INSIDE: An Outsider Learns An Insider’s Cheat Sheet to 2 to Love MILAN Film Festival 6 and Become a New Capri Hotel 6 CITY INSIDER Ceretto Opens Alba Restaurant 7 ften considered the ugly step- sister of , Milan does have Courtesy of Harvey Loomis Poggio Bustone Oits merits. The locomotive of the peninsula, she hums with finance, , publishing and manufacturing industries. That buzz dream of can make it a great place to visit, or even live. Really.

I came to Milan from the U.S. near- ly 10 years ago, to intern at an Italian television station. After four years of kicking around , I welcomed “the big city” ITALYVolume 5, Issue 1 www.dreamofitaly.com February 2006 but found my affection was not returned. Perhaps because I was liv- ing in a dormitory run by nuns with an 8 p.m. curfew, somewhat at odds On the Road with with the Milano da bere, the “drinking Milan,” a nickname coined in the St. Francis of high-flying 1980s. I stuck it out, left the convent and eventually weaned early five million visitors, On behalf of Dream of Italy, travel writer myself off vending machine caffè mac- including many clergy and Barrie Kerper recently caught up with chiato that had been a main form of N pilgrims, come to Assisi award-winning journalist Linda Bird sustenance when I didn’t have a () each year to pray in Francke, author of the newly kitchen. And learned to like it. the birthplace of Francis or released On the Road with Francesco — Italy’s patron : A Timeless For starters, 1.3 million people live saint and the founder of three Journey Through Umbria and here and there aren’t any Milanese. ongoing Franciscan orders — Tuscany, and Beyond (Random Or very few. Since the 1950s, Italians and Clare, Francis’s spiritual House, 2005) to discuss her own from other parts of the country have companion and the first saint- visit to Assisi and travels through come here seeking a better life. They ed member of his Order of Poor Italy chronicling the travels of St. are considered forestieri, a word Ladies. Assisi is second only to Francis. Monstersandcritics.com translated as both “outsider” and Rome as an Italian pilgrimage has hailed Francke’s book as “foreigner,” so it is fairly easy to destination, but it is equally “a winning combination of trave- make friends. Italians who cannot appealing for travelers with logue and religious biography,” rely on la mamma to iron their under- less exalted interests: Umbrian culinary and it’s a great companion for one’s own wear are a more approachable breed. specialties are just as delicious as those in journeys in the Spoleto Valley and beyond. neighboring Tuscany, and the early In fact, the whole concept of Milanesi, Renaissance frescoes in the Basilica of St. DOI: You’ve worked on the memoirs as locals are known, is somewhat Francis by Simone Martini, Pietro of some of the world’s most powerful nebulous. The Celts set up shop Lorenzetti, Cimabue, and, especially, and privileged women — Queen Noor here in 7th century B.C., calling it Giotto, are stunning, most worthy of a of Jordan, Rosalynn Carter, Diane von Mediolanum (mid-plain). Trashed first detour. continued on page 4 continued on page 3 Construction on the Basilica of St. Francis began in 1228. AN INSIDER’S CHEAT SHEET TO MILAN

WHERE TO STAY WHERE TO EAT WHERE TO SHOP HOTEL STRAF PIZZA OK Window shop on Via Monte Napoleone, but get your Via San Raffaele, 3 Via Lambro, 15 designer gear like the Milanese do, at a discount. (39) 02 805081 (39) 02 29401272 www.straf.it Closed Sunday at lunch. IL SALVAGENTE You don’t have to be a -clad minimalist to get this Pies with ultra-thin crust star at this straightforward Via F.lli Bronzetti, 16 hotel, but it helps. Bare concrete, slate fixtures, shiny red pizzeria in the Porta Venezia area. It is easy on the budget (39) 02 76110328 wall hangings are all features. Straf doesn’t have the musty and attracts a young crowd. Try the gorgonzola and feel of many expensive hotels in the Duomo area and it pear pizza. Dinner for two runs about 25€. Top names (,, Dolce & Gabbana) and great has broadband access. Rates: A double room starts at prices for men and women; during twice yearly sales 267€ per night, with breakfast. EDA (January and August) be prepared to rumble. Via Filippino Lippi, 7 ANTICA LOCANDA DEI MERCANTI (39) 02 26681962 DIFFUSIONE TESSILE Via San Tomaso, 6 