medical costs—her specialist is outside her insurance network—as well of the costs of temporarily relocating to San Francsico for her treatments, please consider donating to her GoFundMe. Anything you can contribute will be extremely helpful. Thank you.*** ------------------------------------- COME TO ROME WITH US: For the third year in a row, we are hosting an intimate group of listeners for a magical and unforgettable week in Rome, this October 2025! Discover the city with us as your guides, seeing a side to Rome tourists almost never see. Find out more here. ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started. BECOME A PATRON: Pledge your monthly support of The Bittersweet Life and receive awesome prizes in return for your generosity! Visit our Patreon site to find out more. TIP YOUR PODCASTER: Say thanks with a one-time donation to the podcast hosts you know and love. Click here to send financial support via PayPal. (You can also find a Donate button on the desktop version of our website.) The show needs your support to continue. START PODCASTING: If you are planning to start your own podcast, consider Libsyn for your hosting service! Use this affliliate link to get two months free, or use our promo code SWEET when you sign up. SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode. Click here to find us on a variety of podcast apps. WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us. JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email here. You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Tag #thebittersweetlife with your expat story for a chance to be featured! NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon. TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!

*but didn't know who to ask. In today's mini-episode, Tiffany fills you in on the history of this fascinating election, unique in the wolrd, as well as all the rules and ceremonies involved, just in time for Conclave 2025, which starts today! Don't miss your chance to visit Rome with us, on our intimate Rome listener trip, coming up in October 2025. Find out all about it here, or email us for more information! ------------------------------------- COME TO ROME WITH US: For the third year in a row, we are hosting an intimate group of listeners for a magical and unforgettable week in Rome, this October 2025! Discover the city with us as your guides, seeing a side to Rome tourists almost never see. Find out more here. ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started. BECOME A PATRON: Pledge your monthly support of The Bittersweet Life and receive awesome prizes in return for your generosity! Visit our Patreon site to find out more. TIP YOUR PODCASTER: Say thanks with a one-time donation to the podcast hosts you know and love. Click here to send financial support via PayPal. (You can also find a Donate button on the desktop version of our website.) The show needs your support to continue. START PODCASTING: If you are planning to start your own podcast, consider Libsyn for your hosting service! Use this affliliate link to get two months free, or use our promo code SWEET when you sign up. SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode. Click here to find us on a variety of podcast apps. WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us. JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email here. You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Tag #thebittersweetlife with your expat story for a chance to be featured! NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon. TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!  

What's it like to move abroad, all the way from Texas to Florence, Italy, learn the language to perfection, and establish yourself there so fully that you become known internationally simply as the "Girl in Florence," only to find yourself moving to a new country where you're unfamiliar with the culture and don't speak the language—in the midst of a worldwide pandemic no less?! That's what today's guest  did a number of years ago. We sit down with freelance writer, social media consultant, and founder of Girl in Florence Georgette Jupe to hear about the challenges of becoming an expat for the second time, have a child in a new-to-you country in the wake of Covid-19, overcome those challenges to make a life for your family there, and then get the news that it's time to move back to Florence! This interview touches on the resilience necessary for a successful life abroad, the challenges of language learning, the near-impossibility of passing the Italian driver's licence exam, and many other engaging and interested topics. Don't miss it! You can find more from Georgette on Instagram or at her website. ***Katy's sister Dana has recently been diagnosed with stage 4 agressive brain cancer. To help with the staggering medical costs—her specialist is outside her insurance network—as well of the costs of temporarily relocating to San Francsico for her treatments, please consider donating to her GoFundMe. Anything you can contribute will be extremely helpful. Thank you.*** ------------------------------------- COME TO ROME WITH US: For the third year in a row, we are hosting an intimate group of listeners for a magical and unforgettable week in Rome, this October 2025! Discover the city with us as your guides, seeing a side to Rome tourists almost never see. Find out more here. ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started. BECOME A PATRON: Pledge your monthly support of The Bittersweet Life and receive awesome prizes in return for your generosity! Visit our Patreon site to find out more. TIP YOUR PODCASTER: Say thanks with a one-time donation to the podcast hosts you know and love. Click here to send financial support via PayPal. (You can also find a Donate button on the desktop version of our website.) The show needs your support to continue. START PODCASTING: If you are planning to start your own podcast, consider Libsyn for your hosting service! Use this affliliate link to get two months free, or use our promo code SWEET when you sign up. SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode. Click here to find us on a variety of podcast apps. WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us. JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email here. You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Tag #thebittersweetlife with your expat story for a chance to be featured! NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon. TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!  

This special author interview pulled from our archives is Part 2 of our conversation with bestselling writer Anthony Doerr, author of Pulitzer Prize-winning All the Light We Cannot See, as well as best-sellers Cloud Cuckoo Land and Four Seasons in Rome. Be sure to listen to Part 1 if you haven't already! As the conversation continues, Anthony tells the story of finding out he had won the prestigious Rome Prize literally the same day his twin sons were born, and what it took for he and his wife to make the monumental decision to pack up their newborns and move to Rome for a year. He also explains how writing a book set in a foreign city can change your experience of the place.  He also discusses his work as the editor of The Best American Short Stories 2019. Find Anthony on Instagram or at his website. ***The Bittersweet Life podcast has been on the air for an impressive 10+ years! In order to help newer listeners discover some of our earlier episodes, every Friday we are now airing an episode from our vast archives! Enjoy!*** ***Katy's sister Dana has recently been diagnosed with stage 4 agressive brain cancer. To help with the staggering medical costs—her specialist is outside her insurance network—as well of the costs of temporarily relocating to San Francsico for her treatments, please consider donating to her GoFundMe. Anything you can contribute will be extremely helpful. Thank you.*** ------------------------------------- COME TO ROME WITH US: For the third year in a row, we are hosting an intimate group of listeners for a magical and unforgettable week in Rome, this October 2025! Discover the city with us as your guides, seeing a side to Rome tourists almost never see. Find out more here. ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started. BECOME A PATRON: Pledge your monthly support of The Bittersweet Life and receive awesome prizes in return for your generosity! Visit our Patreon site to find out more. TIP YOUR PODCASTER: Say thanks with a one-time donation to the podcast hosts you know and love. Click here to send financial support via PayPal. (You can also find a Donate button on the desktop version of our website.) The show needs your support to continue. START PODCASTING: If you are planning to start your own podcast, consider Libsyn for your hosting service! Use this affliliate link to get two months free, or use our promo code SWEET when you sign up. SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode. Click here to find us on a variety of podcast apps. WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us. JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email here. You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Tag #thebittersweetlife with your expat story for a chance to be featured! NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon. TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!

There's one museum in Rome that has it all—and it's not the Vatican.   The Capitoline Museums are comprised of a collection of nearly everything you could hope for in a museum—sumptuous frescoed rooms, Caravaggio paintings, Bernini sculptures, ancient bronze and marble statuary, panoramic views of the Roman Forum, fascinating artifacts, and the ruins of Rome's oldest and most important temple.   And believe it or not, it's never crowded. Not even in high season. On this mini-episode, Tiffany talks about why she adores this museum, and believes it's Rome's best-kept secret that blows the Vatican Museums out of the water. And don't miss your chance to visit Rome with us, on our intimate Rome listener trip, coming up in October 2025. Find out all about it here, or email us for more information! ***Katy's sister Dana has recently been diagnosed with stage 4 agressive brain cancer. To help with the staggering medical costs—her specialist is outside her insurance network—as well of the costs of temporarily relocating to San Francsico for her treatments, please consider donating to her GoFundMe. Anything you can contribute will be extremely helpful. Thank you.*** ------------------------------------- COME TO ROME WITH US: For the third year in a row, we are hosting an intimate group of listeners for a magical and unforgettable week in Rome, this October 2025! Discover the city with us as your guides, seeing a side to Rome tourists almost never see. Find out more here. ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started. BECOME A PATRON: Pledge your monthly support of The Bittersweet Life and receive awesome prizes in return for your generosity! Visit our Patreon site to find out more. TIP YOUR PODCASTER: Say thanks with a one-time donation to the podcast hosts you know and love. Click here to send financial support via PayPal. (You can also find a Donate button on the desktop version of our website.) The show needs your support to continue. START PODCASTING: If you are planning to start your own podcast, consider Libsyn for your hosting service! Use this affliliate link to get two months free, or use our promo code SWEET when you sign up. SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode. Click here to find us on a variety of podcast apps. WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us. JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email here. You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Tag #thebittersweetlife with your expat story for a chance to be featured! NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon. TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!  

Did you know that ancient Roman statues used to smell like roses? Or that ancient temples and palaces used to be painted with bright colors? What other things from the deep, dark past are vastly different from how we imagine them today? We discuss on this fun, eye-opening episode. ***Katy's sister Dana has recently been diagnosed with stage 4 agressive brain cancer. To help with the staggering medical costs—her specialist is outside her insurance network—as well of the costs of temporarily relocating to San Francsico for her treatments, please consider donating to her GoFundMe. Anything you can contribute will be extremely helpful. Thank you.*** ------------------------------------- COME TO ROME WITH US: For the third year in a row, we are hosting an intimate group of listeners for a magical and unforgettable week in Rome, this October 2025! Discover the city with us as your guides, seeing a side to Rome tourists almost never see. Find out more here. ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started. BECOME A PATRON: Pledge your monthly support of The Bittersweet Life and receive awesome prizes in return for your generosity! Visit our Patreon site to find out more. TIP YOUR PODCASTER: Say thanks with a one-time donation to the podcast hosts you know and love. Click here to send financial support via PayPal. (You can also find a Donate button on the desktop version of our website.) The show needs your support to continue. START PODCASTING: If you are planning to start your own podcast, consider Libsyn for your hosting service! Use this affliliate link to get two months free, or use our promo code SWEET when you sign up. SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode. Click here to find us on a variety of podcast apps. WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us. JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email here. You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Tag #thebittersweetlife with your expat story for a chance to be featured! NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon. TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!  

