Nothing annoys people so much as not receiving invitations. ― Oscar Wilde

Five dedicated Italophiles are about to celebrate their first anniversary together as the Italy Roundtable. Auguri a tutti! Their commitment to Italy and to spreading the word about Italian life, food, wine, history, oddities, accommodations, traditions, events and more is admirable. Plus, it makes for very enjoyable reading.

Who are they? Alexandra, Gloria, Rebecca, Melanie and Jessica, respectively, at ArtTrav, At Home in Tuscany, Brigolante, Italofile and WhyGo Italy. You go, girls!

They recently extended an invitation to their readers to write on one of the topics they’ve covered in the last year. I wish I could write on all of them. Maybe I will, eventually. But I’ve decided, mostly to address the quizzical looks I know I must get from friends as they open yet another blog post about things Italian, to tackle the Roundtable’s very first topic: Why I Write About Italy.

Clemente, the wine maker

I write about Italy because I grew up with an Italian father and an English-Irish mother but, like brown eyes, the Italian side was always dominant. We never had pork pies or fish and chips at holiday meals. No. It was always a creamy lasagna or eggplant parmigiano, with mini cannoli and sfogliatelle for dessert, washed down with some of the worst red wine you’ve ever tasted, compliments of my nonno Clemente who kept his barrels in the basement. And we always had fish on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve even though I was raised in the Protestant faith (that’s where Mom came in). Shrimp and eels and sardines and I still get wriggly just thinking about it.

I write about Italy because my nonna AnnaMaria used to hoist me up onto a three-legged wooden stool when I was a kid and let me watch her as she worked at the stove. She was a marvelous cook, intuitive like most peasant Italian women, never measuring a thing but always creating something masterful from nothing. My father used to say she could do compound interest in her head, no dummy she, although I doubt that she ever went to school. My father also used to say that you could eat her meatballs on Friday, so good was she at stretching the family food budget.

I write about Italy because I always felt like an Italian. That meant that most of my relatives still lived in Brooklyn, while we had moved out to the “safe” suburbs. It meant that all my cousins looked like Sophia Loren even though I felt more like Jimmy Durante. It meant that I knew we were a little louder than the other families on the block when we all got together. It meant that my Aunt Theresa’s mamma would always bring her own “sangwich” to family functions because who knew if the food there was going to be as good as she could make? And it meant that nobody else I knew had fathers who got up early on Sunday mornings to cook sauce for the spaghetti, or made regular pilgrimages to visit with his cu’mare, with respect and a bottle of Three Feathers whiskey.

I write about Italy because I wish that I could have persuaded my father to come to Italy with me. He never went, never crossed the ocean, never got to see where his father and mother came from (Viterbo/Acquapendente and Salerno/Montano Antilla). He was afraid, like he was afraid of most things new. He remembered when being Italian was a shameful thing in this country and he wasn’t sure what to expect over there. He said he didn’t speak the language (he did, but forgot a lot from his childhood). And he was getting old (he was). And while I haven’t been to Viterbo or Salerno yet myself, they are on a very short list of places to go. He will be with me then in spirit.

I write about Italy because I have been there more than a dozen times and because I miss it like crazy when I am not there. I write about it because I have not yet figured out how to live there for part of the year and still make a living (maybe I inherited a little of my father’s fear?). I write about it because I love the food and the wine and the unhurried enthusiasm and reverence that are poured into each and every eating occasion. I write about Italy because I have found it easy to make friends there and adore what people are doing with their lives, promoting regions, culinary traditions, cities, vineyards, language, a way of life that is so different from ours that sometimes that I cringe when I think of coming back home.

I write about Italy because it is breathtakingly beautiful: ancient Etruscan ruins, medieval cities, Roman arches, cobblestone streets, pink marble, snow-capped mountains, glorious beaches with crisp lines of beach chairs and umbrellas, multi-generational families sitting around a long table for hours at a Sunday lunch, old women strolling arm-in-arm at the passeggiata. I write about Italy because it makes me smile. It is a generous, diverse, stylish, practical, whimsical, disjointed, theatrical, proud place of unique rule-bound chaos and somehow I feel right at home there.

Besides, I adore Italian food and design and I think the language (I speak and understand 12 words fairly well) is simply beautiful. My heart actually aches to know more. But as long as I can say “Pasta alla Norma,” “Panna Cotta” and “Sagrantino, per favore,” I’ll be okay for a little while longer.

I have been writing about Italy since 2007, published a book in 2009 and started this blog in 2010. I try to promote people who are doing good things in Italy and I will continue to do that. I have taken friends to Italy and shown them places and a way of life they would not have seen on traditional tours. We have rented villas, gone to B&Bs and agriturismi and stumbled into once-in-a-lifetime experiences like opera in a villa and becoming local celebrities for a day in a small town along the Po.

Italy is history. It is architecture. It is certainly food. It is people, not quite united yet, but that is part of their charm. It is the reason I sit at my computer every day, to read and write and learn more. So to Alexandra, Gloria, Rebecca, Melanie and Jessica — thank you. And thanks to all the ex-pats who are in Italy doing what they love, brave enough to leave the safety of the familiar and take a chance on the beautiful and unknown. I hope one day to join you.

Buon viaggio!

Linda Dini Jenkins

Linda Dini Jenkins is a card-carrying Italophile, travel planner, freelance writer, and amateur photographer. Travel is her passion, so writing about her travels just comes naturally. She hopes all her travelers find a way to express their joys, surprises, and fears as they travel and gives every traveler a nifty journal to help smooth the way. Learn more…

Outside of a dog, a book is a man’s best friend. Inside of a dog it’s too dark to read. — Groucho Marx

Lady Maxine of the Ozarks

My dog, Maxine, always wanted me to start a blog post like that. She’s got quite a sense of humor. But April being National Poetry Month and tonight being World Book Night, I thought this was exactly the right time for it.

