italian travel

Ovid to the Internet

Posted May 25, 2009 by Sharon Leave a Comment

ovid

The great Roman poet Ovid was born in 43 B.C. in the outskirts of Sulmona and the town proudly claims him as its native son. A bronze statue of him commands the Piazza XX Septembre.

Ovid likely wrote his poems about love and life on wax tablets or rolls of papyrus.

These days, it’s microprocessors and LCD screens that facilitate communication in Sulmona and beyond. Through this miraculous technology, we “visited” the Albergo Stella on venere.com, just one of many accommodations middlemen. Turns out we paid $97.82 for a small but spotless room with bath, free parking, and continental breakfast in the morning.

Roberto Bono, co-owner of Albergo Stella in Sulmona.

Albergo Stella is owned by the Bono brothers, Roberto and Giuseppe. Roberto operates the hotel and the Caffé Bono. Giuseppe, the wine guy, maintains the impressive enoteca adjacent to the Caffé. These enthusiastic entrepreneurs even have plans to open another Caffé on the other side of town despite the current economic downturn which has increased unemployment in town.

Roberto noticed that we booked our room online and volunteered that, next time, we should make the reservation directly. “I’ll give you a great room rate and save the 15 percent commission I pay the booking service.”

He also asked if we were set with lodging reservations for the rest of our trip. We explained that we were going to wing it and re-create the good old days when we first met and fell in love in Florence and traveled all over Europe by the seat of our pants.

“Just in case,” he said, “remember www.booking.com. It has a great selection of European hotels and B & B establishments.”

We thanked Roberto but secretly thought to ourselves, “We don’t need that. Now that we’re back in Italy, our old radar will kick in.” Less than 48 hours later, we were humbled into logging onto booking.com. The night after we left the Stella, we had to settle for a Best Western in the seaside resort of Barletta. Arriving as sun set, and dealing with traffic from hell, our dreams of winging it took flight for the night.

But I Don’t Want a Jaguar

Posted April 13, 2009 by Walter 6 Comments

A car with a view . . . .of the Alfa 147s that got away.

A car with a view . . . .of the Alfa Romeo 147 that got away.

By Walter Sanders

As far as I’m concerned, it’s been a good year for U.S. Airways. Sully landed safely in the Hudson, and we survived steerage on a flight to Rome.

Groggy, ragged and raw after landing 10 minutes early in Rome . . . things smoothed out after the first cappuccino at a bar in Fumicino. Lots of local color: A Miss Italy look-alike was strutting around and she twisted the necks of a bunch of Italian guys who were sipping their coffees.

Then it was upstairs (2 stories) to the well-hidden autonoleggio center. The couple ahead of me in line at Dollar/Thrifty were Brazilians. The gent seemed confused and spoke in halting Italian with a German/Portuguese accent.

It took awhile . . . but it was finally my turn . . . and I handed over the pre-paid web reservation for my carefully selected, long anticipated, sleek and speedy Alfa Romeo 147 . The signorina at the counter, who looked young enough to be playing hooky from 10th grade, reviewed my paperwork, and then looked at sheets on her desk. “We have a Jaguar for you.”

I thought she was joking. “That’s wonderful. But I want the Alfa Romeo,” I said.

“I’m so sorry, but we don’t have an Alfa Romeo available right now.”

“But I have a reservation.”

“Sorry.”

“Well how about something comparable-a BMW, a different model Alfa, a small Mercedes?”

“No, I’m sorry. In the same class as the Alfa you reserved, all we have is a Jaguar,” she said.

I called Sharon over, and reviewed the situation with her. “I don’t think the Jaguar will work for us. It’s big, it consumes a lot of expensive benzina, and it sends the wrong signal.” Sharon agreed.

“The Jaguar offer is very nice, but I don’t want a Jaguar. What other options do I have?” I asked.

The signorina looked at her sheets again. “Well, your Alfa and the Jaguar are a class F. All we have available now is class B. Sub-compacts like a Ford or a Lancia.”

A Ford? There’s no way I’m going to tool around in a Ford in Italy! A Lancia?

“Tell me about the Lancia, please.”

“It’s the Ypsilon. Nice car. Smaller than the Jaguar. Smaller than your Alfa.”

Yes, my Alfa, my lost Alfa. My Alfa that, throughout the trip I would continue to lust after as they sizzled past us on the Autostrada, ‘Hey, there’s my Alfa Romeo . . . .”

We ended up with the Lancia. Sporty, not very sexy, but more than adequate . . . .and about five-feet shorter than the damn Jaguar parked down the row in the class F section.

What experiences have you had with car rentals in Italy? Did you get your elusive Alfa? Share your stories with us.

Kellie Hoeke’s Inner Italian

Posted March 4, 2009 by Sharon 2 Comments

Photographer Kellie Hoeke

When we first saw Kellie Hoeke’s evocative photographs of Tuscany, we thought to ourselves, “Well, she’s in touch with her Inner Italian!” But, when we invited Kellie to be profiled here, she hesitated.

She told us, “My first and only visit to Italy was in 2004 to celebrate my 40th birthday. Although I loved it there I don’t have recipes and stories from al fresco meals shared with newly formed friends. Heck, I don’t even have one single relative who ever lived in Italy! So I thought, what would I be doing on SimpleItaly? Well, the answer is, I have some pretty darn nice images of my stay there and I sure wouldn’t want those going unshared by others who love the place as much as I do.”

Well, Kellie, we say, it’s not the quantity of time you spend in Italy that counts. It’s the quality of time that Italy spends in you! Here, in her own words and images is Kellie’s Italian take on life.

Dreaming of a Tuscan hilltown. . .one of photographer Kellie Hoeke's Italian images.

"Soft Window" in a Tuscan hilltown.

I am a photographer living in the Lehigh Valley region of Eastern Pennsylvania. Our countryside has aged beautifully next to the Lehigh River in among hills and green valleys. Add to that landscape seasonal changes that offer ever-extraordinary treats for your eyes: Velvety moss-covered forests in spring to late fall where nothing is left but the flowing yellow feathers of a willow tree in the brown landscape to the cold of winter’s end with a deer running across a snowy field. I am inspired every day to capture what yet has to be told about this beautiful area.

And so it was when I was in Italy that I recognized and felt so close to the land that I had to remark to my husband how reminiscent it was of Pennsylvania’s landscape, both temperately and topographically. He agreed and we moved on to experience more.

A vineyard in Tuscany.

As we took in the sights and architecture we were floored by the history and beauty that combine to make Italy what it is-breathtaking and old-so old you can only, as a photographer, hope to click off a few pixels that might remind you of the sights as you walked each hill town and tried to take it all in.

Yes, I was nothing more than a tourist, but I drank in the history and slow pace of the Italian surroundings. Again and again, I felt the peace, despite the busy schedule we all kept while trying to pack in what we could in the time we had there. The images I managed to bring home are a constant reminder of the time we had, the beauty we were treated to and the pull that you have let in, like a new love, wanting more.

So “Living Italian” to me means not letting the little stuff get me down. It means finding beauty everywhere and surrounding myself with beautiful people and beautiful things. I start each day looking outside and am amazed at sunrises and sunsets every single day.

Scene on the street.

What nurtures my Inner Italian is beauty.

As an artist I never stop looking for it and capturing it.

Photographer Kellie Hoeke owns Sweet peas Studio, specializing in individual and family portraiture, and Dreamages, where she creates custom- finished-and-framed Italian travel images. In-home consultations are available.

For information, call the telephone number below.

dreamages