INSIDE: ROME: Rent Historic Properties 2 Florence Finds 5 Sleeping Slow Food Extravaganza 6 Rome’s Rose Garden Palace 7 Where Keats Segway Tours 7 Died he keys—two small, one long Italian Tourism Board Italian Tourism Florence’s Ponte Vecchio T and heavy—came in the mail. With a clunk and a jingle, they fell from an envelope with a United Kingdom postmark dream of onto our dining table in Brooklyn, N.Y. We hand- carried the keys to Rome and used them to open our way to a stay in a house beside the Spanish Steps— the one where poet John Keats died of tuberculosis (and complications of lovesickness) 185 years ago.

ITALYVolume 5, Issue 3 www.dreamofitaly.com April 2006 My wife and I rented the apartment from the Landmark Trust, a British brainchild that raises money from charities to save centuries-old wrecks FLORENCE SOLO: nobody will live in, and then restores them. In some cases, the restoration The Highs & Lows of Going Alone takes years and costs millions of dol- lars. To generate the funds to main- was determined to see tion being lushly painted pillowy, tain the homes, the Trust rents them Florence, and billowing figures that appear out to hotel-jaded travelers like me. sooner rather likely to overflow outsized than later. canvases). Quirky is the Landmark Trust’s Why Florence? Perhaps leitmotif. It buys several old proper- all the glowing references As for the sense of urgency— ties a year, and now has 183 towers, I’ve read about the beauty of I think of my mother, regret- chapels, follies and forts, mostly in the city, or the ravings (and I fully wishing that she’d Britain but also in Italy. One of the do mean ravings) from family gone to Stockbridge, in newest spots available to travelers: and friends about its abun- western Massachusetts, to “the Ruin,” an 18th-century mock dant art treasures had see the Norman Rockwell ruin in North Yorkshire that has been taken over that part of Museum. It wasn’t far from restored to its original ruined state. my brain that stores “next trip” Rhinebeck, N.Y., where she (Guests are advised to reach the toilet bytes. And, my well-traveled and my father had retired, but by “flitting” across “a moonlit ter- brother’s observation that Florence has something else always took priority. race.”) The roster includes the more art per square foot than any other I didn’t want to have a so deeply felt Pineapple, a 1777 neoclassical house, city impressed me. regret. also in North Yorkshire, that has a gigantic you-guessed-it on the roof. I’ve never met a museum I didn’t like, I’ve been single for a few years after a and although it has taken me some long marriage, and I enjoy my own The stock of landmark homes avail- years to fully appreciate the extraordi- company [she said, modestly]. I’ve able to travelers has been steadily nary qualities of medieval painters, traveled happily with friends (three increasing over the years. In addition I’ve become a convert (the one excep- continued on page 4 continued on page 2 Dante called Florence “the most beautiful and most famous daughter of Rome.” Sleeping Where Keats Died continued from page 1 “I confess to feeling a shame I actually lived in one of the to the homes in the U.K. and Italy, Naulakha, near Brattleboro, where As with its counterparts in other coun- Ireland and the U.S. each now have a Rudyard Kipling wrote the Jungle tries, the trust, based in Maidenhead, Landmark Trust. Interest in renting his- Books. Landmark Trust USA used to be Berkshire, protects its buildings from toric properties has picked up in recent an arm of the British group but is typical vacation-rental shocks such as years as business travelers now independent. Its properties next-door gas stations and views of spend increasing amounts of are also available for rent. lead smelters. It is involved in a court time in chain hotels and battle in Italy over an autostrada project want an alternative during For whimsical scope, the that is within sight of its 16th century their vacations, according to British Landmark Trust takes villa near Venice, designed by Andrea travel analysts. One sign of the cake. The most popular Palladio. that: the popularity of Scottish properties tend to be towers, castles as places to stay. generally sleeping four, that As we learned during our two-night range from about $792 to $1,443 for stay on Piazza di Spagna, the trust does- In the U.S., Landmark Trust USA has three days. Also popular are the larger n’t overprotect its guests. We were told salvaged four houses in Vermont (three country homes suitable for gatherings not to appear at the house before 4 in the past three years) including such as family reunions. p.m., despite my wife’s 7 a.m. touch- The Details...