World Book Night began in the UK in 2011; this year it has grown to include the U.S. and Ireland. Next year, more countries will be included. Why April 23? Because it’s UNESCO’s World Book Day, chosen to mark both the anniversary of Cervantes’ death as well as Shakespeare’s birth and death. In the Catalan region of Spain, April 23 is celebrated by giving a book and a flower to a loved one. The idea of World Book Night is to spread the love of reading — “person to person.”

As volunteers, we were asked to choose from a list of 30 pre-selected books and agree to distribute 20 free copies to readers (and especially to non-readers) on April 23 and pass on our love for this chosen book. Bookstores got involved to order, box up and distribute boxes of books to us volunteers.

The chosen books include a wide range of subjects and genres, from Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings to Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games to Just Kids by Patti Smith and The Stand by Stephen King. The book I selected is The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien’s absolutely remarkable book about memory, war and the power of story telling. We got three choices, and I got my first choice. I’m excited. I heard Tim read from the manuscript that would become The Things They Carried at The Bread Loaf Writers Conference back in the late 1980s and can attest to its power.

Here’s what the “volunteer’s” press release says:

From Kodiak, Alaska, to Key West, Florida, in 6,000 towns and cities across America, 25,000 volunteers will give away half a million free books on one day: April 23, 2012. 

World Book Night U.S. is an ambitious campaign to personally give out thousands of free, specially printed books across America. Volunteer book lovers like myself will help promote reading by going into our communities and handing out free copies of a book we love to new or light readers, reaching them especially in underserved places – and even some fun spots. Volunteers will be picking up the books at a local bookstore or library in order to go out and share them in locations as diverse as VA hospitals, nursing homes, ballparks, mass transit, diners, and more.

I am giving away five copies to friends who have heard me write about the book but have not yet read it themselves. I hear things like, “I would never read a book about Vietnam,” or “I don’t like short stories.” I’m here to show them the error of their ways. The other 15 copies are going to an English classroom in suburban Virginia where many of the students are not financially able to buy books for pleasure.

I’m so happy to be doing this. If you’d like to volunteer for next year’s program, sign up at april23@worldbooknight.org.

Concurrently, there’s National Poetry Month. Inaugurated by the Academy of American Poets in 1996, National Poetry Month is held every April, when (according to the website) “publishers, booksellers, literary organizations, libraries, schools and poets around the country band together to celebrate poetry and its vital place in American culture. Thousands of businesses and non-profit organizations participate through readings, festivals, book displays, workshops, and other events.”

Twenty-five years ago, I bought a poster in New York by the artist Edward Koren celebrating the 75th Anniversary of Poetry, the magazine founded by Harriet Monroe back in 1912. I remember picking it up from the framer and having to negotiate it onto a downtown Fifth Avenue bus one rush hour; I’m stunned that it has made it through all the moves over the years. Well, it’s now 100 years since Monroe founded this little magazine with her belief that “The Open Door will be the policy of this magazine — may the great poet we are looking for never find it shut.” The greats have all published here.

I have been collecting the National Poetry Month posters over the years and delivering workshops and reading poetry wherever anybody will let me. I’ll also be giving away nine copies of the 100th Anniversary issue of Poetry  on World Book Night.

April 26 has been designated “Poem in Your Pocket Day” by the Academy. Everyone can participate: Simply select a

The 100th Anniversary Issue

poem that you love and carry it with you to share with co-workers, family and friends. And you can also share your poem selection on Twitter by using the hashtag #pocketpoem.

Ideally, poems from your pockets will be unfolded throughout the day — the Academy of American Poets has even published two volumes of poems to tear out of anthologies for just this purpose: the original anthology and the newly published anthology for kids. Please check them out. And if it’s too late for this year, be ready for next year. Teachers, caregivers, office workers, clergy members . . . let’s try to make the world a little more poetic. These days we can use all the help we can get . . .

Buona lettura!.

Linda Dini Jenkins

Linda Dini Jenkins is a card-carrying Italophile, travel planner, freelance writer, and amateur photographer. Travel is her passion, so writing about her travels just comes naturally. She hopes all her travelers find a way to express their joys, surprises, and fears as they travel and gives every traveler a nifty journal to help smooth the way. Learn more…

Let’s face it, there’s something special about Italy . . . Suzy & Bill Menard

Mangia!

When I’m missing Italy (which is whenever I’m not there), it helps to surround myself with Italian things. Food, ceramics, music, wine, movies. . . you name it, it all helps. A fresh fig can keep me happy for days. Well, I recently found a source for all the things that make me smile, and I want you to know about it, too.

I’d first heard of Bill and Suzy Menard when I signed up for Kathy McCabe’s Dream of Italy Umbrian Harvest Tour back in 2010. The villa that we stayed in, La Fattoria del Gelso, is owned by the Menards and it provided us with a truly comfortable and stress-free Italian experience in a small town in a small valley in the shadow of Assisi. The more I learned about them, the more I wanted to know.

Fast forward two years and I’ve signed up for a cooking class to be given by the only American licensed tour guide in Umbria, Anne Robichaud (more about Anne in another post), and it’s in Bethesda, Maryland. Right where the Menards have their store, Bella Italia. So I write to Suzy and tell her that as long as I’m going to be in town, I’d like to stop by and see the store, take some pictures, etc. Well, alas, Bill and Suzy are in Italy on their annual buying trip (boo-hoo) but Suzy wrote right back and told me that two of the fellows who work with her in the store, Brett and Marc, were also planning to attend the class and of course they’d show me around the next day. So off I went.

