Scott Tiezzi Grabinger

My guidebooks feature less-visited sites in southern Tuscany, recount my Italian adventures and misadventures, teach a bit about art, and share family recipes.

What is unique about my guidebooks?

Experience. My family and I have been traveling around Italy since 1992 learning the towns, sites, foods, language, and culture.

Slow travel. I focus on small towns and culture for the repeat visitor to Tuscany—places that most guidebooks cover in 30 words or less. To me, if you are returning to Tuscany you want to travel slower to engage more deeply in the culture rather than “collect” as many sites as possible.

Family makes the difference. My Italian cousins give me a unique perspective. They show me the real “Inside Tuscany,” its hidden tiny hill towns, incredible panoramas, and restaurants and pizzerias known only to locals. I have visited sagre (festivals dedicated to a single food like steak, polenta, or porcini mushrooms) and antique fairs. They try to teach me how to "be Italian”—but it is still hard to eat dinner at 8:30.

I speak Italian. It’s impossible to recall how often church caretakers or museum docents have opened up and taken me on private tours because I could understand them. Or the number of times I learned about specialties in a restaurant that aren’t on the menu, or found the perfect Vino Nobile for the secondo piatto. Thanks to the the language I’ve learned to harvest grapes and olives and made many friends.

I live in Tuscany several weeks a year. My base is in Arezzo and from there I study Italian, branch out to discover new places and events, participate in festivals and daily markets, walk in the evening passeggiata, and make new friends.

Now available, a book of true stories: "Walking the Aqueduct: Tuscan Adventures and Culture." These are stories about my adventures and misadventures with insights into the culture along with smart travel hints. Available in both paperback and Kindle formats.

Social Media

Book descriptions: www.stgbooks.com

Contact: scott.grabinger@gmail.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/scott.grabinger

Photo galleries: www.stgimages.com

Where?

When not in Italy I live in Centennial, Colorado and spend most of the day writing; when not writing he works on his photography and builds things around the house. He can be contacted at: scott.grabinger@gmail.com.

Books

Inside Tuscany: A Second Time Around Series:

- Central Tuscany: A Guide to Arezzo

- Central Tuscany: Eight Tuscan Hill Towns — Cortona to Civitella

- Central Tuscany: Le Crete and the Val d’Orcia

- Central Tuscany: Best of Cortona

- Central Tuscany: Casentino and Valtiberina

Travel Essays and Stories about Tuscany and Italy:

- Walking the Aqueduct: Tuscan Adventures and Culture

- Italian Adventures: Food, Life, and Travel

Books available in both paperback and Kindle editions.