Showing results by author "Martin Gani" in All Categories

An illustrated guide to Romandy, the elegant French-speaking region of western Switzerland. The journey typically begins in Geneva, a hub of diplomacy and luxury defined by the iconic Jet d’Eau. To the east lies Lausanne, the "Olympic Capital," where a medieval Old Town tumbles down to the vibrant lakeside shores of Ouchy. Nearby, the Swiss Riviera features Montreux—home to the legendary Jazz Festival and the photogenic Château de Chillon—and the UNESCO-listed Lavaux Vineyards, where terraced slopes produce world-class wines. Inland, the Canton of Fribourg offers a fairytale ...

A delightful collection of 25 short stories with an Italian flavour, a number of them are actually set in Italy. The stories include several entertaining murder mysteries brilliantly investigated and solved by intrepid Lt. Vespucci based in New York. In another, an Italo-American travels from Dallas, Texas to Palermo, Sicily, looking for his origins, he's in for a big surprise. A Canine Called Kim, and Meeting Claudia Cardinale, are true stories; Violin-Maker's Secret, and An Excursion in the Alps, are based on true stories. Sometimes characters in one story reappear in another as in the ...

This is more than an account of my relationship with Italian, it's more like a linguistic as well as cultural journey. Learning a new language is indeed an awesome experience, realisation that you can effectively communicate in an idiom other than your mother tongue is an elating sensation; in the case of Italian, you suddenly realise you can talk to some 60 million people in Italy and an additional 25 million around the world equally proficient in Italian. Delving into the details of the language, its history, how it functions, its peculiarities, how it compares to English, how much it's ...

To understand Italian desserts is to understand the history of Italy itself. Far from being just a collection of recipes, these sweets are a map of the peninsula’s diverse geography, from the Alpine peaks of the north to the sun-drenched coasts of the south. Rooted in the philosophy of la materia prima (quality raw ingredients), Italian pastry-making prioritizes the essence of the ingredient over complex chemical manipulation. The book aims to focus on five dessert recipes from each of Italy’s 20 regions and will recommend three outstanding pastry outlets in each of the regional capitals.

Roughly diamond shaped, landlocked Umbria is set in the middle of Italian peninsula in a hilly landscape covered with woods, wheat fields, olive groves, fruit orchards and vineyards that surround many ancient townships and small cities virtually all worthy of a visit. It is home to around 850,000 inhabitants, two thirds of whom live in the province of Perugia, and the remaining in Terni province to the south bordering with Lazio, the region where Rome is. To the east and south the hills morph into mountains topping 2,400 metres. The region is blessed with a lake, Trasimeno, and numerous ...

Turkish Odyssey narrates a cultural journey through Turkey. The author travelled to all of this fascinating country’s main tourist sites giving a ‘like being there’ account of what visitors experience and enjoy there. We get detailed information, entertaining anecdotes as well as feel the atmosphere at prime tourist destinations like Istanbul’s exotic bazaars, prim and ordered Ankara (the capital), Cappadocia’s otherworldly landscapes, the holy city of Konya and world famous archaeological sites such as Ephesus, Aphrodisias and Troy. Fluent in Turkish, the author was able to get ...

A visual guide to the best of Lombardy, one of the northernmost regions of Italy bordering with Switzerland, illustrated with some 280 photos. All 12 provinces making up Lombardy are dealt with but more space, and photos, are given to Milan, the regional capital, and Lake Como, the two prime attractions. Just as interesting are the cities of Bergamo and Mantua with their ancient churches, palaces and art galleries. Pavia has one of the oldest universities in Italy, Monza-Brianza has the largest fenced park in Europe. Sondrio and its mountains, vineyards, ski resorts draw many. Cremona is ...

This is a collection of 30 short stories with a decidedly Italian flavour, most are actually set in Italy but a few also unravel elsewhere, in London, New York, Istanbul and Cyprus to be precise, nevertheless maintaining a connection with Italy. It is a sequel to Violin-Maker's Secret that contained 25 stories; here most continue with the same characters but some new ones are also introduced such as the brilliant, and attractive, detective Leyla Leone based in Como and Luisa Dolce, a tour guide living in Milan. In this new series, the tales of mystery, romance and travel not only continue ...

Italian Lakes is a guide to Italy's 'Lake District' that extends across north of the country. Although the focus is on the three major lakes: Como, Maggiore and Garda, it also gives information on Lake Iseo, the 4th largest, as well as small lakes around Como. What distinguishes the guide is the inclusion of over 100 original photos to show you glimpses of visual delights awaiting you. There's detailed info on the nearest airports to the lakes and how to get around by public transport, where to take a boat trip, prices, what to see, and gives useful suggestions on where to walk to, trek or ...

This is a visual guide, illustrated with over 240 photos, to Emilia-Romagna region, home to some 4.5 million inhabitants set in central-north Italy with Bologna acting as regional capital. Romagna confined to the south is where all the beaches are, with at least 30 resort towns from Casal Borsetti in the north to Milano Marittima, Cesenatico, Rimini, Riccione to Cattolica in the south, strung along the Adriatic coast on a sandy stretch topping 90 km. Romagna also has fascinating cities like Ravenna, Cesena, Forlì, Faenza, and Rimini which is not only famed for its beaches and nightlife, it...

