Author Biography

Carla Gambescia's passion for Italy began early—with her mother's love of the Renaissance masters and her father's discourses on Italian geniuses of every calling. In the ensuing decades she has toured every region of Italy (often by bicycle) and immersed herself in its astonishing array of cultural treasures. In recent years Carla has combined her passion as an Italophile and writer with her skills as a career marketer and branding expert, acting as a consultant to and a collaborator with boutique tour operators. She conceived and co-led the Giro del Gelato bicycle tour, winner of Outside magazine's "Best Trip in Western Europe." In 2008 Carla founded Via Vanti! Restaurant & Gelateria, in Mount Kisco, New York, with the ambition of creating a unique environment and dining experience that would enable guests to feel as though they had stepped right into Italy. Via Vanti! quickly won plaudits not just for its innovative Italian cuisine, extraordinary gelato (named "Best Gelato Shop in New York") and dazzling jewel box interior but also, under Carla's direction, for its active program of culinary and cultural events. It is Carla's conviction that all of us, regardless of our inherited ethnicities, share an "inner Italian"—that part of our nature which is most expressive, festive, spontaneous and fun—just waiting to be unlocked.La Dolce Vita University: An Unconventional Guide to Italian Culture from A to Z is the natural outgrowth of Carla's work and play in both the restaurant and boutique travel industries, as well as a lifelong love affair with the land of her ancestors.

Table of Contents

AArlecchino • Arrangiarsi, the Art of Making Do • Arte • Artemisia's Revenge • Anacapri, the Other Capri • Aperitivi to Digestivi • Amaretti, Amaretto, Amarone • Amorini, The Flying BambiniBBarbells and Bikinis • Bellini • Bernini's Angels • Beatrice, Love at First Sight • Botticelli's Venus • Bonfire of the Vanities • Burano's Candy-Colored Casas • Bolognese . . . Sauce or Dog?CCarnevale • Carpaccio • Caterina's Carciofi • Casanova, So Misunderstood • Centenarians of Sardinia • Carpet Slippers • Cosimo, Caesar of the Renaissance • Canticle of the Creatures • Cave Canem • The CastratiDThe Davids • Dante's Commedia • Dome-estic Pride • Duomo, Not a Dome but a Home • Dolomiti and the Via Ferrata • Il Doge and His Palace • Divorce Italian Style • Dog Days of SummerEEmpire • The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa • Explosion of the Cart • The Exclamation Point! • Ebru, the Art of Marbled Paper • Espresso, Cappuccino, and Italian Coffee Culture • The Enormous EmperorFFerro • Farro • Fichi Fantastiche • Flowering in Fiorenza • "Florence Syndrome" • Firewater • Fra Angelico and Frangelico • FelliniesqueGGraffiti • The Grand Tour • Gelato, Ambrosia of the Boot • Gianduia, Grown-up Nutella • The Greek Soul of Sicily • Giotto, Master of Emotion • GirasoleHHuman Chess Game • Hand Gestures • High Heels • The Harry Behind Harry's Bar • The Four Horses of the Basilica • Hall of the Hunt • Head of the MoorIInner Italian • Illusionist Magic • Isabella D • Ippolito's Golden Apple • Ignudi, not a GnudiJ ~ KJazz • Jeans of Genoa • Sangiovese by Jove • Jewel Box of the Adriatic • Kabbalah and the Pope's CeilingLLeone • The Laocoon • Latin • La Bella Lingua • La Bella Figura • Limone • Livia's Painted Garden • Le Vite • La Dolce VitaMMapping Eternity • Magi Chapel • Mezzogiorno • Margherita, Queen of Pearls and Pizza • Marinara • Murano, Island of Glass • The Many Faces of Venice • MarcelloNNutella • Nativity Scenes • The Italian Navy • Norman Arab Sicily • Nepotism's Legacy • Nero's Golden HouseOViva Oliva! • Ovid's Transformations • Gli Occhiali de Sole • Oculus, Gateway to Heaven • Orphans of the OspedalePPrimavera Springs Eternal • Paparazzi • Patron Saint of Chefs and … Comedians? • This Little Piggy came from Parma • Pecorino, Cheese and Wine • Peggy's Palazzo • Ponte Vecchio's Surprise Savior • Plague Doctor • Pliny the Elder, Storyteller of the WorldQ ~ RThe Queen Who Refined the French • Renaissance Man • Rock Star of the Renaissance • Rocks of Capo Testa • Relics, Rest in Pieces • Rocco, Patron Saint of Dogs and More • Running of the Saints • Rome's Decorator • Ridotto "Royale"SSympathy for the Borgia • Strangled Priest • Sins of the Father • Shakespeare in Amore • La Serenissma • The Salute • Snow in August • The First Snowball Fight • Scent of a TruffleTTrulli, Hobbit Houses of Puglia • Trevi • Tiberius's Swimming Pool • Terrace of Infinity • Tears of Christ • Tempest in a Tiramisu Cup • Torri Saracene • Tuscan Tarot FantasyUUgly but Good • Uccello's Battle • UNESCO Bonanza • Unswept AwayVVenus' Navel • Venice's Venus • Little Venice & Vespucci • The Vespa • Vesuvius • Vitruvius, the Man • Vin Santo e Biscotti • VolareWWhere the Wild Boar Roam • The Wolf Whisperer • Word-Playing with Your Food • Windmills of Sicily • The Wonder of the WorldX ~ ZYou Say Xitomati and I Say Xitomatho • Za'Faran, From Persia with Love • Zin's Twin? • Zecchino • Zucarri Mostri Mashup • The Zanni

