It’s Finally Here!

Umbria: Food, Wine and Words

Eat, drink and find your voice in the green heart of Italy
May 23 – May 31 or May 30 – June 7, 2014

Join acclaimed travel writer and blogger Linda Dini Jenkins (that’s me!) for a week-long adventure under the glorious skies of one of Italy’s most beautiful regions.

This small group adventure includes lodging at the spacious and inviting Villa Fattoria del Gelso in Cannara, in the shadow of historic Assisi.

Linda is the author of Up at the Villa: Travels with my Husband — praised as one of the “Ten travel books I’d give my girlfriends” by www.journeywoman.com — and is the creator of the entertaining and informative travel blog, Travel the Write Way (www.travelthewriteway.com). Her writing also appears in Dream of Italy, Richmond Times-Dispatch, HealthCare Traveler and AAA’s Home and Away.

During our week in the sun, Linda will share some of her secrets to effective travel journaling in a series of low-key optional writing workshops, using exercises that are sure to help participants capture their Umbrian experiences to the fullest.

Participants will travel to several of Umbria’s storied hill towns; will eat and drink well; will write sparkling journal entries; will experience L’Infiorata (Umbria’s incredible flower art festival); and will still have plenty of time for exploring and relaxation.

This package includes seven nights in the fully restored 17th century Villa Fattoria Del Gelso, located on a 40-hectare working farm that is literally walking distance from colorful shops and restaurants and centrally located in the village of Cannara. The trip is designed for relaxed learning and sightseeing via foot, bicycle and van. Not every moment has been scheduled — if there are other things that you’d like to do, the possibility exists.

Fee includes villa accommodations, all breakfasts, welcome and farewell dinners, pizza-making party and cooking class on premises, a winery tour with lunch and transportation to Assisi, Spello and Montefalco by private van. Both writers and non-writers are welcome. Bring your swimsuit, camera and journal. You’ll find your voice — and your smile — in Umbria. Andiamo!

Just the Facts . . .

 May 30 – June 7, 2014

Price per person: $2,300

Package includes:

• seven nights in the private Villa Fattoria del Gelso
• welcome and farewell dinners with wine
• all breakfasts
• daily Umbrian “aperitivo” with local wines, meats and cheeses
• vineyard tour, wine tasting and private lunch in Montefalco, home to one of Italy’s great wines
• private guided full-day walking tour of Assisi (including lunch) with Anne Robichaud
• guided tour of Perugia, the chocolate capital of Italy
• cooking class led by Simone Proietti-Pesci, chef-owner of Bevagna’s ristorante le Delizie del Borgo
• half-day self-guided walking tour of Spello during the amazing festa L’Infiorata
• pizza-making party at the villa
• ground transportation throughout your stay
• total of 7 breakfasts, 2 lunches, 4 dinners and 7 relaxing Umbrian “aperitivi”

Package Details:

Package is for seven nights for two people sharing a double-occupancy room.

Pricing:

Price quoted is per person, double-occupancy sharing a double bedroom. A single room supplement of $400 will be charged to guests not wishing to share a room. Packages are land packages only. Air travel is not included. Transfers to and from La Fattoria del Gelso can be arranged for an additional fee.

Accommodations:

Accommodations are included in the package price. Guests will stay at the Villa Fattoria del Gelso, a private villa outside the village of Cannara in the Umbrian countryside. Most rooms have private baths, but several rooms will share a bath and we will fill these rooms last (a good incentive to book early, no?). For more information, including a photo tour of the villa, please visit the Experience Umbria website: www.experienceumbria.com. Inquiries about the villa can be directed to tours@experienceumbria.com.

Meals:

Meals include a welcome and farewell dinner, as well as daily continental breakfast served at La Fattoria del Gelso. The package also includes a pizza-making dinner party at the villa, a private vineyard tour and lunch, cooking class and a tour and lunch in Assisi. The villa also will provide a daily Umbrian aperitivo that will include local wines, meats and cheeses.

Transportation:

Ground transportation to and from events and excursions is included and will be provided by private coach. Tim and I will have a car. Free parking is available at the Villa, and you are welcome to provide your own transportation if you would like more flexibility to go off on your own.

Deposit:

(subject to slight changes, as weather & availabilities dictate)

Friday, May 23/30

• Fly from your home cities to Rome’s Fiumicino Airport. Dinner onboard flight.

 Saturday, May 24/31

• Arrive in Rome’s Fiumicino Airport (FCO) around 10:00 a.m.
• Watch for details about sharing van costs to the villa as we get closer to the date.
• Van cost is shared by guests and may include a stop in Rome or Orvieto on the way.
• Otherwise, you can rent cars at FCO and drive to Cannara (about a two-hour drive) or take the train from FCO to Foligno and then get a taxi to the villa or rent a car from Foligno. Details to follow.
• You can get into the villa at 4:00 and swim, relax or walk into town.
• Enjoy your first Umbrian Aperitivo with introductions and welcome dinner around 6:00 p.m. (early because we’re all jet-lagged!)

