Voted one of the world's best Travel Podcasts!

I am excited to post that How to Tour Italy was voted one of the best travel podcasts in the world. Check it out here. Download it here and decide for yourself.

Thank you Donald Strachan for your kind words. And thank you Telegraph UK for printing it.

I'm am most grateful and humble.

Context Travel is up for a NatGeo Award!

Context Travel is a finalist in the National Geographic Sustainable Tourism Award.  This is a huge deal and a well deserved honor.  Please click on this link and help Context earn this prestigious award.  http://geotourism.changemakers.com/en-us/node/16599/vote

The Key is fun, the comes understanding

The key is fun, then comes understanding.  What do I mean?  Italy is filled with historical and artistic treasures that can get overwhelming.  Take your time, have fun.  Those terms from art history class aren't really too important.  The key is to soak in the beauty, understand the story that is being portrayed, and then comes understanding.  The most important step is simply having fun.  Then, embrace the story.  Once you do steps 1 and 2 the understanding is a very easy next and final step.  

Don't weigh yourself down with names, dates, and eras beyond the artist's name and the name of the work.  It doesn't matter if the work was gilded, controposto, sfumato, or anything else.  Just soak it in and enjoy.

Watch my video on one of the sculptures from the Loggia in Florence and you'll see what I mean.

Enjoy Italy.  Feed your soul.

Cooking Vacations, Limoncello, and a great view

During the How to Tour Italy Project I have been lucky to enjoy the greatest of Italy.  The best part is everything I have done I've told you about during my show or on a video.  Some of my favorite moments have been the food and cooking segments.  In this segment I enjoy one of the greatest views in Positano at Cooking Vacations...from their deck!  I got to make and drink the best Limoncello I've ever had, and I finally figured out that those huge yellow things aren't lemons at all.

Their are so many great things about Positano, but the food is at the top of the list for me.  That puts the view in second and the view is amazing so you can only imagine how good the food is.   Be sure to take a cooking class at Cooking Vacations to dig in to the culture and cuisine of Positano.

Don't take my word for it.  Watch the videos (link to second video) and listen to the interview on the How to Tour Italy radio show.

The Pantheon

One of my favorite sights in the world the Pantheon always delivers.  It doesn't matter if it is the first time you've seen it or the 1000th...the Pantheon is one of those sights that will send chills down your spine.  I love and every chance I get I sit in awe of it.  I go inside and enjoy the wonderful dome.  I stare at Raphael's tomb reading my favorite epitaph : 

Here lies Raphael.  While he lived Mother Nature feared to be outdone.  When he died she feared to die with him.

I don't think a cooler epitaph exists anywhere.  

I feel lucky when I'm in the Pantheon and a bird is flying around the dome.  It really puts it in perspective.  In fact, on my video from the Pantheon you can see a bird flying around the dome towards the end of the video...cool stuff.

Check out my video for more information on the great Pantheon of Rome.

And remember...Marcus Agrippa built this :)

Stuffed Zucchini Flowers...oh my!

A real Italian treat.  These delightful pockets of Heaven are made differently in each region, but I prefer those from Rome (Lazio).  They are stuffed with Mozzarella cheese and anchovies, then given and egg bath and rolled in flour.  Follow this up with a quick fry and a light dusting of salt and you have one of the best treats you can find in Italy.

Check out my video on how to make Fiori di Zucchi Fritti and you'll be enjoying them at home in no time.

Leather and Mosaics in Florence

Two great things to do in Florence are the Leather School at Santa Croce and the Mosaic School right around the corner.  Both are free and well worth a stop.

The Leather School can be entered through the bookstore at Santa Croce or the side of the church.  The leather isn't cheap, but the quality is exceptional.  You can find smaller items that are affordable and are great for gifts back home.

The Mosaic School on Via Macci is amazing.  You can see firsthand how the masters of old worked with mosaic to create their masterpieces throughout Italy.  Be sure to check out the mosaic of the Sistine Chapel ceiling...OMG.

