The Small Picture Podcasts

The eagerly awaited conclusion to Penelope Green's trilogy of memoirs about her life in Italy. After living in Rome and Naples, Penny and her Italian partner Alfonso move to the small and very beautiful island of Procida in the Gulf of Naples, across the bay from Capri. Penny and Alfonso want a change of scene and decide to accept the challenge set by Enzo, the owner of the island's Bar Capriccio, who tells them that young couples come to Procida, 'But not many last'. Adapting to life in the small community, where many locals are wary of newcomers and the conveniences of the city are more than an hour's ferry trip away - often on rough seas - is hard for Penny, and could become even more isolated when Alfonso has to leave for three months to tour with his band. But with her trademark optimism and determination, Penny sets her own goal. She is going to ask her Procidian neighbours to teach her to cook. Over kitchen tables, in cafes and sharing family meals under vine-covered pergolas, Penny learns the art of Italian cooking, and enters into the lives of people on the island as friendships form and stories are traded.

Penelope Green was born in Sydney and worked as a print journalist around Australia for a decade before moving to Rome in 2002. Her first book, When In Rome, recounts her early experiences in the Eternal City. In 2005 she moved to Naples to work for ANSAmed, a Mediterranean news service. She found an apartment in the city’s colourful Spanish Quarter, worked hard at mastering the Neapolitan dialect, and writing her second travel memoir, See Naples And Die. Girl By Sea completes Penny's Italian experience as she moves to the idyllic island of Procida, across the bay from Capri, with her Italian partner, Alfonso. The couple have now returned to Australia, where they are making a new life for themselves back in the Southern hemisphere.

One of those fun interviews about food, friends and travel, I hope you enjoy it!