Ms. Adventures in Italy in 7 Links

I always seem to miss my blogiversary (it’s not now, my 6th one is in a few months) and I forget that in 6 years, a lot of content has come through this site. I also went through my “meme” phase a long time ago, but I welcomed the opportunity to participate in Tripbase’s 7 links meme after reading through a lot of blogs-new-to-me’s posts which gave a great look into the site. Thx to lovely Eleonora for nominating me.

The goal is “To unite bloggers (from all sectors) in a joint endeavor to share lessons learned and create a bank of long but not forgotten blog posts that deserve to see the light of day again.”

You know I can’t play exactly by the rules, so there’s 7 links below (+ a few extra).

Most beautiful post

In Italy, Sicily is one of the most beautiful areas I’ve visited and photographed. I think that is best shown by by a day trip I spent on the back of a scooter on Favignana island.

I also think my most beautiful posts are when I photograph Italian cities in early morning – Venice being my favorite, and Spoleto and Trastevere fall closely behind. I love the look of a city early in the morning before it’s being explored, and how peaceful it appears before the craziness starts.

Most popular post

I didn’t know it would be this popular when I wrote it, but I was truly Looking for the Perfect Macaron Recipe after tasting several in Paris and thought I’d share my journey.

Most controversial post

This is a bit of a tie – my post about Tipping (or not) in Italy and other mistakes tourists make generated a lot of lively discussion, but I think that my post about What’s in a Last Name? (Women changing their last names when marrying) generated a really interesting and thought-provoking discussion in the comments and will become more relevant as time passes.

Most helpful post

That would be How to Order an Italian Coffee in Italy, of course! This was also one of my more interesting posts to put together – my Italian colleagues weren’t really clear why I wanted to buy everyone a coffee, but only different kinds, but they were happy to accept.

A post whose success surprised you

How to Make Hot Pepper Chili Oil – this post is consistently in my Top 10 – I guess a lot of people want to make hot pepper oil at home. It’s delicious if you haven’t tried it! Also How Italy changed my diet in 7 years struck a chord with a lot of people.

A post you feel didn’t get the attention it deserved

This was a tough one – I think every post you publish you hope it gets attention so any that don’t feel neglected. I would say that it’s natural certain posts resonate with different people. But a post I continue to reference in offline conversations is one that I hold dear, and it’s about MSG and the polluting of many foods with flavor enhancers that people don’t know to look for in How to make homemade chicken stock and avoid MSG

The post that you are most proud of

I had been wanting to write a bit of an US/American food primer for my Italian and international friends, and I did it online, and then turned it into an ebook (pdf and epub formats)! I know most of my blog audience wasn’t the target of the 101 American Foods to try in the USA series but perhaps someone they know is. The process of putting that post together, finding and using Creative Commons photos to power it, going through the technical side of turning it into an epub book, and then releasing it with a CC license was really satisfying.

Who I’m nominating:

• Katie Parla of Parla Food
• Shelley of Un’Americana a Roma (she’ll have to dig deep back into her archives!)
• Michelle of Bleeding Espresso
• Arlene of nyc-carribbean ragazza
• Jessica of Jessica Travels