Check out my video on these two free stops in Florence.  

4 Rivers, a Great Piazza, and Chariot Races

Rome is a lot of things.  It is a city of Fountains.  It is a city of Popes.  It is a city of Emperors.  You can't go to Rome and not visit, in fact, visit often, one of the coolest piazzas in Italy...Piazza Navona.  It was once a chariot racing arena built by the Emperor Domitian.  Bernini built the amazing fountain of Four Rivers in the center.  His sworn enemy built the church and the pope's palace on it.  And today lots of artists, vendors, restaurants, and tourist pack it.

Just off the piazza you can enjoy Rome's most famous outdoor market, paintings by Caravaggio, the Pantheon, and lots lots more.

Check out my video on the Fountain of 4 Rivers and Piazza Navona.

Join me on Twitter: ajcspqr or on Facebook at How to Tour Italy.

Knobby Kneed Lamp-posts of Florence

Florence is a lot of things, but something I especially love are the lamp-posts along the Arno River.  What a great city.  They have taken the time and spent the money to polish something up as simple as a lamp-post.  Since a picture is worth a thousand words I'll just show you.

Graffiti Dripping off of the Walls in Italy

Wow.  The graffiti seems extraordinarily bad this year.  It is literally everywhere and all over everything.  I'm amazed where people will put it too.  In side the Colosseum, on the School of Athens, on every building, on every train, on anything.  Somehow the major sites avoid getting "tagged" but it still really sucks.

I know every major city has its issues with vandalism, but Italy is overrun with it.  I don't like complaining, but maybe it's time someone in Italy did something about it.  I have no idea what to propose, I don't have a solution, so I guess I'm simply venting. 

Enough is enough.

Ranking in the top 5 on iTunes!

I am very excited and happy to report that I am ranking in the top 5 on iTunes in the Places and Travel category right behind that other guy Rick Steves.  I am also happy to report that I'm ranked #30 in the Society and Culture category.  I'm using David as my picture to capitalize on the symbolism.  The little guy taking on the big guy and winning, staring down my competition.  You know...all those things.

Thank you to everyone who subscribed to my podcasts to help me rank so well.

Here is a link to subscribe to the How to Tour Italy podcasts.

Lot's more great stuff to come over the next few months during the How to Tour Italy Project.

Have a great day and remember to Feed your Soul everyday.

The ultimate Italian Experience is at the Market

If you love to travel, if you love to dive in to a culture,  and you love Italy there is no better place to get the real deal experience than the market.  They have everything you could ever want from chairs to tomatoes.    

The real experience is diving in even if you don't speak Italian.  Buy your lunch.  Grab a shirt.  Eat a white peach.  Smell why Italian food is so great...it's because of the fresh daily market.

In Rome go to Campo dei Fiori.  In Florence go to Mercato Sant'Ambrogio (locals).  There is another one in Florence called Mercato San Lorenzo, but it's filled with tourists and worse prices.  That noted the San Lorenzo market has lots of leather vendors so you can barter one against the other to get a great jacket or belt.  Feel free to haggle.  Don't ever pay sticker for anything at the market.  

A word to the wise.  If you are at a market and want to buy some fruit or vegetables you will hear the vendor yell out "one euro" to get your attention.  If you see something you like or want don't point at it right away because they'll often say that what you picked isn't one Euro, but Euro 1,50 or 2,00.  So point at something you don't really want at first, then go for what you want.  

Be sure to visit the market with your camera ready.  Sample the goods before you buy.  And don't buy the first things you see.  Peruse the market, then buy.

La natura e l'arte di Dio

Dante writes La natura e l’arte di Dio (nature is the art of God).

You can see the storm coming in for miles.  Like most things in Italy it is a gradual build-up.  But when it hits it is as fierce as they come.  Perched high atop a Tuscan hill the view from where I sit is exceptional.  The valley seems to have been decorated by a master artisan.  The clouds slowly roll in to cover everything in a cool mist.  The wise olive trees are perfectly placed, while the sad bending and weaving Cypress trees hold their own against the wind.