Sunday, May 25/June 1

• Breakfast served at the villa from 8:00 – 9:00.
• Short optional writing instruction and daily exercise given, 9:15 – 10:15.
• Take time to relax at the villa, swim, ride bikes, walk into town or visit the cemetery across the street. Yes: Italian cemeteries are amazing!
• An optional self-guided bike ride to Bevagna can be arranged (and is encouraged!).
• Enjoy lunch on your own in Cannara or Bevagna — we’ll make recommendations.
• Special visit from Simone Proietti-Pesci, chef-owner of Bevagna’s ristorante le Delizie del Borgo, who will lead us in a cooking class starting around 3:00.
• Aperitivi around 6:00.
• Dinner will be what we cook in the class.
• June 1: Optional walk into Cannara tonight to see the set-up for L’Infiorata (the flower festival) dell Corpus Domini.

 Monday, May 26/June 2

• Breakfast served at the villa from 8:00 – 9:00.
• Short writing instruction and daily exercise, 9:15 – 10:15.
• We’ll be picked up for a trip to Montefalco (Sagrantino country) for our wine tour, tasting and lunch.
• After lunch we’ll go into the classic hill town of Spello to see L’Infiorata (June 2 only) and have time to explore on our own.
• Back to the villa for Aperitivi.
• Dinner on your own in Cannara.

 Tuesday, May 27/June 3

• Breakfast served at the villa from 8:00 – 9:00.
• We’ll be picked up for our full-day trip to Assisi with American ex-pat guide Anne Robichaud.
• Anne will arrange for lunch at a local eatery in Assisi (included).
• Back to villa for Aperitivi.
• Dinner on your own in Cannara if you’re still hungry and/or awake.

 Wednesday, May 28/June 4

• Breakfast served at the villa from 8:00 – 9:00.
• Short writing instruction and daily exercise given, 9:15 – 10:15.
• Time to relax at the villa, swim, ride bikes, walk into town, visit the cemetery across the street.
• An optional self-guided trip to Deruta (the ceramic capital of Italy) can be arranged and costs will be shared.
• Lunch on your own in either Cannara or Deruta.
• Assignment: bring something from Cannara or Deruta to share with the group for the potluck dinner tonight following the Aperitivo.
• We’ll meet back at the villa in the afternoon for more relaxing and writing time.
• Aperitivi & then Potluck Dinner.

Thursday, May 29/June 5

• Breakfast served at the villa from 8:00 – 9:00.
• We’ll be picked up for a trip to Perugia, the chocolate capital of Italy. We’ll have a guided tour and then lunch on our own in this classic city that is also the capital of Umbria.
• Back to the villa for Aperitivi.
• Pizza-making party at the villa tonight.
• Writers share their journal stories, observations or other stories about Italy during/after pizza time. All are encouraged to participate!

Friday, May 30/June 6

• Breakfast served at the villa from 8:00 – 9:00.
• Time to relax at the villa, swim, ride bikes, walk into town, visit the cemetery across the street.
• Enjoy lunch on your own — last chance to walk into Cannara!
• Time for packing, relaxing and preparing for departure tomorrow.
• Aperitivi, farewell dinner and trip reflections will begin around 7:00 p.m.

 Saturday, May 31/June 7

• Breakfast served at the villa, timing to be determined by your departure times.
• The group leaves the villa in the morning as their flights require.
• Villa must be vacated by 10:00 a.m. Boo-hoo.
• Van to Fiumicino can be arranged at your own shared expense.
• Memories begin . . .

Ci vediamo in Umbria!

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…

Ed. note: This is the way you get to be a guest blogger on this site! Write to me in good English with a relevant topic, prove that you’re experienced, and deliver what you say you will. I’m excited to share this bit of Halloween madness from a city other than Salem . . . I had no idea about Vancouver’s Gastown. Thanks, Abby!

Vancouver isn’t known as an exceptionally scary place (except perhaps to those with moderate to severe UGG boot and mustache phobias) but did you know it’s haunted? That’s right. A series of buildings in Vancouver’s oldest neighborhood are reputed to be hotbeds of paranormal activity.

Every year in October, supernatural enthusiasts, thrill seekers in the Halloween spirit, and couples looking to mix things up on date night all descend upon Vancouver’s historic Gastown. The five block brick-paved heritage area in the city’s core is ordinarily a tourism hot spot, but for a few weeks in October it plays venue for “haunted Gastown” walking tours, which one operator describes as visceral and dramatic – not your conventional walking tour.

Yet, on any good tour (and in any suspenseful ghost story), facts about local history are shared in abundance. Guides cite historical basis for the apparent hauntings in Gastown, which in the late 1800s was a violent frontier town soaked in whiskey and greed. In “Canada’s Wild West” a well-known showgirl was spurned, her heart broken by theatre mogul Alexander Pantages. There were hangings, fires that claimed lives, and unsolved murders.

Flickr Photo By Kris Krug

And so, disincorporated spirits linger, and haunt the buildings.

Spooooooky. And historically interesting, too—tour operators share anecdotes about Gassy Jack, “Klondike Kate” Rockwell, and other infamous Vancouver figures from the late 19^th century, and teach participants some local history.

For example, Gaoler’s Mews, one of Canada’s oldest civic buildings, is currently home to cafes, offices and trendy restaurants, but was once the site of Vancouver’s first jail. Numerous hangings took place there. Today, patrons and residents in the Mews occasionally report hearing ghostly whispers and screams…

Flickr Photo By mayanais

Skeptical? Well, paranormal researchers are generally united in the belief that sites on which, at a previous point in history, strong emotions such as fear were common—mental institutions, jails, areas in which murders occurred, buildings where accidents claimed lives—paranormal activity is higher than expected.