The day I walked into the store, the front table was piled high with the famous Colomba of L’Acquila — the dove-shaped

My beautiful Colomba

cake that appears for Easter, harkening to the coming of spring and a wish for peace. Their Colomba, from Sorelle Nurzia, was wrapped magnificently in blue paper and blue ribbon, some even boxed for special presentation. I took one home and served it for Easter dessert; I’ll get it again and again, and will absolutely try their Panettone for Christmas. But I was still only five feet into the store!

As I looked around, I saw masks and puppets from Venezia, marbled Florentine papers, Umbrian textiles from Montefalco, foods from throughout Italy and ceramics from Deruta. There were books — I wanted all of them — and gorgeous knives that came from the Tuscan village of Scarperia that I had visited a dozen years ago and even Pinocchio dolls from Collodi. There was jewelry on the counter and soaps and decorative glass from Murano and much more that I’m sure I’m forgetting. In addition to the Colomba, I bought an assortment of pasta integrale (whole grain) and a balsamic jelly in the most beautiful glass container ever that I can’t wait to slather on a pungent cheese crostini.

Geribi Dolphin

The centerpiece of the store, for me, is the collection of ceramics from Deruta. The Menards have chosen three lines to import — Geribi, D’Arna and Ricceri — and feature a fine collection in the store. If you know someone who loves Italy and has a wedding or a special occasion coming up, this is the place to go. I’d register for a whole set if I were getting married again! Best thing about it is that you can order online; also, Suzy will be happy to talk with you about special orders if you can’t find exactly what you’re looking for. My personal favorites are from the Geribi studio — the ones with the animals in the center and the peacock feather/chicken feet motif. I bought one when I was there in 2010 and it makes me smile every time I see it.

Three-sided Venetian mask

Bill and Suzy opened Bella Italia in 2003 to bring some of what they love about Italy to the States. Their love affair with Italy began nearly two decades ago, when Bill was a student in the Georgetown University Law Center summer program in Fiesole (near Florence). They went back to Italy frequently after that and, after attending a cooking class on the Italian Riviera in 1995, they partnered with the chef to create an internet-based Italian import business that supplied gourmet food products from family run Italian suppliers. And so Bella Italia was born. Of course, now they had to travel back to Italy frequently to source products and artisans for their shop, and eventually they got the idea to bring Americans to Italy, just as they had been bringing a taste of Italy to Americans.

In 2008 Bill and Suzy established Experience Umbria and purchased their beautiful villa, La Fattoria del Gelso, a

Fattoria del Gelso, Cannara, Umbria

historic stone farmhouse situated on a 40-hectare working farm in one of Italy’s most fertile regions. They offer tours (food/music/photography) several times a year, but even on your own, this is a fantastic base from which to visit the Umbrian cities. And seeing it with the Dream of Italy tour is, well, dreamy.

But back to the shop.  If you’re anywhere near the Washington, D.C. area, I urge you to drive to Bethesda and check out Bella Italia. The staff is friendly and helpful and the products are wonderful. Be sure to check out the store events — everything from book groups to ceramic painting to olive oil tastings and opera nights. If you can’t get there in person, keep the website on your Bookmarks Bar. Whenever the “missing Italy blues” hits you can order something and get your smile back.

Buon viaggio!

Linda Dini Jenkins

Linda Dini Jenkins is a card-carrying Italophile, travel planner, freelance writer, and amateur photographer. Travel is her passion, so writing about her travels just comes naturally. She hopes all her travelers find a way to express their joys, surprises, and fears as they travel and gives every traveler a nifty journal to help smooth the way. Learn more…

… Me? I’m not off for anywhere at all.

Sometimes I wander out of beaten ways

Half looking for the orchid Calypso. — Robert Frost, “An Encounter” 

The city of Richmond, Virginia includes an array of treasures and the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden is surely one of them. Located just a few minutes outside of the downtown on Lakeside Avenue, the garden provides a magnificent oasis for our stressed-out souls: walk around, have lunch, take advantage of educational programs and special plant sales, bring the kids, rent the facility for your own special events and meetings . . . come and make it a home away from home.

I did just that last Saturday to visit the Orchids Galore! show, which kicks off this year’s A Million Blooms program — be sure to get there by April 22 or you’ll miss it. And you won’t want to.

I’m not going to have a lot of text here, because I don’t know nothin’ ‘bout birthin’ orchids. Just trust me when I tell you that if you live anywhere near Richmond, you should go. Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden is open from 9:00 – 5:00 daily (except Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Christmas) and for a small fee and a short walk to the Conservatory — through some of the prettiest violas and tulips you’ll ever see — these exotic babies (hundreds of them!) will take your breath away.

One day I’ll have a really fine SLR camera. For now, here’s what I can accomplish with what I’ve got. Hope you enjoy them. And I hope you see that travel doesn’t always mean crossing a continent or an ocean — this was a transporting experience 30 minutes away from home! 

Buon viaggio!

Linda Dini Jenkins

Linda Dini Jenkins is a card-carrying Italophile, travel planner, freelance writer, and amateur photographer. Travel is her passion, so writing about her travels just comes naturally. She hopes all her travelers find a way to express their joys, surprises, and fears as they travel and gives every traveler a nifty journal to help smooth the way. Learn more…

Nowadays nothing but money counts: a fortune brings honors, friendships; the poor man everywhere lies low. — Ovid

The "Old Man Fountain" and our guide, Francesco

My friend Novelia tells me that the tourists are finally coming back to Abruzzo. It’s been a long, cold, ridiculously snowy winter and she is ready for guests. Ready to make pasta. Ready to tour them through the Abbey where she works. And most importantly, ready to introduce them to her home town and make it heartbreakingly hard for them to leave. And she can do it, believe me. She just wishes there were more americani coming to Abruzzo. Maybe this will help.