www.edamilano.com Galleria San Carlo, 6 (39) 02 8054080 (39) 02 76000829 This hot spot near the has the regulation DJ, www.locanda.it www.diffusionetessile.it gloomy lighting and a tiered seating system with viciously Located halfway between the Duomo and , contested hierarchies. The Sicilian-influenced food is Wander down toward Piazza S. Babila after eyeing the this is a centrally-located and reasonably-priced hotel with fabulous, dahling. Black tagliatelle with zucchini flowers and Duomo. This small store sells all the Max Mara lines enough charm for a romantic stay. Rates: A double bottarga (fish eggs) or ziti with fresh sardines and (Maxsport, Studiomax, Penny Black) heavily discounted. room starts at 150€ per night, without breakfast. wild fennel make it worth a trip. Dinner for two will set you back about 80€. KITCHEN 2 ALBERGO ARENA HOTEL Via Giulianova, 2 PRINCI Via De Amicis, 45 (39) 02 8692015 Largo la Foppa, 2 (39) 02 58102849 (39) 02 6599013 www.kitchenweb.it A no-frills hotel with 1970s decor (and unfortunately bath- Piazza XXV Aprile rooms), this is an inexpensive place to stay in the chic This temple to cooking proves just how seriously Italians (39) 02 290 60832 Brera neighborhood. Skip the hotel breakfast and walk take cooking. A sleek space in the area houses www.princi.it down Corso Garibaldi to Princi instead. Rates: A double some 3,000 utensils, 1,500 cookbooks and a large stock of Open every day and until 3 a.m. on Saturday night. room starts at 100€ per night, with breakfast. specialty foods from around Italy. Finally, a bakery in Italy that serves drinks. This break from tradition makes Princi popular and always packed. Last season’s Miu Miu shoes and Fendi ties can be The Brera locations (there are five total in Milan) are my spied among the fruit stands at these markets: favorites. In the first, sit down with a cappuccino and brioche for no extra charge, in the second go for an Viale Papiniano aperitif and free nibbles (pizza, focaccia, grissini) straight (all day Saturday) from the wood-burning oven. Via Calvi (Thursday morning) VICTORIA CAFFE Hotel Straf (above) and Via Clerici, 1 Via Fauchè Antica Locanda Dei Mercanti (Tuesday and Saturday morning) (at right) (39) 02 02 8053598 www.victoriacaffe.it The pre-dinner aperitivo (or apero) is a key fixture of Milanese life. Serious cocktails (negroni, mojito, caipirinha) and enough free food to skip dinner (risotto, focaccia, pasta) make it a local ritual worth exploring. This art-deco gem near the Duomo is a good alternative to the anonymous and expensive cafés in the center. Cocktails are 6€. Victoria Caffe 1 € = $1.21 at press time “I loved listening to the sound of Milan, and wa Milan continued from page 1

by the Goths in 600 A.D., then con- Start at the tourist office in Piazza quered by Roman Emperor Barbarossa Duomo, ask for a free copy of Milano in 1158, the city changed hands (and Mese (available online at www.milano cultural identity) under French, infotourist.com), in somewhat choppy Spanish and Austrian rule until the English, and grab a copy of English- reunification of Italy in 1870. Milan language monthly Hello Milano (also changed face again during World War online www.hellomilano.it) to see what’s II, when the Allies reduced more than on and for museum information. Even a quarter of the city to rubble. with rudimentary Italian, it is worth Duomo looking at the free local dailies, City, Despite pulling nearly the same eco- Leggo and Metro, found at bus stops or nomic weight as Rome, Milan is com- in the metro, or the local sections of pact and fairly easy to navigate. I live Il Corriere della Sera or La Repubblica. near Sempione Park and get around by Give Milan a chance and you may bike (an extreme sport not for the come to love her as I have. uninitiated) but metro and trams are —Nicole Martinelli reliable and taxis are not expensive for in-town jaunts. Most of the center can Nicole Martinelli, a freelance journalist in Italy since also be done comfortably by foot, for 1991, is the editor of zoomata.com

the comfortably shod: the rocky pavé Board Tourism Italian Government (as the 18th century street stones are called) is a waiting, vindictive trap for stilettos and slippery soles. dream of 3 The bull’s eye design of the centro stori- co was probably helpful discouraging further invasions but can also put off € ITALY visitors; 1 on the local transport (ATM) map is money well spent. Sold Kathleen A. McCabe Publisher and Editor-In-Chief