In this very special episode from our archives, we are joined by the award-winning, best-selling writer, Anthony Doerr, author of All the Light We Cannot See, Cloud Cuckoo Land, and Four Seasons in Rome, among others. Anthony shares his writing journey with Katy, from his earliest beginnings as an amateur writer to the challenges of writing from the perspective of a young blind girl in All the Light We Cannot See. He also shares how he got the idea for this book that would go on to become a world-wide sensation, and why it took him a decade to write. Also, don't miss part two of this episode where Anthony delves into his time living in Rome and the memoir that resulted from it. Find Anthony on Instagram or at his website. ***The Bittersweet Life podcast has been on the air for an impressive 10+ years! In order to help newer listeners discover some of our earlier episodes, every Friday we are now airing an episode from our vast archives! Enjoy!*** ***Katy's sister Dana has recently been diagnosed with stage 4 agressive brain cancer. To help with the staggering medical costs—her specialist is outside her insurance network—as well of the costs of temporarily relocating to San Francsico for her treatments, please consider donating to her GoFundMe. Anything you can contribute will be extremely helpful. Thank you.*** ------------------------------------- COME TO ROME WITH US: For the third year in a row, we are hosting an intimate group of listeners for a magical and unforgettable week in Rome, this October 2025! Discover the city with us as your guides, seeing a side to Rome tourists almost never see. Find out more here. ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started. BECOME A PATRON: Pledge your monthly support of The Bittersweet Life and receive awesome prizes in return for your generosity! Visit our Patreon site to find out more. TIP YOUR PODCASTER: Say thanks with a one-time donation to the podcast hosts you know and love. Click here to send financial support via PayPal. (You can also find a Donate button on the desktop version of our website.) The show needs your support to continue. START PODCASTING: If you are planning to start your own podcast, consider Libsyn for your hosting service! Use this affliliate link to get two months free, or use our promo code SWEET when you sign up. SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode. Click here to find us on a variety of podcast apps. WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us. JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email here. You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Tag #thebittersweetlife with your expat story for a chance to be featured! NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon. TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!  

On this bonus episode, available exclusively to our Patreon supporters, Katy gives an update on her sister Dana's stage 4 agressive brain cancer. This is just an excerpt, and if you want to hear more, become part of the Bittersweet Life community by supporting just on Patreon! For as little as $5 per month—less than the price of a coffee in some places—you will have access to multiple bonus episodes every single month.  You'll hear conversations that would never take place on the main show, you'll be part of our new chat community, you'll have access to Patreon-only content in addition to bonus episodes, and you'll be invited to join us for regular live meet-ups.  But most importantly, you'll be doing your part to help keep this show alive—an independent podcast with no corporate support. (You'll also help keep it virtually ad-free!) Check our our Patreon page for all the details, and consider joining us at the $5 level or above. We are eternally grateful!  ***To help Dana and her family with her staggering medical costs—her specialist is outside her insurance network—as well of the costs of temporarily relocating to San Francsico for her treatments, please consider donating to her GoFundMe. Anything you can contribute will be extremely helpful. Thank you.*** ------------------------------------- COME TO ROME WITH US: For the third year in a row, we are hosting an intimate group of listeners for a magical and unforgettable week in Rome, this October 2025! Discover the city with us as your guides, seeing a side to Rome tourists almost never see. Find out more here. ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started. BECOME A PATRON: Pledge your monthly support of The Bittersweet Life and receive awesome prizes in return for your generosity! Visit our Patreon site to find out more. TIP YOUR PODCASTER: Say thanks with a one-time donation to the podcast hosts you know and love. Click here to send financial support via PayPal. (You can also find a Donate button on the desktop version of our website.) The show needs your support to continue. START PODCASTING: If you are planning to start your own podcast, consider Libsyn for your hosting service! Use this affliliate link to get two months free, or use our promo code SWEET when you sign up. SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode. Click here to find us on a variety of podcast apps. WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us. JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email here. You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Tag #thebittersweetlife with your expat story for a chance to be featured! NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon. TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!

Are romance languages sexist? On this episode, we discuss the puzzling and seemingly discriminatory aspects of languages like Italian and French. For example: Why do inanimate objects have a gender? Why, in Italian, must you refer to a group of people as entirely male even if there is only one man and 99 women? Why, in French, are there only recently female versions of professional occupations? Join us for this probing yet light-hearted discussion. ***Katy's sister Dana has recently been diagnosed with stage 4 agressive brain cancer. To help with the staggering medical costs—her specialist is outside her insurance network—as well of the costs of temporarily relocating to San Francsico for her treatments, please consider donating to her GoFundMe. Anything you can contribute will be extremely helpful. Thank you.*** ***The podcast mentioned on this episode is The Europeans (a non-boring podcast about European politics!), hosted by Dominic Kraemer and Katy Lee. Find their latest episode here or wherever you listen to our show.*** ------------------------------------- COME TO ROME WITH US: For the third year in a row, we are hosting an intimate group of listeners for a magical and unforgettable week in Rome, this October 2025! Discover the city with us as your guides, seeing a side to Rome tourists almost never see. Find out more here. ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started. BECOME A PATRON: Pledge your monthly support of The Bittersweet Life and receive awesome prizes in return for your generosity! Visit our Patreon site to find out more. TIP YOUR PODCASTER: Say thanks with a one-time donation to the podcast hosts you know and love. Click here to send financial support via PayPal. (You can also find a Donate button on the desktop version of our website.) The show needs your support to continue. START PODCASTING: If you are planning to start your own podcast, consider Libsyn for your hosting service! Use this affliliate link to get two months free, or use our promo code SWEET when you sign up. SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode. Click here to find us on a variety of podcast apps. WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us. JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email here. You can also connect to us through Facebook, and Instagram. Tag #thebittersweetlife with your expat story for a chance to be featured! NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon. TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!

When you come back after several years to a city where you used to live, what do you notice? What has change? What has stayed the same? What have you forgotten about in your time away? In this episode from our archives, Katy arrives in Rome after four years away, and immediately  notices something that—once ubiquitous on the streets of Rome—is now missing: accordionists. This sparks a conversation about what we notice, what we take for granted as being an eternal aspect of the city, and how a city can change before your very eyes. The famous song that Katy plays (and Tiffany recognizes but can't name) is Ma il Cielo è Sempre Più Blù by Rino Gaetano. Hear this episode transformed into a bedtime story by Sleep With Me podcast's Drew Ackerman (aks Dear Scooter). **The Bittersweet Life podcast has been on the air for an impressive 10+ years! In order to help newer listeners discover some of our earlier episodes, every Friday we are now airing an episode from our vast archives! Enjoy!** ***Katy's sister Dana has recently been diagnosed with stage 4 agressive brain cancer. To help with the staggering medical costs—her specialist is outside her insurance network—as well of the costs of temporarily relocating to San Francsico for her treatments, please consider donating to her GoFundMe. Anything you can contribute will be extremely helpful. Thank you.*** ------------------------------------- COME TO ROME WITH US: For the third year in a row, we are hosting an intimate group of listeners for a magical and unforgettable week in Rome, this October 2025! Discover the city with us as your guides, seeing a side to Rome tourists almost never see. Find out more here. ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started. BECOME A PATRON: Pledge your monthly support of The Bittersweet Life and receive awesome prizes in return for your generosity! Visit our Patreon site to find out more. TIP YOUR PODCASTER: Say thanks with a one-time donation to the podcast hosts you know and love. Click here to send financial support via PayPal. (You can also find a Donate button on the desktop version of our website.) The show needs your support to continue. START PODCASTING: If you are planning to start your own podcast, consider Libsyn for your hosting service! Use this affliliate link to get two months free, or use our promo code SWEET when you sign up. SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode. Click here to find us on a variety of podcast apps. WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us. JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email here. You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Tag #thebittersweetlife with your expat story for a chance to be featured! NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon. TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!  

Where did Lord Byron and Percy Shelley come to sip coffee while they jotted down their verses? Where did Bizet and Berlioz go to discuss their work? Where could Casanova be found trying to pick up girls? Caffè Greco, where else? Having opened in 1760, Antico Caffè Greco is the oldest café in Rome and the second-oldest in all of Italy! And you can still go there and sit where Hawthorne, Ibsen, Gogol, Goethe, Canova, and many many other literary, art, and musical greats rubbed elbows and drank coffee. On this episode, we visit the famous café, grab some espresso ourselves, and discuss what it feels like to drink coffee in the same place so many brilliant thinkers over the generations did the same.   Hear this episode transformed into a bedtime story by Sleep With Me podcast's Drew Ackerman (aka Dear Scooter).   If you'd like to learn more about Literary Rome, download Tiffany's VoiceMap audio tour Rome for Readers, a self-guided walking tour that takes you past the residences of the most famous foreign writers who visited and lived in Rome.   ***Katy's sister Dana has recently been diagnosed with stage 4 agressive brain cancer. To help with the staggering medical costs—her specialist is outside her insurance network—as well of the costs of temporarily relocating to San Francsico for her treatments, please consider donating to her GoFundMe. Anything you can contribute will be extremely helpful. Thank you.   ***The Bittersweet Life podcast has been on the air for an impressive 10+ years! In order to help newer listeners discover some of our earlier episodes, every Friday we are now airing an episode from our vast archives! Enjoy!*** ------------------------------------- COME TO ROME WITH US: For the third year in a row, we are hosting an intimate group of listeners for a magical and unforgettable week in Rome, this October 2025! Discover the city with us as your guides, seeing a side to Rome tourists almost never see. Find out more here. ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started. BECOME A PATRON: Pledge your monthly support of The Bittersweet Life and receive awesome prizes in return for your generosity! Visit our Patreon site to find out more. TIP YOUR PODCASTER: Say thanks with a one-time donation to the podcast hosts you know and love. Click here to send financial support via PayPal. (You can also find a Donate button on the desktop version of our website.) The show needs your support to continue. START PODCASTING: If you are planning to start your own podcast, consider Libsyn for your hosting service! Use this affliliate link to get two months free, or use our promo code SWEET when you sign up. SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode. Click here to find us on a variety of podcast apps. WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us. JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email here. You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Tag #thebittersweetlife with your expat story for a chance to be featured! NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon. TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!  

Need help falling asleep?   That's not usually our forte—at least we hope it isn't!—but this week the legendary sleep-podcaster Drew Ackerman, better known to his listeners as Dear Scooter, of the popular Sleep with Me podcast, has used not one but two of our past episodes as a script for his sleep-inducing show.   We are reposting his somnolent take on Episode 441 The Oldest Cafe in Rome and Episode 440 Where Are All the Accordions? right here (and we'll be posting the original versions of those episodes on Wednesday and Friday of this week. If you have trouble with insomnia, be sure to check out Drew's podcast, where his bedtime stories help grown-ups fall asleep in the deep, dark night.   Listen to this episode right here, or over on the Sleep with Me feed.   ***Katy's sister Dana has recently been diagnosed with stage 4 agressive brain cancer. To help with the staggering medical costs—her specialist is outside her insurance network—as well of the costs of temporarily relocating to San Francsico for her treatments, please consider donating to her GoFundMe. Anything you can contribute will be extremely helpful. Thank you.*** ***The podcast mentioned on this episode is The Europeans (a non-boring podcast about European politics!), hosted by Dominic Kraemer and Katy Lee. Find their latest episode here or wherever you listen to our show.*** ------------------------------------- COME TO ROME WITH US: For the third year in a row, we are hosting an intimate group of listeners for a magical and unforgettable week in Rome, this October 2025! Discover the city with us as your guides, seeing a side to Rome tourists almost never see. Find out more here. ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started. BECOME A PATRON: Pledge your monthly support of The Bittersweet Life and receive awesome prizes in return for your generosity! Visit our Patreon site to find out more. TIP YOUR PODCASTER: Say thanks with a one-time donation to the podcast hosts you know and love. Click here to send financial support via PayPal. (You can also find a Donate button on the desktop version of our website.) The show needs your support to continue. START PODCASTING: If you are planning to start your own podcast, consider Libsyn for your hosting service! Use this affliliate link to get two months free, or use our promo code SWEET when you sign up. SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode. Click here to find us on a variety of podcast apps. WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us. JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email here. You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Tag #thebittersweetlife with your expat story for a chance to be featured! NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon. TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!

