L'Italo-Americano

www.italoamericano.org 20 L'Italo-Americano THURSDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2017 FRANCESCA BEZZONE O ne of the cons about trav- eling to Italy is the coun- try has so many touristic hot spots it's almost impossible to enjoy some quiet. One of the pros of traveling to Italy is that for each of those hot spots there are just as many - if not more - equally beautiful places to check out, where a peaceful visitor can breath in some fresher air and hear some more Italian spoken. Wanderers , pilg rims and poets, these are the places you want to spend your next holidays in. If you liked Assisi, try Montefalco A s s is i, the heart of Italy. Mirror to the country's medieval heritage and history, as well as home to its s aint protector, Francis. Assisi's beauty will leave you speechless, without a doubt, but if you'd like an alter- native, check out Montefalco. Suitably located not far from Perugia, Montefalco is a small village of just over 5000 and one of the Borghi più belli d'Italia. Perched as it is on top of a hill ( it's not known as the "balcony of Umbria" for nothing), it's the perfect place to take in the multi- colored, gentle curving of Umbrian lands, where olive trees and vineyards are kings. The vil- lage is a fantastically preserved example of medieval architec- ture and has all those traditional features you'd expect from a central Italian town: cobble- stoned streets, small alleys run- ning up and down the hill, a beautiful church benevolently looking unto the main square. Said church is, of course, dedi- cated to Saint Francis and is part of a wider village museum cir- cuit dedicated to the Saint. So, if you come to Umbria for Francis, you'll learn a lot about him here, too. If you dream of the hills of Chianti, travel to le Langhe The Chianti region of Italy is undoubtedly beautiful, but it's been overexposed in the past bunch of years: from movies to books, the hills of Chianti have struggled to maintain their pre- cious authenticity and true charm uns cathed and have, often , come to embody the "cookie cutter" version of rural Italy. Nothing wrong with that, but if you're after something equally beautiful but not as pre- dictable, you should check out Piedmont's Langhe. Mind, the area has been rising in interna- tional popularity, especially after its recent addition to the U N ES CO World N atural Heritage and because it is the ideological cradle of the Slow Food Movement. Home to some of the world best known and most appreciated wines - think Barolo, D olcetto, M os cato - white truffles and an endless list of delicious cheeses (castelmag- no, raschera, tuma), Langhe hills offer nothing les s than their Tuscan cousins: a mesmerizing mixture of shapes, hues and col- ors , w ith the unmis takable embrace of the Alps all around. Now, that's a thing Chianti does- n't have. Do I sound biased? Maybe I am, that's where I was born. Dreaming of Cinque Terre? Stop in Porto Venere Cinque Terre: one of Italy's mos t pictures que s pots . Marvelous sea, colorful houses, the beauty of nature. Pity you may not find the peace and quiet you're looking for, especially during the high season. Then head to Porto Venere. Not far from Vernazza, Monterosso and C., Porto Venere shares with its more famous relatives the same s ea and natural backdrop. O verlooking the poetically named Bay of the Poets, Porto Venere and its surroundings are part of the U N ES CO World Heritage, just like Cinque Terre, and are blessed with the same fairy tale atmosphere, with a long his tory dating back to Roman time to boot. If you're a literary buff, you'll love to know Lord Byron spent time here: there's even a seaside cave bear- ing his name, "la G rotta di Byron," from where the poet If you like the idea of visiting Cinque Terre, but are put off by the confusion, try the equally charming Porto Venere nearby The lake of Iseo and its many beautiful waterside location, like Iseo, are a valid alternative to more popular - but probably less relaxing - Lake Como Not many remember that poised Ravenna had been capital of the Western Roman Empire, even though only briefly Beautiful alternatives ... to beauty: lesser known ltalian locations famously took off swimming to reach his friends in Lerici, anoth- er stunner of the Ligurian coast, not to far from there. Forget lake of Como and choose Iseo It may not be the largest of the Italian lakes - that record belongs to lake Garda - but lake Como is definitely the mos t famous: to Italians, its mention brings back high school memo- ries of the very first lines of one of our literary masterpieces, I Pr om es s i Spos i, as w ell as images of gentile, elegant palaces facing its waters. Once home to the Italian rich and noble, many of them have passed into the wealthy mitts of interna- tional stars like George Clooney. The lake, its shores, the city itself bearing its name, Como, are all worth a visit, but if you're not into rubbing shoulders with VIPs, you may like to check out Lake Iseo instead. Smaller and little know n, even among Italians, it has recently got a place in the spot light for a pecu- liar art installation, "Floating Piers" by artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude. Located between the provinces of Bergamo and Brescia in Lombardia, lake Iseo has plenty of beautiful spots on its shores to explore: it peaceful- ly lies at the feet of the Valcamonica Valley, home to some of the oldest human settle- ments in the country and you could choose Iseo, Monte Isola, Lovere or Clusane to get a taste of village life. All these locations are part of the Lega Ambiente's Blue Guide, dedicated to the most beautiful Italian locations by the water. Love Rome? Learn Italian history in Ravenna "Roma caput mundi," always. But d id you know that the Western Roman Empire had, although not for a long time, another capital? Indeed, towards the end of its centennial history, in times commonly known by historians as Late Antiquity, the Emperor moved his court to a much smaller town in modern Emilia-Romagna: Ravenna. Raven na w as capital of the Western Empire from 402 to the year of its demise, 476. Vestiges of those years and of the follow- ing Byzantine domination remain in the city, whose most famous piece of architecture is certainly the eastern-like, mosa- ic-rich Basilica of Saint Vitale. Here, rulers' mausolea - that of Theodoric and that of Empress Galla Placidia - keep company to the tomb of "the" Italian poet, Dante, buried in Ravenna and not Florence because he died in exile. Five famous locations, five equally beautiful and interesting alternatives. Truly the artistic, cultural and natural wealth of Italy never stops to surprise. One of the latest Italian additions to the UNESCO World Natural Heritage, le Langhe are quieter but just as charming,, version of hills of Tuscany ALL AROUND ITALY TRAVEL TIPS DESTINATIONS ACTIVITIES

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