in cafés and newsstands, look for the Board Tourism Italian Government Board Tourism Italian Government Castello Sforzesco orange cover and ATM symbol. Copy Editor: Stephen J. McCabe toes, is not a pleasant experience. Visits Editorial Assistant: Shauna Maher Design: Leaird Designs Milan has enough monuments, artistic to the Last Supper must be reserved in www.leaird-designs.com knick-knacks and points of interest for advance (www.cenacolovinciano.org), a few days’ visit: the Duomo (world’s sometimes weeks ahead, same for Dream of Italy, the subscription newsletter covering Italian travel and culture, is published 10 times a year. largest Gothic cathedral); Leonardo catching the fat lady sing at La Scala Delivery by mail is $79 per year in the United States Da Vinci’s Last Supper; world-class (www.teatroallascala.org). and $95 abroad. An Internet subscription (download- able PDF) costs $69 per year. Subscriptions include opera house La Scala; Castello online access to back issues and regular e-mail updates. Sforzesco, which houses Also Italy’s hub for publishing Three ways to subscribe: Michelangelo’s Rondanini Pietà houses and record companies, 1. Send a check to Dream of Italy, P.O. Box 5496, Washington, DC, 20016 Rondinini; the fashion district (il there is nearly always some- 2. Call 1-877-OF-ITALY (toll free) or 202-237-0657 quadrilatero d’oro) and the canal thing interesting to do in Milan 3. Subscribe online at www.dreamofitaly.com (Visa district (i navigli) for nightlife. every day. (On this ordi- and Mastercard accepted) nary Tuesday, in addi- Editorial feedback is welcome. E-mail: [email protected] Not a city to rest on old glories, tion to ongoing exhibits, Advertising opportunities are available. Milan is best when busy with the new. ballet and opera, I counted two book E-mail: [email protected] Fashion shows. Design week. Exhibits. launches, one album launch with free Copyright © 2006 Dream of Italy, Inc. All Rights Concerts. Cocktail parties. Film festi- acoustic concert, two jazz concerts, Reserved. Reproduction in whole or part without per- mission is prohibited. Every effort is made to provide vals. Plan ahead and look alive: aim- four free classical concerts and the information that is accurate and reliable; however, lessly wandering around, most likely opening of a Peter Lindburg photogra- Dream of Italy cannot be responsible for errors that in fog or through a cloud of mosqui- phy exhibit.) may occur. ISSN 1550-1353 www.dreamofitaly.com s always inspired by the city.” —Guiseppe Verdi St. Francis continued from page 1 Chiuso frees you to sit in the sun, to admir

Furstenberg and Benazir arrogant, and an LBF: I include many of his miracles Bhutto among them. What avid non-con- because they mirror the everyday fears was it about St. Francis in sumer, another of the Middle Ages. Though taming particular that you found welcome contrast man-eating wolves and ridding cattle appealing? to our current of pestilence with a drop of his bath- “mall” society. water may seem silly, these miracles, LBF: I have wanted to write And he embraced and many more, reflect the realities of a book about St. Francis and all things natural, the time: predatory wild animals, life- St. Clare since my husband Basilica of St. Francis, Assisi again in contrast snuffing diseases, crippling injuries, and I first went to Assisi 12 to the current and famine, drought, floods, childbirth. years ago to see the Giottos. rampant degrada- There, at one end of the hill tion of the One of my favorite miracles involves town, was the Basilica of St. environment. Francis curing a woman’s crippled Francis and there, at the hands in Gubbio. She does not fall to other end, was St. Clare’s DOI: You’ve her knees and promise to follow a life pink and white basilica, a included many of of penance as her fingers straighten, Italian Government Tourism Board Tourism Italian Government Board Tourism Italian Government romantic pairing made the Assisi the miracles St. but rushes to her house where, in more so by a Franciscan sister who Francis performed (and that some of gratitude, she makes him a cheesecake. told me Francis died in Clare’s arms. his more modern