Even when logic and reason steer us towards mundane explanations for difficult-to-explain happenings, such assertions pass the “head-nod test” for a lot of us; Well yes, if there were such thing as ghosts, surely they’d be someplace like this. Probably. You’d think. Hey, what was that noise…?

And the older an area, the greater its likelihood of having at least some sordid history.

For example, Vancouver’s “Blood Alley”, believed to be so-named for the many butcher shops once located there, was a common path for shipyard workers returning to hotels from the port, and also a convenient place for muggers to hold them up at knifepoint…

Here’s one a little less macabre, and a little tastier: The Old Spaghetti Factory in Gastown is also claimed to be haunted. Seems ghosts, not only people, embrace the certainty and quality assurance that accompanies franchise dining. Or are they well-meaning ghosts, trying to haunt us into going to eat someplace more adventurous?

In any case, there is a decommissioned trolley car in The Old Spaghetti Factory’s Gastown dining room, and legend asserts that the ghost of a train conductor still roams the restaurant. Spaghetti Factory staff of today and yesterday corroborate general eerie vibes in the building.

Whether or not you’re a believer, haunted Gastown tours have proven entertaining and popular—demand has grown, and more than one operator now offers tours.

“The Ghostly Gastown tour”, which began in 2004, runs weekly until November 1, led by its founder, Mark Thompson.

“Forbidden Vancouver” employs several storyteller/guides, and runs several “Lost Souls of Gastown” tours per week, in addition to ghost-free Prohibition themed tours, “hidden history” jaunts and photo walks.

Tickets through either operator cost $22 per person. Small children are discouraged – things can get a little intense. For more information, visit ghostlygastowntours.com, or forbiddenvancouver.ca/home/the-lost-souls-of-gastown.

About the author: Abby Clark, is a an enthusiastic adventurer who loves exploring well known as well as remote little corners around the world. Abby also writes blogs and guest blogs for Best Quote Travel Insurance—a company which offers Super Visa Insurance for travel.

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…

Ed. note: I’ve known Diane for almost 20 years. When she and her husband, Kevin, announced they were going to Croatia for their summer vacation (with the kid) this year, they got a lot of baffled looks…

“Why did you pick Croatia?” some people asked.

“What’s so special about Croatia?” others wanted to know.

Before I go any further, a little back story is in order. My husband is British. I’m American. We met in 1986 in Canterbury, England, where I spent my junior year abroad. Travel is something we’re passionate about, and we share that passion with our 13-year-old son (or “the kid”, as he’s more commonly known in my frequent Facebook posts about him).

So…why Croatia?

Since two of our English friends and their children would be vacationing with us, our destination had to be close enough to London for them to get in and out for one week (Kevin, the kid, and I were going to stay for two weeks). We wanted to go somewhere that the four well-traveled adults had never visited. Oh, and wherever we chose had to be kid-friendly.

The waterfront in the sleepy town of Stari Grad on Hvar island

Croatia fit the bill perfectly. None of us had been there; heck, your average American has never even heard of it, let alone being able to find it on a map. The flight was less than two hours from London. And since Croatia is on the Adriatic coast, there would be plenty of beaches for the kid. Kevin and I planned an itinerary that included Trogir, Split, the Makarska Riviera, Dubrovnik and its surrounding countryside, plus stays on the islands of Hvar and Brac.

The second question – What’s so special about Croatia? – is a lot harder to answer. That’s because pretty much EVERYTHING about Croatia is special.

First, there are the people. Croats are unbelievably hospitable. During our stay, we were warmly welcomed everywhere, even in tourist-dominated Dubrovnik. Although English is widely spoken, we scored huge points with the locals by learning some kindergartner-level Croatian. Armed with about two dozen words and phrases, we got cheers of “bravo!”, high-fives, and even an invitation to knock back some homemade walnut grappa with the owner of a restaurant on the island of Brac because we said hvala (thank you), molim (please), and izvrsno (delicious).

While driving from Trogir to Dubrovnik, we stopped at a roadside farmstand near the Croatia-

Bosnia border to buy some fruit. It turned into an impromptu language lesson; I asked the

The rooftops of old Dubrovnik as seen from the 2-kilometer-long walkway atop its ancient walls. The island of Lokrum is in the background.

farmer to teach me the Croatian word for “apple”, and we were off and running. The kid even joined in the fun and announced that he wanted us to buy some shliva (plums).

Or how about this: one night in Brac, we enjoyed a gourmet dinner at a restaurant near our hotel. When the waiter appeared with the bill, we pulled out our credit card and were informed that they accepted cash only (we later learned this is quite a common policy at many smaller restaurants and hotels). Horrified, we realized we had only a few kuna (the local currency) in our pockets. To our amazement, the waiter laughed and said, “Just come back tomorrow and pay.” He didn’t even ask where we were staying or what our names were. As we ran to the nearest ATM, we half-joked that an American restaurant would’ve made the kid wash dishes in the kitchen while Kevin and I went to get the cash.

