Pre-order your copy of National Geographic’s Food Journeys of a Lifetime: 500 Extraordinary Places to Eat Around the Globe here, set to be released October 20, and look out for my contribution on dessert culture in Istanbul. Learn where to find the best lokum, kabak tatlısı, tavuk göğsü, and aşure in my favorite food city on earth.

In April the lovely ladies of GoGavavanting.com came to Rome to film an episode of their online travel guide. We visited the the Porta Maggiore and Piazza Vittorio Market together. Look for my appearance around the 6:00 mark.

Check out page 8 of the June issue of TimeOut Istanbul, on newsstands now. I was interviewed by Ayşe Şahin on my travels, work, and future plans in Turkey. You can read the online version here.

During the winter, I worked on the first edition of The Rough Guide to Naples & the Amalfi Coast. This guidebook is now available in bookstores and is the ultimate travel guide with detailed coverage of all the region’s top attractions.

Pick up the latest edition of the Rough Guide to Italy. Check out my contributions to the Puglia, Basilicata, Abruzzo, Molise, and Lazio chapters.

I just got the great news that I will be working on the next edition of The Rough Guide to Turkey. That means this summer I will be heading back to Turkey to check out lots of hotels, restaurants, and archaeological sites. I’ll be starting in Istanbul before moving on to Central Anatolia and on the Mediterranean Coast.

I am excited to announce the launch of my new website, Parla Food, a blog devoted to my eating and travel throughout Italy and the Mediterranean. Most of the old posts from this site have moved over the Parla Food.

I spent most of March in Istanbul researching the city’s cuisine for National Geographic’s forthcoming culinary guide Food Journeys of a Lifetime – 500 Extraordinary Places to Eat Around the Globe. I interviewed Turkey’s premier chefs (Mehmet Gürs, Defne Koryürek, Umut Özkanca, Şemsa Denizsel, and Elif Yarın) and ate every kind of food imaginable from the most humble street food to the finest haute cuisine. Look for Food Journeys in bookstores this fall.

Yesterday my first blog post for the Guardian went live. I will be writing for their I’ve Been There Blog in the travel section of their website. This first post was about underground archaeological sites in Rome. You can read it here.

Today Kelly of the website Travellious.com interviewed me about my travel habits and experiences and advice I might have for other travelers. You can read it here.