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THE EURO EXCHANGE RATE IS MOST CERTAINLY IN OUR FAVOR

July 7th, 2012

What does Art History Alive have to do with the economic crunch in the E.U.? A couple of things:

1. Because the exchange rate is the lowest it has been since 1997, we have chosen to pass that savings on to our clients?you! We have three AHA trips going to Italy this summer and fall, and the prices for these trips have come down significantly.

2.? The E.U. is teetering, tourism is down, and this reminded me of something. After the events of September 11, 2001, I clearly remember Mayor Giuliani on television asking folks to come to New York, and not to give way to fear by staying away.?Well, we listened, and one month after that terrible day, we packed up and headed to NYC for the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, wondering if the streets would be a bit empty. Quite the opposite! It was one of the largest crowds on record. Santa Claus is always the huge climax to the parade, riding the last float, but I had to cover my ears when the float that preceded Santa passed by. On that float were Mayor Giuliani, the Fire Commissioner, the Police Commissioner, some fire fighters and police officers, and the flag that flew at the World Trade Center site. We were so glad that we had gone to NYC and supported the city in that terrible time.

I feel a bit the same about the E.U. right now. AHA has so many friends in Italy and France who are suffering as their financial systems struggle. I think that it is safe to say that the E. U. needs our travel dollars more than anytime since post WWII, another terrible time for Europe.

In hopes of stimulating more of you to travel, I am lowering the prices on the upcoming AHA trips and designing personal itineraries for the friends and clients who cannot go with us, but will go on their own and want it to be the AHA style. We will create for you, a dream trip based on your desires and our experience. Infused in each itinerary is my enthusiasm and passion, which I cannot help.

Below are our AHA trips with reduced prices. Each one has been created with every detail considered, every lunch and dinner, every warm evening and cobblestoned alley. And now, we can use these to help our friends out of a very tough time, and see wondrous things at the same time.

MUSICA IN TUSCANY – CLOSED
A Castle Courtyard Concert, Hill Towns, and Rome
JULY 12 ? 18, 2012
Was $3,300. Now $2,900. Savings $400.00

ROME AND TUSCANY
A Colosseum and a Castle
SEPTEMBER 30 ? OCTOBER 8, 2012
Was $3,900. Now $3,400. Savings $500.00

GERMANY, ALONG THE ROMANTIC ROAD
Cathedrals, Castles, and a Concentration Camp
This itinerary is available for purchase. Call for pricing and your copy for travel at your convenience.

ROMA AMOR: ROME IS LOVE SPELLED BACKWARD
Judith Testa brings her book to life as she shares with us her Rome.
OCTOBER 10 ? 17, 2012
Was $4,100. Now $3,600. Savings $500.00

WHAT IS CULTURAL IMMERSION AND HOW DO YOU GET IT?

May 7th, 2012

The term ?cultural immersion? is an important one, but like so many great ?tags,? they become overused sound bites and lose their strength. Nonetheless, it is what Art History Alive achieves trip after trip, and why prospective clients ask me my definition. We can achieve a sense of immersion into a place in several key ways:

  1. Slow Pace
  2. Historic Accommodations
  3. Sites in, Under, and Above
  4. Off the Beaten Track
  5. Family-Run Restaurants
  6. Meeting and Greeting Interesting Locals

Slow Pace. Similar to the slow food movement, in order to savor a place, we hold back on pace.?AHA meanders, soaking in the culture.

 

Pucci and Giovanni, owners Castello di Proceno

Accommodations. The place that you sleep on an AHA tour will be small, located in the historic center of wherever we are, and often run by a family that we now call friends. These are the people whom each of you will get to know, and they will go above and beyond to make you feel at home in the city or area they are immensely proud of. Whether we are in Tuscany, Florence, Rome, Paris, or California, our friends welcome us back with the warmest of reunions. Needless to say, locating and building these trusted friendships has been a 15-year labor of love that you, our guests, will enjoy.

In, Under, and Above a Place. For example: AHA will wander with you into tiny colorful towns, under a city through tunnels dating back before Christ, and above the Pacific Ocean perched on a high cliff. We will take you down into a valley only to look up at an enormous and majestic rushing waterfall.