Review

Praise for La Dolce Vita UniversityThe title—La Dolce Vita University—captures the great virtues of this reader-friendly book perfectly: it's delicious and educational at the same time, which each virtue reinforcing the other. Dulce blended with utile, as the great ancient Roman poet Horace recommended.This book sustains that combination masterfully. It's is a complete delight to read, but (as a professor of Renaissance literature for many decades) I'm happy to report that the authors know their stuff. The research is careful and the analysis is intelligent and witty. I learned amazing new things about dozens of topics – Artemisia, Burano, Casanova, Dante, and onward through the alphabet to zanni. La Dolce Vita University also seasons lots of popular myths with just the right number of grains of salt. It's written in prose as clear, bright, crisp, and lively as a spring morning in the Dolomites. Add to that graceful but also playful prose, the talent of skilled story-tellers, and it's no wonder that the entries stay so fascinating.La Dolce Vita University makes me crave a return to Italy, and helps me daydream that I'm already there. Like an ideal platter of antipasti, it's made of deliciously varied bites you can pick your way through. If you want – or want to give a friend – an appetizer that will rouse up a hunger for the glory and festivity of that wonderful place and its' no less wonderful culture, this book is perfect.—Robert N. Watson, PhDDistinguished Professor of English, Associate Vice-Provost for Educational Innovation, UCLAImagine it as a dessert course of dark chocolates, filled with exotic fruits and nuts, packed with her parents' knowledge and love of history and art, her grandmother's epithets, and her own wisdom and wit, Italian, American, global. The chocolates are alphabetically listed, described and presented beautifully, and offered as something to dip into as you wish. You open it, choose the one you think you will like best, then another, and another. Suddenly it's gone. Because Carla wears her scholarship lightly, you don't feel over full, but what a feast!—Denise Scott Brown FAIA, Int. FRIBA and Robert Venturi FAIA, Int. FRIBAExcellent! Bravissima! Delightfully informative, a book to enrich any reader's life with a greater appreciation of Italian culture—even in everyday experiences here at home, from visiting an art museum to dining in a local Italian restaurant, or from cooking for friends and family to the usage of common expressions and words. Not to mention, it might just inspire you to hop on a plane!—Commendatore Professor Carlo SclafaniSUNY Distinguished Professor and Former Chairperson of the Modern Languages Department at Westchester Community CollegeCarla is the consummate Italian. Mille grazie for sharing your extensive knowledge, insights and fascinating little-known backstories with such affection and humor!—Joan TucciAuthor, The Tucci CookbookAn enlightening, entertaining guide to the history behind so much of what we love about Italian cuisine and culture. As a chef and cooking enthusiast I enjoyed the variety of information and perspective on the Italian and Sicilian culture. From antiquity to today, reading this special history written with color and style is a pure joy for the food aficionado and any lover of Italy. You won't want to miss reading through any part of this book.—Chef Bert Cutino, CEC, AAC, HOF, WCMCCo-Founder/COO, The Sardine Factory Restaurant, Cannery Row, Monterey, CALa Dolce Vita University is an authentic full immersion in Italian culture, history, art, traditions and more. Fun, funny and informative. Brava!—Cristiano BoninoFounder, Food, Stories, Trave1An obvious love of all things Italian is evident in every essay of this quirky, delicious, and absolutely delightful book. From A to Z topics are peppered with insights, memories, fun factoids and the intrigues of history. Whether you are a seasoned globetrotter or an armchair-traveler, La Dolce Vita University will inspire you to dig deeper into the magic and allure of Italia.—Tara ConiarisSecretary, Board of Trustees at Katonah Museum of ArtThe enthusiasm that Carla brings to her work is unmistakable and contagious. La Dolce Vita University merits many "students" and readers who share a passion for Italy.—Comm. Stefano AcuntoHon. Vice Consul, Republic of ItalyI believe that most rewarding travel experiences are those that engage the senses and enrich you emotionally and intellectually. Reading La Dolce Vita University is a great armchair vacation that captures the essence of Italy. This is the one book to read before visiting Italy – or to put you in the mood for your next one.—Lauren HefferonFounder & DirectorCiclismo Classico and Travel Vision Journeys