This week, therapist and bestselling author Lori Gottlieb joins us to talk about change, loss, self-examination...and when you should really talk to someone. If you've ever wondered what your therapist was thinking, this is a conversation you'll want to hear. Lori and Katy discuss everything from what you should look for in a therapist to what your therapist is listening for—and why it's often not what you tell them the problem is. Lori explains how patients often try to impress their therapists (and even strive to become their favorite) and how this can lead to not being fully honest with them. Lori reveals what happens when the therapist herself realizes she too needs therapy, and how sometimes, it's the therapist who learns from the patient. Her book, Maybe You Should Talk To Someone: A Therapist, Her Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed, covers topics that make people think differently about themselves and the world around them: love and loss, meaning and mortality, gender and culture, parents and children, female appearance, regret and redemption, hope and change. It's a New York Times bestseller, and is currently being made into a television series with Eva Longoria on ABC. Find Lori Gottlieb on Instagram or at her website. ***The Bittersweet Life podcast has been on the air for an impressive 10+ years! In order to help newer listeners discover some of our earlier episodes, every Friday we are now airing an episode from our vast archives! Enjoy!*** ------------------------------------- COME TO ROME WITH US: For the third year in a row, we are hosting an intimate group of listeners for a magical and unforgettable week in Rome, this October 2025! Discover the city with us as your guides, seeing a side to Rome tourists almost never see. Find out more here. ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started. BECOME A PATRON: Pledge your monthly support of The Bittersweet Life and receive awesome prizes in return for your generosity! Visit our Patreon site to find out more. TIP YOUR PODCASTER: Say thanks with a one-time donation to the podcast hosts you know and love. Click here to send financial support via PayPal. (You can also find a Donate button on the desktop version of our website.) The show needs your support to continue. START PODCASTING: If you are planning to start your own podcast, consider Libsyn for your hosting service! Use this affliliate link to get two months free, or use our promo code SWEET when you sign up. SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode. Click here to find us on a variety of podcast apps. WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us. JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email here. You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Tag #thebittersweetlife with your expat story for a chance to be featured! NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon. TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!

For a leisurely stroll that is full of artistic gems and delightful curiosities hidden in plain —and somehow overlooked by tourists—join us for a walk down Via Giulia, one of the most historic and sumptuous streets in Rome. Don't miss your chance to visit Rome with us, on our intimate Rome listener trip, coming up in October 2025. Find out all about it here, or email us for more information! ***As you know if you have listened to our recent episodes, Katy's sister Dana has recently been diagnosed with stage 4 agfressive brain cancer. To help with the staggering medical costs—her specialist is outside her insurance network—as well of the costs of temporarily relocating to San Francsico for her treatments, please consider donating to her GoFundMe. Anything you can contribute will be extremely helpful. Thank you.*** ------------------------------------- COME TO ROME WITH US: For the third year in a row, we are hosting an intimate group of listeners for a magical and unforgettable week in Rome, this October 2025! Discover the city with us as your guides, seeing a side to Rome tourists almost never see. Find out more here. ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started. BECOME A PATRON: Pledge your monthly support of The Bittersweet Life and receive awesome prizes in return for your generosity! Visit our Patreon site to find out more. TIP YOUR PODCASTER: Say thanks with a one-time donation to the podcast hosts you know and love. Click here to send financial support via PayPal. (You can also find a Donate button on the desktop version of our website.) The show needs your support to continue. START PODCASTING: If you are planning to start your own podcast, consider Libsyn for your hosting service! Use this affliliate link to get two months free, or use our promo code SWEET when you sign up. SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode. Click here to find us on a variety of podcast apps. WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us. JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email here. You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Tag #thebittersweetlife with your expat story for a chance to be featured! NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon. TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!  

The Bittersweet Life Podcast went on an unexpected and unprecedented month-long hiatus. As you can imagine, only something life-threatening could have caused us to take this break.   Katy sits down with her sisters Dana and Sara to have an honest and vulnerable conversation about the tragedy that has occurred in their family, and why it's a journey that's only beginning. And a journey with an unknown ending. ***The podcast mentioned on this episode is The Europeans (a non-boring podcast about European politics!), hosted by Dominic Kraemer and Katy Lee. Find their latest episode here or wherever you listen to our show.*** ------------------------------------- COME TO ROME WITH US: For the third year in a row, we are hosting an intimate group of listeners for a magical and unforgettable week in Rome, this October 2025! Discover the city with us as your guides, seeing a side to Rome tourists almost never see. Find out more here. ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started. BECOME A PATRON: Pledge your monthly support of The Bittersweet Life and receive awesome prizes in return for your generosity! Visit our Patreon site to find out more. TIP YOUR PODCASTER: Say thanks with a one-time donation to the podcast hosts you know and love. Click here to send financial support via PayPal. (You can also find a Donate button on the desktop version of our website.) The show needs your support to continue. START PODCASTING: If you are planning to start your own podcast, consider Libsyn for your hosting service! Use this affliliate link to get two months free, or use our promo code SWEET when you sign up. SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode. Click here to find us on a variety of podcast apps. WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us. JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email here. You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Tag #thebittersweetlife with your expat story for a chance to be featured! NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon. TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!

This week, we explore the underground world with Robert MacFarlane of Cambridge University in England. Robert is the best-selling author of Landmarks and The Old Ways, and was awarded the EM Forster Prize for Literature by the American Academy of Arts and Letters. His latest book, UNDERLAND, is an “epic exploration of the Earth's underworlds as they exist in myth, literature, memory, and the land itself.” The book also details the three major things that humans do with or in the underground world. You'll have to listen to the interview (or read the book!) to find out what they are. Katy and Robert discuss fascinating yet obscure concepts like deep-time, and how instead of making our lives seem insignificant, this concept can inspire us to live every second more fully. Robert also points out how important it is to keep cognizant of our ignorance, and never stop exploring and learning, and how spending so much time underground has taught him how much he loves the light and the living. Listen all the way to the end to find out the very scariest underground experience MacFarlane ever had. ***The Bittersweet Life podcast has been on the air for an impressive 10+ years! In order to help newer listeners discover some of our earlier episodes, every Friday we are now airing an episode from our vast archives! Enjoy!*** ------------------------------------- COME TO ROME WITH US: For the third year in a row, we are hosting an intimate group of listeners for a magical and unforgettable week in Rome, this October 2025! Discover the city with us as your guides, seeing a side to Rome tourists almost never see. Find out more here. ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started. BECOME A PATRON: Pledge your monthly support of The Bittersweet Life and receive awesome prizes in return for your generosity! Visit our Patreon site to find out more. TIP YOUR PODCASTER: Say thanks with a one-time donation to the podcast hosts you know and love. Click here to send financial support via PayPal. (You can also find a Donate button on the desktop version of our website.) The show needs your support to continue. START PODCASTING: If you are planning to start your own podcast, consider Libsyn for your hosting service! Use this affliliate link to get two months free, or use our promo code SWEET when you sign up. SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode. Click here to find us on a variety of podcast apps. WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us. JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email here. You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Tag #thebittersweetlife with your expat story for a chance to be featured! NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon. TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!  

Did you know that your favorite podcast hosts are also writers? On this week's bonus episode—available exclusively to our supporters on Patreon—we talk all about our various writing processes. Katy reveals that she has been sobbing while writing lately as she comes to the end of her novel, and prepares to say goodbye to her characters. And speaking of characters, Tiffany talks about what it's life to have a fully formed character pop up in a scene without any warning. We chat all about our odd writing habits and quirks, including how to deal with writer's block, whether it's advisable—or even possible—to plot out an entire book in advance, the merciless editing process, and if a story can have a life of its own. This is just a snippit of the full bonus episode. If you want to hear the whole episode, become part of the Bittersweet Life community by supporting just on Patreon! For as little as $5 per month—less than the price of a coffee in some places—you will have access to multiple bonus episodes every single month, in addition to years of back bonus episodes you've never heard! You'll hear conversations that would never take place on the main show, you'll be part of our new chat community, you'll have access to Patreon-only content in addition to bonus episodes, and you'll be invited to join us for regular live meet-ups.  But most importantly, you'll be doing your part to help keep this show alive—an independent podcast with no corporate support. (You'll also help keep it virtually ad-free!) Check our our Patreon page for all the details, and consider joining us at the $5 level or above. We are eternally grateful! ------------------------------------- COME TO ROME WITH US: For the third year in a row, we are hosting an intimate group of listeners for a magical and unforgettable week in Rome, this October 2025! Discover the city with us as your guides, seeing a side to Rome tourists almost never see. Find out more here. ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started. BECOME A PATRON: Pledge your monthly support of The Bittersweet Life and receive awesome prizes in return for your generosity! Visit our Patreon site to find out more. TIP YOUR PODCASTER: Say thanks with a one-time donation to the podcast hosts you know and love. Click here to send financial support via PayPal. (You can also find a Donate button on the desktop version of our website.) The show needs your support to continue. START PODCASTING: If you are planning to start your own podcast, consider Libsyn for your hosting service! Use this affliliate link to get two months free, or use our promo code SWEET when you sign up. SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode. Click here to find us on a variety of podcast apps. WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us. JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email here. You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Tag #thebittersweetlife with your expat story for a chance to be featured! NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon. TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!

Five years after the world came to a grinding halt—when Italy and shortly after much of the globe went into a full or partial lockdown—Katy and Tiffany have a conversation about that unique and momentous time.  Do we really remember what it was like or are the memories vague and unreliable? How did the pandemic and the lockdowns change our perception of time?  And have we, as a society, changed since then? Did living through a global pandemic have lasting changes, and are they positive or negative changes? We discuss this and more on this all-new episode. ------------------------------------- COME TO ROME WITH US: For the third year in a row, we are hosting an intimate group of listeners for a magical and unforgettable week in Rome, this October 2025! Discover the city with us as your guides, seeing a side to Rome tourists almost never see. Find out more here. ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started. BECOME A PATRON: Pledge your monthly support of The Bittersweet Life and receive awesome prizes in return for your generosity! Visit our Patreon site to find out more. TIP YOUR PODCASTER: Say thanks with a one-time donation to the podcast hosts you know and love. Click here to send financial support via PayPal. (You can also find a Donate button on the desktop version of our website.) The show needs your support to continue. START PODCASTING: If you are planning to start your own podcast, consider Libsyn for your hosting service! Use this affliliate link to get two months free, or use our promo code SWEET when you sign up. SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode. Click here to find us on a variety of podcast apps. WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us. JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email here. You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Tag #thebittersweetlife with your expat story for a chance to be featured! NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon. TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!  

