Just knowing that a place like Villa del Balbianello exists makes me happy.

But visiting Villa del Balbianello makes me even happier.

Courtesy of Province of Como Tourism

Perched on a cliff on the western shore of the southwest leg of Lake Como, Villa del Balbianello can be accessed by boat—an approach that sets the mood of romance right from the start.

Villa del Balbianello's private marina.

My group of travel agents and journalists, on a fam trip sponsored by New Jersey-based Central Holidays, disembarked at the private marina and entered the gates to paradise. Climbing up the steep gravel path, my memory flashed back to the exquisite Villa Cimbrone in Ravello. (Note to Como Tourist Board: Don’t be offended by the comparison. If I had been to Balbianello first, the evaluation could easily be reversed.)

The chapel facade marked by two distinctive bell towers is all that remains of the convent of an order of Capuchin monks.

Twin Capuchin Towers.

The present Villa and Loggia were constructed in the late 1700s by Cardinal Durini who wanted a quiet summer place to read books. After the Cardinal died, the property passed through several owners and was abandoned for nearly 40 years around the late 19th and early  20^th Century.

Enter American soldier and statesman Butler Ames of Massachusetts who purchased and restored the property. The next owner Guido Monzino was a prominent Milanese businessman and avid explorer (he climbed Mount Everest in 1973.) He converted part of the Villa into a private museum filled with his collection of rare art pieces and souvenirs.

Hydrangeas and Cypress.

Fortunately for all of us, Monzino willed Villa del Balbianello to FAI, Fondo Ambiente Italiano, a private not-for-profit organization devoted to preserving Italy’s artistic and natural treasures. That’s how a lucky person like me—or you—can tour the grounds for 6€  (there’s an additional fee to enter the museum). There’s even a convenient public ferry from the town of Como up to the Villa stop (the town of Lenno).

For those with bigger bucks, the Villa is available for booking. Private weddings take place here and movies are made: the Bond film Casino Royale and Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones to name two.

The Villa's hilltop loggia.

If you can’t get to Villa del Balbianello right away, don’t fret. You can visit via this delightful video that was taped in early spring. The plants are bare, just coming out of dormancy, but you get a wonderful perspective on the majesty of the Villa and grounds.

What spot would you nominate for one of the most beautiful in Italy?

View looking south from Villa del Balbianello's terrace.

This much is true. I was on Lake Como last week participating in a fabulous fam trip sponsored Central Holidays.

However, I will neither confirm nor deny rumors that I had anything to do with Oscar-winner George Clooney’s breakup with the Sardinian velina Elisabetta Canalis.

As for the insinuations that I was stalking George? Laughable. I never got any closer to his villa than the distance from the sight-seeing boat.

All I know about the situation is what I read in the media.

As I sipped my secondo cappuccino on the morning of Tuesday, June 21, I read in La Provincia that George and Ely had been spotted sharing a romantic dinner on the lake. The article featured a photo capture from The Globe Web site. “La Favola Continua” . . . “the fairytale continues” proclaimed the headline.

So, I was as shocked as everyone with the announcement a day later:

“We are not together anymore,” People.com quoted the celebrities as saying in a joint statement.

“It’s very difficult and very personal, and we hope everyone can respect our privacy.”

No reason was given for the split.

Media reports point to George’s displeasure with Elisabetta publicly using the “M” word.

As George told CNN’s Piers Morgan in a recent interview, he has tried marriage and — basta –once is enough. (Here’s a trivia nugget: George’s ex-wife, actress Talia Balsam plays the role of Mona Sterling on AMC’s Mad Men. She’s married to actor John Slattery who plays Roger Sterling.)

While us glamor-starved gawkers fret over George’s romantic relationships, the folks on Lake Como care only about his residential entanglements. His purchase of a villa on Lake Como has been very, very, very good for local tourism– “The Clooney Effect,” as Leoni Luca, Vice Sindaco for the commune di Bellagio put it.

Frankly, I think George might want to spend a little bit less time dating and focus on keeping up the property. The roof really looks as if  it needs some work.

We had fun with our tongue-in-cheek commentary Colosseum ‘Naming Rights’ about the Italian government’s plea for private funding to restore this seminal landmark. Now, we’re eating some of our words.