Promotional

Multiple events in New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Northern California, including strong push to Italian American market.(Pre-launch) Tuesday February 20 6:30 PM:Italian American Museum155 Mulberry StreetNew York, NY 10013Tel.: 212.965.9000Wednesday March 14 12 PMYorktown Rotary ClubLuncheon — Kirby's Bar & Grill345 Kear StreetYorktown Heights NYSaturday March 24 4 PMKatonah Village Library26 Bedford RoadKatonah, New York 10536Phone: 914-232-3508Area bookstores: Books on the Common -- Ridgefield CT, Books Galore, Pound Ridge NY, Scattered Books, Chappaqua NY, The Village Bookstore, Pleasantville NYFriday April 13 6:30 PMMain Line School NightCreutzburg Center260 Gulph Creek Rd(in Harford Park)Radnor, PA 19087(Catalog was mailed to 70,000 Philadelphia residents)Thursday April 19 at 6:30 pmWestchester Italian Cultural CenterOne Generoso Pope PlaceTuckahoe, NY 10707Phone:914-771-8700Catalog mailed to 10,000 — Anderson Books, Larchmont and Womrath Book Shop, BronxvilleSan Francisco Bay AreaThursday April 26 6:30 PM (Tentatively scheduled)Istituto Italiano di Cultura601 Van Ness Avenue, Suite FSan Francisco CA 94102Saturday, April 28 at 4 PMBook Passage Corte Madera51 Tamal Vista Blvd.,Corte Madera, CA(415) 927-0960New YorkMonday May 7 at 3 PMBronxville Public Library201 Pondfield RoadBronxville, New York 10708Sunday, June 10 at 4 PM — Author signing with wine and cheese receptionLarchmont Public Library121 Larchmont AveLarchmont, NY 10538Anderson Books and Womrath Book Shop for bothSpecific dates TBD for the following are places.NYCCorner Book Store1313 Madison AvenueNew York New YorkScuola Italiana del Greenwich Village240 Bleecker StreetNew York, NY 10014McNally Jackson52 Prince St.,New York, NY 10012Westchester & CTRidgefield Library472 Main StreetRidgefield, Connecticut 06877Greenwich Library101 West Putnam AvenueGreenwich, CT 06830Equinox Clubs of Westchester & southern CTCircolo Da Vinci of WestchesterThe Italian American Club of MahopacSan FranciscoMuseo Italo-AmericanoFort Mason Center2 Marina Blvd., Building CSan Francisco, CA 94123PhiladelphiaAmerica-Italy Society of Philadelphia230 S. Broad St., Suite 1105Philadelphia, PA 19102BostonI AM BOOKS - An Italian American Cultural Hub189 North StreetBoston, MA 02113Dante Alighieri Society of Massachusetts, Inc.41 Hampshire StreetCambridge • MA • 0213Wednesday March 14 12 PM