8 kilometers, 20 minutes by cab, 1 hour by bus if you catch both on time, and about 10 degrees cooler Villamagna seems trapped in history.  The locals speak very little to no English (which I love).  There is one little café, one little restaurant, and small bar.  Nothing seems to have changed here in decades.  Walking into the café you hear the record skip while being greeted with a very warm buon giorno. 

Villamagna is just outside Bagno a Ripoli which is just outside of Florence, but the worlds are so different.  The locals have lived here for generations.  The little house I’ve rented has been in the owner’s family for 3 generations.  That is a foreign concept to most Americans.

It takes some time to beat the American out of me.  Waiting for the bus is a little like therapy.  I walk far too fast for my own good in a hurry to get nowhere.  I barely enjoy my dinner before I’m asking for the check.  But gradually, surely, the American in me seeps out like the comfortable feeling you get when you secretly loosen your belt after a 3 course Tuscan meal.  It is quite good for the soul to let life pass you by while enjoying it.  I’ve come to learn as I do every year that Italy really is a lifestyle and not a destination. 

There are few things as good as Fagioli Uccelletto, the Bargello, or the smell of Villamagna after the rain.  I wonder how many times the serpents tail would encircle me to deliver my fate in Dante’s hell?   I’m guessing four times around due to my avarice nature.  I seem to squander things away with no thought of tomorrow.  I hope my search within my soul that began so many years ago leads me to Beatrice and inner peace.  If it doesn’t I can say that I truly gave it everything and I’m ok with that.

 

Real Deal Limoncello

Real Deal Limoncello! 

This recipe comes courtesy of Cooking Vacations and Lauren who was given this recipe from her friend Antoni0.

Limoncello is an authentic elixir that is suitable as an aperitif, a digestivo, or as an evening drink with friends.  The ingredients for Limonello are simple and few, and making a batch does not require much work.

If you are trying this recipe and aren’t living in Positano than I suggest, as a first step, washing the lemons you buy from the store in vegetable and fruit wash thoroughly.  You want to remove all of the waxy coating on it so that it looks good on the shelf at the store.  That is the major difference between food in Italy and the U.S.  In Italy food is judged by how it tastes, not how it looks.  You’ll rarely, if ever, find any produce with wax or a shining agent on it.

5 organic lemons (thoroughly washed)

2 cups of everclear

2 cups of sugar

2 cups of water

Take a large glass jar with a sealable lid.  Wash the lemons and pat them dry.  Remove the zest with a potato peeler.  Take only the skin leaving the pith (the white stuff between the skin and the fruit of the lemon).

Fill the jar with the everclear and drop in the skin of the 5 lemons you have peeled.  Seal the jar and store in a cool, dry place.  Every day pick up the jar and swirl it around.  After 6 days (it can go as long as 14, but no longer) you combine it as follows:

Bring the water to a boil and add the sugar.  Melt it to a simple sugar.  Let it cool to room temperature.  Pour into the glass jar with the lemons and everclear.  Swirl around.  Then strain into a bottle. 

Store it in the freezer and enjoy ice cold.

Thank you Lauren and Cooking Vacations.  

Check out the video on www.howtotouritaly.com on how we made Limoncello from the Cooking Vacations balcony overlooking Positano…amazing.

You’ll also learn a thing or two about those huge “lemons” you see in the Amalfi Coast.

Well Mr. Steinbeck your essay worked

Positano and the Amalfi Coast as a whole is one of the most beautiful spots in Italy.  I am looking forward to exploring lesser known regions to find a local comparison, but for now the A.C. is it.  Mr. Steinbeck wrote "it is difficult to consider tourism an industry because there aren't enough tourists."  That has certainly changed.  It's booming with tourists.  As well it should.  Like any popular spot there is a reason and the reason is it's amazing.