biographers either That turned out to be historically incor- downplay or exclude) in your book, DOI: It’s rather amazing that all of St. rect, but I was captivated by the stories and they’re fascinating. Even though Francis’s retreats, on mountain tops of Assisi’s saints. Other book projects they may be difficult for people to and on islands, still exist in Italy, and intervened and it wasn’t until 2002 that believe today, can you explain their you write that “to even begin to under- 4 I could return to Francis and Clare. importance in the medieval world? stand Francis of Assisi, it is critical to leave the museums and cathedrals A preliminary search of Amazon.com and the hill towns to go, as he did, proved daunting, however. There were to the hermitages.” Which ones so many, many books about St. Francis might you single out for travelers and almost as many about St. Clare who have limited time? that I was discouraged. My agent, Lynn Nesbit, came up with the great LBF: It would depend on where the idea of using a travelogue format to traveler is. If he or she is in Spoleto, tell the story of Assisi’s saints. The then the half-hour trip to the her- resulting book recounts our parallel mitage atop the holy mountain of journeys, both medieval and modern. Montelucco and a walk through the “Sacred Grove” of giant ilex restores DOI: Why should we care, today, the soul. Another hermitage, the about St. Francis, and what is most sig- Carceri, is very close to Assisi, and is nificant about his life and beliefs? a quiet, verdant oasis with walking paths and caves. LBF: The world needs St. Francis now more than ever. He was a man of peace Tuscany’s lovely Celle di Cortona is who traveled all over Italy and even on well worth a visit as is, of course, to Egypt during the Fifth Crusade, to the dramatic mountain-top sanctu- advocate — and often achieve — the ary of La Verna where Francis cessation of violence. Francis embraced received the stigmata. poverty and abhorred money, which would be a welcome contrast to the Farther south, there are four easily corporate greed and corruption accessible and restored hermitages presently so much at play in the U.S. in the beautiful Valley — and elsewhere. He was humble, not Poggio Bustone with its sky-scraping © 2005 David Lindroth © 2005 David “Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’spossible; re the universal roof gardens and window boxes throughout Italy.

chapel; Greccio, where Francis staged DOI: Your observation that as “E45,” “3bis” and, far- the first living Christmas nativity; Fonte “downtime is a gift in Italy” is ther north, as ”71” and Columbo, where Francis wrote the Rule one of my favorites in the “E55.” of 1223 and endured medieval treat- book. Would you clarify that ment for his diseased eyes; and La for those who haven’t read Despite all the negative Foresta, where he recuperated after the your book yet, and can you hype, Italians are excellent treatment and performed the miracle provide some other tips and drivers and we found of the vineyard. I could go on and reminders about traveling them to be generally toler- on … just writing the names makes me throughout Italy in general ant of us when we weren’t yearn to return. that might be useful for first quite sure where we were time or frequent going. But they do general-

DOI: Travel writer Jan Morris has said visitors? Courtesy, Harvey Loomis ly drive faster than we do, that her favorite travel guides are old Isola Maggiore and on the highways they Baedeker’s editions, which she prefers LBF: Do not count on the hours listed do not tolerate slow cars in the left to contemporary books. I was pleased in the best of travel guides for muse- lane; if you see a car approaching in to discover that you primarily ums, monuments, churches and even your rear-view mirror, don’t quibble; employed medieval biographies and hermitages. Italians have their own, just move into the right lane as soon as maps for your St. Francis journeys. whimsical concept of time, and one of you can. What are some of the rewards and dif- the first words we learned was chiuso ficulties in using these older sources? — or closed. My husband, Harvey Loomis, bought a slew of road maps, and found those LBF: The rewards of using the That said, chiuso frees you to sit in the published by the Touring Club Italiano