Tim and I went to Abruzzo last May with a gang of 10 friends. Sulmona was our first stop, for four nights. Then we drove to L’Acquila to see the damage the earthquake had wrought and continued on to Civitella del Tronto in the north, where we would spend an additional three nights in the region.

Abruzzo is a mountainous region in central Italy that basically stretches from the Apennines to the Adriatic. It is a rugged landscape, with stunning switchback mountain roads in one part, with steep and rocky coasts in the other. It boasts many regional parks and the National Park of Abruzzo, with its hiking trails and unique animal species, namely the Marscian Brown Bear and the Gray Wolf. The region is popular with European travelers and even other Italians. But it presents some challenges for American travelers, who pretty much have to fly into Rome and then drive several hours to reach the major Abruzzese cities. Those willing to fly into another European gateway city can shorten the drive by flying into Pescara. Either way, it’s worth it. And you need a car here, anyway, so just decide what kind of drive you want when you arrive in the region.

You already know how much I love Italy — every region that I’ve visited so far. And there are many things to recommend the

Statue of Ovid in Piazza XX Settembre

Abruzzo region. Here are my Top 10 reasons:

#1             Novelia’s Pentouse — La Casa del Cuore — is truly “The House of the Heart.” Sleeps 4 or 6 in two bedrooms with two full bathrooms and a full kitchen/living area. Check it out here and contact her for rates and availability. She will give you an unforgettable experience. Tell her I sent you and make sure she cooks for you at least one night!

#2        Ovid — Why did I begin this post with a quote from the Roman poet Ovid? Because this is his homeland. Or, as he said it, “Sulmo Mihi Patria Est,” and trust me, you’ll see this quote or a simplified version of it (SMPE) all over town. Go to Piazza XX Settembre for gelato in the shadow of the monument to Ovid. Most of the town’s medieval monuments are clustered centrally around Corso Ovidio, so there’s just no escaping his influence. Plus, Corso Ovidio is the site of the nightly passeggiata, where couples from 9 to 90 walk the street arm-in-arm. So go between 6 – 8 p.m. and then again after 11 p.m. and people watch. A truly Italian thing to do!

Confetti flowers for sale all over town

#3            Confetti — Ever been to an Italian wedding? Gotten a little net bag of sugar-coated almonds? That, my friends, is confetti, and Sulmona is the world capital of confetti making to this day. But it’s not just the white ones that you might be familiar with. Confetti comes in all colors and each color is specific to an occasion: white for weddings; pink for a girl’s Christening, blue for a boy’s; red for a college graduation; green for engagements; silver for a 25^th anniversary and gold for a 50^th anniversary. And they can be filled not only with almonds, but also with hazelnuts, anise seeds, cinnamon sticks, coffee beans, peanuts, pistachios, marzipan and chocolate. See these and more — including amazing confetti sculptures, flower arrangements and historical confetti-making equipment at Confetti Pellino, making celebrants smile since 1763.

#4        Piazza Garibaldi — The main piazza in town, and home of the twice-weekly mercato (Wednesday and Saturday), Piazza Garibaldi sits at the foot of the Maiella National Park and the backdrop couldn’t be more majestic. If you saw the George Clooney movie, The American, you’ll recognize this piazza when you arrive. You might even get a chance to buy cheese from the same elegant, gray-haired cheese vendor that he (and we) did. You can’t miss her. And what’s that on one end of the piazza, running into town? Oh, that’s the 12^th century aqueduct!

#5            Cathedral of San Panfilo — Named for the patron saint of Sulmona and dating from 1075, this impressive

Market day -- fruttivendolo

church at the end of town reveals layer upon layer of architectural additions and renovations as it was affected by fire and earthquakes over the years. Of special interest is the Crypt, with its late twelfth century marble Episcopal Chair and the altar of St. Peter of Morrone, consecrated October 10, 1294 by Celestino V immediately after he was crowned pope in L’Aquila. Other churches in town include the Church of Santa Maria della Tomba (with its fabulous bell tower) and the baroque Chiesa di SS. Annunziata.

#6            Pasqua a Sulmona — If you get a chance, spend Easter in Sulmona for one of the most authentic, over-the-top displays of liturgical drama on the planet. Everybody in town participates. Everybody in town knows the story of the “Madonna che scappa” on Easter morning. But something happens almost every single day on Piazza Garibaldi during Holy Week in Sulmona. Go and be amazed. Find the schedule at the site for the Office of Culture & Tourism.

Antipasto buffet at Hostaria dell'Arco

#7        Food — Abruzzo is well-known for its unique cuisine. Lamb from the mountains and fish from the sea. Home-made pastas and sheep’s cheese and I’m getting hungry just writing this. Here are a few things you shouldn’t miss: spaghetti alla chitarra . . . prosciutto di cinghiale . . . scamorze . . . salame di fegato dolce (or fegato pazzo) . . . agnello al cotturo . . . pasta e lenticchie . .. risotto alla zafferano. I could go on. Two restaurants that we frequented (I’m sure there are more good ones) were Hostaria dell’Arco on Via M.D’Eramo and Il Vecchio Muro just down the street.

