|
If you are a reader and a traveler, Booklover's Travel is for you. |
|
|
|
Join Our List
 |
| 2010 Calendar
Israel-May 21-June 2
Ireland - Mid Summer
Maui - Early Fall
Italy - Late Fall |
|
|
|
Update: Ireland 2010
Correction: The 2010 trip to Ireland is currently scheduled for mid-summer not early fall. We forgot to make a change in the headline for last month's feature article.
*********************
Update: Israel 2010
Is Israel on your list of must-see places? Now's the time. Join us. We still have space available for our Holy Land Tour. If you are interested click here: Israel 2010 Tour
*********************
The History and Mystery of Florence and Venice
Experience the art, culture and history of Florence and Venice, while sampling some of the world's best cuisine.
Highlights: Historical walking tours of these two unique cities, art history tours of the great museums and churches, a day trip to the Tuscan countryside, shopping on the Ponte Vecchio in Florence and at Piazza San Marco in Venice, walking in the footsteps of the Medici in Florence, a "Murders and Mysteries Evening Walk" in Venice, and vaporetto rides along the Grand Canal and to Murano, the island of glass.
Experience the history of Florence and Venice woven into the context of being there now.
Walk in the footsteps of some of the major names in Italian history and literature.
View the major art attractions in a guided, manageable manner.
Explore the hidden gems of Florence and Venice, not found on usual tours.
Shop for unique presents and souvenirs: leather, jewelry, decorated paper, glass trinkets.
Sample the marvelous foods, wine, chocolate and other delicacies of these two cities.
Visit places memorialized in books (and movies) by historic and contemporary writers.
*********************
"Fatti maschi, parole femmine."
Italian Proverb
Translation
"Facts are male, words are female."
********************
Italian Films Adapted from Books
Room with a View
This movie, filled with 19th century period detail and quirky characters, is quite faithful to the novel by E.M. Forster. The film provides stunning views of places in Florence, including the Duomo and the chapels decorated by Giotto in Santa Croce.
Wings of the Dove
Based on a novel by Henry James, this film does a wonderful job of evoking the ambiance of 19th century Venice. The novel was set in several real places that James visited or lived in when he was in Venice.
The Dangerous Beauty
This movie traces the life of Veronica Franco, who rises to prominence as not only a beautiful courtesan but also a renowned poet in Venice. Wars, the plague, and even the Inquisition can't quell this headstrong woman. The movie is based on an account of the real Veronica, The Honest Courtesan by Margaret Rosenthal.
Don't Look Now
Set in the 1970s and based on a short story by Daphne du Maurier, this could be described as a mesmerizing, even demonic travelogue of Venice. We become one with the hapless hero as he races around Venice looking for his wife. We accompany him along rat-infested canals, under creepy bridges, and high into the church he is restoring, surrounded by everyday Venetians who all seem just a bit sinister.
|
|
*********************
|
|
|
|
|
| Italy 2010: Touring Two Italian Jewels |
 The History and Mystery of Florence and Venice tour is slated for late fall 2010, a perfect time to visit Italy. The weather is mild: not as hot as summer or as chilly as winter. The tourist hordes of the high season are much reduced, making it more enjoyable to explore all of the attractions and sites. And of course, the Italian food is fantastic no matter the season!
This trip allows us to unpack only twice. We settle into our centrally-located Florence hotel for 7 nights and then journey to Venice for 6 nights in our canal-side hotel. We'll also get plenty of exercise since both are walking towns, especially Venice, where walking or riding in a boat are the only ways to navigate in this car-free city.
In both cities, we'll have the services of experienced, local, English-speaking guides, who will make the history, culture and art come alive. We'll also have plenty of time for strolling, shopping and just getting to know these two Italian gems. We'll take an excursion into the Tuscan countryside from Florence, and our train ride to Venice will whisk us through the varied scenery of northeastern Italy.
The books suggested for this tour feature historic and fictional accounts set in Florence and Venice. It will be fun to walk in the footsteps of the characters we've read about as we explore the History and Mystery of Florence and Venice.
For more info or to sign up go to www.bookloverstravel.com
Cynthia and Connie
BookLover's Travel |
| In the Footsteps of the Medici in Florence |
 The Medici family became the unofficial heads of state of the Florentine Republic in 1434 and ruled Florence off and on for over 300 years. Family members were known for their ruthlessness, business acumen, and philanthropy.
Three Medici homes in Florence can be toured -- Palazzo Medici-Ricardi, Palazzo Vecchio and the Pitti Palace, including the Boboli Gardens -- all filled with the vast collections of art the Medici amassed. In addition, excursions can be made to several of the 27 palatial Medici villas scattered throughout Tuscany, many of which have been restored.
The Basilica di San Lorenzo, the Medici's neighborhood church, contains chapels commissioned for members of the family and crypts filled with sculptures of many Medici by Michelangelo. The Medicis also funded restoration of the monastery of San Marco, where you can visit the plain cell reserved as a personal retreat for Cosimo de' Medici.
On the grounds of San Lorenzo stands a statue of Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici, the last member of this illustrious family. At her death in 1743, she bequeathed all of the treasures accumulated by the Medicis to the Tuscan state, with the stipulation that nothing ever be removed from Florence. Thus she has enabled us to visit all of this artistic wealth in today's Florence, over 250 years after the Medici dynasty ended. |
| From the Road |
Visiting Hidden Gems in Florence
One reason to visit Florence is to see art. The sheer volume of paintings, frescoes, and statues can make the city seem like one big museum. And of course, Florence has its share of museums, such as the famous Uffizi, which house works of art painted or sculpted someplace else. But there are places in Florence where you can view art in the location where it was created. Two of our favorites are the Brancacci Chapel and the tiny chapel at the Palazzo Medici-Ricardi.