Continuing our month-long look back at life during the initial outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, we are re-airing Part 2 of our peek into our lives—and the lives of our listeners all around the world—while we live under the restrictions of our various countires. Katy offers a rare glimpse into what it's like to edit and a long piece of tape, extracting its gems to transform it into something engaging. Karen, a US expat in the Dolomites, cycles home from work, hoping not to be stopped by the Carabinieri. Jill in Oregon spots a hummingbird and looks for the silver lining in the midst of chaos. From Steve and Linda in Orvieto making homemade pizza, to Simon from Melbourne as he walks his dog, to Valentina in Trentino counting her blessings via social media. Lastly, take a peek into Katy and her husband Derek's craft night in Seattle. We end this show with the song Six Feet Apart, sent in by Seattle artists Miles and Katrina, and inspired by the social isolation of the coronavirus pandemic.  Find Part 1 of this episode here. ***The Bittersweet Life podcast has been on the air for an impressive 10+ years! In order to help newer listeners discover some of our earlier episodes, every Friday we are now airing an episode from our vast archives! Enjoy!*** ------------------------------------- COME TO ROME WITH US: For the third year in a row, we are hosting an intimate group of listeners for a magical and unforgettable week in Rome, this October 2025! Discover the city with us as your guides, seeing a side to Rome tourists almost never see. Find out more here. ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started. BECOME A PATRON: Pledge your monthly support of The Bittersweet Life and receive awesome prizes in return for your generosity! Visit our Patreon site to find out more. TIP YOUR PODCASTER: Say thanks with a one-time donation to the podcast hosts you know and love. Click here to send financial support via PayPal. (You can also find a Donate button on the desktop version of our website.) The show needs your support to continue. START PODCASTING: If you are planning to start your own podcast, consider Libsyn for your hosting service! Use this affliliate link to get two months free, or use our promo code SWEET when you sign up. SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode. Click here to find us on a variety of podcast apps. WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us. JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email here. You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Tag #thebittersweetlife with your expat story for a chance to be featured! NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon. TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!  

Who remembers what life felt like during the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, when cities and entire countries were shutting down right and left? Believe it or not, it all started five years ago this month! So we are digging back into our archives to bring you episodes from that momentous time all month long. On this episode, which originally aired on April 5th 2020, we ask our listeners: What does a day in the life of someone under lockdown look like? And they responded, offering a peek into their lives throughout the course of a day. We also offer our own.  From Lynn in San Francisco as she studies Italian to Scott trying to find some space for himself in his basement, from Madeline in Menlo Park remembering to be thankful to best-selling author Jess Walter who is very used to working from home. From Nancy in Wisconsin dealing with spring snowfall to Theresa in Port Townsend in a hailstorm to Jill in Manhattan, where the only sound on the city streets is the chirping of birds, and many, many others. We got so many glimpses into the lives of our diverse listeners that we had to divide this episode into two parts. But don't fret—the second part is available here. ***The Bittersweet Life podcast has been on the air for an impressive 10+ years! In order to help newer listeners discover some of our earlier episodes, every Friday we are now airing an episode from our vast archives! Enjoy!*** ------------------------------------- COME TO ROME WITH US: For the third year in a row, we are hosting an intimate group of listeners for a magical and unforgettable week in Rome, this October 2025! Discover the city with us as your guides, seeing a side to Rome tourists almost never see. Find out more here. ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started. BECOME A PATRON: Pledge your monthly support of The Bittersweet Life and receive awesome prizes in return for your generosity! Visit our Patreon site to find out more. TIP YOUR PODCASTER: Say thanks with a one-time donation to the podcast hosts you know and love. Click here to send financial support via PayPal. (You can also find a Donate button on the desktop version of our website.) The show needs your support to continue. START PODCASTING: If you are planning to start your own podcast, consider Libsyn for your hosting service! Use this affliliate link to get two months free, or use our promo code SWEET when you sign up. SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode. Click here to find us on a variety of podcast apps. WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us. JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email here. You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Tag #thebittersweetlife with your expat story for a chance to be featured! NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon. TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!  

Exactly five years ago this month—March 2020—the world went through something that no one living had experienced in their lifetimes: a global epidemic that affected the entire world, and forced much of the population into their homes for weeks and months at a time, unable to socialize, go to work, and in some cases (like Italy) even take walk around the neighborhood. This month, we are re-airing, every Friday, the episodes that we recording during that momentous and unforgettable time, unique to pretty much all of us. On this episode, the continuation of last week's dispatch, Tiffany talks about what it's like to live under Italy's strict lockdown (the first to go into effect in the Western hemisphere) what supermarket shopping is life, what magical thing happens at 6pm every night, and what kids and families are doing to stay positive. And as each moment passes, lockdown looms across the United States and the world. Tiffany shares some tips with Katy and our listeners for what to expect when their own quarantine inevitably arrives. She also explains why Italians aren't hoarding toilet paper, and together we ponder the cultural benefits of a world-wide plague. Listen to Part 1 of this episode here. ***The Bittersweet Life podcast has been on the air for an impressive 10+ years! In order to help newer listeners discover some of our earlier episodes, every Friday we are now airing an episode from our vast archives! Enjoy!*** ------------------------------------- COME TO ROME WITH US: For the third year in a row, we are hosting an intimate group of listeners for a magical and unforgettable week in Rome, this October 2025! Discover the city with us as your guides, seeing a side to Rome tourists almost never see. Find out more here. ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started. BECOME A PATRON: Pledge your monthly support of The Bittersweet Life and receive awesome prizes in return for your generosity! Visit our Patreon site to find out more. TIP YOUR PODCASTER: Say thanks with a one-time donation to the podcast hosts you know and love. Click here to send financial support via PayPal. (You can also find a Donate button on the desktop version of our website.) The show needs your support to continue. START PODCASTING: If you are planning to start your own podcast, consider Libsyn for your hosting service! Use this affliliate link to get two months free, or use our promo code SWEET when you sign up. SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode. Click here to find us on a variety of podcast apps. WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us. JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email here. You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Tag #thebittersweetlife with your expat story for a chance to be featured! NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon. TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!

Our regularly scheduled episode is going to be delayed this week. Katy makes a hard announcement on this much abbreviated episode to explain why The Bittersweet Life is going on a (hopefully very short) hiatus. Thank you for your patience and understanding. Remember, we have a vast archive of episodes that you may never have listened to, so take this time to dig back into our plethora of earlier episodes (all 12 seasons of them!). Also remember that specially selected past episodes are now being re-aired regularly on Fridays so check those out as well. If you are looking for even more content, join us on Patreon, where we put out two all-new bonus episodes every single month, and there is a growing backlog of those to binge on as well, if you feel the need. For as little as $5 per month, you'll get exclusive access to that on top of our regular episodes. Thank you for your continued support and understanding, and prayers and positive thoughts are most welcome at this time. ------------------------------------- COME TO ROME WITH US: For the third year in a row, we are hosting an intimate group of listeners for a magical and unforgettable week in Rome, this October 2025! Discover the city with us as your guides, seeing a side to Rome tourists almost never see. Find out more here. ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started. BECOME A PATRON: Pledge your monthly support of The Bittersweet Life and receive awesome prizes in return for your generosity! Visit our Patreon site to find out more. TIP YOUR PODCASTER: Say thanks with a one-time donation to the podcast hosts you know and love. Click here to send financial support via PayPal. (You can also find a Donate button on the desktop version of our website.) The show needs your support to continue. START PODCASTING: If you are planning to start your own podcast, consider Libsyn for your hosting service! Use this affliliate link to get two months free, or use our promo code SWEET when you sign up. SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode. Click here to find us on a variety of podcast apps. WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us. JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email here. You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Tag #thebittersweetlife with your expat story for a chance to be featured! NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon. TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!

Do you remember what life was like during the first days and weeks of lockdown following the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, almost exactly 5 years ago? This month, we'll be airing four episodes from our archives, one every Friday, during that momentous, uncertain, and historic time.  In this episode, which originally aired on March 16th 2020, Italy has recently entered lockdown. There was no going out except for basic necessities or medical reasons—or work if you had an essential job that could not be done from home. How was Tiffany coping? How was she staying sane, keeping her four-year-old entertained, and resisting tearing her husband limb from limb? And while Tiffany was living through that unprecedented time in Italy, Katy reported on how Seattle was responding to the rapid spread of coronavirus in Washington State and the rest of the US. Did she have any idea a lockdown was in her future? ***The Bittersweet Life podcast has been on the air for an impressive 10+ years! In order to help newer listeners discover some of our earlier episodes, every Friday we are now airing an episode from our vast archives! Enjoy!*** ------------------------------------- COME TO ROME WITH US: For the third year in a row, we are hosting an intimate group of listeners for a magical and unforgettable week in Rome, this October 2025! Discover the city with us as your guides, seeing a side to Rome tourists almost never see. Find out more here. ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started. BECOME A PATRON: Pledge your monthly support of The Bittersweet Life and receive awesome prizes in return for your generosity! Visit our Patreon site to find out more. TIP YOUR PODCASTER: Say thanks with a one-time donation to the podcast hosts you know and love. Click here to send financial support via PayPal. (You can also find a Donate button on the desktop version of our website.) The show needs your support to continue. START PODCASTING: If you are planning to start your own podcast, consider Libsyn for your hosting service! Use this affliliate link to get two months free, or use our promo code SWEET when you sign up. SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode. Click here to find us on a variety of podcast apps. WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us. JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email here. You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Tag #thebittersweetlife with your expat story for a chance to be featured! NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon. TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!  

Everybody who visits Rome knows about the Mouth of Truth—and many of them line up for up to an hour (or more!) to stick their hand in its mouth and snap an iconic photo.  But what most visitors fail to do is to take the time to visit the incredible church that lies just beyond this monument of dubious importance, Santa Maria in Cosmedin. Today, Tiffany tells you all about it, and what to look for when you are there. And don't miss your chance to visit Rome with us, on our intimate Rome listener trip, coming up in October 2025. Find out all about it here, or email us for more information! Or book a tour of Rome with Tiffany as your guide! ------------------------------------- COME TO ROME WITH US: For the third year in a row, we are hosting an intimate group of listeners for a magical and unforgettable week in Rome, this October 2025! Discover the city with us as your guides, seeing a side to Rome tourists almost never see. Find out more here. ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started. BECOME A PATRON: Pledge your monthly support of The Bittersweet Life and receive awesome prizes in return for your generosity! Visit our Patreon site to find out more. TIP YOUR PODCASTER: Say thanks with a one-time donation to the podcast hosts you know and love. Click here to send financial support via PayPal. (You can also find a Donate button on the desktop version of our website.) The show needs your support to continue. START PODCASTING: If you are planning to start your own podcast, consider Libsyn for your hosting service! Use this affliliate link to get two months free, or use our promo code SWEET when you sign up. SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode. Click here to find us on a variety of podcast apps. WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us. JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email here. You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Tag #thebittersweetlife with your expat story for a chance to be featured! NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon. TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!  