Diane, Kevin, and the Kid with the world’s most interesting man

And then there was Branko, the man who owned the villa we rented for a week outside Dubrovnik. He was hilarious, spoke six languages fluently, and had a life story that would make a blockbuster movie. You know the dude in the Dos Equis television ads who, according to the announcer, is “…the world’s most interesting man”? Well, he’s got nothing on Branko, who has been an underwater demolition expert, a hotel owner in Cambodia, a nightclub bouncer in Sweden (where he supervised a then-unknown Dolph Lundgren), an artist, and an antiques collector. The guy also happens to be a close friend of his fellow Croat Goran Visnjic, the actor who played hunky Doctor Kovac on the TV series ER. As far as the kid (and the rest of us) was concerned, Branko was a rock star.

When I mentioned that Kevin wanted to do some scuba diving, Branko arranged for a private diving trip with a boat-captain friend of his in the tiny seaside village of Molunat. When we asked Branko to recommend a good fish market, he turned up at the front door the next day with two kilos of fresh-off-the-boat fish. We looked forward to Branko’s visits and stories almost as much as we looked forward to our sightseeing excursions. We even invited him to have a barbecue dinner with us at the villa; it was one of the highlights of our vacation. When our week at the villa was over, saying goodbye to Branko was like saying goodbye to an old friend. You don’t get that kind of experience at a mega-hotel.

But the locals aren’t all we loved about Croatia. The scenery is spectacular, and we saw only a small part of it. The Dalmatian coast and its hundreds of islands are ruggedly stunning, with high, sheer, rocky cliffs that plunge into some of the clearest turquoise water I’ve ever seen. The hairpin turns on the roads at the tops of those cliffs reveal one jaw-dropping vista after another. There are countless small coves, beaches, and villages at the bottom of the cliffs. Some, like quiet Dubovica beach, are only accessible via a steep hike down from the highway. Others, like picture-perfect Cavtat with its waterfront restaurants and its harbor full of million-dollar yachts, are worthy of an entire week’s stay. And the panorama of terracotta roof tiles and church bell towers that we got from atop Dubrovnik’s medieval city walls was so beautiful it made me cry.

I once read somewhere that your sense of smell triggers the most powerful memories. If that’s true, then every time I smell oregano from now on, I’ll immediately be transported to the hiking path high up in Kuna Konavoska near the Bosnian border, where I stepped on a clump of wild oregano and asked Kevin and the kid, “Who could be cooking something so delicious in the middle of nowhere?” When I catch the fragrance of lavender, I’ll suddenly be back at the open-air market stalls on Hvar, where old men and women sell sachets, lotions, and oils made from the island’s most famous crop. And I won’t be able to smell a wood-fired barbecue without instantly remembering the Dalmatian coast’s konoba restaurants and the “lamb under the bell” dinner that is the region’s gastronomic celebrity.

Before we left for Croatia, some people asked Kevin and me if taking along a 13-year-old was going to cramp our sightseeing style. In fact, just the opposite happened: we got to see the country from the kid’s perspective and, to use one of his favorite words, that perspective was epic. Without him, how else would we have so quickly learned to say sladoled, the most important Croatian word of all? (It means “ice cream,” in case you’re wondering.) When we were sitting on jam-packed Donja Luka beach in Makarska, it was the kid who announced, “Hey, this is COOL. There are no other Americans here!” (He was right. We realized we were surrounded by Croats, Italians, Bosnians, French, Germans, and Russians.)

The League of Nations pick-up game

And finally, it was the kid who unwittingly created the most special vacation memory of all. We were at the beach in Mlini when he and our British friends’ son started kicking a soccer ball back and forth on a nearby patch of grass. Within minutes a Croat boy had joined them, followed quickly by some Bosnian and Danish boys. Suddenly, we had a League of Nations pickup match. There was no single common language to unite the spectators and players – just a love of soccer. At the end of the match, the boys grinned, shook hands, and gave each other the silent nod of the head that means “good game” in any language. Then everyone went and got sladoled.

When I first shared the soccer-game story on my Facebook wall, a college classmate of mine who is a minister commented, “Our children will lead the way if we let them.” Kevin and I hoped Croatia would be a fun experience for us as a family, of course, but we also hoped it would open the kid’s eyes and help him see that he’s part of a much bigger world. We knew the trip had been a success when he announced, “I love Croatia. It’s awesome – I could live here.” Hard to argue with that.

Sunset in Bol, on the island of Brac

So grab your own kid – or your inner kid – and go to Croatia. Go soon. Go experience one of Europe’s truly authentic, friendly, and unspoiled places. Go see for yourself why the Croats love their country so much, and why lots of visitors like me do as well. But most of all, just go.

Diane Giombetti is a freelance business copywriter . She’s working on a book  which chronicles her many adventures during her gap year at Mount Holyoke. Among them? Meeting her husband, Kevin . . . She is also an independent stylist for Stella and Dot and can be reached at www.stelladot.com/dgiombetticlue

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…

Which witch shall I be . . .?

Here we go again . . .!

We’re just getting started!

Last week’s parade kicked off the month-long Haunted Happenings celebration in Salem, MA.

Here are a few shots of the scene on Essex Street on this beautiful Sunday.

Stop by for a spell, if you can . . .

Buon viaggio!

No need to go to Venice for your masks . . .

Boo!

Should witches be this happy?!?

A good hat . . . it’s not hard to find here in Salem!