Landmark Trust LANDMARK TRUST where Keats spent his last Sant’ Antonio (44) 01628 825925 PROPERTIES IN days.“Every tall shuttered Tivoli (near Rome) www.landmarktrust.org.uk ITALY window has a view almost unchanged since the days 2 This building preservation Prices below are the starting This old monastery of the Grand Tour,” charity rescues and restores rates, per night, to rent the contains remnants of according to the architecturally interesting entire property. Properties thousands of years of Landmark Trust. Sleeps and historic buildings at risk, must be booked for a history including walls of four. ($453) giving them a future by rent- minimum of three nights. a villa dating to 60 B.C. ing them for self-catering and believed to have belonged to the poet Horace. vacations. Once a building The simple rooms have shuttered windows over- becomes a Landmark, its looking a valley and a waterfall. Sleeps 12. ($462) vacation rental income pays for its upkeep. Money to save other buildings at risk Villa Saraceno is raised in other ways. Finale (Vicenza) Full details of all 183 Although the Veneto is Landmark Trust buildings sprinkled with 16th- are available in the 40th Casa Guidi century villas designed anniversary edition of the Piazza San Felice, Florence by Andrea Palladio,Villa Saraceno, built as a country Landmark Trust retreat and working farm, is the only one that can be Handbook, the price of Once the home of poets rented like this. Enjoy restored frescoes in the grand which can be refunded Keats-Shelley House Robert and Elizabeth room, sitting room and loggia, an open fireplace and against the first booking. Piazza di Spagna, Rome Barrett Browning, Casa enclosed garden. Sleeps 16. ($520) The Handbook can be The third-floor apartment Guidi was purchased by bought through the has been refurbished to the Browning Institute in Landmark USA office for look as it did in 1800, 1971 and refurbished to $25. Call (802) 254-6868. — Kathy McCabe almost identical to the appear as it did when the second-floor rooms young couple lived there. 1 € = $1.23 at press time Sleeps six. ($384) Keats did not write a single line of eful smugness in being able to pretend for a couple of days that best houses in one of the best locations in one of the best cities.” down. So, keys in Keats death We fell asleep to the babble of tourists her pocket, she mask, a lock of on the steps, and awoke, staring up at checked her bag at his hair and a those trompe l’oeil rosettes, to the bab- the train station and rental receipt for ble of the Bernini fountain beneath our went to look at art. his piano. shutters. At 10 a.m. on our second morning, the Landmark Trust’s house- We prefer eat-in Keats would keepers came and hustled us out. We kitchens to room surely recognize lugged our bags down to the street to service, and I confess the apartment’s look for a cab in the rain. Then my to feeling a shameful four big rooms, wife put the keys to the apartment into The Keats apartment smugness in being able to with their stone floors, the trust’s prepaid envelope, and we pretend for a couple of days faded rugs, oak chests popped them back into the post. that I actually lived in one of and oil portraits. The the best houses in one of the bathroom, a full kitchen, — Barry Newman, best locations in one of the and an old short-wave The Wall Street Journal

best cities. At $570 a night, radio are the anachro- Reprinted by permission of The Wall Street our digs on the Spanish nisms. (The radio didn’t Journal, Copyright © 2006 Dow Jones & Steps were worth it. On the work.) Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved Worldwide. other hand, if you want 5- License number 1453730605947. star coddling in Rome, stay One evening, we walked at the Hotel de Russie (cost: to a salumeria and about $820 a night for a brought back wine, medium-size room with a cheese, bread, olives and queen bed). Piazza di Spagna prosciutto. We dined at dream of 3 home, at a long dark-wood table One floor below our apartment was guarded by a large Roman head with a the Keats-Shelley House, which occupies broken nose. ITALY the rooms where Keats, staring at the Kathleen A. McCabe blue and white trompe l’oeil rosettes Publisher and Editor-In-Chief on the ceiling, raved and hemorrhaged for more than three months until his Copy Editor: Stephen J. McCabe Editorial Assistant: Shauna Maher death on Feb. 21, 1821. (The $570 Design: Leaird Designs doesn’t get you into the museum.) www.leaird-designs.com