We Will Go Off The Beaten Track. In Italy, everyone goes to the beautiful Chianti region for wine tasting. We, on the other hand, have sought out tucked away wineries so as to avoid the slick marketing of the ?Italian Wine Country.? Instead, AHA enjoys visiting a large typical wine estate overlooking, for example, Orvieto. We taste the wines with complementary foods under a frescoed ceiling. At other times, we might visit a village wine co-op. Here, everyone in the village pools their small private vineyard grape crop to make a wine that they divide up and will drink every day for the next year. The same is true in California. We will go wine tasting in the lesser known wine producing areas of Paso Robles, on the Central Coast, and Murphy?s in the foothills of the mighty Sierra Mountains.

Restaurant Choices Are Key. In Italy, we will eat in family- owned trattorie. These are the restaurants where wonderful smells waft as you walk in the door. They?re where Mama and Grandma are in the kitchen, Papa is at the fireplace roaster, Grandpa is making the coffee and tending the cash register, and the kids are busing tables and taking orders. This is where they approach your table, not with a menu, but with a list of what was cooked today, always fresh, and only seasonal. They will take great pride in their homemade pastas, which will melt in your mouth, and their house wines which were probably made at the co-op mentioned above. This is too much fun! However, if American travelers discover one of our favs, we move on. There is no cultural immersion if the table next to you is talking about their last trip to Vegas.

Roberto, Latte de Luna, Pienza

In California, Paris, and NYC, we will take you to places we know and trust?eateries that reflect the personality of the place we are visiting. From Clint Eastwood?s Mission Ranch steak house in Carmel, CA, to the best French fries in the world at L?Entrecote in Paris, where we enjoy our meals is an important piece of the immersion process.

You, Our Guests, Will Have The Opportunity To Meet and Greet Our Wonderful Friends. This is something NO other tour group, large or small, can boast.?As mentioned above, through years of returning to these places, we have met, and had the pleasure of getting to know, grocers in small towns, tiny hotel owners, restaurant owners, and vintners, all of whom are genuinely happy to see us again. We really enjoy our reunions and introducing our guests to them. This is so key in getting beyond the ordinary in a country. Now you are not simply an observer in a culture, but you are interacting with it. This is a huge difference and uniquely Art History Alive.

I am sure you will agree that when you add these experiences together, you will feel that you have been immersed in a wonderful culture. And so do we!

 

 

 

 


TRAVEL EXPANDS YOUR FRAME OF REFERENCE, FOREVER

April 23rd, 2012

Lake Como

Travel expands our frame of reference for the rest of our lives. We call on our frame of reference daily, without even realizing it, and the wider it is the more valuable an asset to understanding. Of course, travel is typically seen as a vacation, but it can be so much more, especially with Art History Alive.

Often wonderful and unexpected things happen while we are abroad that enlighten us. However, sometimes the impact of your adventure, the expansion of our mind, isn?t noticed until we return home.

Here are three examples that, in my opinion, illustrate the many ways in which travel expands us:

1. Our frame of reference and worldview

Remember the wave of anti-French sentiment that swept through America in 2003? Americans stopped frequenting French restaurants, stopped purchasing French products of any kind, and French Fries became Freedom Fries. It was all about the French not supporting the effort in Iraq. I was frustrated, too, but I remembered September 11, 2002, the first anniversary of that horrid day. I was in Paris, and something happened that changed my frame of reference forever toward France and the French. To read the story, click here.

Anyone who has visited Beijing has walked in and around Tiananmen Square. When we watched CNN and saw that young Chinese student defying the Chinese military tank in the square, it was powerful, but even more so for those of us who have stood in that place.

This past October, when video of the flood in Vernazza, Italy (a part of Cinque Terre) was released, it was very real to those of us who have walked those pretty streets.

2. Our rapidly evolving world market place

I need a special stainless steel hinge. I need it because the salt from the Monterey Bay, across the street from our home, eats any and all other materials. My handyman goes online and finds the hinge I need in ?zinc coated? brass and wonders if it will work for me. I, in turn, go online looking for information on zinc-coated hinges. Up pops a comment from a fisherman off the coast of China. He tells me that he installed a zinc-coated hinge on his long-tail fishing boat and that it did not hold up to marine conditions. Before I thanked him for his input, I sat and stared at my computer screen for a few seconds. Wow, off the coast of China! I?ve been there. I knew where he was. The world is getting really, really small, and I want to be part of it.

