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The Hill Towns of Molise

Posted October 23, 2019 by Sharon 1 Comment

Actor Robert De Niro’s great-grandparents emigrated from the Molisan hill town of Ferrazzano.

Even a casual observer of mass Italian tourism reads and hears the commentary.

Tuscany is overrun with outsiders.

Venice is sinking under hordes of cruise line passengers.

Rome is deluged with foreigners.

The Cinque Terre is so crowded that’s it has lost its once-remote allure.

Capri is a tourist trap.

These magnificent places attract multitudes who come to experience the magnificent art, history, cuisines, cultures, and natural beauty.

While it’s the job of the government, tourism industry, and local communities to sort out the long-term future of mass tourism in Italy, it’s my good fortune to offer a plan for right now.

Simply get off the tourism conveyor belt. Each time Walter and I travel to Italy, we choose to explore places that are new to us. Like the region of Molise. We wander, dine, learn, and laugh surrounded by Italians instead of English, German, or Chinese-language speakers.

And isn’t that the reason we all want to experience Italy?

Oratino, Molise

During our recent sojourn in the city of Campobasso, our B&B host Luciano Viola, urged us to drive up to Oratino for lunch at Ristorante Olmicello. He seemed so intent on the prospect that we began to wonder if he was a shareholder in the business. Turns out, Luciano was just the best at promoting some of his area’s finest.

As dramatic spring clouds scuttled across a brilliant blue sky, we made the 15-minute drive northwest of Campobasso to Oratino. In the small park and overlook, we soaked in a verdant vista.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Culture, Driving in Italy, Food, Italy restaurants, Lifestyle, Molise, Travel Tagged With: discover new places in Italy, Italian hill towns, italian travel, Molise, off-the-beaten-path Italy

Genoa Eats

Posted April 8, 2019 by Sharon Leave a Comment

By Sharon Sanders

Walter recounted our Day in Genoa from a cultural perspective. Now for the essential part — the food.

As we strolled and soaked up information with our superb guide Filippo Zamparelli [fzampare@fastwebnet.it], we also stopped here and there for sustenance. Walking through the caruggi, narrow medieval streets and alleys, temptations assaulted us.

The seafood glistened at this stand in a piccola piazza in the medieval quarter.
Roast turkey and cima, a veal breast stuffed with cheese, vegetables, offal, and pine nuts.

We stopped for a torta stuffed with artichokes, warm from the oven. Heaven. Tortas are flat two-crusted pies stuffed with varied vegetables and cheeses.

At another shop, we gawked at the array of baccalá (salted cod) and stoccafisso. It may seem curious that preserved cod from north Atlantic waters are still so popular in Liguria and other parts of Italy but that is the legacy of a seafaring country.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Food, Genoa, Italian seafood, Italy restaurants, Language, Liguria, Mediterranean diet, Miscellany, Travel Tagged With: cucina di Genoa, eating in Italy, gelato, Genoa, Genoa food, Italian seafood, italian travel, pesto alla genoese, quaresemali, semifreddo

Naples Alive

Posted September 5, 2016 by Sharon 2 Comments

P1120291Mt. Vesuvius looms only a few miles east of Naples. It casts its shadow of destruction down the centuries so that when you are in Naples, you can never forget that life is fragile.

Maybe that’s why the people of Naples are so alive and fiercely proud of their city, a city that’s a survivor. Every Neapolitan we encountered was quick to point out the treasures of their place.

The Chapel of San Severo with Giuseppe Sanmartino’s gossamer sculpture of the Veiled Christ.

The Archeological Museum laden with decorative treasures from Pompeii.

The pizza at L’Antica Pizzeria Da Michele.







The incomparable bay and lungomare.

Caravaggio’s The Seven Works of Mercy in Pio Monte della Misericordia.

Seafood seafood seafood!

The presepe (intricate nativity scenes) artisans on the street of San Gregorio Armeno.

Flaky sfolliatelle pastries filled with sweetened ricotta.



The incomparable vista from Castel Sant’Elmo Castle, and easy walk from the Montesanto Funicular stop.

Coral and cameo artisans. I succumbed at Cameo Factory De Paola on Via A. Caccavello.

Spaccanapoli, the long wide street that from an aerial view “splits” the city in two parts.

During two August visits, one at the beginning of the month and the other one at the end of the month, to the city by the bay, we experienced these places and tastes. We stayed first at the excellent Palazzo Decumani hotel in the historic center. The property is top notch and the staff wonderful. For the second visit, we booked Soffitta dell’Artista in Mezzanine, through airbandb.com, a guest house and art gallery combined on thriving Via Tribunali. It was fun breakfasting with fellow guests: a family of six from France and a couple from Austria.

Of course, there are gems we didn’t have time for but you need a reason to return to the life of Naples. Click here for more experiences.

Have you been to Naples? What is your most vivid memory?