Dream of Italy, the subscription newsletter covering The building was rescued from demo- Italian travel and culture, is published 10 times a year. lition a century ago. An 18th-century Delivery by mail is $79 per year in the United States and $95 abroad. An Internet subscription (download- facelift on a 16th-century frame, it was able PDF) costs $69 per year. Subscriptions include derelict when eight American writers The Keats-Shelley online access to back issues and regular e-mail updates. led by Robert Underwood Johnson Three ways to subscribe: 1. Send a check to Dream of Italy, P.O. Box 5496, raised $21,000 to buy it in 1906. House Museum Washington, DC, 20016 2. Call 1-877-OF-ITALY (toll free) or 202-237-0657 To help restore the property, Marshall Piazza di Spagna, 26 3. Subscribe online at www.dreamofitaly.com (Visa, Mastercard and American Express accepted) Field gave $50, Andrew Carnegie (39) 06 6784235 www.keats-shelley-house.org Editorial feedback is welcome. $2,000, the Mermaid Club of Indiana E-mail: [email protected] University $15. The Keats apartment Open: Monday through Friday, Advertising opportunities are available. (its furniture was burned when he 9 a.m. to 1p.m. and 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.; E-mail: [email protected] died; the current pieces weren’t in the Saturday, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Copyright © 2006 Dream of Italy, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction in whole or part without per- apartment when the poet was a resi- and 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. mission is prohibited. Every effort is made to provide dent) became a shrine to English Tickets: 3.50€ per person information that is accurate and reliable; however, Dream of Italy cannot be responsible for errors that Romantic poetry. It has 8,000 books, a may occur. ISSN 1550-1353 www.dreamofitaly.com poetry during his time in Rome. Florence Solo continued from page 1

years ago to Prague and Budapest) and day trip to Siena. (I could have used with my son to Ireland two years ago. a spreadsheet to track openings, A teacher, he’s engaged to a wonderful closings, and lunch hours for all the young woman who’s in medical school places on my long list of “must-sees.”) and (understandably) a trip to Florence with his mother wasn’t on his agenda— I was rewarded by a leisurely stroll or in his budget. Coordinating sched- through mostly deserted, magnificent ules seems to become more difficult galleries, the warmth of the sun on a all the time, so I decided to coordinate bench in the Boboli Gardens with sever- my own and make plans when it al tabby cats for company, and a glass suited me. of wine in the palace courtyard while I contemplated my next stop. Yes, I Having missed the opportunity to join would have enjoyed Siena, but I’m not good friends and amicable traveling place to visit—I interpreted a raise and unhappy with my last-minute choice. companions on a Florence/Siena a bonus as signs that I was meant to adventure several years ago, because enjoy the fruits of my labor in Italy. An I also could enjoy wandering as I the invitation came too late to re- Air France promotion this past wanted and fill in my “must-sees” arrange my work schedule, I wasn’t November—choose a European city with unexpected finds, such as the inclined to sit around. Another friend for $300, and add a second for another bookstore in the Piazza della Repubblica, volunteered to come with me last fall, $50—was simply confirmation of my the Edison (I like bookstores even more but she wanted to see Rome and Florentine travel destiny. than museums) and the stalls around Venice, too, on her first visit to Italy. the San Lorenzo Market that held won- That seemed a reasonable decision for What I loved about going solo derful choices for family mementoes. 4 her, but I’d seen those glorious cities I ambled down alleys, particularly and wanted more than a day or so One joy of traveling alone is that you around Santa Croce, to see what lay in with the wonders of Florence. [Note: can do what you want; last-minute store, just because a colorful doorway She’s been and returned, and is talking itinerary changes won’t throw anyone or a flowering window box caught my about her next trip to Italy. Perhaps the else off. When I learned that the Pitti eye. two of us will enjoy Sicily.] Palace would be open on a day I had expected it to be closed—the time had Traveling solo also allowed me the lux- The more I thought about it, the clearer changed from when my guidebook ury of eating when I wanted. I’m usu- it was to me that Florence was my next was printed—I canceled a tentative continued on page 8 Polo Museale Fiorentino Polo Palatine Gallery, Pitti Palace Italian Tourism Board Italian Tourism Duomo

Cafe Gilli Polo Museale Fiorentino Polo Goflorence.it Boboli Gardens Pitti Palace Florence's Uffizi is the world's oldest gall My Florence Finds