3. Replacing ignorance and anxiety with understanding

On one of my trips, I realized before departure that I was facing a challenge. Signed up was a couple. The wife was so excited to be going to Italy for the

Exchanging Ideas, Rome

first and perhaps only time, but her husband seemed bored and uninterested and wondered why folks went on and on about the food in Italy when you could get good spaghetti down the street and around the corner. I sensed some fear, that was thinly veiled. The challenge: to win him over. The winner, Italy. He probably still complains about the expense of everything, but his ignorance and anxiety about this foreign place and culture dissolved when he saw, with his own eyes, that Italians were just as regular as he was, and, that there is spaghetti, and then there is spaghetti. Funny, the stereotypes we have in our heads. I think his came from Lady and the Tramp.

When we travel, all things make more sense. It is human nature to fear the unknown, so go get to know it. Grab your passport and suitcase and get up close and personal with our world. My favorite guest is an intellectually curious and enthusiastic traveler who wants to expand his/her frame of reference, forever. If that describes you, let?s go!

Go ahead and click over to our Home Page to see where we are going in 2012. Join us!

 

LIVING IN ROME, by Alysa Weinstein Gravina, AHA Correspondent

April 12th, 2012

Piazza del Popolo, Rome

They say all roads lead to Rome. In my case it is absolutely true.

No matter where I traveled or what caught my fascination, I always ended up back in Rome. The city does that to you, like it or not.

There are 10 ancient roads that go in every direction in and out of Rome. One of the most historically important roads is Via Flaminia, constructed around 220 BC. Technically, you could drive north about 5 hours, from the Piazza del Popolo, along the Via Flaminia, all the way to Rimini, arriving on the Adriatic coast of Italy, and the hometown of Federico Fellini. This is the street where I live. In 5 minutes, I can be at the Porta del Popolo standing in the piazza with thousands of other people marveling at the magic of the Egyptian Obelisk, or the beauty of the twin churches, Santa Maria dei Miracoli and Santa Maria in Montesanto.

 

 

If I go in the other direction, in 10 minutes I will arrive at Ponte Milvio. This bridge, which was built in 206 BC, is pedestrian, and after an Italian film,

Lovers Locks, Rome

entitled ?I Want You? (from 10 years ago), the lampposts are decorated with padlocks that young couples have left in honor of their love. But the tradition of “love” stretches much further back. It is said that Emperor Nero used to frequent the bridge with his lovers for certain debaucheries.

 

Being among these monuments and surrounded by a history that shapes us all, is an everyday occurrence for me, but now, being able to write about it, is giving me a chance to appreciate this gift, beyond just living it.

 

 

 

 

Part 2: ROMA – A Lifetime Is Not Enough

January 31st, 2012

 

 

Dinner For AHA, Rome

 

AHA and I will be in Rome three times in 2012. Links to the trip descriptions are below this post. Enjoy Part 2 of ROMA.

I came to Italy for the art, history, ancient architecture, scenic beauty, food, wine, hill towns, landscapes, and, loving it all, I return for Rome.

Why does one place reach out and hug you, and others simply don?t?? No one really knows, but really, who cares? It just happens. When it does, however, it is very personal and very intimate.?For some, it?s a sandy- beached island, a mountain perch, an almost silent lake, the sidewalks of Paris, Vienna, or strolling the Giant Sequoias.?But when it happens, you know it.

After about 48 hours in Rome,?I felt a sense of sinking into it, a yearning to get lost in it. Not in the great sites necessarily. Suddenly the Colosseum and the Forum jumped into the back seat. I wanted to be on a back street in a nondescript neighborhood. I didn?t want to stand out; in fact, quite the opposite. I wanted to blend in, fit, and melt into Rome.

Frances Mayes feels about Tuscany as I do about Rome.? She describes it this way: ??The place took hold of me and shaped me in its image.?? Exactly.

?I wanted an aperture,? she writes elsewhere, ?an opportunity to merge with something limitless. Something that takes you out of yourself also restores

Dinner With Our Roman Friends

you to yourself with a greater freedom.? And finally, ?I wanted an aperture, an opportunity to merge with something limitless.?