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…

Beneath Yellowstone Park a monstrous plume of hot rock is causing the earth to heave and tremble. Past volcanoes have erupted with a thousand times the power of Mount St. Helens. The future is anybody’s guess. — When Yellowstone Explodes, National Geographic, August 2009

It’s two days before we leave for an adventure trip to Jackson Hole and then on to Yellowstone. For those of you who don’t know me personally, let me assure you that I am not an adventure traveler. An old boyfriend once said that his idea of camping was a Holiday Inn. For me, it might be a Hyatt. So what do we do on this adventure trip? The very thought has been keeping me up at night.

Tubing? Nope. Horseback riding? Wouldn’t do that to a horse. White water rafting? Not on your life. Climbing? Hah! I saw ads in the mountain country guides for bungee trampolining and tandem paragliding. Won’t be doing either of those. Rope me a ranger tour and I’m yours. I’ll take an easy-to-moderate walking tour that lasts less than two hours — the approximate time it takes before my feet start to fall asleep (the perils of the wide-foot walker). Best of all, put me in a boat on a lake and I’m a happy girl.

I’ve have sought these activities out and hope I can convince my much-higher-risk-than-I husband and sister-in-law that these are the best options. Oh — and I am, under no circumstances, sleeping in a tent, no matter how quaint and authentic the propaganda makes that sound. Bears have claws, people, and bison can charge a tent at 35 m.p.h. and then we are lunch.

It’s paragraphs like this one in the guidebooks that make me want to stay in bed:

“Wyoming’s wide open spaces offer limited opportunities to purchase food and fuel. Before starting out, consult a road map to plan your fuel and refreshment stops. Once on the road, fuel stops are often farther apart than travelers might realize. And watch for livestock and wildlife on the highways, particularly at dawn and dusk when many animals are most active.” — National Historic Trails: Auto Tour Route Interpretive Guide Across Wyoming, NPS 2007

And my favorite, from the same source:

“Cell phone coverage is spotty all across Wyoming. If you choose to drive back roads, do not count on summoning help in case of emergency. Go prepared. Check your tires, carry a spare and a road map, leave pets at home, take food and water, and be ready to hike back to the highway, if necessary.”

Gentle readers, I do not want to have to gnaw off my arm a la James Franco, nor do I want to have a close encounter with a grizzly or a bison. Why the hell did I say yes to this trip? Because it will make for good copy if I survive? I guess. I survived Yosemite last year; maybe luck will be with me again this year. On the other hand, the biggest fear at Yosemite was that a rogue sequoia would fall on me. This time’s a little different, since this is the season when the animals come down from the higher elevations to fatten up for the upcoming winter hibernation. But not on me, I hope.

It’s times like this that I realize just what a city girl I really am. My sister-in-law says we have to go shopping tomorrow for food to keep in a cooler because food and drink opportunities are few and far between on the road, and the ones that do exist charge extortionate prices. Really? And she keeps talking about cute cabins that we can all share, some of which have indoor plumbing (I think she’s kidding about the plumbing). Again — really? Oh, and my ears haven’t stopped popping since Friday night. I’m not good above sea level and drink approximately 3,000 gallons of water a day to stay vertical.

Quaking Aspens outside of Park City (Sin City) Utah (me, too)

Tim and I have spent the past few days exploring the Park City-Salt Lake City area while his sister works. We tracked down the cemetery where their relatives are buried — the ones they didn’t even know they had five years ago — the first Jewish settlers to Utah (that will be a whole other post). And we found the Brooks Arcade, the building his great-great-uncle put up in 1891 in Salt Lake. We went to the Park Silly Market and bought delicious olive oil and salt bread, a red pepper spread and a silver necklace for me. We did some outlet shopping, where Tim got some great shoes. I got a few short-sleeved t-shirts because I seem to have packed for Iceland in February rather than Utah in September. Maybe it’s just unseasonably warm here this year, but I’m very happy with the outcome. It probably won’t hold out in Wyoming, but that will be the least of my worries, right?

I’ll be optimistic and say that I’ll tell you all about it in a few weeks. Keep your fingers crossed . . .

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…

We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time. — T. S. Eliot

We’ve been away. But as the mornings are getting chillier and the afternoons shorter, Tim and I are starting to settle in to our new (old) life here in Salem, Massachusetts.

First fire, 9/17/2013

Tim takes the morning shift with the dog. Maxine likes a good long walk  first thing, and Salem provides that opportunity, because Tim generally runs into 5 – 10 people who want to welcome him back and tell him what’s been going on. And if you know Tim, you know he’s a talker, too. I go out around 5:00, or whenever Maxine tells me it’s time, and the same kind of thing happens. We feel part of a community here, and I believe that on some level, that’s what we all long for.

The Halloween vibe is just starting and will be in full swing in about 10 days. Crunchy leaves hit the brick sidewalks and crackle underfoot. Maxine discovers new smells all the time. There’s a steady stream of visitors at the Pickering House and our friends are lining themselves up for fall and winter visits. Life is good.

We left Salem in 2005 to get away from some recent harsh winters that

Maxine & Tim, off on an early morning walk last winter

were doing my arthritis no good. Plus, I am one of a growing percentage of people who had a very bad reaction to a drug I was taking for osteoporosis, the upshot of which is that I could no longer live in our wonderful 1735-era home with its steep stairs and third floor living quarters. Virginia was our rescue — we had family there and our jobs are not geography dependent. We’re not sorry we did it — we made some life-long friends in Richmond — but being away made us appreciate Salem that much more.