#8            Celestinian Abbey/Hermitage in Badia— Just a few miles from Sulmona, in Badia Morronese, sits the

Sulmona, aqueduct from P. Garibaldi

Celestinian Abbey, founded by the Italian Pope Celestino V. He abdicated after few months and was charged by the poet Dante with cowardice. But things weren’t so black-and-white back then, I’m sure. The abbey was damaged by a strong earthquake in 1706, and over the years has been a boarding school, a home hospice and a prison. Today, it is part of the complex where our friend Novelia is an English-speaking guide (that’s how we met) and her pride in the place and its history is palpable. Find out all about Celestino’s peregrinations around the area in his search for spiritual peace and quiet and marvel at the remains of the abbey in the present day.

#9        The Joust —This spectacle was a regular feature in the Middle Ages until 1643, when it was finally abolished. If you’ve ever seen the palio (horse race) in Siena or Ferrara or any of a number of other Italian cities, you’ll appreciate the kind of medieval splendor that these events evoke. The Joust has been restored to Sulmona only in the last few decades, and offers a wealth of historical reenactments and over 500 characters in costume. Today the celebrated Giostra Cavalleresca (a “competition” among the seven regional borghi and sestrieri) takes place in the last week in July, with horses, captains in armor and duels a plenty!

#10            Location, location, location — Because you can make all kinds of side trips while you’re based in Sulmona. Visit Scanno, a little to the south, for its resort lake and shops selling traditional gold filigree jewelry. Go up the mountains from Scanno to Azienda Agricola Rotolo Gregorio  — the  Bioagriturismo Valle Scannese. The drive is spectacular and if you call ahead for food, you’ll get a great meal! Drive north to L’Acquila, the capital of Abruzzo. Reconstruction is slow since the 2009 earthquake, but it’s worth seeing. There are two museums there (San Giuliano Museum of Natural Science and Museo Nazionale d’Abruzzo) and a nearby village, Santo Stefano di Sessanio, known for its black lentils. Lured by the sea? Head for the town of Chieti, a former Roman municipality, or to the tiny historical section of Pescara for a fantastic meal at La Cantina di Jozz. Finally, if you like the mountains, remember that you’re right near the Gran Sasso Mountains, where skiing is popular. Or you can go to Pescasseroli & Abruzzo National Park to check out the nature reserve and those furry wild animals.

I’ve left so much out, but I hope this gives you a taste of the region. So rent a car and get a map and go have an Abruzzese adventure. And be sure to say Ciao! to Novelia for me!

Buon viaggio!

Linda Dini Jenkins

Linda Dini Jenkins is a card-carrying Italophile, travel planner, freelance writer, and amateur photographer. Travel is her passion, so writing about her travels just comes naturally. She hopes all her travelers find a way to express their joys, surprises, and fears as they travel and gives every traveler a nifty journal to help smooth the way. Learn more…

They say life’s what happens when you’re busy making other plans. But sometimes in New York, life is what happens when you’re waiting for a table. — Sarah Jessica Parker as Carrie Bradshaw

Sabrett's on Fifth

For those who don’t know, I’m a native New Yorker. Father born and raised in Brooklyn. Maternal grandmother born and raised in Hell’s Kitchen. I grew up about 30 minutes away in the suburbs, but always in the shadow of the Big Apple. We went there as a family for theatre, for dinners, for new movies. We went to visit the relatives in Brooklyn and Queens and sometimes venture up to the Bronx Zoo. As a teenager and young adult, I took the LIRR as much as possible to experience Greenwich Village, the Fillmore East, Broadway and Off-Broadway.

Home of the Rockettes

I had moved upstate for college, but when I graduated, I moved right back. First to Park Slope when it was still shaking off the SROs from the end of WWII and before it was the high rent district it is today. Then I made it across the bridge to what I called “the real city.” I stayed for more than a dozen years and then decided that I had to move to Vermont. Change of pace, that sort of thing. Hug trees. Find a more affordable lifestyle. Maybe meet a college English professor, get married and grow my hair along with the organic vegetables. Well, that part didn’t happen, but I did meet my husband because of Vermont. It’s a long story. Irony? We met at the New York Hilton Hotel, both attending an event put on by the Harvard Business School Club. Neither of us had attended Harvard; it was just fate.

Just below 30 Rock

But I digress.

I recently spent four days back in New York to attend the NY Times Travel Show. Good to be surrounded by other travel nuts and especially good to meet some of my Italophile friends who I’d been getting to know on Facebook and Twitter over the last two years. Sure, New York has changed. Restaurants come and go and there’s as much Italian signage on Madison Avenue now as there is on Via della Spiga. But New York is still New York: exciting, industrious, raunchy, artsy, overpriced, entrepreneurial, historic, trendy, neighborhoody, welcoming, dangerous, surprising, familiar, smelly, exhilarating — everything all at once.

Graybar/GCT rats!

I took some pictures this time and am sharing them here with you. Some iconic ones — Radio City Music Hall, Rockefeller Center, a Sabrett’s hot dog stand. Some that just tickled me. And a favorite that many New Yorkers miss as they rush into and out of Grand Central Station each day: the three metal rats climbing up the metal ropes just below the rat guards of the Graybar Building at 43^rd and Lex. Then there’s a shot I ran out of my favorite breakfast place in town (Café Un Deux Trois) to take: a seafood catering truck for a company called Meat Without Feet. Part of the Citarella food mecca, it’s one of the biggest players in the Fulton Fish Market scene and it just made me smile.

Meat Without Feet made me smile

Hope you enjoy these little images of my New York. God, I miss this place!

Buttons at Mood. Thank you, Mood!

Buon viaggio!