This last quote touches on what many travelers who fall in love with a place often recount: ?I felt like I was home.??I love the way Rome swoops me out of myself, fills me to the brim, and returns a wiser, more humbled me. And often, when wandering its tangled web of streets, I feel very small as the enormity of all that Rome has been, is, and will be, surrounds me. How could I not want a repeat of that thrill ride?

Through the ages, Rome has gathered many, many lovers, of which I am but one. When I arrive, we have such a joyous reunion. Rome is all decked out and gives me her full attention.?Below are some thoughts by a few of her other lovers:

Living History In Rome

Barbara Gruzzuti Harrison (1934-2002) – “I am happy here; when I or others have bruised my life, I close my eyes against the hurt and think of Rome: as possibility and hope. . . The world is lovable when the world is Rome. . . For the rest of my life I will love Rome and think better of my life having known Rome.”

Johann Goethe (1749-1832) – In Rome you learn to. . . . “See with an eye that can feel, feel with a hand that can see.”

Henry James (1843-1916) – At nineteen years old, “I went reeling and moaning thro’ the streets, in a fever of enjoyment.”? Fifty years later – “No one who has ever loved Rome, as Rome could be loved in youth, wants to stop loving her.”

H. V. Morton (1892-1979) – “I looked down with gratitude upon the city where I had learnt many things; but one does not say goodbye to Rome.”

Judith Testa – (During my first visit) . . .”A strange energy surged through me, a passion for the place which has never faded but only increased with each subsequent visit.? Whenever I return to Rome, I experience that same anticipation, energy, and excitement.”

Jim Quist – “I love Rome simply because it’s Italian.”

AHA and I will be in Rome three times in 2012. Funny, even after twenty years, just writing those words, “I will be in Rome”, puts a smile on my face and pulls at my heart.? I would love to share it with you.

Musica in Tuscany: July 12 ? 18, 2012, includes two days in Rome.

Rome and Tuscany: September 30 ? October 8, 2012, includes four full days in Rome.

Roma Amor: Rome Is Love Spelled Backward: October 10 ? 17, 2012, is a full week in Rome guided by Judith Testa, PhD, author of the book by the same name, and myself. A daring duo of like-minded pilgrims are we.

 

TUSCANY: Like A Hollywood Backdrop

December 15th, 2011

Abbey and Monastery, Sant Antimo , Tuscany

Almost everywhere you look in Tuscany, the view is like a backdrop, and this time, we were the movie. Spending five days in September, wandering the quiet back alleys of Sorano, moved by Gregorian Chants in this ancient abbey, and sleeping each night in a castle, we did feel as though we were in a movie. For those five days, we really ?lived? in Tuscany. We woke each morning and made our own lattes in the kitchen of our castle apartment. I can smell that hot espresso bubbling right now. Add to that the hot milk and some sugar, and it?s going to be another good day.

We drove up, down, and around those pretty hills, lunched in some great new finds, and visited La Foce, again. Jim and I have found that we cannot get near La Foce without stopping in to just be there. La Foce is a gracious villa that supported several farms in the heart of Tuscany, and ended up right in the center of the World War II fighting. If the walls could talk. The story of La Foce, and all that happened there, both sad and heroic, is in a slim book entitled, War in Val d?Orcia: An Italian War Diary, 1943-1944, by Iris Origo. Signore and Signora Origo owned and lived in the villa during this time?a first hand account, to be sure. Now, the villa has apartments to book and produces some delicious olive oil, which I have in my pantry. Seems sort of extravagant that we do our olive oil shopping in Italy, but we do.

Our anchor in Tuscany is Castello di Proceno. Such a precious place owned by a wonderful couple that we love. Built in the 11th century, acquired by the ancestors of the current owners in the 15th century, the castle is decorated not just with antiques but with Etruscan antiquities, unearthed on the property, dating back to 700 BC.

Up on a rocky spur, this castle fortress has defended the tiny town of Proceno for centuries. Located just up the hill from what for hundreds of years was the main road from Florence to Rome, and from the Catholic pilgrimage route from Germany to Rome, the Americans and Germans also occupied Castello di Proceno in turn, during World War II. The art and history in this place lives, which is why Jim and I return year after year, and this castle is the perfect place for Art History Alive guests to stay.

