The Bittersweet Life

A powerful, unscrupulous man whose two greatest vices are greed and lust. He's close to his family...perhaps too close (particularly his daughter). He has many children by different women, but the three he loves most are two sons and a daughter...a beautiful blond-haired daughter.

He holds a position of great power, although the machinations he employed to get it are mired in scandal. Bribery was most certainly involved—and perhaps even blackmail.

He is resented by those around him who feel he doesn't deserve his position. Hated by those who see him abusing his power, profiting off his office, and making a mockery of the very institution he rules over.

He has placed his children in positions of power and authority within his sphere, and he is positioning them to take over the reins of his power when he is gone, dreaming of turning his elected seat into a family dynasty.

If you think you know who I'm talking about, you're probably wrong.

Pope Alexander VI, birth name Rodrigo Borgia, is the subject of our latest episode. Tune in to hear all about the "Evil Pope," his corrupt and rapacious family, and all the ways they are so uncannily like another powerful family we know too well.

Also, we'll also discuss the places in Rome where Borgia family lived, worked, and played so you can follow along in the footsteps of what Mario Puzo called the "original crime family."

We hope you'll listen, but here's a cheatsheet so you don't have to take notes while you're listening:

- The Borgia Apartments at the Vatican

- Salita dei Borgia

- Piazza Fiammetta

- Palazzo della Cancelleria (Piazza della Cancelleria)

- Palazzo Farnese (Piazza Farnese)

-------------------------------------------------------------------

SPONSOR THE SHOW: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started.

DONATE: Open your laptop and visit The Bittersweet Life and click the donate button on the right side of the page. The show needs your support to continue.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email at [email protected].

You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram – Better yet, tag #thebittersweetlife with your story for a chance to be featured!

NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET

SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode.

WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us.

BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon.

TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!

© The Bittersweet Life – Web and show content can only be used with written permission

It's almost Thanksgiving, and if you're anything like us, you're partly dreading sitting down at that big, diverse table because you know the person sitting beside you—while you may love them to bits—has political views that are the polar opposite of yours. You can't pick your family, am I right? And even worse, you can't force them to think like you do, no matter how hard you try!

Instead of ruining a wonderful holiday and a seriously tasty meal with unpleasant conversation, we suggest six topics that will make sure the conversation stays friendly and fun. And bonus: you might learn something new about someone you've known for a very long time. How often does that happen?

We got our inspiration for this episode from this article in Huffington Post by Terri Coles, and this week, your faithful hosts try out each one of her suggestions as a warm-up for the big day.

Many thanks to Ms. Coles for the inspiration for this week's episode.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

SPONSOR THE SHOW: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started.

DONATE: Open your laptop and visit The Bittersweet Life and click the donate button on the right side of the page. The show needs your support to continue.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email at [email protected].

You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram – Better yet, tag #thebittersweetlife with your story for a chance to be featured!

NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET

SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode.

WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us.

BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon.

TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!

© The Bittersweet Life – Web and show content can only be used with written permission

This week we are joined by archaeologist and longtime Bittersweet Life listener Christy Schirmer. In her mid-30s, Christy decided to quit her job and pursue a PhD in Classics, something she had always dreamed about doing. Fast-forward a few years and she now comes to Italy (a country she loves) to work once a year on archaeological digs.

What's she looking for in the dirt? And how did she decide to take the risk of leaving her old life behind? Christy chats with Katy about the reality of being an archaeologist today (spoiler: it's not all Indiana Jones), what examining the ancients can bring to our modern lives, what the ancient Greeks and Romans had in common with us, and why her favorite thing to study is an ancient garbage pit.

Also: when you work in a country for a few months out of every year, but don't actually live there, are you a tourist or a local? How do you balance that in-between state? And what if you want to move there indefinitely, but the job prospects are dismal? We discuss these topics and more on this week's episode of The Bittersweet Life.

Learn more about the project Christy is working on presently in Morgantina, Sicily here, or find them on Instagram @aemcap. Find Christy herself on Twitter @loquensmachina or on Instagram @loquensmachina.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

SPONSOR THE SHOW: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started.

DONATE: Open your laptop and visit The Bittersweet Life and click the donate button on the right side of the page. The show needs your support to continue.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email at [email protected].

You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram – Better yet, tag #thebittersweetlife with your story for a chance to be featured!

NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET

SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode.

WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us.

BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon.

TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!

© The Bittersweet Life – Web and show content can only be used with written permission

On this week's episode, Katy and Tiffany reminisce about their first experiences leaving home—when they went away to college at age eighteen.

Why was Katy's experience so bad and Tiffany's so awesome? Was it really only luck? How do you cope with debilitating homesickness? And does having a boyfriend make a big difference? What makes one homebody want to stay close to home, and another want to go as far away as possible?

We discuss all this and more on our latest episode, EIGHTEEN. Today's take-away message is a bit of advice from Katy's husband Derek: "Just because you didn't do it well the first time, doesn't mean you're not going to do it well now."

A huge thanks to listener Azariah whose letter inspired this episode.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

SPONSOR THE SHOW: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started.

DONATE: Open your laptop and visit The Bittersweet Life and click the donate button on the right side of the page. The show needs your support to continue.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email at [email protected].

You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram – Better yet, tag #thebittersweetlife with your story for a chance to be featured!

NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET

SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode.

WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us.

BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon.

TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!

©Web and show content can only be used with written permission

This week, in honor of Halloween, we feature the stories of listeners and friends, whether they be recountings of run-ins with ghosts they themselves have experienced, or just downright scary stuff that's happened to them. So get comfortable, pour yourself a piping cup of tea, curl up under your favorite blanket, turn the lights down...and enjoy!

