Florence is always having festivals, partly because every day is some saint’s day by now, but also because when the Republic of Florence decrees in 1397 that thenceforth they will provide a feast for all the people in honor of San Lorenzo on his feast day of August the 10th, they mean it, and however […]
The city of Florence would like it to be known that 7:00 AM is the correct time to get up and admire Giotto’s bell tower. Perhaps you didn’t hear me. IT’S 7 AM! DONG!!! I’M A BELL TOWER! DONG!!! LOOK AT ME! DONG!!! YOU WEREN’T STILL SLEEPING WERE YOU? DONG!!! Needless to say, sleeping in […]
In Florence, daily meals become a pleasure, but there remains the peculiarity that, divine as the pizzas and pastas and cheeses are, the actual Florentine delicacies, the ones invented in Florence by Florentines, are generally a bit less inviting than the broader Tuscan and Italian offerings. “Bistecca Fiorentina” (Florentine-style steak) is excellent, of course, but […]
I didn’t have time to go to a restaurant for lunch, or to make it to the good market, so I had to make do with what I could grab from the little corner store at the end of my block. Still, not too shabby. Good Mozzarella di Bufala, tomatoes, basil, a sweet Prosciutto Toscano, […]
Learn more about me at AdaPalmer.com, or about my music at SassafrassMusic.com. Meanwhile, here are links to assorted fun corners of the web. The “cultural curiosities” below are links to real world developments which parallel some of the speculative science fiction elements in my Terra Ignota series.
I am Ada Palmer, an historian, novelist, and composer, and a professor in the History Department at the University of Chicago. (Contact by e-mail) I study heterodoxy, heresy, freethought, censorship and information control, the recovery of classical thought after the Middle Ages, its impact on science, religion and atheism, and the history of the book […]
Food is one of my favorite human art forms. I consider a boring meal to be a missed opportunity, a lot like a blank wall–sometimes there are good, practical reasons to save time and have something simple and undecorated, but it’s always better if you can achieve something delightful with a modest effort. I have […]
Since the number of people who have asked to receive my e-mails from Italy keeps growing beyond my ability to keep track, I’m finally going along with those of you who suggested that it would be simpler to post them online. This year’s Italian adventure was brought to you by the letter Φ, the number […]
"Warm, generous, and inviting," Inventing the Renaissance provides a witty and irreverent journey through the fantasies historians have constructed about the supposed Dark Ages and golden Renaissance, and exposes the terrible yet often tender reality beneath.