Linda Dini Jenkins

Linda Dini Jenkins is a card-carrying Italophile, travel planner, freelance writer, and amateur photographer. Travel is her passion, so writing about her travels just comes naturally. She hopes all her travelers find a way to express their joys, surprises, and fears as they travel and gives every traveler a nifty journal to help smooth the way. Learn more…

I cannot make this stuff up. — Linda Jenkins

You’ve gotta love those wacky Brits!

As I sat down with my nice cuppa this afternoon to read the latest issue of one of my industry newsletters, I was stopped by a headline that read, “ Stranger events in England UK.” Of course I read. And I still have no idea what a “conker” is.

Without further ado, here are the upcoming events for your 2012 travel planning pleasure. Please let me know if you attend one!

Coal Carrying , Ossett, West Yorkshire

9 April 2012

Held each year on Easter Monday, the World Coal Carrying Contest is a test of strength and stamina in which participants carry 50kg (men) or 20kg (women) of coal over a mile-long uphill course.

The contest dates back to 1963.

Visit : www.gawthorpe.ndo.co.uk/coal.htm

The Olimpicks, Dover’s Hill, near Chipping Campden, Gloucestershire

1 June 2012

Started by local barrister Captain Robert Dover in 1612, the annual Cotswold Olimpicks attracts thousands of spectators and features some well-known countryside games such as tug-of-war, obstacle races and wrestling as well as a few stranger events — including shin-kicking.

The two contestants first fill their trouser legs with straw — to help reduce the pain — before holding one another’s arms and kicking each other wearing steel toe-capped boots.

This year marks the Olimpicks’ 400th anniversary.

Visit : www.olimpickgames.co.uk

Cheese Rolling, Brockworth, Gloucestershire

4 June 2012

This annual event involves daredevils hurling themselves down the steep, grassy slopes in pursuit of Double Gloucester cheeses. The race starts with the master of ceremonies rolling a 4kg Double Gloucester cheese down the hill. On the whistle, competitors run, roll and somersault down the hill after it.

The event dates back to medieval times and is popular with international competitors.

Visit :  http://www.cheese-rolling.co.uk/

Egg Throwing, Helpringham & Swaton, Lincolnshire

24 June 2012

In the annual World Egg Throwing Championships, contestants must construct a gravity-powered egghurling device to launch an egg to a waiting team member. To achieve points, the team member must either catch the egg unbroken or get struck by the egg. As the egg can be traveling at speeds of up to 120 mph this is particularly tricky and can be painful.

Distances to be achieved start at 30 meters but can be extended up to 150 in the knock out competition.

Visit :  http://www.eggthrowing.com/

Pea Shooting, Witcham, Cambridgeshire

14 July 2012

This international event brings challengers from as far as New Zealand and the USA to compete for the World Pea Shooting trophy. Accuracy, not distance, is the aim of this competition, with contestants shooting a pea through a 12-inch tube, 12 feet towards a 12-inch target.

Visit : www.eastcambs.gov.uk/tourism

Toe Wrestling, Fenny Bentley, Ashbourne, Kent

25 August 2012,

Each August the Bentley Brook Inn in Derbyshire hosts the Ben & Jerry’s World Toe Wrestling Championship. Competitors locked their big toes together, and attempted to force their opponent’s foot to the ground.

The organisers applied (unsuccessfully) in 1997 for its inclusion in the Olympic Games.

Visit : www.bentleybrookinn.co.uk.

Gravy Wrestling, the Rose & Bowl Inn, Bacup, Rossendale, Lancashire

27 August 2012

The World Gravy Wrestling Championships take place annually as part of the Pennine Lancashire Festival of Food & Culture. Teams slide around in lukewarm gravy and attempt to wrestle one another to the ground. Team members win points for pinning the opposition down in the gravy.

Visit: http://www.worldgravywrestling.com/

Black Pudding Throwing, Royal Oak, Bridge Street, Ramsbottom, Lancashire

9 September 2012

Lancashire is known for the production of black pudding along with tripe (cow’s stomach) and elder (steamed cows’ udder). The aim is to throw a black pudding that has been wrapped in a pair of ladies tights at a collection of Yorkshire puddings on a plinth 20 feet up a tower built in the middle of the main street in Ramsbottom.

Visit : http://www.ramsbottomonline.com/

The World Conker Championships, Ashton, near Oundle, Peterborough

14 October 2012

The World Conker Championships are held each year on the village green in Ashton, Peterborough and attract over 300 competitors attempting to become the King or Queen of Conkers. There are various categories for the knockout competition – ladies, men, teenagers and children.

Visit : www.worldconkerchampionships.com

Contact: Yolanda Copes-Stepney at yolanda.copes-stepney@visitengland.org.

Buon viaggio!

Linda Dini Jenkins

Linda Dini Jenkins is a card-carrying Italophile, travel planner, freelance writer, and amateur photographer. Travel is her passion, so writing about her travels just comes naturally. She hopes all her travelers find a way to express their joys, surprises, and fears as they travel and gives every traveler a nifty journal to help smooth the way. Learn more…

Open my heart and you will see/’Graved inside of it, “Italy.”  — Robert Browning

Having visited several far flung destinations around the world in 2011, our guest blogger Matthew Nunn is now focused on exploring nearer home in Europe. His next blogging targets will be his Sardinia holidays and a few other islands dotted around the Mediterranean. Matthew also helps to run Total Travel Blog out of the UK. Read what he has to say about four of the more magnificent piazzas in Italy. And if you have another one to share, please do!

Italians are known for their beautiful and famous architecture, and nowhere do they flaunt this better than in their piazzas. A piazza is known as a town square, despite the fact that many of them don’t actually achieve this square shape. They serve as the epicenter of Mediterranean life, enabled by the warm weather, a fondness for al fresco dining and an appreciation of taking life slow and gently.