Nile-green shade), barley-pumpkin Madova Where to Stay soup, ravioli with mushrooms and truf- Via Guicciardini, 1R fles, bass enpapillote with string (39) 055 2396526 Hotel Brunelleschi beans, accompanied by a glass of www.madova.com Piazza Santa Elisabetta, 3 lovely new red wine, and finished by a Rows of leather (39) 055 27370 scoop of mango sorbet. www.hotelbrunelleschi.it gloves are meticu- lously arranged in Café Gilli This hotel was recommended by a this tiny shop on the Piazza della Repubblica, 36-39r cousin (single and female) who travels Oltrarno side of the (39) 055 213896 to Paris and Ponte Vecchio www.gilli.it Florence frequent- (facing the Oltrarno, ly; friendly and Yes, it’s a tourist spot and not cheap, it’s at 11 a.m. on a comfortable, and but that doesn’t detract from its clock). I loved just practically next wonderful location, around the corner looking at them all, in amazing shades door to the (almost) from the Duomo with its and hues. A dark green pair won me Duomo. My room exceptional opportunities for people- and my hands, for about $40. overlooked the watching. Gilli is frequented by street, and on a everyone from elegantly dressed Libreria Edison warm Saturday Hotel Brunelleschi grandmothers to hurrying students to Piazza della Repubblica 27/r night with the windows open, it Italian businessmen. Try the delectable (39) 055 213110 5 seemed as noisy as any New York pastries. www.libreriaedison.it City avenue. Still, the nightly rate of 90€ with breakfast, was a good one. Spend time browsing through a selec- (November is considered off-season. Where to Shop tion of best-sellers in English and a The hotel Web site currently quotes a plenty of guide books on Florence and € Italy. Internet café upstairs. rate of 245 per night for a single.) Furla Via della Vigna Nuova, 28r Where to Eat Via Calzaiuoli, 47r What to See The two Florence locations offer hand- L’Osteria di Giovanni bags and accessories at prices only San Marco Museum marginally less expensive than the Via Del Moro, 18/20/22 Piazza San Marco, 3 Furla store in New York. I ran my (39) 055 284897 (39) 055 2388608 fingers up and down, and along, small www.osteriadigiovanni.it www.firenzemusei.it/sanmarco and large Tickets: 4€ per person I’m not sure that I have the words to bags, and describe, adequately, the food and the succumbed The only word to describe the works ambiance of this charming restaurant to the allure of Fra Angelico is “heavenly.” Their at the end of Via del Moro near the of a wine- delicate lines and majestic wings, Arno. You read about Giovanni in the colored and the exquisite shades of gold, all June 2005 issue of Dream of Italy, beauty, large enough to stash a note- contribute to a glory that I haven’t and every word was true. I would book, a newspaper, and a book or found in other works of art. It was a have eaten all my meals there if I’d two. humbling and uplifting experience to gone sooner in my stay. Here’s one find these masterpieces in the dining experience: a glass of corridors and cells of a former € Prosecco, bread with new olive oil (a 1 = $1.23 at press time monastery. ery and the most popular museum in Italy. News, Tips, Deals Plan Now to Attend Slow Food’s Biannual Extravaganza

oodies from around the world have spices as well as international offerings, www.nationaltrust.org) and Food Artisans F been waiting nearly two including foods in danger of extinc- (805-963-7289; www.foodartisans.com) years for one of the foremost tion. In addition, special dinners, offer culinary tours that coincide with gourmet events in the world— slow food tours and workshops C the Salone.A five-day pass will cost Slow Food’s Salone del Gusto Bwill be offered. 40€ for Slow Food members and (Hall of Taste).This celebration of 60€ for non-members. Daily passes Those who want to visit the premier gastronomic culture, held every other will also be available. For more information Slow Food event can benefit from the October in Turin,will take place October visit, www.slowfood.it and added hotel rooms now available 26 to 30, 2006 in the Lingotto Fiere. www.salonedelgusto.com (which will in Turin as a result of the recent The exhibition hall will be filled soon be updated with 2006 details). Winter Olympics. The with hundreds of stalls devoted to National Trust for Historic G Italian meats, cheeses, grains and q Preservation (800-944-NTHP;

GET UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL 6 Rome’s WITH A FLORENTINE FRESCO Ara Pacis Visitors can don hardhats and visiting four of the eight floors of clamber up scaffolding for a scaffolding that will keep the Reopens close-up on early Renaissance painting under wraps until 2010. Over ten years ago,American architect frescos undergoing cleaning in The window of opportunity is a Richard Meier was commissioned to Florence.This extraordinary con- large one, but like many things design a new home for the Ara Pacis, a struction site is the Church of worth doing in Italy, it does marble altar constructed by Roman Santa Croce. The work? A fresco require a bit of organization. Emperor Augustus in 9 B.C. to celebrate cycle by Agnolo Gaddi depicting Visits can be scheduled three the “Legend of the True Cross,” his victory over Spain and Gaul. Meier’s days a week (Friday, Saturday which has graced church walls glass building —the first new structure and Sunday) from 10 a.m. to since 1380.