medieval biographies of sun, to take the time to (scale of 1:200,0000) to be the most use- Francis was that they authen- admire the universal roof ful. More detailed maps of cities and 5 ticated not only the hill gardens and window provinces are produced by Litographi- towns, cities, lakes and boxes throughout Italy, to ca Artistica Cartographic of Florence, mountain tops that Francis sip a cappuccino, to savor available on the Internet at www.ini- went to in the 13th century, the unparalleled taly.com/ads/maps.htm. [Note: Francke but what he did there. The pastries and tarts in any also used various editions in the Rough biographies were essential pasticceria, to listen to the Guide series, and rented several cars and because almost every town in Italians speaking to each Italian cell phones from Auto : Italy lays some claim to other in excited torrents. (888) 223-5555; www.autoeurope.com] Francis, much like the American towns that boast Driving in Italy is easy and DOI: Since specific inns and restau- “Washington slept here.” Courtesy, Harvey Loomis safe. The roads are beauti- rants are rarely mentioned in your Celled Cortona fully maintained, book, can you recommend some The difficulties involved including the tiniest, places to stay and eat for Dream of Italy the contradictions among single lane mountain readers? the biographies and the roads, and generally often vague pinpointing very well marked. LBF: That’s a difficult question because of the locations we were Sometimes, though, our research trips were working trips trying to reach. In the you have to know and, for the most part, we didn’t take province of the Marches, your geography: The the time for a leisurely lunch and by for example, the author Courtesy, Harvey Loomis main north-south that nighttime, were usually too tired to go Poggio Bostone of Little Flowers of St. passes just to the east too far for dinner. Francis often refers to a Franciscan site of Perugia, for instance, is identified on simply as “the Place.” But Franciscan the signs as the road to Cesena — We often ate lunch at coffee bars in the scholars have identified many of “the which it is, but that destination is well hill towns or, on the highways, at the Places” and the major ones are clearly over 150 kilometers to the north. And Italian gas/food chain known as marked on the modern maps. be careful reading the road map: That Auto-Grill. The prosciutto and water- same highway is variously designated continued on page 8 and suddenly you are doing the impossible.” —St. Francis News, Tips, Deals Move Over Venice, Rome Starts Film Festival

annes,Venice, Sundance…now it’s time to C add Rome to that list. It seems that the Eternal City has decided to join the cities that host illustrious film festivals and draw star-studded crowds each year. Come October, Via Veneto (immortalized in Fellini’s La Dolce Vita) will be filled with actors, direc- tors, and movie lovers.The premiere edition of the city’s annual fim festival will take place, mainly at the city’s new concert hall, but also raised by private funds, versus the at venues around town. In fact, the festival over 60 million euros needed to put planners hope to fill the gardens at the Villa has also had its fair share on the Venice festival. Borghese with movie screens. of time on the silver 6 Unlike Venice, Rome is taking a less screen, in classics like Although many people are quick to criticize, highbrow approach, allowing average Roma Città Aperta, the mayor of Rome claims they aren’t trying moviegoers to make up the judging panels. modern-day blockbusters like Oceans 12 and to compete with the city of Venice, whose Despite these concerns about a developing the HBO series Rome. The festival will take own renowned festival has been struggling rivalry, a film festival in Rome makes perfect place October 13 to 21, 2006. financially in recent years.The Rome festival sense. Rome has a rich film history, bringing —Shauna Maher is projected to have a 7-million euro budget, movies to Italy from its Cinecittà studios. It Air Watch: Hotel Caesar Augustus: New Flights from the U.S. to Italy Capri’s Latest Luxe Lodging N Delta will offer new non-stop service n an island known for its the 56-room hotel evokes between Atlanta and Venice starting June 6, Osuper-luxurious hotels, modern elegance and Roman 2006 and