Bonus interview with a four-year-old who loves horror films. Yeah, you don't want to miss that.

Plus: how to use every day foods you probably have in your kitchen right now to make gory sound effects!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SPONSOR THE SHOW: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started.

DONATE: Open your laptop and visit The Bittersweet Life and click the donate button on the right side of the page. The show needs your support to continue.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email at [email protected].

You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram – Better yet, tag #thebittersweetlife with your story for a chance to be featured!

NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET

SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode.

WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us.

BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon.

TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!

©Web and show content can only be used with written permission

Join us for a whimsical (and not so whimsical) conversation about ghosts—do you believe in them? Have you ever encountered one? Are you the type of person who automatically looks for "rational explanations" when spooky things occur? Or are you open to believing something paranormal is afoot? Where's the line between open-minded and gullible?

We also talk about the famous ghosts that supposedly haunt Rome, including Beatrice Cenci. Tiffany tells her tragic story. Also, the Colosseum—a place that saw the deaths of so many tens if not hundreds of thousands of people—many say it's bound to be the most haunted place on earth. And that leads us to another question: is it right the site of mass killing, torture, and horror go on to become tourist attractions? Katy recounts her chilling experience at the "Hanoi Hilton" in Vietnam, and considers that maybe it would have been better if it had been torn to the ground. Why do we seek to preserve places of unspeakable cruelty? It is so they will be a warning to future generations…or because we're fascinated with the macabre?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SPONSOR THE SHOW: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started.

DONATE: Open your laptop and visit The Bittersweet Life and click the donate button on the right side of the page. The show needs your support to continue.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email at [email protected].

You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram – Better yet, tag #thebittersweetlife with your story for a chance to be featured!

NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET

SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode.

WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us.

BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon.

TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!

©Web and show content can only be used with written permission

This week, Katy interviews debut author Laura Smith, and the two discuss the definition of wanderlust, why some people spend their lives perennially longing for new experiences, and how you can challenge the status quo for your own life.

They also examine the dark side of wanderlust—does a yearning for "other" mean you are unsatisfied with your life? When does travel become escape? When you are constantly running away, what happens to the people you leave behind?

In her debut work, The Art of Vanishing: A Memoir of Wanderlust, Smith uses the extraordinary life and mysterious disappearance of child prodigy and fellow wanderer Barbara Newhall Follett as a backdrop for her own raging wanderlust. Learn more about Laura Smith at her website.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SPONSOR THE SHOW: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started.

DONATE: Open your laptop and visit The Bittersweet Life and click the donate button on the right side of the page. The show needs your support to continue.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email at [email protected].

You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram – Better yet, tag #thebittersweetlife with your story for a chance to be featured!

NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET

SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode.

WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us.

BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon.

TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!

©Web and show content can only be used

There's nothing like a complete political meltdown in your home country to make you feel utterly alone in your adopted one.

Tiffany opens up about her feelings of isolation in the wake of the Kavanaugh debacle raging across the pond. When you are consumed for weeks on end with a political story that no one in your day-to-day life understands, it's easy to feel cut off.

Sometimes all you want to do is walk into your office and commiserate with your colleagues about the latest insane thing that has happened in the news, but life is a bit more complicated when you're an expat.

And what happens when things start to look so bleak back home that you're not sure you want to go back there...maybe ever?

Mentioned on the show:

Episode 137: Election – Katy and Tiffany react in real time to the election of Donald Trump as President of the United States.

Episode 150: Resist – An interview with Indivisible's Ezra Levin.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SPONSOR THE SHOW: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started.

DONATE: Open your laptop and visit The Bittersweet Life and click the donate button on the right side of the page. The show needs your support to continue.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email at [email protected].

You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram – Better yet, tag #thebittersweetlife with your story for a chance to be featured!

NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET

SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode.

WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us.

BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon.

TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!

©Web and show content can only be used

You've doubtless heard the phrase, "Not all who wander are lost."

This week, Katy and Tiffany theorize that many who wander are, indeed, lost. Why is it that so many expats come from troubled homes or have difficult pasts? While we haven't made a scientific study, in our time living abroad, we've noticed that expats and travel addicts seem to boast a much higher than average amount of family dysfunction and general malaise than the those who spend their lives close to home.

In this week's episode, your intrepid hosts discuss whether this is simply a coincidence or if suffering and dissatisfaction push people out into the world. Also, Tiffany muses on the times she has used travel as an excuse to avoid unpleasant realities at home. Have you ever stopped to ask yourself if you're traveling TO somewhere, or simply to leave somewhere behind?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SPONSOR THE SHOW: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started.

DONATE: Open your laptop and visit The Bittersweet Life and click the donate button on the right side of the page. The show needs your support to continue.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email at [email protected].

You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram – Better yet, tag #thebittersweetlife with your story for a chance to be featured!

NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET

SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode.

WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us.

BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon.

TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!

©Web and show content can only be used

On the first episode of season six, Katy and Tiffany take a trip north (at least in their memories) to the Dolomite mountains in the Italian region of Trentino-Alto Adige. It's a part of the country that is well-loved by Italians from all over the peninsula, but not particularly known by people outside the country.

The sounds of munching goats, clanging cow bells, and haunting chants—snippets of recordings that Katy captured on her two trips to the Dolomites—enliven the conversation that is part travelogue, part guide book, and part two friends reminiscing while wishing they were still on vacation.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SPONSOR THE SHOW: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started.

DONATE: Open your laptop and visit The Bittersweet Life and click the donate button on the right side of the page. The show needs your support to continue.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email at [email protected].

You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram – Better yet, tag #thebittersweetlife with your story for a chance to be featured!

NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET

SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode.

WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us.

BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon.

TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!

©Web and show content can only be used