Italian tourism

In the Mood for Molise, Italy

Posted September 19, 2019 by Sharon 1 Comment

The village of San Giuliano del Sannio in Molise.

My love affair with Italy started in Tuscany a long time ago but has expanded to other regions since then. The more I traveled and reported throughout the peninsula, the more I discovered new ingredients and cooking styles, dialects that didn’t sound like Dante’s Tuscan Italian, myriad cultural heritages, new-to-me wines, and more Saints Feast Days than I can recount. Maybe, I thought, there’s no such thing as “Italian culture” but rather “Italian cultures.”

The boulevards in Turin, Piedmont, looked more to me like Paris than Rome.

The white city of Ostuni, Puglia, resembled a sun-bleached Greek island instead of a hilltown floating in a silver-green sea of olive trees.

Ponte de Legno in Alpine Lombardy seemed Swiss while the architecture of Modica in southern Sicily appeared Spanish. Yet, all these places and more are the vibrant threads in the glorious tapestry of Italy.

Intrigued by all of these Italys, I’ve promised myself to spend quality time in each of the nation’s 20 regions, roughly the equivalent of a US state.

These are the regions I’ve explored:
Toscana
Umbria
Lazio
Emilia-Romagna
Veneto
Piemonte
Lombardia
Abruzzo
Puglia
Basilicata
Le Marche
Campania

On a trip from March-June this year, Walter and I checked out Liguria, Sardinia, Sicilia, and Molise.

Molise has been on my radar screen for the last year or so. Travel media have begun promoting it as “undiscovered,” “unspoiled,” and “not touristy.” Can calling it “the next Tuscany” be far off?

What You Won’t Find in Molise: Tourists

Hilltowns dot the countryside of Molise.

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The Walls of Lucca

Posted April 9, 2019 by Sharon 2 Comments

“Nel caso di Lucca ci si fierisce quasi sempre, anzi sempre, alla citta definita dall’ambito delle Mura. Perche di essa apprezziao non solo la forma, gli aspetti storici e urbanistici, l’esistenza di monumenti, di beni ed eventi culturali, ma anche la presenza di negozi, di attivita varie, commerciali, degli uffic pubblici e privati; della gente che va e che viene.”

“In the case of Lucca we almost always, indeed always, get to the city defined by the area of the Walls. Because of this it appreciates not only the shape, the historical and urbanistic aspects, the existence of monuments, cultural assets and events, but also the presence of shops, various commercial activities, public and private offices; of the people who come and go.

–Gilberto Bedini, renowned Lucchese architect and urban planner

By Sharon Sanders

Today I am one of the people who come to Lucca and after some days, I’ll depart from Lucca. But the walls encircling the ancient city will remain.

The first defensive walls were built by the Romans. Then came a medieval rendition. The current iteration to protect the city from invaders began construction in the early 1500s and took about a century and a half to complete.

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A Vintage Tour of Italy

Posted December 10, 2013 by Sharon 1 Comment

photograph courtesy of the Italian Government Tourist Board

By Tess Sanders

Walking through the ever-bustling Manhattan Eataly it would be easy to miss the latest additions to the 58,000-square-foot Flat Iron-district emporium.

They’re dangling from the ceiling as you stroll past the Lavazza cafe, the house-made gelato, and the sweets: remastered Italian travel images. Some of these lush posters date back to 1920. The Italian Government Tourist Board hosted a reception to welcome the exhibit “A Vintage Tour of Italy.” Tourist board director Eugenio Magnani introduced the Italian consul general Natalia Quintavalle who cut the ribbon.

Thirty digitally revitalized posters of the original art works are in the show.

The stylistic representations mark nearly a century of travel art, from the hyper realistic rendering to bolder expressionism. One stunning poster is done in that modern style: I. Gnagnatti’s Italia from 1963. It is the eye-arresting image of a woman’s back with the word Italia scrolling across her red shawl. With little more than a block of incandescent coral, Gnagnatti captures the allure of the Italian woman.

In a time predating television these images were among the first to capture the sparkle of the now-beloved Italy as a destination. Today the proliferation of blogs like this one is the norm when it comes to Italy worship, but in the 1930s these images were all that foreign, prospective tourists saw of the country.

When she’s not contributing to SimpleItaly, Tess Sanders works for Macmillan Higher Education. Her office is serendipitously located across from Eataly.

When I inquire as to how long these iconic images will be showing at Eataly, I am told “at least through the new year.” After that, these vibrant posters will grace venues in Washington D.C., Chicago, Miami, and L.A.

Catch them at Eataly NYC while you can!

Salerno On My Mind

Posted October 27, 2010 by Sharon 9 Comments

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.