Just over 12 years ago, Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio was elected Pope Francis in the conclave of 2013. And Tiffany was in St. Peter's Square when it happened. She saw the white smoke pouring out of the Sistine Chapel chimney, she heard those famous words "Habemus Papam!" and she, along with the other thousands of people that had by that time gathered in St. Peter's Square that rainy March night, was among the first to see the newly elected Pope in person.   With Pope Francis seriously ill, and many believing his papacy will soon come to an end, Tiffany and Katy talk about his 12 years (so far) as Pope, what it was like to see him elected, see him up close when he baptized Aurelio, and what will happen when he eventually passes.   We also delve into all things pope, including the death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, and what to see in Rome instead if you happen to be here when the Sistine Chapel is closed for the conclave.   The mega-blog posts that Tiffany mentions having written during the lead-up to the conclave of Pope Francis can be found here:   Meet the Papabili: A Handy Guide to the Popefuls of Conclave 2013 How the Conclave Works: All the Rules and Rituals of the Papal Election A Short History of Conclave Find out more about the convent of Santa Francesca Romana here. ------------------------------------- COME TO ROME WITH US: For the third year in a row, we are hosting an intimate group of listeners for a magical and unforgettable week in Rome, this October 2025! Discover the city with us as your guides, seeing a side to Rome tourists almost never see. Find out more here. ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started. BECOME A PATRON: Pledge your monthly support of The Bittersweet Life and receive awesome prizes in return for your generosity! Visit our Patreon site to find out more. TIP YOUR PODCASTER: Say thanks with a one-time donation to the podcast hosts you know and love. Click here to send financial support via PayPal. (You can also find a Donate button on the desktop version of our website.) The show needs your support to continue. START PODCASTING: If you are planning to start your own podcast, consider Libsyn for your hosting service! Use this affliliate link to get two months free, or use our promo code SWEET when you sign up. SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode. Click here to find us on a variety of podcast apps. WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us. JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email here. You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Tag #thebittersweetlife with your expat story for a chance to be featured! NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon. TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!  

On this eye-opening interview with special guest Lisa Wilcox, taken from our archives, we explore the science of language learning through linguistics and speech pathology. Sound boring? Turns out, it is actually really funny. And you might just discover a new angle from which to tackle your language-learning goals. ***The Bittersweet Life podcast has been on the air for an impressive 10+ years! In order to help newer listeners discover some of our earlier episodes, every Friday we are now airing an episode from our vast archives! Enjoy!*** ------------------------------------- COME TO ROME WITH US: For the third year in a row, we are hosting an intimate group of listeners for a magical and unforgettable week in Rome, this October 2025! Discover the city with us as your guides, seeing a side to Rome tourists almost never see. Find out more here. ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started. BECOME A PATRON: Pledge your monthly support of The Bittersweet Life and receive awesome prizes in return for your generosity! Visit our Patreon site to find out more. TIP YOUR PODCASTER: Say thanks with a one-time donation to the podcast hosts you know and love. Click here to send financial support via PayPal. (You can also find a Donate button on the desktop version of our website.) The show needs your support to continue. START PODCASTING: If you are planning to start your own podcast, consider Libsyn for your hosting service! Use this affliliate link to get two months free, or use our promo code SWEET when you sign up. SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode. Click here to find us on a variety of podcast apps. WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us. JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email here. You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Tag #thebittersweetlife with your expat story for a chance to be featured! NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon. TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!  

On this bonus episode, available exclusively to our Patreon supporters, random questions like "What is your dumbest scar?" are answered by us with a great amount of laughter. This small excerpt is in our regular feed, but if you want to hear the entire episode, become part of the Bittersweet Life community by supporting us on Patreon! For as little as $5 per month—less than the price of a coffee in some places—you will have access to multiple bonus episodes every single month.  You'll hear conversations that would never take place on the main show, you'll be part of our new chat community, you'll have access to Patreon-only content in addition to bonus episodes, and you'll be invited to join us for regular live meet-ups.  But most importantly, you'll be doing your part to help keep this show alive—an independent podcast with no corporate support. (You'll also help keep it virtually ad-free!) Check our our Patreon page for all the details, and consider joining us at the $5 level or above. We are eternally grateful! PS If you want to read Katy's article about the author Tom Robbins that we mention on this episode, find it here.  ------------------------------------- COME TO ROME WITH US: For the third year in a row, we are hosting an intimate group of listeners for a magical and unforgettable week in Rome, this October 2025! Discover the city with us as your guides, seeing a side to Rome tourists almost never see. Find out more here. ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started. BECOME A PATRON: Pledge your monthly support of The Bittersweet Life and receive awesome prizes in return for your generosity! Visit our Patreon site to find out more. TIP YOUR PODCASTER: Say thanks with a one-time donation to the podcast hosts you know and love. Click here to send financial support via PayPal. (You can also find a Donate button on the desktop version of our website.) The show needs your support to continue. START PODCASTING: If you are planning to start your own podcast, consider Libsyn for your hosting service! Use this affliliate link to get two months free, or use our promo code SWEET when you sign up. SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode. Click here to find us on a variety of podcast apps. WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us. JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email here. You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Tag #thebittersweetlife with your expat story for a chance to be featured! NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon. TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!  

What happens when you get sick in Italy? How much does medical care cost? As an expat, how does the Italian medical system differ from that of the United States? Is Italian healthcare really as disorganized as it can sometimes seem? And is European socialized medicine really as wonderful and stress-free as it might seem from across the pond? Also: does an old, dingy hospital subconsciously affect how you perceive the quality of care you will receive there? After a month battling bronchitis and pneumonia in Italy, Tiffany weighs in on the Italian healthcare system. ------------------------------------- COME TO ROME WITH US: For the third year in a row, we are hosting an intimate group of listeners for a magical and unforgettable week in Rome, this October 2025! Discover the city with us as your guides, seeing a side to Rome tourists almost never see. Find out more here. ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started. BECOME A PATRON: Pledge your monthly support of The Bittersweet Life and receive awesome prizes in return for your generosity! Visit our Patreon site to find out more. TIP YOUR PODCASTER: Say thanks with a one-time donation to the podcast hosts you know and love. Click here to send financial support via PayPal. (You can also find a Donate button on the desktop version of our website.) The show needs your support to continue. START PODCASTING: If you are planning to start your own podcast, consider Libsyn for your hosting service! Use this affliliate link to get two months free, or use our promo code SWEET when you sign up. SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode. Click here to find us on a variety of podcast apps. WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us. JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email here. You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Tag #thebittersweetlife with your expat story for a chance to be featured! NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon. TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!

Katy moved to Rome once. Does that mean she'd be brave enough to do it again? Are you brave enough to move to a brand new city? What about a brand-new country? Katy and Tiffany use a listener email to kick off this episode from our archives. If you like this topic, don't miss Part 1 of this episode! ***The Bittersweet Life podcast has been on the air for an impressive 10+ years! In order to help newer listeners discover some of our earlier episodes, every Friday we are now airing an episode from our vast archives! Enjoy!*** ------------------------------------- COME TO ROME WITH US: For the third year in a row, we are hosting an intimate group of listeners for a magical and unforgettable week in Rome, this October 2025! Discover the city with us as your guides, seeing a side to Rome tourists almost never see. Find out more here. ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started. BECOME A PATRON: Pledge your monthly support of The Bittersweet Life and receive awesome prizes in return for your generosity! Visit our Patreon site to find out more. TIP YOUR PODCASTER: Say thanks with a one-time donation to the podcast hosts you know and love. Click here to send financial support via PayPal. (You can also find a Donate button on the desktop version of our website.) The show needs your support to continue. START PODCASTING: If you are planning to start your own podcast, consider Libsyn for your hosting service! Use this affliliate link to get two months free, or use our promo code SWEET when you sign up. SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode. Click here to find us on a variety of podcast apps. WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us. JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email here. You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Tag #thebittersweetlife with your expat story for a chance to be featured! NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon. TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!  

On this Bittersweet Moment, taken from our archives, 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.) And don't miss your chance to visit Rome with us, on our intimate Rome listener trip, coming up in October 2025. Find out all about it here, or email us for more information! ------------------------------------- COME TO ROME WITH US: For the third year in a row, we are hosting an intimate group of listeners for a magical and unforgettable week in Rome, this October 2025! Discover the city with us as your guides, seeing a side to Rome tourists almost never see. Find out more here. ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started. BECOME A PATRON: Pledge your monthly support of The Bittersweet Life and receive awesome prizes in return for your generosity! Visit our Patreon site to find out more. TIP YOUR PODCASTER: Say thanks with a one-time donation to the podcast hosts you know and love. Click here to send financial support via PayPal. (You can also find a Donate button on the desktop version of our website.) The show needs your support to continue. START PODCASTING: If you are planning to start your own podcast, consider Libsyn for your hosting service! Use this affliliate link to get two months free, or use our promo code SWEET when you sign up. SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode. Click here to find us on a variety of podcast apps. WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us. JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email here. You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Tag #thebittersweetlife with your expat story for a chance to be featured! NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon. TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!  

Have you ever lost your mind over a foreign language? This week's guest, Melissa Muldoon, did just that over 15 years ago, when she dove head first into studying the Italian language. She was so crazy about Italian in fact, that she dubbed herself the "Studentessa Matta" (crazy student) and started blogging about her Italian-learning journey... in Italian. What began as a blog to flex her Italian writing skills has turned into a career as an Italian language teacher and coach, an Italian cultural ambassador, an author of historical fiction set in Italy, and a leader of immersive language and culture trips to Italy, which she hosts twice a year. Melissa joins us to talk about her journey to learn Italian, what made her go "crazy" for it, and—perhaps most valuably—how she manages to incorporate the Italian language into her daily life without actually living in Italy. Find out more about Melissa's trips and language programs at her website, buy one of her works of historical fiction, or follow her on Instagram or Facebook. ------------------------------------- COME TO ROME WITH US: For the third year in a row, we are hosting an intimate group of listeners for a magical and unforgettable week in Rome, this October 2025! Discover the city with us as your guides, seeing a side to Rome tourists almost never see. Find out more here. ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started. BECOME A PATRON: Pledge your monthly support of The Bittersweet Life and receive awesome prizes in return for your generosity! Visit our Patreon site to find out more. TIP YOUR PODCASTER: Say thanks with a one-time donation to the podcast hosts you know and love. Click here to send financial support via PayPal. (You can also find a Donate button on the desktop version of our website.) The show needs your support to continue. START PODCASTING: If you are planning to start your own podcast, consider Libsyn for your hosting service! Use this affliliate link to get two months free, or use our promo code SWEET when you sign up. SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode. Click here to find us on a variety of podcast apps. WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us. JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email here. You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Tag #thebittersweetlife with your expat story for a chance to be featured! NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon. TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!  

