L’Americana
Once upon a time…
Several weeks ago, after my evening shower, I came back to the bedroom to find my phone submerged in a glass of ice water. Mama’s phone in da watuh, my [...]
Seventeen, and other perils
In Italy, writes columnist Kristine Crane, the number 17 invites bad tidings, a nefarious twist on what the Roman lettering XVII can be rearranged to mean.
Measurements
David thinks for a moment, then says, “So, I can’t tell how much broth they are saying to put in,” showing me the recipe for an Italian soup on his [...]
My midlife car
One of the adjustments I made in moving back to America after a near-decade in Italy was driving again. I never drove in Italy, nor did it ever occur to [...]
Where everybody knows your name
Recently, a friend of mine traveling to Rome asked me to recommend where in the city he should stay. Trastevere? Near the Sistine Chapel? Piazza del Popolo? Near Tiburtina Station? [...]
Foreign correspondent … in Florida
As a college student, I wanted to be a foreign correspondent. Two weeks after graduation, I was on an overnight flight to Rome, unable to sleep with excitement, so I [...]
When it doesn’t add up
My office is in the math pod at the college where I teach, so I find myself surrounded by math professors. When I go to get my print-outs, I often [...]
L’americana’s time to yearn
Columnist Kristine Crane got her moniker when she fist moved to Rome. Now, deep into the Trump era, recollections have turned into wistfulness.
In viaggio con la bimba, or, Julia’s Italy
Back to Monza! my toddler screamed, throwing herself on the ground. Monza was the sedate city, just north of Milan, where we’d spent the first part of our 10-day trip [...]
A part of me is leaving
It feels strange to mourn someone you’ve never met, but this is how I feel about the daughter that I carried for 13 weeks. I was a little shocked to [...]
From Bologna to Iowa City
When I studied at the University of Bologna my junior year of college, I loved having friends from all over Europe. I met most of them in an Italian language [...]
How fireflies came to matter
It's summer, high time for columnist Kristine Crane to turn the clock back to small-city Iowa life and the mysteries of youth.
Author, Associate Editor
Kristine Crane
Kristine Crane, who writes the “L’Americana” column, lives and writes in North Central Florida. She was formerly a Fulbright scholar and journalist in Rome, where she helped found “The American.” She is originally from Iowa City.