No trip to Tuscany would be complete without lunch at the outrageous Osteria Acquacheta in Montepulciano. No vegetarians allowed! This is a steakhouse, Italian style. The owner, who carries a rather bloody meat cleaver in his belt, draws a diagram of a steak on your paper tablecloth and asks (forcefully) if you want the whole (that would be the porterhouse cut) or a smaller piece, the NY. You point, and he clomps off to his huge butcher?s block placed in front of a roaring fireplace in the back. Whack, whack! A huge steak is slapped on a piece of butcher paper, weighed, and brought to your table for approval. Our steak was the size of a newborn, no kidding. If you like what you see, you nod, he calculates the cost, again on the handy paper tablecloth, you nod again, and off it goes to the fireplace. The rareness of the still-sizzling steak upon delivery to your table indicates that it has not spent much time on the grate, but WOW, is it delicious! This place is a must for meat eaters. It is loud, raucous, the staff is great, and you make friends with the people at the table 3? from yours. Really, really fun!

Orvieto, just 45 minutes from the castello, is such a big, beautiful hill town. I love everything about it, because it has everything. A fantastic cathedral with breathtaking art and history, winding streets with fun shopping, delicious hidden restaurants, and amazing people watching. The more I visit, the more I love it.

AHA? will be in Tuscany twice in 2012. July 12-18, we will share an Italian music festival at Castello di Proceno, with a very small group of guests, Musica in Tuscany, a Castle Courtyard Concert. And again, September 30 – October 8, with Rome and Tuscany, a Colosseum and a Castle. If you want to know Tuscany, these two itineraries were designed to accomplish just that. In fact, all of our itineraries are created with one thing in mind, getting to really know your destination.

After five leisurely days of just ?being? in Tuscany, we are packing and girding ourselves for the upcoming five days in our very favorite, Rome! After Tuscany, it can be a shock to your system. But we will be there on a Sunday, so we are planning to gather with thousands in St. Peter?s Square to see and hear Pope Benedict. We have done this many times over the years, and there is something very special about it.

I will post about our time in Rome in the New Year. It was FANTASTIC.

UGLY AMERICAN ALERT: After our lunch at Aquacheta and an afternoon ramble around picturesque Montepulciano, we were headed back to our car

Steak for two, Acquacheta

about 6PM. Our route took us past the now-closed Aquacheta. Standing in front, trying to peer in the windows, was a very American couple with a computer printout in hand. We were the only other
folks on the street so, in apparent desperation, they looked at us with frustration.

Jim says: ?Great restaurant! Delicious! You?ll love it,? and keeps moving.
Woman: (In a whine) ?Yes, we?ve heard about it, but it isn?t open.?
Jim: ?No, it will open about 7:30 for dinner.?
Man: (Angrily) ?If it is so good, why isn?t it open at dinnertime?!?

Cyndie: Walking away, a little ashamed and shaking head.

It was 6PM, he was hungry, and they walked away to find some place, any place that was open. I guess he thought he was still in the states where dinnertime is dinnertime.

TRAVEL TIP: In Italy, the only people in a restaurant having dinner before 8PM are either Americans or Canadians. By grabbing a piece of pizza or a gelato around 4PM, you?ll be hungry when the restaurants are hopping Italian-style.

New Friends, Estela and Gianni, Acquacheta

Lago di Como: A Peaceful Retreat

November 15th, 2011

Above Bellagio, Lunch, Baita Belvedere

I recently Googled the 10 most beautiful lakes in the world, and, I think I need to speak to the judges. Lago di Como did not make the cut, and I wondered about the criteria. I suppose it would be impossible to judge a place on the way it makes you feel. Well, not for me it isn?t.

For visitors, Lake Como has two distinct faces. One really fun and alive, with this big blue beautiful backdrop but focused on the shore, and the other focused right smack on “The Lake.? For me, it all depends on where you stay. I have visited both faces and prefer strongly to focus on the lake. I can shop anywhere.