In this episode from our archives, Tiffany and Katy both say goodbye to their old lives: Tiffany moves out of her Trastevere apartment and braves the Roman outskirts for the first time in over a decade as an expat, and Katy's beloved Seattle home is torn down. On this surprisingly vulnerable episode, we explore life, loss, and the pain and annoyance of moving. ***The Bittersweet life podcast has been on the air for an impressive 10+ years! In order to help newer listeners discover some of our earlier episodes, every Friday we are now airing an episode from our vast archives! Enjoy!*** ------------------------------------- COME TO ROME WITH US: For the third year in a row, we are hosting an intimate group of listeners for a magical and unforgettable week in Rome, this October 2025! Discover the city with us as your guides, seeing a side to Rome tourists almost never see. Find out more here. ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started. BECOME A PATRON: Pledge your monthly support of The Bittersweet Life and receive awesome prizes in return for your generosity! Visit our Patreon site to find out more. TIP YOUR PODCASTER: Say thanks with a one-time donation to the podcast hosts you know and love. Click here to send financial support via PayPal. (You can also find a Donate button on the desktop version of our website.) The show needs your support to continue. START PODCASTING: If you are planning to start your own podcast, consider Libsyn for your hosting service! Use this affliliate link to get two months free, or use our promo code SWEET when you sign up. SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode. Click here to find us on a variety of podcast apps. WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us. JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email here. You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Tag #thebittersweetlife with your expat story for a chance to be featured! NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon. TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!  

On this bonus episode, released exclusively for our Patreon supporters, we're joined by Tiffany's son, 9-year-old Aurelio—our redheaded mascot and "third co-host" who answers our Patreon supporters' burning questions! Find out where he'd rather live, the US or Italy, which language he prefers to speak, and what it's like, as an American, having to take English lessons from an Italian teacher. This is just a short preview of the full bonus episode. If you want to hear more, become part of the Bittersweet Life community by supporting us on Patreon! For as little as $5 per month—less than the price of a coffee in some places—you will have access to multiple bonus episodes every single month.  You'll hear conversations that would never take place on the main show, you'll be part of our new chat community, you'll have access to Patreon-only content in addition to bonus episodes, and you'll be invited to join us for regular live meet-ups.  But most importantly, you'll be doing your part to help keep this show alive—an independent podcast with no corporate support. (You'll also help keep it virtually ad-free!) Check our our Patreon page for all the details, and consider joining us at the $5 level or above. We are eternally grateful! ------------------------------------- COME TO ROME WITH US: For the third year in a row, we are hosting an intimate group of listeners for a magical and unforgettable week in Rome, this October 2025! Discover the city with us as your guides, seeing a side to Rome tourists almost never see. Find out more here. ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started. BECOME A PATRON: Pledge your monthly support of The Bittersweet Life and receive awesome prizes in return for your generosity! Visit our Patreon site to find out more. TIP YOUR PODCASTER: Say thanks with a one-time donation to the podcast hosts you know and love. Click here to send financial support via PayPal. (You can also find a Donate button on the desktop version of our website.) The show needs your support to continue. START PODCASTING: If you are planning to start your own podcast, consider Libsyn for your hosting service! Use this affliliate link to get two months free, or use our promo code SWEET when you sign up. SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode. Click here to find us on a variety of podcast apps. WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us. JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email here. You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Tag #thebittersweetlife with your expat story for a chance to be featured! NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon. TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!

Author and Italy travel expert Susan Van Allen joins us today to talk about what she loves about Italy and why she believes the bel paese has particular appeal to women. In addition to being author of the book, 100 Places in Italy Every Woman Should Go, Van Allen also leads women-only tours of Italy, and shares her insights on the feminine allure Italy holds for so many, and why women seem to get even more out of travel here. Order Susan's book, 100 Places in Italy Every Woman Should Go here. Find Susan on Facebook and Instagram, or at her website. ------------------------------------- COME TO ROME WITH US: For the third year in a row, we are hosting an intimate group of listeners for a magical and unforgettable week in Rome, this October 2025! Discover the city with us as your guides, seeing a side to Rome tourists almost never see. Find out more here. ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started. BECOME A PATRON: Pledge your monthly support of The Bittersweet Life and receive awesome prizes in return for your generosity! Visit our Patreon site to find out more. TIP YOUR PODCASTER: Say thanks with a one-time donation to the podcast hosts you know and love. Click here to send financial support via PayPal. (You can also find a Donate button on the desktop version of our website.) The show needs your support to continue. START PODCASTING: If you are planning to start your own podcast, consider Libsyn for your hosting service! Use this affliliate link to get two months free, or use our promo code SWEET when you sign up. SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode. Click here to find us on a variety of podcast apps. WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us. JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email here. You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Tag #thebittersweetlife with your expat story for a chance to be featured! NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon. TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!

Have you ever walked into someone's house in Japan with your shoes on and had a room full of people laugh at you? (Katy has.) Have you ever traipsed into a room in an Italian home that has been freshly mopped and been given the evil eye by the lady of the house? (Tiffany has.) Part of living in a foreign culture is learning (often the hard way) that some things that are totally acceptable back home are, at best, a faux pas in your adopted country, and, at worst, a humiliating gaff. Picking up on the social rules of your new country is part of adjusting to life abroad. Inevitably, all expats will go through it. But what makes things rude in one culture and acceptable in another? What does it say about the people of those countries, and what they value? Why is it ok to litter on the street in Italy, but not ok to wash your hands in the kitchen sink? Why is it fine, in Italy, to wave to get your waiter's attention, but unspeakably rude to leave a shop without saying “grazie, arrivederci”—the exact opposite of which is true in the US? And what happens when you pick up habits that are perfectly acceptable in your new country, and take them back home with you, where they are seen as downright rude? (Case in point: after a one-year stint in Rome, polite, mild-mannered Katy has taken to cutting lines, a heinous crime in America and merely an eye-rolling annoyance in Italy.) We discuss these social conundrums and etiquette paradoxes and try to make sense of it all on this episode from our archives. ***The Bittersweet life podcast has been on the air for an impressive 10+ years! In order to help newer listeners discover some of our earlier episodes, every Friday we are now airing an episode from our vast archives! Enjoy!*** ------------------------------------- COME TO ROME WITH US: For the third year in a row, we are hosting an intimate group of listeners for a magical and unforgettable week in Rome, this October 2025! Discover the city with us as your guides, seeing a side to Rome tourists almost never see. Find out more here. ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started. BECOME A PATRON: Pledge your monthly support of The Bittersweet Life and receive awesome prizes in return for your generosity! Visit our Patreon site to find out more. TIP YOUR PODCASTER: Say thanks with a one-time donation to the podcast hosts you know and love. Click here to send financial support via PayPal. (You can also find a Donate button on the desktop version of our website.) The show needs your support to continue. START PODCASTING: If you are planning to start your own podcast, consider Libsyn for your hosting service! Use this affliliate link to get two months free, or use our promo code SWEET when you sign up. SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode. Click here to find us on a variety of podcast apps. WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us. JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email here. You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Tag #thebittersweetlife with your expat story for a chance to be featured! NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon. TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!  

On this mini-episode from our archives, Tiffany (and a 4-year-old Aurelio!) will fill you in on one of Rome's most delightful hidden gems: the Owl House! Swiss cabin meets medieval hamlet meets art nouveau glass? As crazy as it sounds, this unlikely mash-up is not an abomination, but rather one of the most charming, yet little visited, museums in Rome. Tucked away among the greenery of Villa Torlonia in the leafy north of Rome, la Casina delle Civette, or the Owl House, was built in 1840 for an Italian prince, and added to over the decades that followed. It's most famous for its exceptional glass art, specifically the detailed works of flora and fauna by Art Nouveau master, Duilio Cambellotti. Take a aural tour of this one-of-a-kind place, and we bet you will want to visit in person. And don't miss your chance to visit Rome with us, on our intimate Rome listener trip, coming up in October 2025. Find out all about it here, or email us for more information! ------------------------------------- COME TO ROME WITH US: For the third year in a row, we are hosting an intimate group of listeners for a magical and unforgettable week in Rome, this October 2025! Discover the city with us as your guides, seeing a side to Rome tourists almost never see. Find out more here. ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started. BECOME A PATRON: Pledge your monthly support of The Bittersweet Life and receive awesome prizes in return for your generosity! Visit our Patreon site to find out more. TIP YOUR PODCASTER: Say thanks with a one-time donation to the podcast hosts you know and love. Click here to send financial support via PayPal. (You can also find a Donate button on the desktop version of our website.) The show needs your support to continue. START PODCASTING: If you are planning to start your own podcast, consider Libsyn for your hosting service! Use this affliliate link to get two months free, or use our promo code SWEET when you sign up. SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode. Click here to find us on a variety of podcast apps. WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us. JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email here. You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Tag #thebittersweetlife with your expat story for a chance to be featured! NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon. TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!

Today Katy interviews actor, filmmaker, and author Edward Burns about his debut novel A Kid from Marlboro Road on the stage of Town Hall Seattle. Tune in for a conversation about storytelling, memory, and the transition from screen to page. Acclaimed filmmaker and actor Edward Burns steps into the world of fiction with his debut novel, A Kid from Marlboro Road. Set in the 1970s, this coming-of-age story draws inspiration from Burns's own Irish-Ameican childhood on Long Island, capturing the complexities of family, loss, and growing up. Edward Burns, known for films like The Brothers McMullen and Saving Private Ryan, has built a career telling stories of Irish-American life. Now, he brings that same depth and authenticity to the page. In this episode, he shares the inspiration behind his novel, how his filmmaking background influenced his writing, and what it was like to revisit his own past through fiction. This event was presented by Town Hall Seattle in September 2024. Thanks to Town Hall Seattle for presenting Edward Burns and allowing The Bittersweet Life to record and reair this conversation. ------------------------------------- COME TO ROME WITH US: For the third year in a row, we are hosting an intimate group of listeners for a magical and unforgettable week in Rome, this October 2025! Discover the city with us as your guides, seeing a side to Rome tourists almost never see. Find out more here. ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started. BECOME A PATRON: Pledge your monthly support of The Bittersweet Life and receive awesome prizes in return for your generosity! Visit our Patreon site to find out more. TIP YOUR PODCASTER: Say thanks with a one-time donation to the podcast hosts you know and love. Click here to send financial support via PayPal. (You can also find a Donate button on the desktop version of our website.) The show needs your support to continue. START PODCASTING: If you are planning to start your own podcast, consider Libsyn for your hosting service! Use this affliliate link to get two months free, or use our promo code SWEET when you sign up. SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode. Click here to find us on a variety of podcast apps. WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us. JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email here. You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Tag #thebittersweetlife with your expat story for a chance to be featured! NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon. TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!  