We realized that this is home, even though we are both native New Yorkers. This is home, even though we often feel “at home” in other places around the world. And this is home because this is where we put down roots in 1995 which have proven too strong to sever.

The Pickering House (c) mystuart

We are very much looking forward to the October madness, an authentic New England Thanksgiving, the lovely Christmas House Tour (which we’ve already been recruited to work on) and even the first snowfall, which we will dutifully record here in the house as they have done for years.

So, yes, to everybody who asks: we are settlin’ in. And now it is time to take our first steps away from all we’ve been doing since early July. We are off to Utah to visit Tim’s sister and perhaps even make a pilgrimage to our first National Park — Yellowstone — if there isn’t too much snow to drive through. We might even steal us a couple of pic-i-nic baskets, Boo-Boo.

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…

People who love to eat are always the best people. — Julia Child

The City of Salem, Massachusetts has an abundance of treasures: The House of the Seven Gables, Peabody Essex Museum, Salem Athenaeum, Phillips House, Ropes Garden, the Maritime National Historic Site, and (dare I say?) the Pickering House. Well, now you can add to this list: Karen Scalia and her Salem Food Tours.

Tim and I were privileged to go on a tour (and we took my sister-in-law) this past Saturday, and I

Fi, Tim and I are about to start the tour

recommend it to everybody who eats. Well, there will be kid-oriented tours eventually, but for now, it’s just for adults. Even if you live in Salem and think you know all there is to know about its food history and current restaurant scene, you need to go. And bring your out-of-town guests, by all means, for “A Taste of History.”

August 24^th marked the one-year anniversary for Salem Food Tours and I predict there will be many more anniversaries. Karen is an energetic guide and a creative planner, with a passion for fresh food and partners who are committed to using local ingredients wherever possible. Her enthusiasm for everything that Salem offers, culinary wise, is contagious.

She writes, “Salem continues to grow as a food destination. The restaurants, shops and farmer’s market, and food events make this wonderful historic city that much tastier!”

Tasting at Salem Spice
c. Salem Food Tours

Karen begins her tours at Salem Spice/The Picklepot on Pickering Wharf, where proprietor David Bowie brings the history and bounty of the spice trade to life. There we tasted all sorts of salts and peppers to learn the distinctions between them and open up our palates. Then we were ready to begin our tour.

The tour takes about three hours ands covers about two miles of walking, with

Not your grandma’s pudding: the finale at Scratch Kitchen
c. Salem Food tours

plenty of stops. She provides water and suggests comfortable walking shoes, but encourages dressing as casually or as fabulously as you like. A typical tour guarantees at least five stops, consisting of a combination of both restaurants and shops. A visit to Salem Food Tours’ Tour Partners page gives you a hint of where you might go on the tour — the tours vary from week to week and you won’t know where you’re going ‘til you get there. But at each stop, the chefs and shopkeepers prepared a light tasting for us (some very generous) — enough to give you a teasing taste of their offerings so you can plan to return on your own for more.

Why yes, that is fettucini with lobster, wild mushrooms, scallions, basil microgreens and creme fraiche a la Grapevine!.
c. Salem Food Tours

After Salem Spice, our tour took us to the amazing Scratch Kitchen, where everything, including the ketchup, is made on-site from local ingredients; Turtle Alley, for some homemade chocolate bliss; Flying Saucer Pizza Company, for two very special ‘zas; Milk and Honey, where we were feted with a blue cheese that was to die for, as well as a (wait for it) chocolate goat cheese log that tasted like the best cheesecake you ever had. Then, it was next door to Salem Wine Imports, where we tasted two Chardonnays, one Californian and one French (and where we will return frequently on Tuesday nights @ 6:30 for their free wine tastings). And then it was back across town to the Grapevine, for a mini-dinner (including their exclusive prosecco and pavan aperitif)  that will have me going back, even though I was never particularly a fan of the “old” Grapevine.

A little advice: our tour started at 2:00 and we should not have eaten lunch. But now we know. You’ll need to purchase tickets ahead of time via the website, and Karen’s tour groups consist of only 5 – 12 people, so plan in advance. If you want to try for a last-minute reservation, call her at 978-594-8811 or send her an e-mail at info@salemfoodtours.com.

This is a brilliant way to experience Salem, a joy for foodies and non-foodies

Having a blast at the Grapevine
c. Salem Food Tours

alike, with the added benefit of having authentic ties to our spice trading history. Kudos to Karen for creating yet another great way to make Salem a must-see destination city!

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…

Yoda: No more training do you require. Already know you, that which you need.

Tim and Linda: Then we are the Jenkii?

Yoda: No. Not yet. One thing remains. I-95. You must confront I-95. Then, only then, Jenkii will you be. And confront it you will.

We painted in the rain. We mulched in the rain. We removed windows in the rain. We packed in the rain. When the time came to drive up the East Coast to Salem, Massachusetts from Midlothian, Virginia, the rain had stopped. We pulled out of the driveway about 11:00 in the morning, headed for Mystic, Connecticut to spend the night with Tim’s Mom. We’d driven this route up I-95 countless times over the past eight years. What could possibly go wrong?

