Italy

"Imagine an immense amphitheater that only nature can create. You won't believe that you are observing a real scene, but rather a landscape painted by a superb artist ..."
Plinio, 2000 years ago, describing the landscapes of Umbria and Tuscany
 

Italy is not a place to be described, only to be experienced! From the moment we arrived until the day we left two months later, the landscapes and history of this amazing country spoke to us intimately, like a lover. Standing in front of the Dolomites or the sculpture of David, the dome in Orvieto or a hundred Tuscan landscapes, passion and exaltation engulfed our spirit. But the feelings pass quickly, and you are left with the sadness of what you will miss if you ever leave. Many people never do. We talked about a life in Italy more than once during our stay.

Jagged peaks like few others in the world painted the morning sky outside our window as we awoke for another day of skiing in South Tirol. Sexton, a sleepy village tucked away in a valley at the foot of the Dolomite range in the Alps, spoiled us in every way: proximity to great ski and hiking terrain, excellent food, spectacular views, all at low prices. During our stay we skied at four different resorts with conditions ranging from spring slush to fresh powder. Lots of laughter, pleasant conversation and plenty of schnapps provided the perfect apres ski, as you can observe in the right picture with our friend Chris, Wil, Elke's mom Anne and her funny brother Goetz (always a glass on his head!).

In Lucca, a small northern Tuscan town, we immersed ourselves in a three week Italian language course. We lived inside the walled city with an Italian family. Each day we spent four hours with two different teachers learning the basics of this beautiful language. In the afternoon we visited the shops and markets to buy fresh foods for our daily meals. Having a normal routine was a pleasant change of pace.

Throughout the trip, we have met wonderful people and made many friends. But our long stay in Lucca, as well as the international school atmosphere, gave us the chance to get close to a large lovely group. Fast friendships developed with Claire from Paris, and Gladyce from Portland, Maine. The four of us dined together on a number of nights, enjoying local foods and interesting conversations. Claire joined us on a weekend excursion to the Tuscan hill towns of Volterra and San Giminiano, and to the breathtaking town, churches and art galleries of Sienna. We are staying with Claire and her family in Paris as I write this page. We have been exchanging e-mail with Gladyce, and look forward to seeing her when we relocate to the East Coast. Our book is filled with email addresses from a dozen other nice people.

Other excursions from Lucca included the surrounding medieval hill towns such as Cortona and Barga, grand villas with Italian-style gardens, and the breathtaking leaning tower, duomo and batistero (a singular, church-like building for baptisms) in Pisa. It always amazes me how the scenery can change so dramatically in such short distances. It is one of the most pleasant characteristics of traveling in Europe. We were slightly disappointed by continuous rainy, cold weather. The sun did shine for certain photo opportunities: Pisa's Leaning Tower (left), which is now being fixed in a safe, permanent angle, and one of the old towers in Lucca (right).

Photographs below: "Devils Bridge," an Roman bridge near Lucca (left); Sienna's Piazza del Campo (right)

Cortona is a beautiful Tuscan hillside town established by the Etruscans. A portion of the ancient wall still remains. Beautiful old stone houses and palazzi (palaces) fill the narrow streets and piazze (plazas). Grand villas with terraces of grape vines and olive trees cover the surrounding slopes. We stayed in Cortona for nine days following our departure from Lucca. The town's superb location provided us many day trip opportunities in southern Tuscany and Umbria. The Etruscan and duomo museums in Cortona contained artifacts and artwork of surprising quality and notoriety.

As we traversed the Tuscan landscape, gentle rolling fields painted with the green of spring lay between a succession of hilltop towns. This unforgettable scene had us convinced we were driving through a fairy tale book. The ancient hill town of Pitigliano, for example, sits on a 300-feet-high cliff, its stone buildings seemingly growing out of the yellowish rock. Three similar towns, balancing on equally steep rock formations, were waiting just around the corner. At sunset we arrived in Casciano Di Bagni where we had just enough time to explore the tiny alleys and blooming courtyards before darkness fell and a superb meal ended a glorious day.

Our day trips to Gubbio, Assisi and Orvieto, all in Umbria, allowed us to experience three of the most famous hill town landscapes in this area. We rode a funicular up onto the cliff faced hilltop of Orvieto, where we were entranced by the artistic splendor of our favorite duomo. Each town encompasses different artistic and architectural styles, city planning and topography. These varying traits made every location significant and special. Near Gubbio, we discovered the hotel Castello Cortevecchio, a medieval castle, where we arranged a three day stay. With a lovely gourmet restaurant on site we spent the majority of our time eating, drinking wine and relaxing before the cultural onslaught of Florence and Bologna.

Photographs: (Top left) Church in Cortona. (Top right) Palazzo in Gubbio. (Bottom left) Duomo in Orvieto. (Bottom right) Castello Cortevecchio.

What can we say about Florence? If you haven't been there, go! If you have been there, go again! As the birthplace of the Renaissance and Michelangelo, and home to countless other talents including Leonardo da Vinci, it contains more art, history and incredible architecture than one can contemplate in a lifetime. Except for excessive trash and long lines generated by too many tourists, the city fulfilled its reputation. Our tours of the Palazzo Vecchio, Uffizi and Accademia Museums, the duomo, and the Medici Chapel captivated us completely. Statues by Michelangelo and Donatello, paintings by Botticelli, da Vinci, Raphael, Michelangelo and many other famous painters, the world's largest fresco on the cupola of the duomo, were the rewards for our patience. For a more modern diversion we went to the Cure concert. The exhilarating three hour performance included a great selection of their music and five encores.

Photographs: (Top left) Ponte Vecchio lined with buildings. (Top right) Dome of the duomo with the world's largest fresco. (Bottom left) Michelangelo's David in the Accademia Museum. (Bottom right) Palazzo Vecchio.

Unable to find accommodations in Bologna because of a large convention, we had to stay in a town 30 miles away. We visited the city for one day, went to the Sting concert the same night and departed for Lake Garda the next morning. The historic center of Bologna contained countless wide piazze with gorgeous buildings, and a couple of  leaning towers. Still exhausted from our days in Florence we decided to save intensive investigation for another visit. Sting played a flawless set of music including a very entertaining rendition of Roxanne.

Our stay in Sirmione on Lake Garda was thwarted by foul spring weather. Our room at the Hotel Griffone had French doors opening onto a small balcony, but each day the heavy mist deprived us of the lovely mountain and lake view. With accounts of amazing spring weather in Germany, we were looking forward to a change of scenery. Crossing the Alps into Austria we realized that our adventures had uncovered only tiny a fraction of Italy's many splendors. How many life times would we need to experience it all?

"Tuscany is a state of grace. The countryside is so lovingly designed that the eye sweeps the mountains and valleys without stumbling over a single stone. The lilt of rolling hills, the upsurging cypresses, the terraces sculpted by generations that have handled the rocks with skillful tenderness, the fields geometrically juxtaposed as though drawn by a draftsman for beauty as well as productivity; the battlements of castles on the hills, their tall towers standing gray-blue and golden tan among the forest of trees, the air of such clarity that every sod of earth stands out in dazzling detail."
Irving Stone in "The Agony and the Ecstasy," the great biographical novel about Michelangelo