Strolling down to the piazza is a common past time, but this hasn’t stopped many of them morphing into some of the most dramatically breathtaking city destinations around the globe.  A trip to Italy without visiting these areas in your chosen destination is virtually impossible, but if you want to go all out and see the finest on offer, then I recommend the following four piazzas, each famous for their own reasons.

Piazza San Pietro, Vatican, Rome

St. Peter's Square c. Matthew D Nunn

Also known as St. Peter’s Square, the first thing that hits you about this piazza is its size and grandeur. The Romans have gone all out here, with a range of shapes, styles and features on display that can have you wandering around for ages. The Elliptical area of the piazza features the renowned Obelisk, which being red granite and with bronze features, is surprisingly colorful for such a structure. The Enveloping Colonnades are four deep, allowing you to wind your way around and in and out of the sunlight.

Many people come here for the opportunity to see the Pope, which can generate crowds in the thousands. If you prefer a more subdued stroll, then avoid such events and take in the walk up to St. Peter’s Basilica, one of the most amazing churches in the world, in your own time.  A visit inside is a must, as this is an example of the finest architecture the Catholic Church has to offer and has been touched upon by masters such as Michelangelo, with the added bonus that entry is free.

St. Peter's Basilica c. Matthew D Nunn

There are also a number of interesting additional features – first, a spot in the Ellipse creates an optical illusion as the fourdeep row of colonnades appear as a single row. Next, the spot where Pope John Paul ll was shot is also marked with a red square.

The Piazza Navona, Rome

The Piazza Navona brings together all the classic ingredients of an Italian Piazza: a church, an obelisk, a palace and numerous fountains, most famously the Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi, (The Fountain of the Four Rivers). There is plenty to feast your eyes upon here. The Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi is rich in imagery, with four river god statues underpinning an Egyptian obelisk, making it easy to see why it’s such a popular spot for tourist snaps.  The square also reveals the typical habit of Italians to constantly tinker with their public spaces, and many features (such as the Statue of Neptune) were added as late as the 19^th Century.

This is also one for the street artist fans, as many entertainers and artists ply their trade in the light hustle and bustle created by the al fresco dining scene.

Piazza Del Campo, Siena

Sienna's Piazza del Campo — Photo by PhillipC

Moving away from Rome, the distinct Piazza Del Campo is a powerful feature of Siena, a city known for retaining its medieval flavor. A tourist destination in its own right, it adds an additional draw to Sienna and the wider Tuscany region that has long been popular with holiday makers, and more historically travelers during the Renaissance period! What lifts this square above the traditional strengths of piazzas is the horse race, the Palio di Siena, which brings the square alive every July 2 and August 16. Watching this is like stepping back to medieval time, and much effort is put into maintaining the character of the occasion.

Aside from this, on a normal day the reserved yet intricate Fonte Gaia adds the traditional fountain to the square and the Torre del Mangia tower completes the scene, making this a fantastic medieval destination devoid of any modern intrusions.

St. Mark’s Square, Venice

What’s brilliantly fascinating about St. Mark’s Square is that it reflects much of Venice’s varied and colorful history. From times of power when the Venetian empire ransacked goods and treasures from all corners of its influence, to periods of its own subordination, particularly under Napoleon, the face of the square tells a million stories.

Particular favorites include St. Mark’s Basilica, which has many features from foreign lands older than the building itself. The Triumphal Quadriga, a set of bronze horses, are one such example and were pillaged from Constantinople by the Venetians, only to be then looted by Napoleon and sent to Paris.  Napoleon was known to take a distinct liking to the square, calling it the Drawing Room of Europe. The four horses were subsequently returned to Venice, however, and are back sitting outside the Basilica.

The Clock Tower tells its own story as well. Reputedly over 1000 years old, it collapsed in the early 20^th century, and is now today standing as a replica. Thankfully, it was rebuilt in the same image, which sits justifiably in a prominent position in the square.

Buon viaggio!

Linda Dini Jenkins

Linda Dini Jenkins is a card-carrying Italophile, travel planner, freelance writer, and amateur photographer. Travel is her passion, so writing about her travels just comes naturally. She hopes all her travelers find a way to express their joys, surprises, and fears as they travel and gives every traveler a nifty journal to help smooth the way. Learn more…

Cooking — and eating — our way through the fabulous food region of Abruzzo

Figs in the city

I’ve always said that there’s a whole lot of Italy to explore beyond the tourist triumvirate of Rome, Florence and Venice. Seeing those parts of the country that are traditionally overlooked by American travelers was our goal last year, so we headed first for the central Abruzzo region and then went north to the border of Abruzzo and Le Marche. We’d heard about the rich culinary traditions here, and wanted to see for ourselves. How better than to drop ourselves into the middle of (American tourist) nowhere and sign up for a cooking class?

After spending a few days in the Abruzzese city of Sulmona — most famous for its confetti, those candy covered almonds central to all kinds of Italian celebrations — we drove north, first to L’Acquila to assess the earthquake damage and then to the Hotel Zunica, which would be home for three nights.

Set in the town of Civitella del Tronto (named for the river Tronto) the Hotel Zunica sits among the majestic Gran Sasso mountains and (from the right rooms) offers commanding views of the Adriatic Sea. The approach to this walled fortress city is simply breathtaking, through hairpin turns and snow-capped mountain ridges (year round). And the first view of the city, with its imposing 16^thcentury fortress — the last Bourbon fortress to surrender to the Piemontese in 1861, three days after the declaration of the Unity of Italy — provides a hint of the singular beauty and experience that lay ahead.

