This mini-episode finds Tiffany sitting on a bench on a crowded street corner in Rome's Prati neighborhood, observing the world around her—without her smartphone on hand. In a follow-up to last week's episode ADDICTION, Parts One and Two , Tiffany carries out Katy's assignment of spending some time alone without looking at her phone, and to notice the world around her instead. She points out five things she noticed, and explains why not being glued to your phone all the time has its drawbacks as...
Aug 22, 2019•12 min•Season 6Ep. 22
In part two of this week's double-header, we continue our discussion of addiction, this time focusing more on physical addictions, and specifically cigarettes. Katy reveals her struggles with smoking from a young age, and how she finally managed to quit. She also compares the physical and chemical addiction of something like a cigarette to the more psychological addiction of a smartphone. And what does it actually take to kick these addictions? Lastly, what do you do if the thing you are addicte...
Aug 19, 2019•21 min•Season 6Ep. 273
How do you know you're addicted to your phone? And more importantly, what can you do about it? Tiffany recognizes the signs of a looming problem and asks Katy for some advice. This leads to a conversation about addiction in general. Be sure to stick around for Part 2 of this conversation when Katy opens up about struggling with a very different kind of addiction. ---------------------------------------- ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an ...
Aug 19, 2019•38 min•Season 6Ep. 272
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 north of the city, 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 ...
Aug 15, 2019•11 min•Season 6Ep. 21
Is it important to be on time? What does it say about you if you are often late? What does it say about you if it really bothers you when others are late? This week, we delve into the world of punctuality, and all of the expectations and resentments that can come with it (or the lack of it). This idea was suggested by a listener via Instagram. We love when listeners send us suggestions! Send us yours—we might just do an episode on it! Email us here . ---------------------------------------- ADVE...
Aug 12, 2019•32 min•Season 6Ep. 271
On this week’s mini-episode, Katy captures the unique and festive sounds of a parade that is passing through her town. And she explains why she sometimes gets choked up when she attends a parade. She also wonders about the origins of the word “parade,” and if it ever meant something different from the gleeful file of marching bands, floats, and military regiments that it has come to signify today. Lastly, Katy tells you where you can see both the longest and the shortest parades in the world. --...
Aug 08, 2019•8 min•Season 6Ep. 20
This week, TIffany fills Katy in on her recent trip to the States, the best parts of the adventure, and how Aurelio is turning out to be an awesome traveler. She also remarks on the things about American life and culture that never fail to surprise her every time she goes back. Lastly, Tiffany reveals the surprising reaction she had upon flying back to Rome, as well as a thought she hasn’t had in all her 15 years of expat life. -------------------------------------------- ADVERTISE WITH US: Reac...
Aug 05, 2019•35 min•Season 6Ep. 270
Rome in August. It’s hot, it’s sticky and it’s surprisingly empty. August is the month in which Romans desert the city en masse and head for the seashore or the mountains, searching for a welcome respite from the sizzling city heat. Many shopkeepers and restaurant owners take part in the exodus as well, so shuttered shop windows and the ubiquitous “ chiuso per ferie ” (closed the for holidays) signs are a common sight. But if you're worried you'll have a terrible time during Roman August, never ...
Jul 31, 2019•13 min•Season 6Ep. 19
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 worl...
Jul 29, 2019•35 min•Season 6Ep. 269
On this week's Bittersweet Moment, Tiffany interviews an old friend, someone who has had an influence on her writing in a very concrete way. The interview takes place in a gorgous house up in the trees on the cliff of Big Sur, but it was in Rome where Tiffany and India first met, and the place India was living ending up being one of the seeds that would lead to the idea for her first book, Midnight in the Piazza . -------------------------------------------- ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, futu...
Jul 24, 2019•11 min•Season 6Ep. 18
Do you think traveling by rail is romantic? Or are we the only ones? We're digging into our archives this week to bring you this episode that we recorded on a train between Rome and Orvieto way back in 2014, the very first year of this podcast! Summer is a time of travel for many people, but if this week you happen to be stuck at home, come along with us as we discuss just why train travel is the best kind of travel (while the Umbrian countryside whooshes along outside the window). If you are tr...
