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Overview
Enjoy masterpieces of art that glorify womanly curves, join a cooking class taught by revered grandmas, shop for ceramics, ski the Dolomites, or paint a Tuscan landscape. Make your trip a string of Golden Days, by pairing your experience with the very best restaurant nearby, so sensual delights harmonize and you simpply bask in the glow of bell'Italia.
Whatever your mood or budget, whether it's your first or twenty-first visit, with 100 Places in Italy Every Woman Should Go, 3rd Edition, Italy opens her heart to you.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781609521226 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Travelers' Tales Guides, Incorporated |
| Publication date: | 10/17/2016 |
| Series: | 100 Places |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 456 |
| File size: | 5 MB |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
Chapter 15. The Barberini Palace
(Galleria Nazionale), via delle Quattro Fontane, 13
ROME
In Roman Holiday, Princess Audrey escaped from this palace to end up on a romantic adventure with reporter Gregory Peck. It’s divine to play Audrey’s moves backwards and escape inside The Barberini to peacefully take in Renaissance masterpieces.
The palace originated as the digs of Maffei Barberini, when he became Pope Urban VIII in 1623. He went all out to make it splendido, calling in the best artists of the day, Bernini and his rival Borromini. You’ll get a dizzying hit of Maffei’s family pride looking up at the Grand Salone ceiling in Rome’s biggest ballroom, where Pietro Da Cortona’s “Triumph of Providence” fresco features a swarm of golden bees (the Barberini family emblem) ascending to the heavens.
The palace was sold to the State in 1949 and became the National Gallery of Art. But apparently, the family worked out a deal to hold on to some of the rooms, and Arturo, the current Barberini family patriarch, still lives there, though I’ve never run into him on my visits.
In the galleries, you’ll see beautiful women immortalized by masters, including:
Fornarina, (Raphael’s Girlfriend)
The subject of Raphael’s most famous portrait is his longtime lover, Margherita Luti, who he called “Fornarina,” which translates to little oven. The dark haired, bare breasted beauty was a baker’s daughter and wears a bracelet with Raphael’s signature on it, as if they were going steady.
The Turbaned Lady (Who Murdered her Daddy)
With those legendary huge eyes and innocent over-the-shoulder look, it’s hard to imagine that this 16 year old (who most agree is Beatrice Cenci), bludgeoned her father to death. That is until you hear the story of the man’s atrocious cruelty to his whole family, who joined Beatrice in the murder. The painting, said to have been completed the night before Beatrice’s public execution, was first credited to Guido Reni, but now Elisabetta Sirani, a female artist, is believed to be the one who painted it.
Judith Beheading Holofernes (Bible’s Gutsiest Widow)
Master painter Caravaggio captures a gory biblical moment here. It’s Judith, chopping off the head of General Hortense, complete with spurting blood and her maid eagerly standing by.
Judith was a widow who got fed up with her Israeli countrymen in their fight against the Assyrians, so she took matters into her own hands, got all dolled up and went to visit the enemy’s General Holofernes. Clever woman that she was, Judith promised him sexual favors and helpful information, which she never made good on. The general went ga-ga for Judith, and threw a banquet where he became “sodden with wine,” expecting some nooky afterwards. Imagine his surprise when Judith snuck into his tent, found Holofernes sprawled out drunk as a skunk, and lopped his head off.
You also should wander up to the second floor suite of rooms that were redecorated in 1728 when Cornelia, a Barberini heiress, married into the noble Roman Colonna family. You’ll see their wedding invitation and bedroom, all painted in gorgeous pale blue and gold, with those Barberini bees decorating Cornelia’s tiny prayer cubicle and their canopied bed.
Golden Day: Morning at the Palace, Lunch at Colline Emiliane (Via degli Avignonesi, 22, 06/4817538), for specialties of the Emilia-Romagna region, like tortelli di zucca (tiny doughnut shaped pasta stuffed with pumpkin).
Sleep either at:
Modigliani Hotel, run by a couple of Italian artists, OR
Villa Spalletti Trivelli, where you’ll get the total principessa treatment in a luxurious villa run by descendants of a noble Italian family.
Recommended Reading:
The Families Who Made Rome: A History and Guide by Anthony Majanlati
Beatrice’s Spell: The Enduring Legacy of Beatrice Cenci by Belinda Jack
Chapter 28. FRAGRANCES
Italy smells great. Not only the food, gardens, forests and sea. There’s the perfume they make.
The whole perfume-making in Italy deal started with monks in the middle ages who gathered flowers and herbs from the countryside and turned them into health and beauty potions. Their secret recipes are still used and you can get in on the alchemy at these shops:
In Rome:
Ai Monasteri
Corso Rinascimento 72
Near the Piazza Navona, this cozy, simple shop that’s been run by the Nardi family since 1894, began as a place that sold medicines made by Benedictine monks. Now its dark wood polished shelves are stocked with all kinds of monk-made beauty products, along with chocolates, honey, liquors and marmalades that come from abbeys all over Italy.
Favorites from their fragrance selections are Antica Acqua di Colonia perfume, a bergamot and musk blend that was created for the 1900 world exhibition, and bars of soap scented with the violets of Parma.
Florence:
Officina Profumo Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella
Via della Scala 16
Right near the church of Santa Maria Novella, you’ll find this sacred shop that was once a Gothic chapel. Gorgeous frescoes, sculpted arches, stained glass windows and a staff dressed in chic black suits pumps up this shopping experience to a mystical level.
