Rants & Raves

ITALY continues to delight those of us who’ve traveled there over 30 years. In June 2007 I explored Le Cinque Terre—the steep, terraced coast that extends south of Genoa to La Spezia—and Sardinia. See my article “Sardinia: Wild and Wonderful.“ Sardinia’s most spectacular coastline is not, as many assume, the Costa Smeralda. It’s the much more affordable and exciting Gulf of Orosei. Here the mountains of the Gennargentu abruptly meet the sea, forming a crescent of dramatic cliffs with hidden beaches and deep grottoes at the crystalline water’s edge. Not long ago only goatherders and charcoalburners navigated the canyons (codulas) descending the cliffs. Today the area is a magnet for serious hikers, bikers, cavers, and rock climbers, who can choose knowledgeable guides to organize either day or camping trips. I explored the area with two tour companies – Jill Simpson’s Island Spirit Adventures and Peter & Anne Holidays. American-born Simpson, who discovered Sardinia 10 years ago, competes in triathlons and road races when she’s not leading hikes. Peter Herold and Anne McGlone are a British couple, who’ve cycled and rock climbed in Sardinia since 1992. Each of them chose the southeast coast as their base because it’s the island’s wildest, most unspoiled region.

HILLTOP VIEW OF THE MEDIEVAL TOWN OF GIAVE, SARDINIA

 JILL SIMPSON, FOUNDER OF ISLAND SPIRIT ADVENTURES IN SARDINIA

STINTINO BEACH WITH THE TORRE PELOSA IN THE BACKGROUND

MORE BELLA ITALIA: ROME’S ANCIENT SEAPORT AT OSTIA
Read Rick Steves’ latest on the ruins of Ostia Antica, about 30 minutes outside Rome. http://www.cnn.com/2008/TRAVEL/getaways/04/15/ostia.antica/index.html

As reported in the NY Times, Venice’s first female gondolier, Alexandra Hai, struggled for more than 10 years to be able to paddle passengers around the canals. But it’s a sad triumph since the struggle has made her the most hated woman in that drowning city by the other 425 all-male gondoliers.

Dateline July 7, 2007. GOING TO NAPLES? HOLD YOUR NOSE!
The U.S. Embassy issued a warning this week urging Americans to avoid Naples and its suburbs because they “may encounter mounds of garbage, open fires with potentially toxic fumes, and/or sporadic public demonstrations by local residents attempting to block access to dumps.” Naples, it turns out, is in the midst of a garbage crisis. Trash service has been disrupted since May, according to reports. Dumpsters are overflowing, and those that aren’t are allegedly controlled by the camorra, the Neapolitan mafia. And doing business with the camorra will cost you some euros. Read more.

ROME (AP) — The dungeon beneath the papal fortress of Castel Sant'Angelo, where popes of old locked up criminals and enemies, has reopened to the public after a ten-year closure for restoration work.
Through Aug. 26, visitors will be offered nighttime guided tours of the prison built in the fort's cellars by Pope Alexander VI in 1503, stepping through darkened cells and an infamous courtroom where death sentences were handed down.

Organizers said the brief reopening of the restored prison is part of a summer festival of concerts and cultural events that takes place in Castel Sant'Angelo — a first century monumental tomb built for the Roman emperor Hadrian later reused as a fortress by the popes.

The castle's dungeon hosted common criminals and illustrious figures, from a self-styled magician and religious leader known as the Count of Cagliostro to those who fought to unify the independent papal state with Italy in the 19th century.

Also imprisoned there was Florentine Renaissance master Benvenuto Cellini, held in the fortress for about a year in 1538 for killing his brother's murderer. Cellini drew on the walls of his cell images of God and Jesus, traces of which are still visible, and made a failed escape attempt by lowering himself from the prison's toilet with a rope made of sheets.

HUNGRY FOR ITALY? Check out these postings about white balsamic vinegar and making the perfect pizza dough. Then sit down to a steaming bowl of pasta con pesto. Salute!

TRAVEL PLANNING WEBSITE with lots of resources to plan your next trip to Italy. 

DIGGING SARDINIA (Italy Mag) Aug. 8, 2007
An ancient Phoenician colony on the western coast of Sardinia may soon yield some of its long-buried secrets during new excavations. Othoca, founded by the Phoenicians some 2,600 years ago, partly evolved into the modern-day town of Santa Giusta but most remnants of the original settlement lie buried under a thick layer of mud at the bottom of a large lake.

Experts believe the lake, separated from the sea by a narrow bridge of land, was once the port of Othoca, used by the Phoenicians as a staging post on their maritime voyages.
Discussing the planned excavations, Santa Giusta Mayor Atonello Figus and an archaeologist from Cagliari University, Carlo Del Vais, said they would focus on a small section of the lake, just a few dozen square metres. This area is believed to contain around a hundred amphorae, resting on top of a large quantity of processed wood. Read more at:
http://www.italymag.co.uk/italy_regions/sardinia/2007/history/new-sardinia-digs-may-unearth-buried-phoenician-settlement/ 

MONA LEONARDO? (Italy Mag) Sept. 7, 2007. The famous painting of "Mona Lisa" is a disguised self-portrait of its creator, claims the American scholar Lillian Schwartz. Her book, Leonardo’s Hidden Face, argues that computer studies of Leonardo’s self-portrait “superimpose perfectly” with that of his female subject.

Schwartz first gained headlines with her claim in 1987. The book is the first time she has published it.
It is supported by Florentine architect and writer, Renzo Manetti, a co-author of the book, who claims Leonardo had a “philosophical” reason for putting himself into the picture. Read more at:
http://www.italymag.co.uk/italy_regions/tuscany/2007/arts/mona-lisa-‘a-self-portrait’/ 

ALITALIA FOR ITALIANS, (Italy Mag) Sept. 18, 2007. Italian Deputy Premier and Culture Minister Francesco Rutelli on Tuesday threw his support behind the bid Italy’s second biggest airline Air One is making for national carrier Alitalia. Italy “cannot allow the national carrier to be dominated by an airline of another country which has a national agenda which could damage Italian interests in the decades to come,” Rutelli said. The acquisition of Alitalia by Air One, he observed, “would be the most rational solution”.

The Italian government decided at the end of last year to sell most if not all of the Treasury’s 49.9% stake in Alitalia. An attempt to auction the stake failed this summer after the three remaining bidders, including Air One, dropped out because of the conditions imposed by the Treasury. Read more at:
http://www.italymag.co.uk/2007/news-from-italy/politics/rutelli-backs-air-one-bid-for-alitalia/