skinny girls & mayonnaise

I began seeing them in Rome; orange-colored drinks in the hands of the beautiful people sitting at sidewalk cafes. But I had just arrived in Italy; I was in the mood for red wine and Moretti beer.

There were fewer of the drinks in Tuscany, where a really big red wine is required alongside the region’s giant steaks. It was when we arrived in Venice that they were unavoidable; an orange drink in every hand, the perfect foil to the heat and humidity in the world’s most magical city: the Aperol spritz.

A gondolier takes a break in the heat of the Venice afternoon

Many years ago, when I lived in Santa Monica with my sister Laura — a globetrotting model, ex-Rod Steward girlfriend and drinker of fashionable aperitifs — I gained an appreciation for Campari and soda. The Aperol spritz is the sweeter, less bitter, more refreshing first cousin to the Campari and soda. More