Are you the type of traveler who loves to get off the beaten path? Who values experiences over things? Who believes travel goes deeper than a fantastic meal? Then the Postcard Academy travel podcast is for you.
Each week, I interview people who packed up everything to start a new adventure in another part of the world. You’ll get their insider travel recommendations on the best food and cultural experiences in the most interesting places around the globe. You’ll also discover travel hacks to find cheap flights and travel deals, and hear personal expat stories that offer guidance on how to live, work, volunteer, and travel abroad.
I’m your host, Sarah Mikutel, an American who’s been living, working, and traveling around Europe since 2010 (and visiting long before that). Enjoy the show!
For centuries, Florence’s artists and artisans have been weaving magic into Florentine society. On the Postcard Academy podcast, I talk to Nardia Plumridge, author of Lost in Florence, about her favorite artisans and local shopping experiences in the heart of Tuscany.
Read MoreKathy McCabe, host of the travel TV series Dream of Italy, has been sharing her insider Italian tips for more than 16 years. She joined me on the Postcard Academy to share some of her all-time favorite experiences you should have across Italy.
When I was 19, my friends and I hopped off a train in Pisa, snapped a photo of the Leaning Tower, and then hopped back on another train out of there. What a wasted opportunity! Pisa has Bologna's activist energy (without all the graffiti and snobbery of the punkabestia and well-to-do); Florence’s beauty (without all the tourists); and Naple’s timeless wildness (but a little less wild and less petty crime). This town has so much more to offer than just a photo of at the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Spend at least a full day here, if not a few days.
Read MoreEnough with Florence and Siena already. You should be walking the medieval walls of Lucca; eating aperitivo in Pisa; sipping Chianti at Castello di Brolio; or lounging by the sea in San Vicenzo. We cover all this on the Postcard Academy podcast episode: “Lucca, Pisa, and Other Towns in Tuscany You Must Visit.” To make things simple, here I’ll focus on the best things to eat and see in Lucca, Italy.
Read MoreIf you’re anything like me, you enjoy wine but are fairly uneducated about it and usually forget everything you learn at wine tastings. That’s OK. With this list of the best Tuscan wines, you’ll know what to order in Italy, or at your local wine shop.
Read More“That olive oil costs how MUCH? Why would I spend $15 when I can spend $4?” You’ve likely said this to yourself at some point. So what’s the difference between expensive olive oil versus the cheap stuff? Does it really matter? Yes. Toni Mazzaglia, founder of the food tour company Taste Florence came on the Postcard Academy podcast to explain how to find the best olive oil, when you should use it, and when you definitely should not.
Read MoreItalians usually rush at breakfast, dowing espresso at the counter and eating cornetti, which “looks like a croissant but delivers disappointment...It’s like a croissant and a brioche had a bad one-night-stand.” Here’s how to make sure the pastry you buy in Italy is fresh and delicious.
Read MoreAll summer, the streets of Florence swell with tourists, tired and hungry from museum binges and promenades under the Tuscan sun. Desperate for something to eat, they settle for stale panini in the city’s worst tourist traps. More than 10 years ago, American expat Toni Mazzaglia said, “Basta!” and started the food tour company Taste Florence to help visitors discover the best food in her adopted city. Here are her top recs.
As I flew from New York to Italy in 2010, I thought, ‘My Sicilian great-grandparents must be spinning in their graves.’ I’d been to Italy before, but this time I was moving to Reggio Emilia alone to apply for Italian citizenship.
Read MoreWhen in Rome, you need to try these traditional foods with a twist. Culinary expert Katie Parla tells us exactly what to eat in the Eternal City.
Read MoreIf you love to explore a city via walking tour, you need this app in your life!
Read MoreIn a world of globalized hipsterdom in which a cafe in Berlin could be a cafe in Istanbul could be a cafe in New York, etc, Naples transports you back in time to a beautifully chaotic and unique place.
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