Reading and Roaming
RECENT READING Women in Sunlight by Frances Mayes With the publication in 1996 of Under the Tuscan Sun, Frances Mayes shone a spotlight on one of the lovely Italian hill towns in Tuscany. Since then, “her” town of Cortona has become a tourist attraction, and she has milked the area and her life there for several other nonfiction …
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HOME FROM ITALY Our trip to Italy (Rome, Tuscany, and Umbria), was a wonderful break from our real world. Lots of historic art and architecture, charming hill towns, more pasta, pizza, and bruschette than one should consume, dense crowds in Rome and Florence, great traveling companions, and a wealth of new places to discover. After a week …
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On Monday, we had a fascinating tour of several of the remaining artisan workshops on the Oltrano, or other side of the Arno River. Here are fewer tourists, quiet streets, the Pitti Palace, and the Boboli Gardens. At one time, there were more than 6,000 artisans working in Florence. Today, the number is a small fraction of that …
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MICHELANGELO’S DAVID First off, a detour from the Medicis to Michelangelo. The Chief Penguin got us tickets to the Accademia for Saturday to see David. Saturday morning was lovely, but it poured in the afternoon, which resulted in a long soggy walk there. Our tickets were for 4:45 pm, but at 4:30, we weren’t sure we …
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