(Rochelle and Amy on the Banks of the Arno river in Florence with the Ponte Vecchio in the background)
Italy seems to be truly blessed–whether by the Pagan Gods of the Classical Roman Pantheon or by the Christian Gods headquartered in the Vatican is hard to say. But I have yet to meet someone who hasn’t visited Italy and fallen immediately under its spell. And, to use a popular expression, what’s not to love about italy? It has the most spectacular natural vistas–from the ice-capped Dolomite Mountains in the North to the stunning coastine of Amalfi in the South. It has one of the world’s greatest cuisines–I mean, imagine what your life would be like without Pasta and Pizza? Italy was the seat of the Renaissance that gave birth to Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello and Raphael–and I am not naming the Ninja Turtles here! And where would we be without the fashion houses of Gucci and Prada? To travel to Italy means to fall completely under the spell of a country whose people know how to enjoy the simplest things in life–good food, good wine, good weather.
I have been to Italy three times and each time I get there, I find a new region to explore and become enchanted. Like all tourists, I did the circuit of the Holy Trinity of Cities–Rome, Florence, Venice–when I was there, twenty-one years ago, backpacking during my graduate student years. Five years back, with Llew and Chriselle in tow, we made our base with my dear friend Annalisa Oboe at her home in Andrea Palladio’s beautiful city of Vicenza–an opportunity that allowed me to visit Venice again. And then, in March 2008, I was in Italy once more to participate in a conference in Venice (how could one ever pass up the opportunity to present a paper at a conference in this medieval city of the Doges?) I used this chance to travel to areas I hadn’t explored before–mainly in the South.
So, off we went–my friend Amy Tobin and I–to see Tuscany, the Campagnia and the Veneto. We had the most memorable two weeks of our lives together. Using Trenitalia trains cross-country and then walking for what seemed like miles in the historical districts of ancient cities, we had such a blast! In the process, we imbibed the spirit of this country of Petrarch and Pinnochio and even learned some Italian ourselves!
Follow us now on our travels through Italy. Just for your information, we started in London, by spending three amazing days in the UK’s capital before flying off to Pisa where our Italian sojourn commenced. If you’d like to follow us on our trip from the very beginning, please click the link below.
Or you could go directly to Pisa, where the Italian portion of our tour started.
Bon Voyage!