Filed Under: Archeology, Architecture, Art, Campania, Culture, Food, History, Hotels, Italian seafood, Italy restaurants, Language, Lifestyle, Mediterranean diet, Miscellany, Photography, Travel Tagged With: Naples, Naples pizza, Naples tourism, Naples travel, Southern Italy

On the Truffle Trail in Le Marche

Posted September 17, 2013 by Sharon Leave a Comment

This article first appeared in the November 2011 issue
 of the award-winning subscription travel newsletter Dream of Italy

By Sharon Sanders

Acqualagna truffle hunter Giorgio Remedia assesses his treasure.

Acqualagna truffle hunter Giorgio Remedia assesses his treasure.

Acqualagna, Italy–Two dozen miles southwest of the Adriatic coastal city of Pesaro, the placid plain morphs into picturesque hills near Acqualagna with 5,000-foot-high Monte Nerone and other peaks in the distance. The terrain gets rugged quickly.

Our bus struggled up a winding dirt road to deliver us to truffle hunter Giorgio Remedia’s azienda. Although we’d been advised to have proper footware, the sight of Remedia’s knee-high rubber waders gave some of us pause. He had a no-nonsense demeanor that could perhaps be attributed to his other job as chief-of-police in Acqualagna.

Remedia explained that this area is rich in truffles. He said that they’re a symbiotic fungus that grow on the roots of oak and poplar trees. The Acqualagna area yields different varieties of tartufo bianco (white truffle) and tartufo nero (black truffle) almost year round.

Following Giorgio Remedia on the truffle trail.
Giorgio Remedia and Chicca set out in the woods to find the province’s prized black truffles.
Chicca, the professional, poised for action.

The talent of the truffle dog is to find the truffle but not eat it.
Remedia and Chicca ready for their closeup.
Vista from the truffle woods of field, vines, hills, and mountains.

Truffle condiments sampling Acqualagna Tartufi shop.
Sformato di spinaci al tartufo nero.
Truffle sauce from Acqualagna Tartufi makes a tasty souvenir.

Polenta al tartufo nero.
Ristorante Osteria del Parco is all about tartufi.
Crostini al tartufo nero at Ristorante Osteria del Parco.

This community is seriously all about truffles. It’s said that one-fourth of the residents are qualified truffle hunters and 70 percent of Italy’s truffle dogs are trained here. The white truffle is celebrated each autumn with the Fiera Nazionale del Tartufo Bianco. This year’s event begins at the end of October.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Culture, Food, Italy restaurants, Language, Le Marche, Lifestyle, Markets, Miscellany, Travel Tagged With: Acqualagna, foraging for truffles, Italian black truffles, Le Marche truffle hunting, tartufi nero

Palazzo Donati in Mercatello sul Metauro, Le Marche

Posted April 23, 2013 by Sharon 1 Comment

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

By Walter Sanders

The giardino behind Palazzo Donati.

The giardino behind Palazzo Donati.

After we left Villa Pipistrelli, our small group journeyed to Le Marche, a region in east-central Italy nestled between Emilia-Romagna, Tuscany, and Umbria.

Our destination was the bustling village of Mercatello sul Metauro, located at the foot of the Tuscan-Umbrian Apennine mountains, only a couple of hours by car east of Siena.

The morning mists lifted to reveal soaring hills and sweeping views of verdant valleys. Downhill we passed towns that marked the progress of 15th Century artist Piero della Francesca who had literally painted his way to Urbino, the famed “Ideal City” of the Renaissance.

Mercatello sul Metauro is inviting. The gray paver-bricked main square is bisected by white paver stones that form lines converging from the far corners of the square straight to the center. “Follow the white stone roads,” to adapt the effect into Wizard of Oz parlance.

The square bustles. Much of the buzz is fueled by frothing cappuccino and steaming espresso provided by Franchino from his nearby bar, Caffe Rinaldi. Franchino knows everyone.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Culture, Food, Hotels, Italy restaurants, Language, Le Marche, Lifestyle

Making Fresh Pasta in Tuscany

Posted April 12, 2013 by Sharon

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

By Walter Sanders

Flour and egg transformed into gossamer sheets of fresh pasta.

Flour and egg transformed into gossamer sheets of fresh pasta.

While staying at Villa Pipistrelli just south of Siena, our group visited nearby Stigliano. We were on a mission: to learn how make fresh pasta from scratch. Our teachers were two older women from the village. They were beautiful, gracious and patient. Pasta-making rookies began combining ingredients, and our enthusiasm was evident despite beaten eggs leaking from collapsed flour walls.

With the help of our lovely mentors, everyone finished their dough and formed it into a ball. All the balls were kneaded together, then rolled flat, cut, stuffed, trimmed and transformed into ravioli.

The site was La Bottega di Stigliano, a combination retail shop—specializing in locally produced agricultural products—and a restaurant. The building was a former casa del popolo, a people’s house where in olden times farm workers would meet to sell products. The casa also served as a social center. It was, in a sense, a one-stop shop where people could fill their baskets with food and make social connections. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Culture, Food, Italy restaurants, Miscellany, Travel, Tuscan cooking, Tuscany Tagged With: casa del popolo, food shops in Italy, italian food, italian lifestyle, Italian ravioli, local produce, Montestigliano, pasta, Siena, slow food, Stigliano, Tuscany, Villa Pipistrelli

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