Civitella del Tronto, from the road below

Four generations of hospitality

Zunica bills itself as a hotel for gourmet travelers, and it is surely that. The current owner, Daniele, is the fourth generation of Zunicas to offer an elegant, welcoming place for travelers who are seriously interested in learning about the fine regional cuisine. He and his able manager, Maurizio Neri, lead a young and energetic team of chefs who maintain the old traditions and experiment with new ways to match food with technique and presentation. In fact, the restaurant’s kitchen is something of a workshop, where local families still come and share recipes with the young staff.

Our cooking class was a fine example of that, as we took our turn at the ancient, painstaking art of making pasta alla chitarra (flattened dough rolled over a device resembling guitar strings) from scratch and took part in the preparation of a fine ragu, made from local veal, lamb and pork. The cooking class was preceded by visits to a nearby olive oil mill and winery, where we sampled and were feted with local porchetta, pecorino and fava beans, fresh from the garden.

Savor the Abruzzese way

Making the pasta

At Hotel Zunica the menu changes according to the season, but all the pastas, breads and cakes are hand made, all the meats are locally produced and all the herbs and vegetables are grown nearby on small organic farms. Of course, Abruzzo is known around the world now for its fine pastas (De Cecco brand), olive oils and wine (especially the deep red Montepulciano and the delightful white Trebbiano). But this is also saffron country. And truffle country. And it has cheeses and salamis and legumes to please every palate, and seafood from the nearby Adriatic. Local women still make the traditional ceppe and chitarra pastas for the restaurant using the old methods. And when a platter of perfectly cooked two-inch-thick sizzling T-bone steaks is placed on the table, it’s about as good as it gets.

Civitella del Tronto is included among the “Most Beautiful Villages of Italy” and dates back to the year 1000. Our guide, Danilo, toured us through the winding streets to La Ruetta, the narrowest street in all of Italy, and spent a great deal of time with us at the fortress, explaining the history of the place and walking its formidable walls.

Everybody loves the "pausa"

If you’re looking for a very comfortable hotel in a place of unparalleled beauty that will provide a unique food experience — with a measure of history thrown in — you can do no better than Hotel Zunica. My thanks to Mario Scalzi at Parker Villas for suggesting this trip. If you’d like to get the kind of experience we had with cooking classes and tours, contact Parker Villas and ask about the Abbonndanza Abruzzese Cooking Tour. Visit Parker’s website or call 1.800.280.2811 for details.

To visit Abruzzo from the States, you’ll most likely fly into Rome and drive the 200 km from Fiumicino airport to Civitella del Tronto. But you can shorten the drive if you fly into either Pescara (70 km) or Ancona (100 km) from a connecting European flight. You’ll want to drive — this is gorgeous country and unlike anything you’ve seen if you’ve only been to Rome, Florence or Venice. Trust me. Abruzzo is unforgettable and you’ll want to see as much of it as you can. And you’ll want to eat!

Buon viaggio!

Linda Dini Jenkins

Linda Dini Jenkins is a card-carrying Italophile, travel planner, freelance writer, and amateur photographer. Travel is her passion, so writing about her travels just comes naturally. She hopes all her travelers find a way to express their joys, surprises, and fears as they travel and gives every traveler a nifty journal to help smooth the way. Learn more…

No matter how far we travel, the memories will follow in the baggage car. — August Strindberg, Miss Julie

Creepy fact? Tim’s father, whom I never met, died on my birthday. My mother, whom Tim never met, died on his birthday. So each year, August 8 and February 6 come and go with very mixed emotions.

What does this have to do with travel? Not much, really. Or does it? Isn’t memory a form of travel — of going back to revisit (sometimes, whether we want to or not) places we’ve been, people we’ve known, dumb things we’ve done and good things we probably should have done. I think so.

And sometimes these infernal “trips down memory lane,” as they’re snidely called, exhaust me more than a ten-hour flight with three connections.

As I approach the date of my mother’s death, I’ve started thinking about all things Dorothy. The Wizard of Oz, certainly.  The late Bea Arthur’s irrepressible character on Golden Girls.  And, maybe most of all, Marvin Bell’s ecstatically romantic love poem, “To Dorothy.”

I first came upon Marvin Bell, who taught for many years at the prestigious and downright scary Iowa Writers’ Workshop, during  my three summers at the Bread Loaf Writers Conference in  Middlebury, Vermont. He was my manuscript advisor one year, and I still remember his kindness.

He read each summer, and each time he read this particular poem. He apparently reads it at every reading he gives, whether Dorothy is present or not. It is the ultimate expression of love and I share it with you here, in memory of my mother, Dorothy.

To Dorothy

You are not beautiful, exactly.

You are beautiful, inexactly.

You let a weed grow by the mulberry

And a mulberry grow by the house.

So close, in the personal quiet

Of a windy night, it brushes the wall

And sweeps away the day till we sleep.

A child said it, and it seemed true:

“Things that are lost are all equal.”

But it isn’t true. If I lost you,

The air wouldn’t move, nor the tree grow.

Someone would pull the weed, my flower.

The quiet wouldn’t be yours. If I lost you,

I’d have to ask the grass to let me sleep.

— Marvin Bell, New and Selected Poems, 1987, Atheneum

Buon viaggio, Mom.

Buon viaggio a tutti.

Linda Dini Jenkins

Linda Dini Jenkins is a card-carrying Italophile, travel planner, freelance writer, and amateur photographer. Travel is her passion, so writing about her travels just comes naturally. She hopes all her travelers find a way to express their joys, surprises, and fears as they travel and gives every traveler a nifty journal to help smooth the way. Learn more…