seasonal service between Grand Hotel Quisisana and antiquity. More coveted Cincinnati and Rome starting March 1. Hotel La Scalinatella come to rooms and suites come with Eurofly begins non-stop weekend service mind, can another deluxe hotel balconies overlooking the between New York’s John F.Kennedy Airport compete on Capri? Come bay, but you can also enjoy and Rome this May.The flights, on Airbus April, Hotel Caesar Augustus, views of Mt.Vesuvius and 330-220 aircraft, will depart every Friday, part of the prestigious Relais & Chateux asso- Sorrento while relaxing at the pool near the Saturday and Sunday, between May 11 and ciation, hopes to live up to its imperial name cliff’s edge or wandering around the gardens November 12, 2006.The Italian airline as it opens its doors. Situated on a thousand- adorning the property. Rates start at 360€ already offers non-stop service between foot cliff in Anacapri and boasting a command- per night for a double room with a garden JFK and Bologna, Naples and Palermo. ing view of the Bay of Naples, Caesar view. For more information, visit Augustus offers both seclusion and proximity www.caesar-augustus.com or call US Airways begins daily service between to all that the island has to offer.The design of (800) 448-8355. —S.M. Philadelphia and Milan starting May 30, 2006. Capri’s Blue Grotto was originally thought and Events G Ceretto Opens Cutting-Edge Modern Restaurant in Alba f Alba — spiritual home of the white truf- I fle and Piedmont’s Barolo and Barbaresco wines — wasn’t already on every food ON EXHIBIT lover’s must-visit list, with the opening of the restaurant Piazza Duomo, this town of 30,000 Rome’s Scuderie Quirinali will host the has reached new heights with gourmet largest solo show ever devoted to 15th travelers.The restaurant occupies the second century Sicilian artist Antonello da Messina floor of a 17th century building just steps between March 18 and June 25, 2006. away from the town’s Duomo. Da Messina is credited with bringing little- known oil painting techniques to Venice in Owned by the Ceretto wine family, Piazza Piazza Duomo’s minimalist, modern interior Duomo, which opened last May, is led by 1475. design — pink walls, beige fabric chairs and 34-year-old Milanese chef Enrico Crippa. white tablecloths — provides a blank canvas The exhibition will include 39 of the 45 Crippa has worked with Gualtiero Marchesi for the innovative food.The restaurant’s surviving masterpieces attributed to the in Milan and at La Palme d’Or in Cannes and service is top notch and with owners like the 7 artist.Art historians credit da Messina Ledoyen in . He also trained in Japan, “Barolo brothers” of Ceretto, the wine list which explains the abundance of seafood and with also introducing Flemish styles to here is exceptional. Reportedly, Piazza Asian influences in his cooking. Critics have Duomo expects to receive two Michelin Venice.While he produced many religious compared Crippa with the famed Ferran Adria stars. commissions, it was da Messina’s miniature of Spain’s El Bulli. Adria may be best known For those seeking a more casual atmosphere, portraits that brought him renown across for the use of foam in his creations. Piazza Duomo operates the trattoria La Piola Italy. On a recent visit, we didn’t experience out- on the first floor of the building, featuring In March, Florence will honor rageous dishes in the tradition of Adria, but one local dish per day and a selection of Medici court sculptor better yet, a wonderful mix of traditional local wines, meats and cheeses. Piedmontese fare with modern and interna- Giambologna with the largest tional twists.The appetizers included: PIAZZA DUOMO show ever devoted to his steamed focaccia with lard and rabbit; rice Piazza Risorgimento, 4 Alba works. Museo Bargello will macaroni seasoned with sesame and salt; (39) 0173 366167 bring together the sculptor’s wontons filled with ricotta and lime; rabbit www.piazzaduomoalba.it bronze, silver and marble liver mousse. Open for lunch and dinner Tuesday through Sunday. creations between March 2 The courses following included: artichoke Reservations recommended. and June 15, 2006. Giambologna was puree with thinly sliced potato; fresh cod actually a Flemish sculptor born in France salad with a green sauce; egg pasta pockets with the name Jean Bologne. Once he filled with potato and leeks in broth; veal moved to Florence, the sculptor came shoulder cooked in Barolo with polenta. The meal ended with a chestnut cream creation under the influence of Michelangelo. as well as a refreshing gelatin of Moscato The U.S. Embassy in Rome is loaning wine with oranges. Giambologna’s Cesarini Venus to the show. to be inhabited by witches and monsters. St. Francis continued from page 5