Jul 22, 2019•33 min•Season 6Ep. 268
On today’s Bittersweet Moment, we check in with listener and friend Lynn Fortunato to hear her reaction to her session with a psychic medium. If you haven’t listened to last week’s episodes, be sure to do that first! Episode 266: Medium, Part 1 Episode 267: Medium, Part 2 -------------------------------------------- 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 Th...
Jul 18, 2019•8 min•Season 6Ep. 17
Last week we were off, so this week, we’re putting out two shows for the price of one! (That price being FREE—as always! :-) Make sure you listen to Episode 266 {MEDIUM, Part 1} first, to follow Katy and our longtime listener Lynn into a live psychic session! Visit the site of Felix Lee Lerma , the psychic medium who assists Lynn in this episode. -------------------------------------------- ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get ...
Jul 15, 2019•38 min•Season 6Ep. 267
And for this week, something completely new! Katy meets up with one of The Bittersweet Life’s longtime listeners, San Francisco resident Lynn Fortunato. Lynn is standing on the precipice of change. She’s bored of her job, she’s not overly attached to San Francisco, her lease is up in September, and she’s yearning for something new. But how do you know where you should go—or even if you should go? One way to get some direction is to go to a psychic or a medium, someone who has a vision that goes ...
Jul 15, 2019•20 min•Season 6Ep. 266
Katy and Tiffany take a much-deserved break this week, but we do stop by, if just to say hi. If you feel a twitch of disappointment that you don’t get to hear the show this week, consider supporting us! If we bring value to your life every week, help keep the show alive by pledging monthly support on our new Patreon page ! We are offering fun and valuable prizes for patrons at any tier. Every single dollar pledged helps keep this show going. Talking about money is awkward, but putting on a weekl...
Jul 08, 2019•4 min•Season 6Ep. 265
On this extra-mini Bittersweet Moment, Katy and Tiffany take a break from their mid-week mini-episode formula to ask YOU a question: what do you think of the mini-episodes? Do you love them or skip them? If you love them, what do you love most about them? If not, what could we do better? Do you have any ideas for mini-episode topics or formulas? This week we are asking for your feedback so we can bring you content that serves and entertains the most important people in our world—our amazing, won...
Jul 04, 2019•5 min•Season 6Ep. 16
Do you love to travel but get inordinately stressed out when it comes time to book your reservations? Are you a typically chill person who wakes up in cold sweats because you’re afraid the tickets you were looking at have doubled in price—or worse—sold out? Do you find it nearly impossible to decide where and when to travel, and sometimes even how you want to get there? Do you long to take off on a new adventure but inexplicably wait until the last minute to book? Or is Tiffany the only one? Thi...
Jul 01, 2019•31 min•Season 6Ep. 264
It takes more than one mini-episode to go behind the scenes at The Bittersweet Life! We’re joined again this week by Sara Johnson who turns the tables on Katy to interview her about everything that goes into producing this show every week. Specifically, Katy reveals valuable insight for anyone hoping to start their own podcast one day. From basic advice like what equipment you need, to more probing questions, like, how do you know your idea would make a good podcast? Katy shares her expert advic...
Jun 27, 2019•16 min•Season 6Ep. 15
This week we discuss the new strict laws that have recently been signed into law by Rome’s mayor, Virginia Raggi. Feel like enjoying a gelato on the Spanish Steps à la Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday? Think twice! Want to climb on the back of one of the lion statues in Piazza del Popolo to snap that perfect Instagram-worthy shot? Better not. Tempted to strip off and dive into the Trevi Fountain? Only do it if you’re willing to pay a hefty fine and risk being exiled from Rome! Maybe you’re thinki...
Jun 24, 2019•31 min•Season 6Ep. 163
On this week's Bittersweet Moment, we offer a peek behind the curtain as Katy's sister Sara—one of our most ardent fans—interviews Katy about everything that goes into the podcast that listeners don't see (or hear). Learn how the name was chosen, how long it takes Katy to edit a single episode, the most challenging episode she ever taped and much more. Bonus: Katy offers some valuable words of advice for all the neophyte podcasters out there. -------------------------------------------- ADVERTIS...