This week, we hit the streets of Rome with our recording equipment to search for ancient ruined artifacts or “spoglie” hidden in plain sight. Rome has been inhabited without interruption for over three thousand of years. A past like that cannot but leave its mark on a city. And if you keep your eyes open, the vestiges of Rome's ancient past can be found around almost every corner. From the fluted Corinthian columns walled into the sides of nondescript buildings to the piazza that follows the shape of the ancient stadium it was built upon, from the crumbling Roman buildings that found new life as Renaissance palaces to the fragments of ancient decoration plastered into the walls of medieval buildings…the history of Rome is palpable in its very urban fabric. You don't have to visit an archeological site or even a museum to discover the city's many layers of history. Just take a long rambling walk through Rome's historic center and you'll find the tangible ghosts of the ancient city coming to life all around you. Want to follow along with us? Here's a list of the stops we make on our passeggiata: •    Ponte Fabricio •    Torre dei Caetani (*Note: Tiffany mistakenly refers to it as the Torre dei Crescenzi in the episode. Oops!) •    Portico Of Octavia •    Theater of Marcellus (and Palazzo Orsini) •    Largo di Torre Argentina (and the Cat Sanctuary) •    Piazza Navona (and Sant'Agnese in Agone Church) •    Piazza di Pietra and the Temple of Hadrian PS If you'd like to book a walking tour of Rome with Tiffany, read about her tours here. Better yet, come to Rome for a magical week with Katy and Tiffany in October 2025! Find out more about our unforgettable listener trip here. ***The Bittersweet life podcast has been on the air for an impressive 10+ years! In order to help newer listeners discover some of our earlier episodes, every Friday we are now airing an episode from our vast archives! Enjoy!*** ------------------------------------- COME TO ROME WITH US: For the third year in a row, we are hosting an intimate group of listeners for a magical and unforgettable week in Rome, this October 2025! Discover the city with us as your guides, seeing a side to Rome tourists almost never see. Find out more here. ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started. BECOME A PATRON: Pledge your monthly support of The Bittersweet Life and receive awesome prizes in return for your generosity! Visit our Patreon site to find out more. TIP YOUR PODCASTER: Say thanks with a one-time donation to the podcast hosts you know and love. Click here to send financial support via PayPal. (You can also find a Donate button on the desktop version of our website.) The show needs your support to continue. START PODCASTING: If you are planning to start your own podcast, consider Libsyn for your hosting service! Use this affliliate link to get two months free, or use our promo code SWEET when you sign up. SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode. Click here to find us on a variety of podcast apps. WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us. JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email here. You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Tag #thebittersweetlife with your expat story for a chance to be featured! NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon. TOUR ROME WITH TIFFANY: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!  

What's going on in the life of The Bittersweet Life podcast's favorite 9-year-old redhead? On this exclusive bonus episode, Tiffany catches up our Patreon supporters on the life and times of Aurelio, how he's growing, and what he loves lately. Want to hear more? Become part of the Bittersweet Life community by supporting just on Patreon! For as little as $5 per month—less than the price of a coffee in some places—you will have access to multiple bonus episodes every single month.  You'll hear conversations that would never take place on the main show, you'll be part of our new chat community, you'll have access to Patreon-only content in addition to bonus episodes, and you'll be invited to join us for regular live meet-ups.  But most importantly, you'll be doing your part to help keep this show alive—an independent podcast with no corporate support. (You'll also help keep it virtually ad-free!) Check our our Patreon page for all the details, and consider joining us at the $5 level or above. We are eternally grateful! ------------------------------------- COME TO ROME WITH US: For the third year in a row, we are hosting an intimate group of listeners for a magical and unforgettable week in Rome, this October 2025! Discover the city with us as your guides, seeing a side to Rome tourists almost never see. Find out more here. ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started. BECOME A PATRON: Pledge your monthly support of The Bittersweet Life and receive awesome prizes in return for your generosity! Visit our Patreon site to find out more. TIP YOUR PODCASTER: Say thanks with a one-time donation to the podcast hosts you know and love. Click here to send financial support via PayPal. (You can also find a Donate button on the desktop version of our website.) The show needs your support to continue. START PODCASTING: If you are planning to start your own podcast, consider Libsyn for your hosting service! Use this affliliate link to get two months free, or use our promo code SWEET when you sign up. SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode. Click here to find us on a variety of podcast apps. WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us. JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email here. You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Tag #thebittersweetlife with your expat story for a chance to be featured! NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon. TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!  

To cruise or not to cruise? Most travelers have strong opinions about cruising, and can be easily divided into two factions: the cruise-lovers and the never-cruisers. But what is travel for if not to park your biases and open your mind a little? Is it possible that a never-cruiser could actually (gasp!) enjoy a cruise? On this episode, Katy describes how she was roped into going on a cruise with her sisters, in order to participate in their annual sisters' trip "Sisterfest," an unmissable event in Katy's year. And you know what? She didn't hate it. Despite being someone who savors slow travel, likes to go back to the same places over and over, and aims to get to know a place deeply over the course weeks or months, Katy found something to appreciate in cruise travel. She talks about the good, the bad, and the hilarious when it comes to cruising, and why—as many veteran cruisers probably know—it's not about where you go, it's about what's going on on the ship. ------------------------------------- COME TO ROME WITH US: For the third year in a row, we are hosting an intimate group of listeners for a magical and unforgettable week in Rome, this October 2025! Discover the city with us as your guides, seeing a side to Rome tourists almost never see. Find out more here. ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started. BECOME A PATRON: Pledge your monthly support of The Bittersweet Life and receive awesome prizes in return for your generosity! Visit our Patreon site to find out more. TIP YOUR PODCASTER: Say thanks with a one-time donation to the podcast hosts you know and love. Click here to send financial support via PayPal. (You can also find a Donate button on the desktop version of our website.) The show needs your support to continue. START PODCASTING: If you are planning to start your own podcast, consider Libsyn for your hosting service! Use this affliliate link to get two months free, or use our promo code SWEET when you sign up. SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode. Click here to find us on a variety of podcast apps. WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us. JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email here. You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Tag #thebittersweetlife with your expat story for a chance to be featured! NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon. TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!  

Want to raise a bilingual child? Whether you are an expat or not, in a mixed-culture relationship or not, it is possible to raise your child in two (or more) languages, and the benefits you will pass on to your child are significant. But how do you go about it? On this episode from our archives, we sit down with British mum Kristie Prada, author and creator of the blog Mamma Prada. She and her Italian husband live in the UK and are serious about raising their children to speak both languages flawlessly. In her effort to do just that, she has become an expert on childhood bilingualism, and shares that knowledge onto her blog. On this episode, Kristie shares her favorite resources for raising children in two languages, the most interesting of which is double-language book series by One Third Stories. She also shares the brilliant idea of teaching your child about the other country and its culture as a way of piquing his or her interest in the language (instead of the other way around), and offers tips and tricks for staying strong when your older child resists the minority language. If bilingualism is something you want for your child, this is the episode for you! This episode also features a bonus appearance by none other than Tiffany's son Aurelio, who offers a peek into the mind of a bilingual toddler, and answers Katy's hard-hitting questions, such as, “What does a cow say?” ***The Bittersweet Life podcast has been on the air for an impressive 10+ years! In order to help newer listeners discover some of our earlier episodes, every Friday we are now airing an episode from our vast archives! Enjoy!*** ------------------------------------- COME TO ROME WITH US: For the third year in a row, we are hosting an intimate group of listeners for a magical and unforgettable week in Rome, this October 2025! Discover the city with us as your guides, seeing a side to Rome tourists almost never see. Find out more here. ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started. BECOME A PATRON: Pledge your monthly support of The Bittersweet Life and receive awesome prizes in return for your generosity! Visit our Patreon site to find out more. TIP YOUR PODCASTER: Say thanks with a one-time donation to the podcast hosts you know and love. Click here to send financial support via PayPal. (You can also find a Donate button on the desktop version of our website.) The show needs your support to continue. START PODCASTING: If you are planning to start your own podcast, consider Libsyn for your hosting service! Use this affliliate link to get two months free, or use our promo code SWEET when you sign up. SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode. Click here to find us on a variety of podcast apps. WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us. JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email here. You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Tag #thebittersweetlife with your expat story for a chance to be featured! NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon. TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide! 

What does it mean to do the Giro delle Sette Chiese, or the Route of the Seven Churches? And what does it have to do with Rome's newly inaugurated Jubilee? Find out on this all-new mini-episode! Plus, learn some fun facts about Rome's seven most important churches! To find out more about Rome's Jubilee, don't miss our previous mini-episode, Bittersweet Moment #215: Rome's Jubilee Arrives! ------------------------------------- COME TO ROME WITH US: For the third year in a row, we are hosting an intimate group of listeners for a magical and unforgettable week in Rome, this October 2025! Discover the city with us as your guides, seeing a side to Rome tourists almost never see. Find out more here. ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started. BECOME A PATRON: Pledge your monthly support of The Bittersweet Life and receive awesome prizes in return for your generosity! Visit our Patreon site to find out more. TIP YOUR PODCASTER: Say thanks with a one-time donation to the podcast hosts you know and love. Click here to send financial support via PayPal. (You can also find a Donate button on the desktop version of our website.) The show needs your support to continue. START PODCASTING: If you are planning to start your own podcast, consider Libsyn for your hosting service! Use this affliliate link to get two months free, or use our promo code SWEET when you sign up. SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode. Click here to find us on a variety of podcast apps. WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us. JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email here. You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Tag #thebittersweetlife with your expat story for a chance to be featured! NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon. TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!

Is being stubborn a good thing or a bad thing? Tiffany has always considered it one of her best qualities, but after listening to last week's expat interview with Darlene Sullivan, now she's not so sure. Katy and Tiffany discuss their takeaways from the preview episode, and Tiffany shares a story about the time being stubborn definitely did not benefit her. ------------------------------------- COME TO ROME WITH US: For the third year in a row, we are hosting an intimate group of listeners for a magical and unforgettable week in Rome, this October 2025! Discover the city with us as your guides, seeing a side to Rome tourists almost never see. Find out more here. ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started. BECOME A PATRON: Pledge your monthly support of The Bittersweet Life and receive awesome prizes in return for your generosity! Visit our Patreon site to find out more. TIP YOUR PODCASTER: Say thanks with a one-time donation to the podcast hosts you know and love. Click here to send financial support via PayPal. (You can also find a Donate button on the desktop version of our website.) The show needs your support to continue. START PODCASTING: If you are planning to start your own podcast, consider Libsyn for your hosting service! Use this affliliate link to get two months free, or use our promo code SWEET when you sign up. SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode. Click here to find us on a variety of podcast apps. WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us. JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email here. You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Tag #thebittersweetlife with your expat story for a chance to be featured! NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon. TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!  

