Hi from Rick: Sensuality, Italian Style
 |
| "...a sensual package of delights...turns a meal into the gastronomic climax of your day." |
Dear Traveler,
I'm excited about the New Year ahead, in part because I'll be traveling a lot in Italy. I'll be working on our guidebooks and new TV shows — and I'll be on the lookout for people and places that are a fun fit for our Italy tour program. A theme for our tours is "embracing life with abandon" — giving our tour members experiences they'll remember for the rest of their lives. And, of all our exciting European destinations, that comes most naturally in Italy — the focus of this month's Tour News.
A fundamental part of embracing life with abandon is sensuality, and Italians make good teachers. An American will tend to look at seeing, hearing, smelling, touching and tasting as separate senses. But an Italian, I'm told, focuses on the combined package as one sensual experience ("sentire"). They'll ask, "Do you sense that? Did you sense the ambiance as you walked by? Wow, sense this wine. Ooh, sense these flowers." Rather than ask, "Are you listening?" they will ask, "Do you sense me?"
When I'm in Italy, this perspective helps me notice and appreciate odd details: like how most of the police I see on the streets of Florence are women...and how I find gun-toting Italian police women to be strangely attractive. And maybe this is no accident: Italians are famous for designing their "sense" of femininity, masculinity, and fashion style into how they want to be perceived.
Of course, eating is fundamental to a great Italian travel experience. At a favorite restaurant in Florence, I heard a newlywed give it the wildest compliment. She told her husband, "Marrying you was fine, but this dinner makes the entire honeymoon."
Thinking about that comment, I've put my finger on why Italian restaurants in the United States just can't compete with the eating experience in, say, Tuscany: the quality of ingredients is unbeatable, the local life-loving crowd adds an unmatchable ambiance, and the power of the owner's personality keeps the energy right. It's a sensual package of delights — tastes, smells, sights, voices, laughter, personalities, playfulness, surprises — that turns a meal into the gastronomic climax of your day (especially when the restaurant is a medieval Tuscan cellar with no cellphone reception).
This month's Tour News is a celebration of bell'Italia, and the many ways our tour program can help you experience Europe's most sensual country. You'll also find a dazzling day-by-day slideshow that takes you through our Village Italy tour, a video of my Best of Italy "Test Drive a Tour Guide" presentation from last January (it's not too late to sign up for this year's event), an interview with one of our top Italy guides, a tour alum's impressions of us after taking a tour with someone else (is that even allowed?), and an inspiring update on how Vernazza is digging out from its recent disaster.
Italy is a playground for our senses: a fun zone where we can all be children, embracing life with abandon, getting struck with wonder, and bringing home souvenirs of the spirit. I can't wait to return. Whether it's your first time, or your tenth, I hope you sense you'll be joining us in 2012.
Happy travels,
Rick