in Rome’s center since World War II— Jen Henson 4 p.m. on Friday and Saturday opened in Piazza Augusto Imperatore on Gaddi, a prolific painter with a gift and 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday. April 21, the anniversary of the founding for vivid narrative, was trained by his father Reserve well in advance by calling (39) 055 of Rome. After viewing an exhibition on Taddeo, the star pupil of Giotto. 2645184 or sending a fax (English is fine) to the history of the white marble piece, Commissioned by the powerful Alberti family, (39) 055 2656761 between the hours of 9 the public can now visit the altar in spe- Gaddi covered the 3,280 square foot chancel a.m. and 1 p.m., Monday to Friday. Last-minute cially air-conditioned room, bathed in with murals and stained glass relating to a tour reservations can be snapped up by plenty of natural light.The building also 13th-century legend of a cross that is capable checking in where the audio guides are rented of resurrection.After centuries of smoke and at the back of the church in Largo Bargellini. features a rooftop café overlooking the dirt, the fresco is getting a painstaking cleaning Entrance: 10€ per person. Children under 12 Tiber. Entrance: 6€ per person. Call (39) that will bring it back to life. are not allowed. 06 82059127 for more information. Groups of up to ten (with audio guides in five —Nicole Martinelli, zoomata.com languages) can get an eyeful of the work while 1 € = $1.23 at press time “Rome is a world, and it would take years and Events G A Rose in Bloom Let the Wine Flow One of the highlights of spring for Italian wine Just Off Via Veneto lovers is the annual Cantine Aperte (Open Cellars) celebration that takes place the last ome’s Rose Garden Palace Hotel was one of the best and most surprising finds Sunday in May. On May 28 of this year, wineries Rof a recent visit to the Eternal City.The 4-star property has a location that across Italy will throw open their doors between can’t be beat – just a block off the famed Via Veneto, in one 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. and invite the public to taste of the city’s best neighborhoods, and a stone’s throw from their productions either for free or just a small the American Embassy.The Villa Borghese and Spanish fee.The event has been coordinated for 14 years Steps are within a short walk. by the Wine Tourism Movement. Some producers are so excited by the event that they are open- The hotel is partly owned by Steve Perillo, the third gener- ing a day early for guided tours (by appointment ation owner of Perillo Tours.Steve’s late father Mario pio- only).At some wineries, you will be able to buy a neered the concept of tour packages in the 1940s and special Open Cellars 2006 commemorative brought Italian touring to the masses, earning the nickname tasting glass to benefit UNICEF. For more infor- “Mr. Italy.” As a tour mation, visit the Web site of your favorite operator, the younger vineyard to find out if they are opening their Perillo felt it was a natu- cellars or visit www.movimentoturismovino.it ral progression to own a 7 hotel. He and his Italian Segway Tours partner bought this 19th-century building in Hit Florence, Rome 1998 and named it after the rose bushes in the courtyard. If an old-fashioned walking tour just doesn’t do it for you, One might expect a hotel owned by a tour compa- how about seeing the sites of ny to seem impersonal or touristy. In the case of Florence or Rome from the the Rose Garden, nothing can be further from the vantage point of a Segway? truth.The 59-room property feels more like a The thought of mixing the small boutique hotel featuring a cozy lobby, the ultra-modern self-balancing, perfect mix of modern and classic design and ample-size guest rooms offering every personal transportation device amenity.There’s even a small spa and indoor swimming pool. with ancient buildings and Renaissance art may not appeal to some, but for others, it is an Most surprising is that there’s little evidence of organized groups and the hotel exciting way to see these cities in a new way. attracts at least as many European visitors as Rose Garden Palace An English-speaking guide leads a group of six Americans. Guests can enjoy the food of the Via Boncompagni, 19 tourists—each on his or her own Segway—on a hotel restaurant Il Roseto in a formal dining room (39) 06 421741 three-hour tour of the highlights of either city. or at the bar.The chef’s delicious minestrone www.rosegardenpalace.com Participants get 30 min- makes the perfect late-afternoon snack, when utes of training on using Rates: A double with breakfast dinner is still hours away. starts at 300€ per night during a Segway before the tour. high season.The hotel offers The quality of the Rose Garden Palace makes it Price: 75€ per person. special weekend rates and seem like it should be classified as a 5-star hotel, For more information or packages that can bring the such as the Westin Excelsior just around the to make reservations, call cost of a double down to corner. But guests at the Rose Garden will pay (39)055 291958 or visit € about 275 a night. far less than their neighbors for a satisfying stay. www.segwayfirenze.com to become a true citizen of it.” —Goethe Florence Solo continued from page 1