It is one of those things.  Someone tells someone and all of a sudden it's out there.  The A.C. has been host to day-trippers and the wealthy for quite some time, but it can certainly be enjoyed as a local.

I have to admit that I'm not a beach guy so the A.C. on the surface doesn't do it for me.  Once you get here and start to dig in you find a whole new world.  A world of small local cafes, little markets, fantastic terrace gardens, huge lemons, clinging clouds, insane Vespa drivers, and some of the nicest people you'll ever meet.

My advice for the A.C. is simple...don't take a day trip here or there.  If you're in the A.C. be in the A.C.  Don't try to hit each town in a day with a home base in Sorrento...you miss all the fun.  The towns have a different life entirely at night when the boats take the sore and weary Americans home.  (I write sore because you'll walk up so many steps that it's best not to think about it.  Buy some great shoes and go for it.) The smart ones stay here and enjoy it at night.

It is expensive, but if you do it right you'll be good.  

1.  Don't eat at the seaside restaurants.  Great food, but insanely expensive.

2.  Buy some fruit, bread, cheese, salami, from the in town, top of the hill markets and walk down to the beach for a little picnic.

3.  Hit the cafes like Bar International on Via Chiesa Nuova for an espresso.

4.  Ask the locals where they eat and go there.

5.  Don't assume everyone speaks English.  Be p0lite and begin the conversation by asking if they speak English...in Italian if you can.

6.  Go to Capri, go to Ischia, and go to Procida.  Be sure to stay the night to enjoy the local side of things.

7.  Enjoy anything with lemons and olive oil.  The combination here is the best I've ever had.  I truly love the Italian Anchovies (not salty) with lemon juice and olive oil.  This is one of the best snacks i've ever enjoyed.

8.  Treat yourself to some plump green olives and prosecco on the beach.  Or, take Hande's advice from Vino Roma and order a Franciacorta instead.  I have to admit it...I like it better too.  :)

Explore the A.C. and let it touch your soul like it has since the Augustus and some of the worlds most beloved writers.  

How the How to Tour Italy Project will work

How the How to Tour Italy Project will work

The best, most hidden, tastiest, most fun, most interesting, and most beautiful of Italy will be delivered during the How to Tour Italy Project.

Let’s say I’m in Rome doing an episode on the Pantheon.  I’ll do the Radio show live from in front of, in, and around the Pantheon talking about all the things that make the Pantheon great like the fact that all of the columns came from a mine in Egypt.  Each of the columns were cut to fit in Egypt and sent by barge to Rome and placed where they are today.  It takes over 6 people holding hands to circle each column.  I may also talk about how the great Renaissance artist Raphael is buried there and that his unfinished painting Transfiguration was shown at his memorial, and that...you get the idea.

As I’m doing the radio show I’ll  record a video so you can hear and see all the great stuff about the Pantheon.  As I’m doing the radio show and recording the video I’ll be doing a Twittcast for all the Twitterers (is that a word) out there.  How will I do the Twittcast while doing the radio show and shooting the video you wonder?  It’s top secret or I may have someone in Italy helping me.

Once the episode is done I’ll post it on www.howtotouritaly.com and add some pictures since they’re worth a thousand words plus drop a post on the How to Tour Italy Blog about the Pantheon, update my Facebook Fan Page and status, and finally turn the radio show and video into a podcast and add it to iTunes...all on the Pantheon.

You’ll be able to follow along with each post on www.howtotouritaly.com in order as it’s all happening, or select the region of Italy you want to learn more about and go from there.  You can also select by artist, masterpiece, or topic.  Keep in mind you can tell me where to go and what to do on Twitter, via email, on Facebook, or on my blog.