This was a fourteenth century church of the Dominican friars, which was turned into a farmacia to sell their potions in 1612. Today the monk’s recipes are reproduced in a nearby lab by scent scientists, shipped all over the world and even available by mail order. Even though you can now buy Santa Maria Novella products in Beverly Hills or Soho, nothing beats getting to the source.
Their famous potpourri, a blend of 10 different herbs and flowers from the surrounding hills, comes in monogrammed satin pouches, and makes a perfect gift. The top perfume choice is Acqua di Colonia, a citrus and bergamot blend that was created for Catherine de Medici when she went off to Paris to marry Henry II. There’s also Acqua di Santa Maria Novella (aka anti-hysteria water), which was created in the days when tight-corset wearing gals needed relief from the vapors, and now comes in handy as a digestive relief.
Capri
Carthusia
Factory store: Via Federico Serena, 28 or Showroom: Via Camerelle, 10
This pretty shop embodies the elegant, bewitching purity of Capri, with light polished wood floors and white archways, staffed by beautiful salespeople in lab coats.
The legend goes that back in 1380 a Carthusian monk got caught off guard by the arrival of Queen Giovanna D’Angio’ of Naples, and ran off to gather flowers all over the island for her. Three days after she left, he smelled the water in the vases, found it delightful and went to an alchemist to figure out how to reproduce it.
But it wasn’t until 1948 that a monastery prior discovered the monk’s recipe, and got the Pope’s blessing to reproduce it in a lab, that the production of Carthusia’s perfumes began.
Everything here is made exclusively from Capri’s flowers, such as Fiori di Capri, a combo of wild carnation, lily of the valley and oak. And the current award-winning nose of Italy, Laura Tonotto, has stepped into the Carthusia picture, creating Ligea La Sirena, a light perfume scented with wild white rose and mandarins. It was inspired by the legend of a mermaid who tried to lure Ulysses to Capri’s shore.
Golden Day: Stroll the Gardens of Augustus, continue on the path up to Carthusia, have an apertivo in the Piazza Umberto, a meal (I’d recommend seafood risotto) at Ristorante Villa Brunella, Via Tragara 24A (081 8370122) and stay there at Villa Brunella, a beautiful hotel with a fantastic view.
Chapter 42. ARIENZO BEACH, POSITANO
The legend goes that thanks to Pasitea, an irresistible nymph who lured in Poseidon, Positano was discovered. It’s one of the most popular Amalfi Coast destinations, with six beaches to choose from.
When Melody, an American who’s lived there for years told me, “Arienzo beach is famous all over Positano for Ada’s gnocchi,” it was a no brainer for me to head over there on a warm day in October.
Arienzo is a little tricky to get to. In high season, (June – September), for a few euros, you can catch a small boat from Positano’s Spiaggia Grande. Or you can go by land, taking the Amalfi Drive towards Praiano, and reach the path to the beach by walking from Positano centro (about fifteen minutes), driving (parking is easy), or taking the bus to the Arienzo stop. There’s a Spiaggia di Arienzo sign right there that directs you to the zig-zag of about 250 stairs that takes you down, passing pretty gardens and bougainvillea-covered villas.
You’ll arrive at a smallish cove bordered with giant rocks and views of fishing boats bobbing along the horizon, ferries headed for Capri and the Le Galli islands in the distance. Compared to the two bigger beaches in town, here you get a sense of discovering your own peaceful hideaway.
I’m not talking great sand. It’s volcanic and coarse with lots of black pebbles. But like almost everything you touch around here, Positano’s black pebbles have a story behind them. If you find one with a hole in it, it means the Madonna has passed through it, and it’s blessed. I’ve yet to find one, but you’ll see many Positanese wearing these black pebbles on chains around their necks.
The sand situation means you should bring along beach shoes and rent an umbrella and lounge chair to get totally comfy, lie back and get lulled by the lapping of the calm water.
When you get there, you’ll see to your left a walk-in closet sized kitchen where Ada, a 50-something year old signora with a radiant smile, bustles away making her gnocchi.
The beach snack bar is set up on stilts, looking like something Thurston Howell III would have built on Gilligan’s Island, perched perfectly to take in the view with about eight inviting tables. A blackboard lists the specials of the day, which along with the gnocchi, can include spaghetti with clams, Caprese salad, fish caught that morning, and of course granitas — flavored ices made from Positano lemons and whatever other fruit is in season.
Around noon, locals start arriving from the cliff path or pulling up on little boats to enjoy Ada’s lunch. Just like Melody said, the gnocchi is divine – light and beautifully textured, served with a delicate tomato sauce. The house red is rich and lively.
I tried to explain to Ada that back home when we think of a beach lunch, corn dogs on a stick comes to mind. And how much I loved her gnocchi. She laughed and brought me over a plate of ripe figs picked from a nearby tree, then poured me a glass of her homemade limoncello.
Even if you don’t find a pebble with a hole blown through it, at Arienzo Beach you’ll feel blessed.
Golden Day: Arienzo beach and Ada’s gnocchi for lunch, Stay at Maliosa di Arienzo, a bed and breakfast up from the beach, with your private sea view terrace. The B&B can arrange complimentary car service to take you to Il Mediterraneo ristorante in Positano, where fantastic seafood specialties are served and a strolling Neapolitan guitarist strums classics like “O Sole Mio.”