ally a creature of habit about lunchtime, about 15 years ago. Two natives “Look at my splurge at Furla. This but one day, the lavish breakfast at the engaged me in earnest conversation, wonderful bag—big enough for a Hotel Brunelleschi was particularly fill- while I explained, apologetically, in newspaper, a guide book—and it’s so ing (I can’t resist freshly baked rolls poor French and worse Italian that I Italian.” with butter and jam), so I didn’t eat spoke English only. They again until almost 3 p.m. when I col- had bypassed my son and “The glove shop across lapsed into a chair on the terrace at the his father, dressed in the Arno is as great as Café Gilli, one of the oldest in Florence. short-sleeved shirts, my godmother said!” Fortunately, the weather in early shorts, and sneakers and November was sufficiently warm to sit to stop me, the woman And, leaving the splen- outdoors with little more than a light dressed in a long cotton dors of the Rodin sweater or jacket. And what did I dress and sandals. Mary Service catches up with her son Tim Museum in Paris (on the crave—a spinach omelette and an after returning from Florence. second half of my trip), espresso. Just as well I was alone—I I took note that the staff at having no one to declare to: “It’s noon, didn’t need anyone to tell me the next the hotel was good in not announcing and I haven’t yet to enter a church! morning why I was still awake. my room number to the lobby’s I guess I’m not in Florence anymore.” Another day, an unexpected shower, occupants—and I was happy with which became a serious downpour, their discretion. Although I kept a journal and wasn’t dictated my lunchtime in a trattoria unhappy to be electronically unteth- along the Arno, where I enjoyed panini By far the smartest thing I did was to ered, writing wasn’t the same as an and wine, while I contemplated the alert credit card companies and the immediate, personal exchange of buildings across the river and speculat- bank that issues my ATM card before delights and discoveries. ed on the lives of their residents. I left, where I would be and when. 8 (What if I was alone without money, or What did I learn? What worked for my solo voyage access to it? Yes, I know the odds were against it, but when I’m being neurotic, I learned much more than I expected I took special precautions because I I’m truly neurotic.) Each company told on my solo trip last fall to Florence—I was traveling alone. I’m usually more me that I was smart to do so; since I’m loved it, but I’ll look for a companion vigilant when I travel—not hard for not in Europe regularly, I may not have on my next adventure. If traveling is as me since I grew up in Manhattan and been able to access cash machines or much about exploring new territory am always aware of who’s around me. charge purchases. I was amused to within one’s self as it is about encoun- Except, of course, when my wallet was hear a report on NPR several weeks tering unknown geography, then stolen from my purse on a Fifth later by a traveler who hadn’t alerted traveling alone can sometimes be a trip Avenue bus (the only time in my life his banking masters and had to call of considerable, and possibly too many, that my bag was unzippered). several companies from London to free solitary dimensions. his assets I’m careful about clothes—cotton, With apologies to Dickens, it was a far, linen, and wool combinations are my What I didn’t like far better thing I did, traveling alone, wardrobe in Europe. No sneakers and than not having gone. For future trips, no jeans, which still proclaim the wear- The hardest part about my trip was I’ll look harder for a friend or a tour. er as an American, no matter how uni- that I missed having someone to share And an opportunity may have fallen versal these items have become. I want stories and observations with, into my lap: I stayed with a grad to look like the cultural and social especially over dinner. school friend and her husband recently. landscape, so I put on protective color- They asked if I would be interested in ing and feel more comfortable. My “I’m in Florence!!!” joining them for part of a two-week reward is being asked for directions in rental in the south of France next year. a language not my own. This hap- “The most touching Annunciation is It may not be Italy but, ah, ma cherie, pened once in Florence; my personal the one by Lorenzini in which Mary bien sur! record is four times in Madrid, but the withdraws from the angel. That’s the —Mary Brady Service most entertaining story occurred in the most natural, initial reaction to the Ercolano train station one summer message.” Two million foreigners visit Florence each year. 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