Simple Italy

Celebrating Your Inner Italian

At Home in Villa Pipistrelli

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This article first appeared in the October 2012 issue
of the award-winning subscription travel newsletter Dream of Italy

Peaceful Pipistrelli.

The sound of silence is sweet at Villa Pipistrelli.

By Walter Sanders

I finish my meal of prosciutto, salami, pecorino, pane e olio. I grab a notebook and pour another glass of Chianti Classico to bring outdoors. It’s a sunny September afternoon and I choose a spot under a wisteria-covered pergola.

I have Villa Pipistrelli all to myself because I have arrived earlier than the other journalists in my group. Perfection. I become aware of the quiet. No man-made sounds. The silence heightens all my senses. Even the occasional dove calls her mate in sotto voce.

I began to write…focused by the silence.

A bee buzzes by. The sound is almost shocking, electric. I have to stop and write about that glorious interruption.

I linger and watch the valley change muted colors as the sun sets.

I marvel at the surroundings: such places exist only in movies, romantic novels, in dream states after a pleasing Italian dinner.

But Villa Pipistrelli—the country house where I am—does exist. In the days to come, I will learn how intense and liberating Tuscan country life can be.

[Read more…]

Wedding Puts Puglia on Map

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Wild and beautiful coasts are always close in the region of Puglia.

Hollywood celebs Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel married this weekend at the luxury Borgo Egnazia resort in southeastern Italy.

Eonline quoted a statement from the newlyweds issued by People magazine which apparently has a lock on the coverage. People’s print edition will publish exclusive photos this week.

All of this gushing coverage has highlighted geographical challenges among some in the U.S. media. The most humorous gaffe I read is in the Los Angles Times web column Ministry of Gossip. They reported that the couple’s famous friends “have landed in the southern town of Puglia.”

Since Puglia is a region, roughly equivalent to a U.S. state, that would be like saying they landed “in the southern town of Florida.”

Traffic on a country road in Puglia.

Puglia, in fact, resembles Florida in that it’s a peninsula jutting out from the mainland mass of Italy. It’s the heel of the boot. Walter and I traveled by car through the region three years ago. We marveled at the oceans of olive tree groves, the many wine vineyards, the conical stone trulli, the stunning wild beauty of the coasts (on three sides), Spanish baroque architecture in Lecce, the purity of the cucina and the genuine hospitality of the locals.

I asked our friend Cinzia Rascasso, who operates the Stile Mediterraneo Cooking and Wine School with her sister Marika, if she believes the international publicity from the wedding will boost tourism to her native region. “I am not sure this will impact tourism in Puglia,” she said. “Puglia has already become a very popular tourist destination . . . very different than when you came.”

The happy couple Walter and Sharon (sorry, Justin and Jessica) in the Spanish baroque city of Lecce in Puglia.

If I had access to Justin and Jessica, I’d compliment them on their choice of locale for the nuptials and asked them how they chose it? Had they visited there previously? Walter thinks that avid golfer Justin may have been drawn to the links at Egnazia. Good selection, I’d say. And if brings more people to know and appreciate this distinctive ancient place, that’s worth celebrating.

Have you visited Puglia?
Share your memories.

C-Colzani

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Flexibility makes yoga poses so much easier. It also makes travel so much more fun.

If Lisa B. hadn’t bent the rules that day on our way to Malpensa Airport, I might never have experienced C-Colzani Caffè. And that, i mie amici, would have been a major loss to my aspiring Inner Italian lifestyle.

C-Colzani has been named Gambero Rosso’s Bar of the Year for two years running. It is artisanal, sleek, smart, and gustoso. It is the creation of the young, talented brothers Marco and Andrea Colzani.

But I’m jumping ahead in the story. Lisa hadn’t premeditated going rogue but her instincts are sharp. As the representative of the travel firm sponsoring the familiarization trip to the Lake Como area, she was charged with keeping us on schedule. One evening, we dined at  il Griso hotel near Lecco on the eastern branch of the lake. [Read more…]

Salerno On My Mind

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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?

Dream of Paestum

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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.

Subscribe now and you’ll Dream of Italy for days to come.

Dream of Italy

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portallogoSubscribers to Kathy McCabe’s award-winning Italy travel newsletter Dream of Italy will see Sharon’s work in the November 2009 issue. She penned a profile of “Stile Mediterraneo Cooking and Wine School” owners Cinzia and Marika Rascazzo and also a feature “Sisters Share Their Private Puglia” with the siblings’ travel recommendations for their region on the heel of Italy.

If you don’t subscribe to Dream of Italy, there’s no better holiday gift for your Inner Italian. Check it out here.