Here are some of the topics I’ll be covering to give you an idea of what to expect:

Professor Langdon’s adventure from Angels & Demons in order as I share each sight he encounters with a twist, Caravaggio’s paintings at San Luigi dei Francesi in Rome, Why espresso is so much better in Naples, The beautiful sunflowers of Tuscany, Grappa from its home town, the coolest bridge in Italy (it’s not what you may think), Paduan Hens, white asparagus of Bassano, black bread, beer, and speck in Trentino-Alto Adige, Italian fondue in Aosta, the riches of the Loggia in Florence, Find Italy’s best food region (I have my opinions, but I’ll let the food do the talking), do a radio show from the Roman Amphitheater in Fiesole using the natural acoustics, and much more.

I already have some excellent guests lined up.  I’ll be doing a wine tasting with Vino Roma in Rome, walking tours with Eden walks, showcasing one of the best B&B’s in Florence, and...well, you get the idea.

The best, most hidden, tastiest, most fun, most interesting, and most beautiful of Italy will be delivered during the How to Tour Italy Project.

The sexiest prison

In the center of Florence you'll find the sexiest prison you'll ever see.  It didn't start out that way though.  It used to be the center of the government.  It didn't turn into a prison until the 16th century when the police headquarters were moved here and prison cells added.

It is now one of the best museums in Florence; The Bargello.  The exterior is divine.  The courtyard perfect.  The collections are amazing and contain masterpieces from some of Italy's most famous artists like Michelangelo, Donatello, Brunelleschi, Ghiberti, Giambologna, Cellini, and Verrocchio.  

You can see a Michelangelo's Drunk Bacchus, Donatello's naked David that kicked off the Renaissance, the competitive panels for the Gates of Paradise the spurred on the creation of the most famous Duomo in Italy, Cellini's Ganymede who became the cup-bearer to the gods of Olympus, the world's most famous depiction of the god Mercury by Giambologna, St. George...well, you get the picture.  

This rarely busy museum in the heart of Florence is one of Italy's finest and shouldn't be overlooked on any itinerary.  Very near it you'll find some of the best restaurants in Florence. My favorite B & B (aptly named Il Bargello B & B) that has a superb rooftop patio with a view of that will make you weep, it's right around the corner from Dante's house and Beatrice's tomb, has a great cafe on the opposite corner for a refreshing espresso, and the list goes on and on.

Be sure to listen to next week's radio show for more details.  Touch base on the Unabellavista Fan Page for more write ups this week on the Bargello and the great details behind what makes her collections great like why Michelangelo's Bacchus is different and tipsy, Why Donatello's Naked David is such a big deal, the difference in the competitive panels (let's see if you pick the winner), and much more cool stuff.

Siena, Siena, and more Siena next week on the show

Next week's radio show will cover all things Siena.  We'll start with the best sights.  Discuss the history of the founding of Siena and how the city is tied to Rome.  Then, we'll cover, what is in my opinion, the best lunch spot in Tuscany.  If God came to Siena he would eat here.  The Palio and where to see it.  How to really enjoy the Palio like a local.  Where to study Italian and get the most out of the classroom.  It'll be a great show.  Please tune-in on Thursday from 11:00 - 12:00 in the afternoon on Talkzone.com.  If you miss it grab it as a podcast on iTunes.

Dante and his living hell

Dante Alighieri has become Italy's most revered poet, but it took a while.  He was exiled from his beloved Florence due to his political association with the losing team, the White Guelphs. (The details of the political struggle is for another day...suffice it so say, as most fights occurred then, it was between the Pope and Power base of Florence.

To be exiled was a living torture.  Dante writes of it in Paradiso Canto XVII

"This is the arrow that the bow of exile shoots first.  You are to know the bitter taste of other's bread, how salty it is, and know how hard a path it is for one who goes ascending and descending other's stairs."

Close your eyes and think of what it would be like to never be allowed to go home again...ever.  You'll never see your family, friends, or the barista who knows just how you like your morning coffee on Saturday.  You'll never walk into your home to that comfortable, familiar smell that is your comforting home.  Dante's Italy wasn't like Italy of today where people get around on the trains and visit other cities.  Many lived their lives without ever leaving home...ever.  Exile was living hell.  Especially for Dante who loved his Florence so.