This week's episode is inspired by a letter from one of our long-time listeners. Giovanna wonders what to do after hitting an "expat plateau,” when the rapid learning and expanding period of being a new expat inevitably slows down. After a little over a year living on the idyllic Italian island of Ischia (by way of New York, London, and Rome), Giovanna ponders what to do when the novelty of expat life wears off and you're left with just... life. She also asks the question: does moving to the tiny Italian town where her mom was born somehow nullify the life her parents strived to create as immigrants in the States? We explore this and other topics on this episode pulled from our archives. ***The Bittersweet life podcast has been on the air for an impressive 10+ years! In order to help newer listeners discover some of our earlier episodes, every Friday we are now airing an episode from our vast archives! Enjoy!*** ------------------------------------- COME TO ROME WITH US: For the third year in a row, we are hosting an intimate group of listeners for a magical and unforgettable week in Rome, this October 2025! Discover the city with us as your guides, seeing a side to Rome tourists almost never see. Find out more here. ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started. BECOME A PATRON: Pledge your monthly support of The Bittersweet Life and receive awesome prizes in return for your generosity! Visit our Patreon site to find out more. TIP YOUR PODCASTER: Say thanks with a one-time donation to the podcast hosts you know and love. Click here to send financial support via PayPal. (You can also find a Donate button on the desktop version of our website.) The show needs your support to continue. START PODCASTING: If you are planning to start your own podcast, consider Libsyn for your hosting service! Use this affliliate link to get two months free, or use our promo code SWEET when you sign up. SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode. Click here to find us on a variety of podcast apps. WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us. JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email here. You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Tag #thebittersweetlife with your expat story for a chance to be featured! NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon. TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!  

On this week's exlusive bonus episode, we talk about the catastrophic fires that are, as of recording time, still raging in the Los Angeles area, and how they are affecting some of Tiffany's closest family members. Want to hear more? Become part of the Bittersweet Life community by supporting just on Patreon! For as little as $5 per month—less than the price of a coffee in some places—you will have access to multiple bonus episodes every single month.  You'll hear conversations that would never take place on the main show, you'll be part of our new chat community, you'll have access to Patreon-only content in addition to bonus episodes, and you'll be invited to join us for regular live meet-ups.  But most importantly, you'll be doing your part to help keep this show alive—an independent podcast with no corporate support. (You'll also help keep it virtually ad-free!) Check our our Patreon page for all the details, and consider joining us at the $5 level or above. We are eternally grateful! ------------------------------------- COME TO ROME WITH US: For the third year in a row, we are hosting an intimate group of listeners for a magical and unforgettable week in Rome, this October 2025! Discover the city with us as your guides, seeing a side to Rome tourists almost never see. Find out more here.  ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started. BECOME A PATRON: Pledge your monthly support of The Bittersweet Life and receive awesome prizes in return for your generosity! Visit our Patreon site to find out more. TIP YOUR PODCASTER: Say thanks with a one-time donation to the podcast hosts you know and love. Click here to send financial support via PayPal. (You can also find a Donate button on the desktop version of our website.) The show needs your support to continue. START PODCASTING: If you are planning to start your own podcast, consider Libsyn for your hosting service! Use this affliliate link to get two months free, or use our promo code SWEET when you sign up. SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode. Click here to find us on a variety of podcast apps. WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us. JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email here. You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Tag #thebittersweetlife with your expat story for a chance to be featured! NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon. TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!  

You've dreamed of moving to Italy since you were 16 years old, and after years of scheming and planning, you finally made it happen. But... you're not happy. Could it be that you made a mistake in moving abroad? Or maybe you're just not in the right town. Longtime listener Darlene Sullivan joins us this week to talk about what happens when expat reality doesn't quite live up to your dreams—but how that doesn't necessarily mean you've made a mistake. Sometimes you just need to recalibrate and find a living situation that matches your personality.  Another important lesson: don't underestimate how trauma might be souring your expat experience. Just because something bad happens in your adopted country, doesn't mean you're not supposed to be there. If you haven't already, go back and listen to our first interview with Darlene, shortly after her move to Bolzano, Italy back in 2020, Episode 435: When Expat Dreams Come True. Darlene is a freelance textile designer. Find her work at her website. Or find her on Instagram here. If you're interested in reading her Master's thesis, Flocking Together, which she mentions in the episode, it's available here. ------------------------------------- ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started. BECOME A PATRON: Pledge your monthly support of The Bittersweet Life and receive awesome prizes in return for your generosity! Visit our Patreon site to find out more. TIP YOUR PODCASTER: Say thanks with a one-time donation to the podcast hosts you know and love. Click here to send financial support via PayPal. (You can also find a Donate button on the desktop version of our website.) The show needs your support to continue. START PODCASTING: If you are planning to start your own podcast, consider Libsyn for your hosting service! Use this affliliate link to get two months free, or use our promo code SWEET when you sign up. SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode. Click here to find us on a variety of podcast apps. WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us. JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email here. You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Tag #thebittersweetlife with your expat story for a chance to be featured! NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon. TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!  

Have you ever wondered how speaking a second or third language more often than your native tongue can reshape your thinking? In this episode from the archives of The Bittersweet Life, Tiffany reflects on 15 years of living abroad and how it has transformed the way she communicates—even in her first language. We dive into the surprising cognitive and emotional challenges of navigating life in a foreign language, especially for writers, who rely so heavily on nuanced expression. Plus, we explore how bilingual or multilingual couples often gravitate toward one shared language in their relationship—and how this dynamic might shift dramatically when raising a child in a multilingual household. Tune in to discover the fascinating ways language shapes identity, relationships, and the thought-process. Language is one of our most popular topics! You might be interested in these past episodes about language: Episode 476 Italy Bans the English Language Episode 430 Does Language Shape Thinking? Episode 355 Losing Language Episode 63 LANGUAGE, Part 3 (with J J Michael) Episode 19 LANGUAGE, Part 2 Episode 2 LANGUAGE, Part 1 Bittersweet Moment #96: Disappearing Languages Bittersweet Moment #54: Learning to Read in Two Languages at Once Bittersweet Moment #3: LANGUAGE ------------------------------------- ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started. BECOME A PATRON: Pledge your monthly support of The Bittersweet Life and receive awesome prizes in return for your generosity! Visit our Patreon site to find out more. TIP YOUR PODCASTER: Say thanks with a one-time donation to the podcast hosts you know and love. Click here to send financial support via PayPal. (You can also find a Donate button on the desktop version of our website.) The show needs your support to continue. START PODCASTING: If you are planning to start your own podcast, consider Libsyn for your hosting service! Use this affliliate link to get two months free, or use our promo code SWEET when you sign up. SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode. Click here to find us on a variety of podcast apps. WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us. JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email here. You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Tag #thebittersweetlife with your expat story for a chance to be featured! NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon. TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!  

Rome's Jubilee is here! And our Bittersweet Moments are back! (And you thought Christmas was over.) On this short-but-sweet mid-week mini-episode, Tiffany explains the history and origins of this very Roman and VERY Catholic event, why it's so important, and what to do if you want to take part in this historic pilgrimage. ------------------------------------- ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started. BECOME A PATRON: Pledge your monthly support of The Bittersweet Life and receive awesome prizes in return for your generosity! Visit our Patreon site to find out more. TIP YOUR PODCASTER: Say thanks with a one-time donation to the podcast hosts you know and love. Click here to send financial support via PayPal. (You can also find a Donate button on the desktop version of our website.) The show needs your support to continue. START PODCASTING: If you are planning to start your own podcast, consider Libsyn for your hosting service! Use this affliliate link to get two months free, or use our promo code SWEET when you sign up. SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode. Click here to find us on a variety of podcast apps. WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us. JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email here. You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Tag #thebittersweetlife with your expat story for a chance to be featured! NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon. TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!  

  So you want to move to Italy but... HOW??? Today we are joined by a guest who happens to have all the answers. Thea Duncan is the self-described "fairy godmother to people's dolce vita dreams." She's the founder of Doing Italy, where she and her team help people gain the knowledge and resources they need to move to Italy as well as buy property in Italy with ease, all while avoiding many of the pitfalls that negatively affect other expats when moving abroad. She answers all our questions, including: Is it really true that you can buy an Italian villa for $1? And, what is the thing most people get wrong when attempting their big move? As well as the most basic: what are the easiest ways to move to Italy legally? If moving to Italy is a dream for you, don't miss this interview! Find Thea at her webite, or on Facebook or Instagram. ------------------------------------- ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started. BECOME A PATRON: Pledge your monthly support of The Bittersweet Life and receive awesome prizes in return for your generosity! Visit our Patreon site to find out more. TIP YOUR PODCASTER: Say thanks with a one-time donation to the podcast hosts you know and love. Click here to send financial support via PayPal. (You can also find a Donate button on the desktop version of our website.) The show needs your support to continue. START PODCASTING: If you are planning to start your own podcast, consider Libsyn for your hosting service! Use this affliliate link to get two months free, or use our promo code SWEET when you sign up. SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode. Click here to find us on a variety of podcast apps. WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us. JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email here. You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Tag #thebittersweetlife with your expat story for a chance to be featured! NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon. TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!  

It's that time of year again! Every turn of the year, we look back at the resolutions we set for the previous year and discuss whether or not we accomplished them, or at least got close. This is often a very cringe-worthy exercise. Undaunted by any failures, we also set resolutions for the coming year. Don't miss this fun annual tradition! ------------------------------------- ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started. BECOME A PATRON: Pledge your monthly support of The Bittersweet Life and receive awesome prizes in return for your generosity! Visit our Patreon site to find out more. TIP YOUR PODCASTER: Say thanks with a one-time donation to the podcast hosts you know and love. Click here to send financial support via PayPal. (You can also find a Donate button on the desktop version of our website.) The show needs your support to continue. START PODCASTING: If you are planning to start your own podcast, consider Libsyn for your hosting service! Use this affliliate link to get two months free, or use our promo code SWEET when you sign up. SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode. Click here to find us on a variety of podcast apps. WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us. JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email here. You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Tag #thebittersweetlife with your expat story for a chance to be featured! NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon. TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!  

How much has Italian Christmas changed over the years? Turns out, even in the last ten years, since we began this show, the way Italians celebrate Christmas has evolved. We listen back to one of our very first episodes, when we discussed Katy's first (and only) Christmas in Italy back in 2013. How did it feel different to her from Christmas in the States, and what makes an expat Christmas different from one in your home country? Listening back, Tiffany observes how different Christmas in Italy feels only ten years later. ------------------------------------- ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started. BECOME A PATRON: Pledge your monthly support of The Bittersweet Life and receive awesome prizes in return for your generosity! Visit our Patreon site to find out more. TIP YOUR PODCASTER: Say thanks with a one-time donation to the podcast hosts you know and love. Click here to send financial support via PayPal. (You can also find a Donate button on the desktop version of our website.) The show needs your support to continue. START PODCASTING: If you are planning to start your own podcast, consider Libsyn for your hosting service! Use this affliliate link to get two months free, or use our promo code SWEET when you sign up. SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode. Click here to find us on a variety of podcast apps. WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us. JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email here. You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Tag #thebittersweetlife with your expat story for a chance to be featured! NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon. TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!