For over 30 years I have held onto a small, really dated brochure on a place I’d written to before email. This brochure has been suspended over the trash bin several times, but I had a hunch. Something about this hotel drew me in, and someday, I thought, I would at least give it a drive-by. Finally, after all these years and many visits to Lago di Como and some of her very pretty hotels, we spent five beautiful days at the Hotel San Giorgio, in Lenno, and now I know that my hunch was right, because this place is a treasure.

Even though many villa-hotels dot the lakeside, none that I could find have the magic ingredient

Lake Entrance to Villa Balbianello

that the San Giorgio has, and that is the huge rolling lawn and garden that sweep from the hotel down to the lapping edge of the lake. Dotted with chaise lounges, chairs, and small tables all facing the lake (and Bellagio on the opposite shore), it is quiet, restful, and magical. Whether we started our day there in the sun, or ended our day with the sunset, it is what sets the Hotel San Giorgio apart, and it is why I want to share it with AHA guests who surely will love it. Another discovery of a 3-star+ property with a 5-star location?my favorite combo.

Always fun is a boat ride/day trip to beautiful and hopping Bellagio. Thanks to Maggie McKenny-Harris, our intrepid researcher, we experienced a lunch

there that we won’t forget. While all the bustling crowds are winding around the pretty alleyways of Bellagio, Chiara picked us up and whisked us away, up, up, up above the city to the slow food, farm-to-table Trattoria Baita Belvedere, where we were the only English speakers, and we love that. The homemade cheeses, succulent simmered boar, and fresh porcini mushrooms were fabulous, as the back of the Swiss Alps stared across the lake at us, and we looked down on the top of Bellagio. Peace and beauty.

Ice Cream and Oranges on an Island

From Villa Melzi, owned by Napoleon and by Liszt, to Villa Carlotta with its fantastic gardens, the prize- winner for me was the old monastery converted

into Villa Balbianello.?Perched on a promontory that juts out into the lake with water on three sides, it is as if it were floating. A short boat ride from the Hotel San Giorgio, this villa, it’s history, collections, and gardens are absolutely staggering.

Isola Comacina is the only island in the lake and a must-stop for lunch on any Lake Como itinerary. And why would anyone pass a seven-course lunch on a stone terrace, overlooking the lake and under spreading shade trees? Please! The freshest ingredients served simply over a lazy three hours include twelve different vegetables, gorgeous pink trout, chicken, and aged parmigiana scooped out of the wheel and plopped right into your palm. And every course is bottomless. Everyone finishes with ice cream and oranges, highlighted by a coffee ceremony featuring sweet scalding espresso and an intriguing tale of island history. OK, I’m there. Back on the mainland, we were thankful we had walked along the pretty greenway from the hotel. We hoped we could negotiate the winding walkway back, but the lounges on the lawn at the Hotel San Giorgio were calling to us, shhhh, nap, nap, nap. Lago di Como has become, or more likely always was, a place to run to, escape into, a place to let down and go limp.

Art History Alive will be traveling to Lago di Como in the Fall of 2013. All of the above-mentioned places will be part of the itinerary, and there will be other surprises as well. Group size will be 6. Start dreaming.

 

 

BACK FROM ITALY: VACATION, VOCATION, WHAT’S THE DIFF?

October 24th, 2011

Two Hidden Restaurants, Tuscany

After our last research trip to Italy, I wrote a post entitled, “Wonderful Discoveries and Dismal Disappointments.”? Not so this time?it was all good!

We planned this trip as a working vacation with concentration on three of our favorite spots in Italy.?We stayed in each for five days, determined to stay long enough to unpack, settle in, and catch the spirit of the place, which is just what we did.
With five days on the edge of Lake Como, five more at Castello di Proceno in southern-most Tuscany, and five more in our favorite, Rome, we had a wonderful and relaxing time as we explored historic villas and their gardens, rediscovered beautiful hill towns, and visited favorite places that still? move us. We ate in dozens of delicious restaurants, and had tours of some of the most beautiful, historic, and hidden hotels ever.
Before I go any further, I must thank our researcher, Maggie McKenny-Harris, for the list of hotels and restaurants that she painstakingly compiled after, what must ave been, hours and hours of research and interviews.?After trying just two of her suggestions, I knew that I was armed with something very, very valuable indeed. Maggie had us in places I would never have found on my own?quaint, characteristic, historic, family-owned, and always, always lovely. Our guests will be so very thrilled with the amazing hotels and incredible restaurants that have now been added to the AHA list. After a little bounce on the beds, I touch the sheets and pillows, I am all over the bathrooms, into the breakfast rooms, and up on the rooftops. After each new find, we toasted Maggie, and I can’t wait to return to these places myself.? Thank you, Maggie, for finding these beautiful little boutique, out-of-the-way spots that our guests will love.
I will post again soon on our lazy time on the edge of Lago di Como, and, for those who will travel there with us, what you have to look forward to.?I will follow with a post on Tuscany, our castle, and the upcoming Music Festival trip July 12 ? 18, 2012, and the Tuscany Rome trip September 30-October 8, 2012, and finish the series with a post on what is in store for our travelers to Rome, both in September and Rome, October 10-17, 2012.