Dante's hell didn't even start with his exile.  His unrequited love was the stuff of legend.  In fact he loved his Beatrice so much that he made her his guide in Paradiso (Heaven).  She only spoke to him in life a couple of times.  His love was mostly from a distance.  He yearned for her and his love was never returned.  In fact, she barely knew who he was.  The best way to put yourself in Dante's shoes is to think back to high school when you were eating lunch on the uncool table and never thought to even speak to him or her for fear of rejection.  That burning love that never seems to go away even today.  That was Dante's love for Beatrice.

Near Dante's home in Florence is a little church that Beatrice and her family attended.  She is buried there.  It is worth a visit, unlike Dante's home which isn't.  At Beatrice's tomb you'll find baskets of letters written to Beatrice for her divine help in love.  There are letters from school children, teenagers, young adults...even those in their golden years.  It's amazing.  That fact of the matter is that Beatrice was the object of love and didn't really do anything to return love to Dante.  She has been immortalized as the divine guide in the Paradiso, but only because Dante's love for her never dwindled.

I think Dante would be happy to know that a monument in his honor is in Santa Croce and that he is "buried" (He's actually buried in Ravenna) with some of Italy's most famous sons like Michelangelo, Machiavelli, Ghiberti, and Galileo.  I think Dante would be happy to know that his statue is standing in the corridor of fame at the Uffizi.  I think Dante would love to know that his Beatrice is honored today because of his love for her.  

Throughtout his life he lived with and endured torment.  Torment from his local Florentines, torment from his government, torment from his church, and worst of all torment from his beloved Beatrice.  To get a taste of his agony read the Inferno.  To understand his complexity read Purgatorio.  The get a glimpse of his soul read Paradiso.  

Happy Birthday Michelangelo

Today is a great day.  It's sunny and warm in Chicago and it's Michelangelo's Birthday.  I won't be rude and tell you how old he is, but suffice it to say...we'll need a pretty big cake to get all of his candles on it.  Nonetheless, no birthday would be complete without a little discussion about the birthday boy.

1.  Today is his birthday.

2.  Thought his nursemaid gave him his love of sculpture.

3.  Didn't like painting at all.

4.  Considered himself a sculpture first and foremost.

5.  Refused the Pope three times for the job in the Sistine Chapel.

6.  Lorenzo Medici took him in to hone his artistic skill and ability.

7.  Beaten by his uncle and father to dissuade him from pursuing art as a career.

8.  Didn't trust anyone.

9.  Rarely changed clothes.

10.  Didn't eat or drink much.

11.  Was a little grumpy all the time.

12.  Some of his most famous work: David, Pieta, Pieta Ultima, Sistine Chapel Ceiling, Sistine Chapel Altar Wall, Medici Chapel, St. Peter's Dome, Moses, and Pope Julius II's tomb.

13.  Would hate his current tomb...it's not up to his standards.

14.  Motivation was the Belvedere Torso in the Vatican Musuem.

15.  His Risen Christ in Rome is rarely crowded to visit and you can get right up to it.  

16.  Angela Nickerson's book is a great way to get to know Michelangelo.

17.  The How to Tour Italy Radio show segment with Angela is a great way to celebrate Mike's Birthday.

18.  Michelangelo had stinky feet.  Want to find out why?  Click here.

19.  Read the Agony and Ecstasy of Michelangelo for a great fictional and historical read.

20.  Michelangelo died in Rome.

21.  He was smuggled back to Florence after his death by his nephew.

22.  He was laid in state in Santa Croce in the Sacristy on the Main, Central Cabinet.

23.  You can see his unfinished tomb in Florence at the Duomo Museum.

24.  His nose was broken by a fellow artist after Mike criticized his artwork.