Many churches in Florence contain art work commissioned by rich Renaissance families. A gem of this type of art display is the Brancacci Chapel in Santa Maria del Carmine. Visiting the Brancacci is like taking a brief, intense art history class. The perfect prelude to visiting the chapel is viewing a half-hour video tracing the history of Florence and its artists. In the chapel the frescoes by Masaccio, Masolino and Filippino Lippi depict Biblical stories. The frescoes that show Adam and Eve happy in the Garden of Eden and then crushed as they are evicted are masterful when viewed on facing walls. Scenes from the life of St. Peter come alive as stories set against the background of actual Florence scenes.
Several palazzos built by wealthy Florentines display fine art painted on the original walls. The walls of the small chapel in the Palazzo Medici-Ricardi are decorated with Benozzo Gozzoli's frescoes depicting the journey of the Three Wise Men to Bethlehem. Following the procession around the walls, you can see that among the followers of the Magi are men with a very Florentine look. These are actual portraits of several Medici family members. The chapel is truly a gem of art in a setting so much more intimate than a museum. |
| BookWoman |
Sarah Dunant's Renaissance Trilogy
Since I can't time-travel back to the Renaissance to experience that amazing time in history and art, I turn to travel and historical fiction. And no one does fiction set in the Renaissance better than Sarah Dunant. Her trilogy of books set in Renaissance Italy addresses the question: Where were all the women, while the men politicked, warred, whored, painted, sculpted? It turns out, a woman of wealth and noble family in the Renaissance really had only three options.
If she was the eldest daughter or from an extremely wealthy family, she would have found herself married off to a suitable partner, almost as one would "purchase" a fine horse for one's estate.
A second option was to enter a convent, where a much smaller dowry was required. Of course, no consideration was given to the wishes of the woman. She had to be placed somewhere, and if no man was available as her protector, then God would have to assume that role. Half of all noblewomen of this time period became nuns.
A third option for some women possessed of brains, beauty and bravery was that of being a courtesan, a companion not only for the parlour but also for the bed.
Each of Dunant's novels focuses on one of these options. The Birth of Venus opens in 1492, when 14-year-old Alessandra is thrust into the politics and passions of Renaissance Florence. Married off to an older man who is more interested in her brother than her, Alessandra, a budding artist, negotiates the circumscribed world open to her as a woman of the Renaissance.
 In the Company of the Courtesan opens with the main character fleeing back to her hometown of Venice after the sacking of Rome in 1527. In Venice, Fiammetta sets herself up as a courtesan, with the help of her shrewd and loyal companion Bucino, a dwarf. The novel evokes Renaissance Venice with its political intrigue, religious persecution and class struggles.
Sacred Hearts is set in 1570 in Santa Caterina, a convent in Ferrara, a walled city north of Florence. Serafina, a defiant 16-year-old confined against her will, is determined to escape, in the meantime disrupting life within the walls of the convent. Outside those walls, the forces of the Counter-Reformation are pushing for ever more repressive changes to the church.
Reading Sarah Dunant's novels and then traveling to Florence and Venice is a perfect way to experience what life was like for these Renaissance women and the next best thing to time-travel.
|
| Travel Tips |
Keep it close, keep it consistent
In my last travel tip, I told you that when I lost my passport, I had broken my own travel rule by putting my passport in my purse instead of wearing it in a pouch under my clothes. Over the years, I have developed a set of personal rules that I follow when I travel. In the daily changing scenario of travel, my personal habits are what keep me organized (and sane).
Here's my list of guidelines that you might find handy as you develop your own personal rules for travel.
Wear passport, money and credit cards under my clothes in a pouch around my neck or in a money belt.
Keep money for the day in my purse or day pack.
Purse or day pack needs to have a place for everything so I can reach in and find my wallet, sunglasses, map, or travel book without fumbling or digging around.
My purse and wallet contain only the essentials I need for traveling. I leave home all store credit cards, library cards, garage door openers, etc. If I am not going to use it when I travel, it stays home.
Copies of itinerary, passport and credit cards, both front and back, are kept in a separate place in my travel bag, and one set of copies is left at home.
Hotel room safe serves as storage for my valuables including passport, money, credit cards, and electronics if I am not taking them with me for the day.
A few doses of medications and a list of what I take are always in my purse with me in case of an emergency or accident so the medics will know my medical history.
Expensive jewelry is left home. (Once I was mugged at gunpoint wearing diamond earrings and pendant!) I do wear my wedding ring when I travel. I take it off at night and string it through my watch and put them in my lip gloss bag in my purse. I keep my purse on the floor next to the head of the bed when I sleep.
Unpacking in the hotel room, I put everything in the same place in each room. Cosmetic/toiletry bag goes in the bathroom, purse by the head of the bed, water bottle, book, eye glasses, alarm clock and mini flashlight on the night stand.
Packing my bag is the same for every trip and I keep it packed that way for the entire trip. Packing tips are a whole column on their own. You probably think I am totally obsessive-compulsive, and you may be right, but I can find my stuff when I need it!
Cynthia |
| BookLover's Travel |
Adventures fueled by books to destinations around the world
We explore the art, history, and culture of destinations around the world, having read novels, mysteries, and non-fiction books set in the places we visit. BookLover's Travel tours contain something for any booklover and every traveler.
"The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page." St. Augustine
Cynthia van de Erve and Connie Freeland
BookLover's Travel | |
|
|
|