red room on directed at the church in Rome and the the roof; in the Italian government, which made the Marche, the restoration of the art in Francis’ basilica Feronia on the a priority after the devastating 1997 main piazza in earthquake, and left many residents of San Severino, damaged houses to languish in trailers. where our spa- cious room Tourism may rule, but then again, was decorated every hill town in Italy is envious of Courtesy of Harvey Loomis Basilica of St. Francis in a dizzying Assisi. And understandably so. array of flow- Barrie Kerper is the author of The Collected cress or arugula sandwiches were ers — on the Traveler series, and her Tuscany & Umbria edition

always fresh and delicious. The Auto- Courtesy of Harvey Loomis walls, on the includes two excellent pieces about Assisi, one by Jan Grill has other “fast” foods as well, bed, on the painted ceiling. Morris (written 8 years before the 1997 earthquake), including sausages, fresh pizza, good the other by Manuela Hoelterhoff (written one year after it). She also shares Francke’s enthusiasm for the local wines, fresh blood-orange juice Much more elegant was the Rocco Auto-Grill, which emphasizes one of the major differ- and great coffee. Locanda, a reconstructed 13th century ences between Italy and the U. S., and dreams of the inn on the Adriatic Sea in Sirolo, where day when someone introduces the concept in the Our most memorable meal came about we stayed in the same room Francis States. on the Isola Maggiore in Lake did. We found all these hotels on the Trasimeno because, happily, we missed Internet and booked in advance. WHERE TO STAY the ferry back to the mainland. & EAT We ate lunch at the Da Sauro hotel and DOI: How do contemporary residents Hotel Ristorante restaurant, right on the main street of Assisi feel about St. Francis and the 8 Da Sauro under big umbrellas in the sun. The lat- level of tourism he has brought? Via Guglielmi, 1 terini fritti (crisp whitebait) and Isola Maggiore vitello tonnato have never tasted better. LBF: Assisians are very proud of their (39) 075 826168 saints — and grateful for the prosperi- We twice stayed for a week in a ty they have brought to Assisi. Besides Grand Hotel lovely house we rented near Perugia, the many restaurants and hotels Quattro Stagioni which we found through supported by visitors to Assisi, shops Piazza Cesare Battisti, 14 www.italianvillas.com. all over the hill town sell Francis Rieti souvenirs, from ashtrays and plates (39) 0765 On the road, we stayed for the most with his likeness on them to wine — (yes, this is the complete part in 3-star hotels or bed and break- St. Francis on the red, St. Clare on the phone number) fasts, all of which were very comfort- white. Centro Storico able and had en-suite bathrooms. Our Via Vignes, 2/b one 4-star, for a 3-star price, was sim- The only complaints we heard were Lecce ply superb: the Quattro Stagione in (39) 0832 242727 Rieti. The bedroom and sitting room VISITING THE [email protected] were huge and the little balcony over- HERMITAGES looked a quiet piazza rimmed with Hotel Ristorante Feronia medieval buildings. We also took the The best resource for planning a visit to Piazza del Popolo, 96 time to eat very well in Rieti, shep- any of the hermitages in the Rieti Valley San Severino herded by Rita Giovannelli (e-mail: rieti- (Fonte Colombo, Greccio, La Foresta (39) 0733 645762 [email protected]) a one-woman and/or Poggio Bustone) is the organiza- tourism dynamo in Rieti and environs. tion St. Francis Walk (Cammino di Rocca Locanda Via Torrione, 1 Francesco), located in the town of Rieti. Sirolo Other favorite hotels were funkier: Call (39) 0746 201146 or visit (39) 071 9330558 Centro Storico, a 16th-century B&B in www.camminodifrancesco.it www.locandarocco.it Lecce, where we were assigned a bright St. Rufino is the patron saint of Assisi.

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