Simple Italy

Celebrating Your Inner Italian

The Tuscan Bug

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By Walter Sanders

Sam Hilt and his wife, Pamela Mercer, left Sonoma County to live and work near Siena.

Sam Hilt and his wife, Pamela Mercer, moved from Sonoma County to live and work near Siena.

So what’s a nice Jewish boy from Newark doing in a hospital in Siena, Italy?

Two things: Sam Hilt is recovering from successful heart surgery. Second, he’s using the recuperation time to colorfully describe the effects of an even more life-altering condition—the Tuscan Bug.

Many susceptible people contract the Tuscan Bug when they visit the Renaissance region. Hilt caught a particularly virulent strain during an unplanned jaunt to Italy when he was an undergrad  at Brandeis University.

After returning to the U.S. and earning his degree, Hilt spent nine years in graduate studies gaining a masters in comparative literature, a masters in psychology, and a doctorate in Renaissance studies.

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Joyce Heitler’s Inner Italian

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By Joyce Heitler, guest writer

Joyce Heitler in the southern hill town of Piciotta.

Joyce Heitler in the southern hill town of Pisciotta.

Retired from teaching kindergarten in Chicago after 45 years, I, too, have an Inner Italian.

My husband Frank and I went to Italy about 11 years ago with my son- in-law Renato, who was born in Italy, to see his sick uncle in Tuscany. The uncle lived in a beautiful four-story castle with antique furniture.

We decided to learn Italian so Frank looked up schools on the Internet and found a small language school in Pisciotta, about one hour south of Salerno. The photos looked fabulous and we signed up for a three-week total immersion class. After one week, I fell in love with Pisciotta and the people. Being the impulsive person that I am, I decided to buy an apartment there.

Not many apartments were available for sale so when I went to church I prayed that I would find a place. When I left church, a man, who had heard us speaking English, approached us. His name was Agnello, named after the patron saint of Pisciotta. He had worked in New York for 12 years and then moved back to Pisciotta. I asked him if he knew of anyone who had a house for sale and he said, “Yes, me.”

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