Jun 20, 2019•16 min•Season 6Ep. 14
This week, we sit down with a BBC Europe producer Natalie Higgins to discuss the ins and outs of the journalist game, as well as her experiences living abroad in Rome over a decade ago, and her current expat experience in Belgium. Natalie shares her story of starting out as a university student studying languages, how she came about to decide on journalism as a career, and how her year abroad in Rome (where she just happened to be Tiffany’s roommate!) informed and influenced that decision. She a...
Jun 17, 2019•39 min•Season 6Ep. 262
On this week’s Bittersweet Moment, 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.) -------------------------------------...
Jun 13, 2019•14 min•Season 6Ep. 13
What are the instantly recognizable symbols that represent your city? And more importantly, what do you think of them? We hash out the whys behind the icons that make our cities (or the cities we travel to) famous. We also ask, do you travel to a city because of the icons there, or are they what make that place feel more familiar once you arrive? Is the purpose of a city symbol, like the Seattle Space Needle, the St. Louis Arch, or the Eiffel Tour, to lure travelers to a city, or to make them fe...
Jun 10, 2019•32 min•Season 6Ep. 261
On this week’s mini-episode, we delve a little deeper with social historian Hallie Rubenhold, author of The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper . If you haven't listened to the full interview, on Episode 260: THE FIVE , check that out first. Hallie discusses her fascination with the bodies of people from different eras...not their dead bodies, although we are talking about the victims of Jack the Ripper! But rather, she’s fascinated by the physical experiences that peop...
Jun 06, 2019•9 min•Season 6Ep. 12
Since Victorian times, people have been obsessed with Jack the Ripper. There are endless volumes full of history about him and the gory deaths of his five victims. What's missing is information about the lives of the women he killed—until now. This week, we sit down with Hallie Rubenhold, social historian and author of the recently published book, The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper. In this eye-opening interview, we discover that, contrary to popular narrative, Jac...
Jun 03, 2019•44 min•Season 6Ep. 260
On this week’s mini-episode, Tiffany shares all her expert tips for visiting the Vatican—and keeping your sanity while you do it. The Vatican Museums are huge, overwhelming, and most of all, extremely crowded. But if you feel that you simply can’t leave Rome without seeing this one-of-a-kind place, arm yourself with some strategies that will make your visit much more enjoyable. As a tour guide who has led groups and individuals inside the Vatican Museums upwards of one thousand times, Tiffany ha...
May 30, 2019•18 min•Season 6Ep. 11
Do you like to do hard things? Do you tend to challenge yourself… just because? On this episode, Katy and Tiffany talk about deliberately seeking out difficult situations, tasks, and habits, in order to promote personal growth, build inner (and outer) strength, and hone a sense of daring—and hopefully have fun too. Tiffany believes that doing hard things is a muscle that can be trained. If you force yourself to, say, take a cold shower every morning or go three full days without eating, when it ...
May 27, 2019•36 min•Season 6Ep. 259
Ramadan began for millions of Muslims on May 5, 2019. But what exactly is Ramadan? Most people know it entails fasting, contemplation, and prayer, but not much else. To learn a bit more about it, Katy interviews her former colleague, Amina Al-Sadi on this mini-episode for an inside look at celebrating Ramadan in the United States. Hear Amina’s tips for getting from sun-up to sun-down without eating, the aspects of Ramadan that go beyond the physical, and how observing it in a place where Muslims...
May 23, 2019•10 min•Season 6Ep. 10
This week, we’re joined by a very special guest, Tiffany’s niece Hannah Ritter. At 22, Hannah has lived in France for the better part of two years, first as a study-abroad student, then as an English teacher. Tiffany sits down with Hannah to talk about how she was able to integrate into French culture so thoroughly in such a short period of time, how she became fluent in French in record time, and what led her to move back to France three days after graduation. She also reveals that despite her ...
May 20, 2019•24 min•Season 6Ep. 258
In this week’s mini-episode, Tiffany recounts her visit to the Scala Santa and the Sancta Sanctorum. The so-called Holy Staircase is believed to be made up of the actual 28 steps that Christ climbed on his way to his trial, shortly before the crucifixion. Transported to Rome in the early 4th century by St. Helena, the stairs are now part of a monumental complex that also includes the jewel of medieval art, the Sancta Sanctorum chapel. The stairs are usually covered with a layer of wood to protec...
May 16, 2019•11 min•Season 6Ep. 9