A visual journey, guide, to Ticino, Switzerland’s Italian-speaking canton illustrated with some 280 original photos. Latin in culture and Mediterranean in atmosphere it is unlike any place in Switzerland. Home to 350,000 inhabitants squeezed into 2,800 sqkm, it has scenic lakes and rivers; its mountains and rolling hills are crowded by skiers in winter, hikers and sunbathers in summer. Its valleys are like time capsules with jealously restored ancient villages punctuating green green pastures and woods. Ticino also has myriad cultural events from a non-mainstream international film ...

25 Years in Italy is an informative, insightful and entertaining account of life in contemporary Italy. It sheds light on daily life, culture, food and language of this fascinating country as observed from the inside by the author over a quarter of a century of uninterrupted stay. Through 20 information-packed chapters we get answers to questions like, why did George Clooney come to live by Lake Como? Why is Grana Padano the most popular cheese when there are 820 types to choose from? Why do Italians lace their language with English/American terms? What do they watch on TV? Why did Leonardo...

Few cities are as cosmopolitan as Amsterdam where some 180 nationalities peacefully live side by side. The Venice of the north, as it's sometimes called due its picturesque canals, Amsterdam is famed all over the world for its freedom loving lifestyle, a beautiful capital, tolerant city where everyone instantly feels at home. The book explores Amsterdam as it is today through some 120 photos illustrating the city's main tourist attractions, canals, flower market, red-light district, street life, museums like the ever popular Van Gogh art gallery and much more

This is a photo essay, a picture story for adults, on the southern Italian region of Campania with Naples serving as capital. It is an attempt to highlight the vast cultural, artistic, architectural, archaeological treasures of the area blessed with a beautiful, varied countryside and scenic cities and townships dotting the coastline millions of tourists flock to see in all seasons. In 140 original photos aided by some 8,000 words the author gives a succinct, accurate account of this fascinating region exploring Naples, Salerno, the island of Capri, the archaeological sites, Pompeii and ...

Experiencing France is the result of numerous trips to this fascinating country in search of art, culture, breathtaking landscapes, culinary delights, eco-beaches and more. Included are over 120 photos, 95% of them by the author himself, that will help appreciate to the full what's being described. The book isn't meant to cover every inch of France but does take in the best of what the country offers: Paris, Provence, Loire Castles, Alsace-Lorraine, Bordeaux among them. There's also a chapter on learning French which is not as hard as it seems, there are some 4,000 words French and English ...

A book for language lovers, 32 chapters focusing on topics like how the English language has become the lingua franca of the world today spoken by over two billion people; closely monitored by Oxford English Dictionary, it now counts some 60 million words with new ones added every year. How does UK English differ from US English and does this hinder communication between the Brits and Americans? How do learners perceive informal American English? A chapter deals with the verbification phenomenon, another questions the custom of creating acronyms like NIMBY and BAME, familiar to some but not...

Turkey’s geography—ranging from the rain-drenched Black Sea coast to the sun-baked Mesopotamian plains and Mediterranean shoreline—is mirrored in its incredibly diverse vegetarian traditions. Far from being just "meat and kebabs," Turkey has a vast repertoire of zeytinyağlılar (olive oil dishes) and grain-based specialties. As a melting pot, the Marmara region (including Istanbul) features sophisticated vegetable dishes originally developed in Ottoman palace kitchens. In Central Anatolia, country’s grain heartland, the high plateaus are the domain of lentils and wheat. Eastern ...

Italian cuisine was awarded UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage honour on Dec. 10th 2025, the first of its kind, it was naturally met with much joy and jubilation in Italy. The book, divided into 20 sections, representing Italy’s 20 regions, aims to give a general outline of traditional local food but will focus on pasta, the most iconic dish of the country, giving five traditional recipes with preparation instructions for each region

Cyprus is an island where the landscape is as diverse as its history, and nowhere is this more evident than on the dinner table. Positioned at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa, Cypriot cuisine is a vibrant mosaic of Greek, Turkish, and Middle Eastern influences. The book takes a comprehensive look at the island’s traditional food from meze (entrées) to pasta to meat and fish dishes to desserts, giving recipes and cooking instructions along the way. A chapter explores the island’s fruit production, especially exotic fruits, and lists seasonal fruit festivals, colourful events,...

Italian cinema is alive and well, in 2024 some 400 features were made with expenditure topping €800 million. The book explores the trends in contemporary filmmaking in Italy also giving a brief biography and main output of over 65 popular film directors dominating the local market from veterans like Nanni Moretti and Carlo Verdone, to Oscar winners like Paolo Sorrentino and Gabriele Salvatores not to mention Checco Zalone and Paola Cortellesi whose movies broke box office records attracting more crowds than Hollywood blockbusters.