Women’s Travel (Page 6)

I came to know Martha Bakerjian years ago through her Italy Travel Site on About.com–a Must Click for all travelers to Italy–packed with excellent information–from maps, to guidance for well known destinations and off-the-beaten path spots, and insider’s advice for such things as Going to the Beach in Italy. It was a thrill to meet her in person last fall, when we rendezvoused for lunch in Pisa. She is a passionate Italofile, who has been traveling extensively in Italy for 30 years, and now has a home in the Lunigiana region of northern Tuscany where she spends about five months a year, using it asRead More →

As summer is approaching, we move on to Puglia, the region in Italy’s heel, home to some of Italy’s best beaches. My first visit to Puglia was many years ago, in the month of May, when cherry season was at its peak… One Golden Day I’ll always treasure was in Savelletri di Fasano,  near the forests of Fasano, south of Bari.  I stayed with my gal friend Sheila at Torre Maizza, a masseria (former farm estate) from the 16th century, that’s been luxuriously renovated with beautiful guest accommodations, gorgeous grounds, a golf course, delicious restaurants, and a spa. Taking in all the beauty on theRead More →

We’re moving on to the region of Liguria, that enchanting crescent on Italy’s northwestern shore. Last spring, I spent a few dreamy days in Portovenere. The Romans believed that this spot is where the Goddess Venus rose from the sea. In early May, before the summer tourist crowds, it was heavenly. A lovely way to get there is by ferry from La Spezia, bobbing past fishing villages on the Gulf of the Poets, and then the Portovenere harbor appears…Click here for ferry schedule–the ride is about 45 minutes. Start your day with a buon capuccino at the Bar Lamia, right at the marina, where youRead More →

Andiamo…to the island of Sicilia. We’ll begin where I was a short time ago: Catania. It’s the perfect starting point (with an easy airport) to explore places like Siracusa, Taormina, and the Aeolian Islands (all of which I am heading to on a Country Walkers trip–so stay tuned). For many years guidebooks discouraged spending time in Catania, giving it the same treatment as Naples: “ a city in decay, depressing, dangerous, etc.”  It’s now actually a vibrant, youth-filled city  (with a prestigious university), and a Baroque-a-palooza historic center, that’s recently been scrubbed up and restored. Mount Etna rising in the distance provides a dramatic backdrop. And like Naples, Catania is absolutely theatrical–with lotsRead More →

When we think of Venice and going to the beach, the first place that comes to mind is The Lido.  My friend Pamela still talks about one August when she had what she describes as “The Great Gatsby” beach experience there–all so very luxurious, with an amazing seafood lunch, a huge pool, surrounded by loads of fashionable Italians–ladies in big hats and flowing caftans, etc. Then there’s my friend Angela, a Lido native born and bred, who says, “To get away from the crowds of the Lido in the summer, we go to Sant’Erasmo.” This is the island that lies between Murano and Burano. It’s calledRead More →

If you need a break from the tourist crowds of Rome, escape into a museum…Not the Vatican museum or the Borghese, but smaller ones, like my favorite, the Palazzo Barberini, where Audrey Hepburn lived in Roman Holiday. Climb these stairs designed by Borromini… Imagine what life was like back in those seventeenth century days when the Barberini family lived and partied here.  Now the rooms are the Galleria Nazionale dell’Arte, hung with paintings by Raphael, Caravaggio, Lippi. A lovely morning stop, followed by lunch at Colline Emiliane (Via degli Avignonesi 22, 06/481 7538), for specialties of the Emilia Romagna region.Read More →

You leave the sounds of church bells and car honks behind and head to The Queen of the Roads, from 312 BC. Okay, it’s not always peaceful. You may have heard there’s no cars allowed here on Sunday, but listen up: not true. There are all kind of specially licensed vehicles that can get through here, so Sunday is not the Appian Way bike ride day. Come on a weekday, after 3, when the afternoon light is hazy and golden and it’s all quiet and dreamy… Just you and the few others who took a cab from the historic center (12 euro), straight to the Tomb of CeciliaRead More →

A beautiful thing to do to start the day, or at sunset.  Leave the historic center and cross the Ponte Sisto… Wander through the streets of Trastevere, up Via Garibaldi to the FONTANONE!! Such a fountain, with such a view of the domes of Rome. On Sundays there are usually brides there posing… You continue winding up until at the tippy top you come to the park, with a statue of Giuseppe Garibaldi and maybe a puppet show… And nearby, the Statue of Anita Garibaldi, The Mother of Modern Italy… With a pistol in one hand, an infant in the other. Reason one zillion and three ofRead More →

When I put away the guidebook, Rome unfolds… Church doors open to masterpieces. Open the door of Sant’Ivo della Sapienza (Corso di Rinascimento 40, around the corner from Piazza Navona) and there’s this snowflake of a dome, designed by the Renaissance superstar Borromini. This is open ONLY on Sunday mornings, when there’s a folk mass–guitars and kids singing. Mass is usually at 9:30, but check in case they’ve changed the schedules. It’s  a small church that fills up with the locals, which means you get to be amidst another Italian masterpiece: beautiful faces. It could set you off on a Golden Sunday morning of Church Door Opening. FreeRead More →

As soon as I arrive in Rome, I head to The Pantheon. I stand inside under its Dome–the Dome of All Domes–and look up to that opening that frames the ever-changing Roman sky: the Eye of Heaven! This is the perfect place to begin an Italian adventure. This is where you feel the pull of Italy’s soul.  Where you get the thrill of being in an architectural wonder, built over 2000 years ago to honor all the goddesses and gods. In the seventh century it was consecrated as a church, dedicated to Santa Maria and the Martyrs. In the 16th century Renaissance it was so revered the superstar artistRead More →