Diego Della Valle, owner of the wildly successful Tod’s luxury shoe and accessories company, based in Le Marche, has pledged €25 million (approximately $33 million) to the project. The motivation appears to be noble. Della Valle is quoted in the Wall Street Journal, “You won’t find a Tod’s shoe or bag hanging from the Colosseum’s walls. It’s an undertaking with great cultural relevance and that’s enough. We are ambassadors of Italy’s life style and it’s really our duty to give off a strong symbol.”

Meanwhile, the stunning results of a just completed $1.4 million restoration of the Colosseum’s hypogeum (the levels lying below the ground) are the subject of a fascinating article in this month’s Smithsonian. Heinz-Jürgen Beste of the German Archaeological Institute in Rome, led a team of German and Italian archeologists in a 14-year project deciphering the functions of the hypogeum. This subterranean nerve center housed elaborate mechanisms for storing—and raising to stage level—the scenery, equipment and wild beasts employed in the lavish, gruesome spectacles.

The Colosseum flourished from the first to sixth centuries AD. After the empire crumbled, the massive structure successively became a stone quarry, a dump, and shopping center. All the while, natural decay took its course eventually burying the hypogeum under 40 feet of soil. During Benito Mussolini’s glorification of ancient Rome in the 1930s, crews excavated the earth hiding the hypogeum but the inner workings remained a mystery.

Thanks to the contributions of Tod’s and the scholarship of Beste and other archeologists, the Colosseum will continue to reveal its wonders. But what about the Italian sites (nearly 40 in all) on the World Monuments Fund Watch Sight? This a list that calls attention to endangered cultural locations.  Pompeii has been on the list since 1996 and is recently in the news because of the increasing rate in which structures there are collapsing.

Pompeii's Temple of Venus

The future of these sites is indeed uncertain.  Newsweek reports in The Ruined Ruins that the 2011 budget of the Italian cultural ministry, which finances most preservation, is $340 million, down from $603 million in 2008. You can learn more about efforts to save Italy’s treasures at the culture watchdog and education group Italia Nostra site.

Tell us what you think about saving Italy’s archeological treasures.

Who should pay for it? Is it worth the cost?

Question: What’s wrong with this picture?

Answer: Absolutely nothing!

I snapped this beauty from the terrazza of the Hotel Il San Pietro di Positano, a Relais & Chateaux property named one of the best hotels in the world by the readers of Condé Nast Traveler.

I was with a group of travel professionals and writers touring the hotel during a recent certification program hosted by the province of Salerno, which occupies about half of the region of Campania. The Italian Government Tourist Board North America (ENIT) and Alitalia Airlines were also sponsors.

In three action packed days, our Salerno hosts treated us to some hidden gems. They’re working hard to expand awareness of Salerno’s offerings, the best known of which are the towns clinging to the Amalfi Coast.

The Villa Cimbrone Hotel in Ravello.

Salerno is the Amalfi but a lot more as well. It is the mountains north of the coast that divide costiera d’amalfi from Naples and also the large area south of the city of Salerno. This includes the incomparable Greek ruins at Paestum, plenty of beaches, and the wild beauty of the Cilento national park.

In my upcoming posts, I’ll share some tastes and sights of Salerno province where new doors were opened for me.

Twin portals in Positano.

Cruising the Cilento coast south of Salerno.

Castello Arechi standing guard above the city of Salerno.

A musician in the town of Minori.

A seafood feast at the King's Residence Hotel in Palinuro.

Two gentlemen on the steps of the Duomo in the town of Amalfi.

I stayed for a few days in "Lemon Heaven" overlooking the town of Amalfi.

Portside in Amalfi.

Gladiator girl gearing for conquest.

Taking a little rest in Ravello.

Have you visited Salerno?

What destination spoke to you?

Sharon at the crica 500 BC Greek temple of Ceres in Paestum, south of Naples on the Cilento Coast.

We’re thrilled that the award-winning paid subscription newsletter Dream of Italy is featuring three stories–leading with Paestum and its breathtaking Greek temples and museum–about Sharon’s recent exploration of the Amalfi and Cilento coasts of southern Italy. If you love traveling in the real Italy (or armchair fantasizing that you are!) this is the publication for you.

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