If you are curious as to what we found by following the primitive signs in the photo above, it was no big deal, just lunch in an Etruscan cave, circa 700 BC! Everything tastes better in a place like this, and welcome to cultural immersion. Thank you, Maggie!

Until we are there again, it is nice to be home, but I can still feel those warm cobblestones under my feet.
Cynthia

Lunch in an Etruscan cave, circa 700 BC

 

TRIP #2 – ITALY’S SARDEGNA: ANCIENT, WILD, SPECTACULAR, by Gillian Seely

August 30th, 2011

 

May 22 – 28, 2012 ~ 7 Days ~ Group Size: 6

Price: $3,100.00

AHA is so pleased to have Gillian Seely on board to guide this deeply cultural adventure to her loved Sardegna.? An effervescent and bright young woman who loves AHA as I do, whomever travels with her to Italy will have a wonderful and rich time.? I will be joining this trip, my first to Sardegna, so am looking forward to learning all about this island right along side of you.

Why Sardegna?? By Gillian Seely

In 2006, I went with a friend to the French island of Corsica for a long weekend. ?It was stunning, peaceful, and vibrant in a bizarre and serene way that is unique to the Mediterranean, but it was missing something. ?Admittedly an Italophile, I wasn?t really satisfied. ??I want my seafood mixed in with al dente linguine?, and ?Why aren?t people yelling at each other in heated conversation over dinner?? I whined (in my head, of course). ?The island immediately to the south beckoned. ?I wanted to go to Sardegna?to see the same kind of island, but, in my mind, the improved version. ?Improved simply by virtue of having been inhabited by the fiery and beautiful Italians with whom I am so obsessed. ?We didn?t have time.

In the summer of 2010, several years after moving stateside, I did go back to the Mediterranean, and finally, to Sardegna. ?It exceeded my expectations, and now I have been honored with the opportunity to lead an Art History Alive trip to this incredible and unforgettable island.

What can you expect to experience on an AHA trip to Sardegna? ?Without paraphrasing the itinerary, here?s a look at the cultural highlights that make this one of my favorite destinations:
The Language: ?Lingua Sarda?, ?Sardu?, or ?Limba Sarda?. ?A beautiful and musical language that is Italian in essence, but is completely different– as any Italian will readily admit. ?The language is said to ?feature archaic phonetic features when compared to other Romance languages?. ?It is believed to have been influenced by Illyrian, Etruscan, and even the Basque language. ??The root of ?sard? is said to have come from the ?Sherden?, one of the so-called ?Peoples of the Sea?. ?I?m not a linguist, but it is noticeably different from the Italian I have studied, and for me, listening to Sardu makes me feel like I?m eavesdropping on something ancient and mysterious.

Sardinian ?Music Bread?

The Food: Expect to taste authentically-regional island cuisine that comes straight from the sea and the land?really! ?You?ll find very few gimmicky ?spaghetti Bolognese? set menus here. ?Save for a few major grocery chains that import from the continent, the island heavily utilizes its own resources– from seafood to locally-grown produce, and grapes that make unique and flavorful wines. ?And the locals are very proud of this point, as you might imagine. ?Some delicacies of the island include ?pane carasu? or ?music bread?, a flat, tortilla-like accompaniment to many main courses; and ?fregula?, a pasta of Moorish origin that resembles couscous. ?Everything is unique and flavorful!