You know that Klondike commercial? The one that asks, “What would you do for a Klondike Bar?” We kinda felt like that. We were prepared to drive ginormous Penske trucks 600 miles — twice — to get back to Salem, our friends and the amazing community that we had left behind in 2005 for an adventure in Central Virginia.

Close encounters of the Peterbilt kind

So there we were in the first truck (the next one goes up at the end of June), everything going pretty smoothly (except for the eight miles to a gallon that the 26-foot truck got) until about 9:30 at night. We were just into Connecticut and the road was being paved. Badly, it turns out. With an average five-inch height difference between the lanes, our truck body was swaying a bit too much for comfort. Tim pulled over and checked to see if we had a flat or something. No. So we took off again and it almost seemed worse. Swaying. In the dark. On I-95. Two tired people in the truck cab. Not good.

We called Penske roadside assistance and they said they’d have somebody come out. In less than an hour, a Peterbilt wrecker showed up and had a look around. It was too dark to really ascertain what had gone wrong, but he decided that the truck was undriveable and offered to tow us up to Mystic, where we could spend the night and they’d send somebody out in the morning. Deal. Tim rode in the dangerous truck as it was being towed  and I rode with the driver in the wrecker. The Millenium Falcon has nothing on a Peterbilt, people. We pulled into the Big Y parking lot around 11:30 and disengaged the truck from the wrecker. Tim’s Mom picked us up and we went to her house, leaving most of our earthly possessions behind on the truck. At least (we thought) they didn’t offer to send another truck out to I-95 so that we could repack everything into the new truck!

At 5:30 the next morning, Penske called us to say that another truck and driver were on their way and we

We’re here!

should meet them in the parking lot. Tim drove over and, when the driver, James, had a chance to look at the truck in the daylight, he saw that most of the U-bolts holding the cab to the chassis had failed, and the L-bolts weren’t doing so well, either. A very dangerous situation. He did a little fixing and he and Tim drove everything over to Mom’s house for a little repacking. We took off together from there, James following us in the wrecker.

We got out to I-95 and I turned pale. It still didn’t seem right and James must have seen something, too, because suddenly he pulled in front of us and beckoned us to the shoulder. He hitched us up and we were towed all the way from Mystic to Salem – a two-and-a-half-hour drive — with all three of us in the two bucket seats in the huge Peterbilt wrecker. When we got close to the Pickering House, our new digs, Tim asked if the truck had a horn. James said yes and blew it enthusiastically as we turned the corner. It sounded like a ship entering the harbor – what an entrance!

Keyless entry

So we show up with a huge truck full of stuff and the floors in the house are still wet on the first floor from being redone. Everything was put in the basement and garage, to be unpacked when we get up there at the end of the month. No matter. We made our entrance. The Jenkii are back. Penske was great. We survived I-95. May the Force be with us all!

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…

Every great architect is — necessarily — a great poet. He must be a great original interpreter of his time, his day, his age. — Frank Lloyd Wright

Ed. note:  Vicenza is one of my favorite Italian cities, and Tom Weber knows it inside and out. He’s a triple-threat journalist — broadcast, photo and print — and resides in Vicenza, his adopted hometown, in the Veneto region of northeastern Italy. He hosts the eclectic travel/food-and-wine/photography blog The Palladian Traveler.com and is a regular contributor for Los Angeles-based TravelingBoy.com and Rome-based ItalianNotebook.com. Feel free to follow Tom as he “meanders along the cobblestone to somewhere.”

(Statue of Palladio in the Centro Storico – Vicenza, Italy | ©Tom Palladio Images)

Andrea Di Pietro della Gondola.

A nice, simple Italian name from out of the 16th century belonging to a humble stonemason, the son of a hard-working miller. But, when a nome d’arte is finally placedbehind Andrea’s full name, he rises like a phoenix, well above the crowd, to an elite level reserved for monarchs, popes and nobility.

PALLADIO.

Widely considered to be the most influential individual in the history of Western architecture, Palladio created, nurtured and developed an architectural design style and an associated lifestyle known the world over asPalladianism.

(Villa Almerico Capra “La Rotonda” – Vicenza, Italy | ©Tom Palladio Images)

Born in Padova (Padua) and eventually schooled and culturally polished in Vicenza, the “City of Palladio,” this Italian Renaissance master builder provided an architectural crown jewel to the world that continues to inspire even while he sleeps: the Villa Almerico Capra, La Rotonda.

Since its creation, La Rotonda has drawn poets and artists, sovereigns and statesmen, scholars and art historians, and travelers and tourists alike to Vicenza to marvel at Palladio’s harmonious spatial design.

At its apex, the breath of Palladianism extended from Constantinople, to Madrid, to London to a young nation’s capitol across the Atlantic Ocean – Washington, D.C.  La Rotonda, Palladio’s capo lavoro (masterpiece), as well as all of his other works, continues to resonate today, more than 400 years after his death.

(Torre Bissara stands vigil over Piazza dei Signori – Vicenza, Italy | ©Tom Palladio Images)

Without a doubt, the 16th century belonged to Palladio, a man who left behind many outstanding examples of his craft throughout the City of and Province of Vicenza and beyond with his palaces and stately villas. Before Palladio’s passage through Vicenza, it was arguably one of the more downtrodden and esthetically lacking cities around the Veneto region.

