Recently in Italy Category

Still dreaming of Florence...

Fun facts about the city:
Modern Italian is considered the direct descendant of fiorentino, the Tuscan dialect spoken in Florence. The symbol of Florence is the fleur de lis, the French lily, and in fact, the great cathedral of Florence, Santa Maria della Fiore, means "Saint Mary of the flowers" (in this case, the lilies).

Florence was home to Dante, Boccaccio, Michelangelo, the Medici, Donatello, Raphael, Leonardo da Vinci, Machiavelli, Galileo, and Florence Nightingale. (Betcha didn't know about that last one -- she was born in the city, hence her given name.)

No stay in Florence would be complete without a visit to the Uffizi Gallery (click to see some gorgeous pop-up art) or the Palazzo Medici, home of Lorenzo the Magnificent.

Forgive me, dear friends, for being remiss in posting. Time grows short and my book grows long...

Spending the days cooped up with an overdue manuscript-in-progress takes its toll. I've got a bad case of cabin fever, and the only cure is to dream of a vacation.

Those of you who've read I, MONA LISA might suspect which city I most yearn to visit: Florence.

So today, may I suggest a little preparatory reading about the city, to whet your appetite: THE STONES OF FLORENCE, by Mary McCarthy, and FLORENCE: A PORTRAIT, by Michael Levey.

Speaking of whetting one's appetite, let me share with you my favorite Italian cookbook, Marcella Hazan's ESSENTIALS OF CLASSIC ITALIAN COOKING; my copy is spattered and dog-eared. (I highly recommend the Sauce Bolognese and the Braised Pot Roast with Red Wine, a Florentine dish -- oh, and the lemon cream fettucine is to die for, but terribly rich.)

Of course, before we arrive in Florence, it would be good to brush up on our Italian. One fun, easy way is with Earworms' Rapid Italian, set to music. (To hear a demo, click to enter the site, then click on "courses/shop.") For those of you who are willing to spend the bucks, I highly recommend Rosetta Stone's Italian DVDs.

I'm also arming myself with the five-star rated FOOD LOVER'S GUIDE TO FLORENCE and THE CIVILIZED SHOPPER'S GUIDE TO FLORENCE.

More to come...