The Money-changer and his Wife (Florence, Museo Nazionale del Bargello)

What were the 1 Percent of quattrocento Florence doing with their gold florins?

Buying exquisite works of art by Botticelli, Beato Angelico, and the Della Robbias.

The current, and timely, exhibition at the Palazzo Strozzi in Florence through January 2012 shows how the modern banking system developed in parallel with the most important artistic flowering in the history of the Western world.

Money and Beauty: Bankers, Botticelli and the Bonfire of the Vanities is co-curated by art historian Ludovica Sebregondi and Tim Parks, writer, translator and author of Medici Money – Banking, Metaphysics and Art in Fifteenth-century Florence.

I know of Parks through his entertaining books on the expat life Italian Neighbors and An Italian Education. I’m intrigued to learn he’s a scholar of Italian art history.

According to the program notes, “the exhibition is conceived as a ‘duet’, in which the two curators present different – and sometimes opposing – views of the exhibition’s content. [They] aim to provide the visitor with an opportunity to look at art from a cross-disciplinary perspective involving economists, politicians and diplomats. It examines the story of how the Florentine Renaissance grew from the supposedly open, but more often actually hidden, relationship between art, power and money.”

The Florentine bankers practiced usury on a scale the world had never before witnessed. But, unlike today’s 1 Percent, they at least left us with The Birth of Venus and countless other treasures.

Delicately seasoned luganega sausage and robust red wine are the flavor keys to this rice dish.

Photos make fine souvenirs but you can’t have them for dinner.

From now on, when I want to recall my visit to Monza last June, I can  reminisce over a plate of steaming risotto alla monzese (Monza Style Risotto) like the one  I sampled there.

The recipe comes courtesy of Guidarte guide and architect Laura Radaelli who escorted our media group around the charming medieval city.

In the course of exchanging e-mails to fact check my “Off the Beaten Track in Monza” article for Dream of Italy newsletter, I learned that Laura is an enthusiastic home cook. She shared some lore about the town’s signature dish along with the preparation method. Risotto alla Monzese continua

This is one lunch you won't want to miss.

August 15, the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into heaven, is a national holiday in Italy. Like many other Christian celebrations, it is built upon the crumbled foundation of ancient traditions.

In modern times, Ferragosto is the jumping off day for Italians to escape stifling apartments and head for holiday al mare or in montagna—the sea or the mountains.

August is the worst time for foreigners to explore Italian cities because mostly they’ll encounter overheated, testy tourists like themselves. The living spirit of the cities has been drained out like the color from a faded photograph. More "Pranzo di Ferragosto"

News of great gelato spreads faster than a melting cone.

I heeded the journalistic “rule of three.” My instincts said, “If you’ve heard about Chicago’s Bellezza Gelato Caffe from three sources, you should check it out.”

• As I devoured a recent Wall Street Journal article on the finest gelati in Sicily, I noticed a “Local Scoops” sidebar that cited Bellezza Gelato Caffe  as one of the four best in the U.S.

• A few days later, on my Facebook news feed, my Chi-town buddy Bill “fun is my middle name” Linden announced he was taking his nieces and nephews to Bellezza.

• My husband’s baby brother Michael, no slouch on the insider foodie circuit, mentioned that Bellezza was the real deal.

Fate played a winning hand in my research because a visit to Windy City relatives was already on the calendar.

Walter, Tess, and I snuck out on a searing Friday afternoon to Harlem Avenue on the city’s far west side. Bellezza, tucked into a tiny shopping strip, looked modest as we pulled into the parking lot.

Once inside,  the voices of Italian crooners filled the air as we were drawn like magnets to the sleek display cases.

Italian-style case--sleek as a Ferrari.

One silken spoonful is all it takes to feel as if you're in Florence, Rome, or Palermo.

We were greeted by Maria Di Nunzio and Tim Ashorian, corporate dropouts turned gelateria proprietors. They glow with the joy of sharing one of life’s simple pleasures.

They explained that their gelato is prepared from all natural ingredients with no artificial colors, emulsifiers, or additives. The pistachio, for instance is pale compared to the typical dyed neon green version, but the flavor is pistachioissimo.

Gelato tastes so vibrant for several reasons. The fat content is lower than ice cream. Because fat coats the palate and dulls the perception of flavor, gelato tastes more intense. It also has less air whipped into it (the technical term is “over run”) and is stored and eaten at a slightly warmer temperature which also lets the flavors pop.

“Would you like to sample any flavors?” Maria asked. Si, si, si. Lemon sorbetto, classic cannoli, Capri coconut . . . all delightful.

The adorable Tess ordered a combo shake of flavors Dutch Chocolate Delight and Strawberry. Walter asked for a bowl with half vanilla and half coffee. As a coffee fiend, I had no choice but to select the Affogato, touted on a countertop chalkboard.

Tim and Maria, aka l'angeli del gelato!

Affogato means “drowned” in Italian and in this specialty, a scoop of gelato (I chose vanilla) sits on a squirt of syrup (I chose caramel) and then gets “drowned” with a shot of freshly-brewed espresso followed by whipped cream and some chocolate shavings.

Maria told us that she and Tim researched specialty gelato dishes and Affogato appealed to them. Their clients have agreed. She believes it’s from Tuscany. I couldn’t find any background information on gelato l’affogato al caffè in any of my Italian culinary reference books, yet a search on Google.it produced 110,000 hits. I’m thinking the Affogato may be a recent–and brilliant–invention.

This recipe on the illy site is classic and would be easy to do at home (although I cannot guarantee it will be as divine as Bellezza’s). It calls for 2 small scoops of vanilla gelato (chocolate or fiordilatte are mentioned as acceptable alternates) drowned with an espresso lungo (brewed with slightly more water than a regular espresso) topped with whipped cream and chocolate shavings.

If you should find yourself in Chicago, or more likely stuck at O’Hare Airport which is a mere 8-mile taxi ride from Bellezza Gelato Café, please have an Affogato for me.

Is Affogato a gelato dish or a drink. . .or both?

Have you savored gelato l’affogato al caffè?

Do you know where it originated?

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.