The Music: Cantu a Tenore is an ancient form of polyphonic ?throat singing? that has put the island on the map, musically. ?According to some historians, the practice of singing in this style dates back to the Nuragic civilization (we?ll learn all about them on this trip). ?Some speculate that the deeply-primitive and almost Moorish sounds were intended to mimic the sounds of the sheep. ?The Nuragic people were shepherds.

Nuraghe Dwelling

The Sites: We will see the Nuraghe dwellings, and the Domus de Janas (literally, ?houses of the fairies?). ?These are strange, prehistoric, beehive-like structures, believed to have been inhabited by the semi-nomadic Sardegnan people. ?We will also see the breathtaking Grotto di Nettuno (Neptune?s Grotto), a massive system of coastal caverns filled with intense geological features. ?This is one of the most visually-appealing stalactite caves in Europe, and the approach by boat is dramatic to say the least.

Coast of Sardinia

The Beaches: White sands, blue water with excellent visibility, and countless opportunities for snorkeling, kayaking, and swimming in refreshing waters. ?Sure, this isn?t the main thrust of the trip, but these beaches are to die for.

Tempted yet? ?Sardegna isn?t for everyone. ?It does not offer bustling urban nightlife, well-managed museums, high-end shopping districts, or high-profile Roman ruins. ?It can be challenging to get around, the residents are uncommonly conservative, and tourism is relatively new to the island. ?It is, however, a wonderful place for an authentic Mediterranean adventure and deeply cultural experience. ? Think of Sardegna as Italy?s unruly, wild, but stunningly-beautiful cousin.

D.H. Lawrence said it best:

?Sardinia, which is like nowhere. Sardinia, which has no history, no date, no race, no offering. Let it be Sardinia. They say neither Romans nor Phoenicians, Greeks nor Arabs ever subdued Sardinia. It lies out- side; outside the circuit of civilisation. Like the Basque lands. Sure enough, it is Italian now, with its railways and its motor-omnibuses. But there is an uncaptured Sardinia still. It lies within the net of this European civilisation, but it isn’t landed yet?Let it be Sardinia.?

Flag of Sardegna

Trip #4 – MUSICA IN TUSCANY: A Summer Festival

August 30th, 2011

 

Our Castle, Castello di Proceno

 

July 12 – 18, 2012 ~ 7 Days ~ Group Size: 6

Price was: $3,300.00? New price: $2,900.00 Save $400.00

A Castle Courtyard Concert, Hill Towns, and Rome.

In July of 2012, AHA will offer its first summer tour.? How could we pass up the opportunity to share with our guests The Annual Convivio in Musica, held in the courtyard of the castle that we have been sharing with you for fifteen years?? Well, we couldn’t!? So, in July, a very small group of six will travel with me to Tuscany and? Castello di Proceno, where we will check in a few days before the festival and get acclimated to our beautiful castle and surroundings.? We will stay for four days which happily, is long enough to unpack.

On the day of the festival, people from as far away as Florence, to the North, and Rome, to the South, will arrive, well dressed and anticipating the music about to be enjoyed.? The acoustics of the courtyard are perfect, as it is surrounded by tall stone walls, which double as a screen for the beautiful art that is projected upon them during the concert.? Immersed in the music and art of Italy, for an afternoon we will be transported to another time and place.

Following the concert, all of the guests gather to enjoy a buffet of Tuscan delights.? Beginning with

A Tuscan Salami Buffet

champagne, we will dine on country salami, sausage of boar, a variety of freshly prepared crostini, local cheeses and so much more.? Cecilia, owner of the castle, whose recipes we will enjoy is quite famous in the area for her cooking classes.? I have taken a few and the food was glorious.

During the balance of our four day stay at the castle, we will explore some hill towns, prepare a meal together and all around relax.? Our last two days we will be spent in gorgeous Rome, where during that time we will take a stroll that will lead you from The Spanish Steps, to the Trevi Fountain, in front of? The Pantheon, and into romantic Piazza Navona, with its gorgeous Fountain of The Four Rivers.? This is a stroll you will never forget.

Should any of you like to extend an extra day, it can be arranged.? With an additional day in Rome, we could include The Coliseum, The Forum, and St. Peter’s Basilica, and of course, several more great lingering meals.

Gelato in Rome: Grapefruit, Cantalope and Green Apple

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