(Around the loggia of the Basilica Palladiana – Vicenza, Italy | ©Tom Palladio Images)

It was Palladio who singlehandedly placed Vicenza “on the map,” laying down a solid foundation that has enabled the city to become one of the gems in UNESCO’s World Heritage Site inventory.

He left his mark just about everywhere within the walls of the Centro Storico (Old Town Center) of Vicenza, as 23 individual buildings or sections of buildings are known to have been designed or reconstructed by Palladio or attributed to him. Among these prestigious works are the Loggia Valmarana, Palazzo Porto Breganze, Loggia del Capitaniato, Teatro Olimpico – the world’s first and oldest enclosed theatre and also Palladio’s final design work before his death – Palazzo Chiericati and the just-restored Basilica Palladiana (f.n.a. Palazzo della Ragione).

(©Tom Palladio Images)

In addition to Vicenza proper, the Palladian design style – more importantly, the Palladian lifestyle – is well represented in 24 private villa-estates that dot the landscape all across the Veneto region and are also recognized by UNESCO.

(Original design drawing by A. Palladio – photographic reproduction ©Tom Palladio Images)

Palladio’s imprint on Renaissance architecture was far reaching, and the design and construction guide books that he wrote on the subject – Quattro Libri dell’Architettura (Four Books of Architecture) – became the architectural language spoken around the world, from Europe, to Asia and across North America.

One of America’s “Founding Fathers,” Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the United States and a self-taught architect of note, absorbed Palladio’s theories of harmonious spatial design and claimed Palladio’s collective writings were the bible.

(A U.S. nickel coin | ©Tom Palladio Images)

An ardent disciple of Palladianism, Jefferson adopted the Palladian lifestyle and modeled his Virginia estate, Monticello, after Palladio’s masterpiece La Rotonda. If you don’t believe me, just look at the back of a U.S. nickel (5-cent coin) and you’ll readily see the design similarities between the two villa-estates.

(View down to the Centro Storico – Vicenza, Italy | ©Tom Palladio Images)

Fast-forward to today and one can readily see that Vicenza is a thriving, cosmopolitan city. With a population of approximately 270,000 around the greater metropolitan area, Vicenza – based upon the value of its exports — ranks as the third largest industrial center in Italy. One of the Bel Paese’s wealthiest, Vicenza has come a long, long way since the days when it was looked down upon by its more successful rivals around the Most Serene Republic of Venice.

(Flowers front Ponte San Michele – Vicenza, Italy  ©Tom Palladio Images)

The Vicenza of today counts among its “favorite sons” international fashion brands Bottega Veneta, Diesel, Marlboro Classics, Marzotto and Pal Zileri; bicycle components manufacturer Campagnolo; and, Dainese, the benchmark label of protective wear for motorcycling, snow and extreme sports. Add to that, the city’s stature as the epicenter of the world’s finest goldsmiths and host to the internationally acclaimed VicenzaOro gold exposition three times a year.

(The porticos of the Basilica Palladiana – Vicenza, Italy | ©Tom Palladio Images)

By all accounts, Vicenza’s luck began to change when the young stonemason arrived, rolled up his sleeves and went to work, work that centuries later would award him the keys to the city. His city. The city of Andrea Di Pietro della Gondola – La Città del Palladio.

For complete tourist information, in English, on the City of and Province of Vicenza, the Palladian buildings and villas, hotels, food and wine, and events logon to: http://www.vicenzae.org/index.php?lang=eng

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…

Umbria: Food, Wine & Words 

Eat, drink and find your voice in the “green heart of Italy” 

May 30 – June 7, 2014

Your villa for the week

Join acclaimed travel writer and blogger Linda Dini Jenkins for a week-long adventure under the glorious skies of one of Italy’s most beautiful regions.

This adventure is limited to eight participants only and includes lodging at the spacious and inviting Villa Fattoria del Gelso in Cannara, in the shadow of historic Assisi.

Linda is the author of Up at the Villa: Travels with my Husband — praised as one of the “Ten travel books I’d give my girlfriends” by www.journeywoman.com — and is the creator of the entertaining and informative travel blog, Travel the Write Way (www.travelthewriteway.com). Her writing also appears in Dream of Italy, Richmond Times-Dispatch, HealthCare Traveler and AAA’s Home and Away.

During our week in the sun, Linda will share some of her secrets to effective travel journaling in a series of low-key optional writing workshops, using exercises that are sure to help participants capture their Umbrian experiences to the fullest.

Participants will travel to several of Umbria’s storied hill towns; will eat and drink well; will write sparkling journal entries; will experience L’Infiorata (Umbria’s incredible flower art festival); and will still have plenty of time for exploring and relaxation.

This package includes seven nights in the fully restored 17th century Villa Fattoria Del Gelso, located on a 40-hectare working farm that is literally walking distance from colorful shops and restaurants and centrally located in the village of Cannara. The trip is designed for relaxed learning and sightseeing via foot, bicycle and van. Not every moment has been scheduled — if there are other things that you’d like to do, the possibility exists.

Fee includes villa accommodations, all breakfasts, welcome and farewell dinners, pizza-making party and cooking class on premises, a winery tour with lunch and transportation to Assisi, Spello and Montefalco by private van. Both writers and non-writers are welcome. Bring your swimsuit, camera and journal. Andiamo!

Pricing and itinerary coming soon.

For more information, please contact linda@travelthewriteway.com.

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…