Review Text

That''s Amoreby Phil Hall on WagMag Verdi once proclaimed, "You may have the universe if I may have Italy."Carla Gambescia seconds that emotion in her new book "La Dolce Vita University: An Unconventional Guide to Italian Culture from A to Z" (Travelers'' Tales, Solas House Inc., $19.99, 320 pages).For Gambescia, her first foray into book authorship caps a lifetime''s cultural and emotional odyssey. "I grew up in a very Italian household in South Philadelphia," she recalls. "My parents, on the outside, were very American. Privately, they were fervently proud of their roots. My father would tell me stories from Italian history, such as Galileo dropping the ball from Tower of Pisa, and I had Italian lessons."Into her adult life, Gambescia embraced her heritage through entrepreneurial and literary pursuits. She founded and ran the restaurant Via Vanti! from 2008 to 2016 at the Mount Kisco Metro-North station and was co-creator of Giro del Gelato, a bicycling tour of Italy that took travelers along routes in search of the country''s celebrated snack. She also wrote an Italian-focused column for a Mount Kisco news service from 2012 to 2013.But when it came to gathering her love and knowledge of Italy into a book, Gambescia realized she had a hurdle to overcome. "As a writer, I cannot really sustain a narrative," she acknowledges. "And I wanted this to be reader-friendly. People like to pick up and put down things and not wonder where they left off."Thus, Gambescia opted to create a skein of mini essays that highlighted the glory, eccentricities and spirit of all things Italian. As a result, "La Dolce Vita University" spans 165 entries that immerse the reader in a kaleidoscope from the greatness of ancient Rome to the ebb and flow of Italian society today.The book''s subtitle of an "unconventional guide" is certainly apt, with Gambescia highlighting many uncommon and unexpected aspects of the Italian experience that are missing from most tour books. This includes a celebration of the Italian love of jazz, a consideration of the surplus number of centenarians in Sardinia, praise for the odd-looking cookie brutti ma buoni (translated ugly but good) and a tribute to Rocco, the patron saint of dogs.Italy''s influence on the world is also detailed, from an overview of the numerous Shakespeare plays set across the country to beloved pop culture exports, including the tune "Volare" and the classic film "Divorce Italian Style." Given the book''s title, there is, of course, also a nod to the great Federico Fellini and the concept of being Felliniesque.Even for the most obvious points of historic interest, Gambescia successfully culls the most wonderfully esoteric aspects of each story. She explains the theory of a Kabbalah influence on Michelangelo''s depiction of Adam on the Sistine Chapel ceiling, why Italians are famous for using dramatic hand gestures while conversing and offers some long overdue praise for the comically maligned Italian navy. (A Henny Youngman putdown on the fleet -- "Why does the new Italian navy have glass bottom boats? To see the Old Italian Navy" -- is cited as example of the navy''s mythic unseaworthiness.) Gambescia happily noted that she had a wealth of material to choose from. "A country could feel really good if it had one golden age," she says. "Italy has had three golden ages -- ancient Rome, the Renaissance and the third golden age that is happening right now. Italians, more than any other people, know how to be in the moment and live. Italy keeps being able to reinvent itself."One thing that is missing from Gambescia''s book are photographs of her subjects. Artist Lanie Hart has laced the book with generous helpings of delicate illustrations and the author stated that she preferred this approach, because putting a photographic component to the text was problematic."It was originally conceived as an eye candy/brain candy thing," she says. "But it is expensive to have full color throughout. And I did not want this to be a coffee table book because no one reads coffee table books."Hopefully, enough people will be reading "La Dolce Vita" to encourage Gambescia''s publisher to commission a sequel. And her optimism is strong enough to fuel the groundwork for another book."I have committed myself to write at least one essay each week," she says.For more, visit ladolcevitau.com.

Review Quote

Praise for La Dolce Vita University The title--La Dolce Vita University--captures the great virtues of this reader-friendly book perfectly: it''s delicious and educational at the same time, which each virtue reinforcing the other. Dulce blended with utile, as the great ancient Roman poet Horace recommended.This book sustains that combination masterfully. It''s is a complete delight to read, but (as a professor of Renaissance literature for many decades) I''m happy to report that the authors know their stuff. The research is careful and the analysis is intelligent and witty. I learned amazing new things about dozens of topics - Artemisia, Burano, Casanova, Dante, and onward through the alphabet to zanni. La Dolce Vita University also seasons lots of popular myths with just the right number of grains of salt. It''s written in prose as clear, bright, crisp, and lively as a spring morning in the Dolomites. Add to that graceful but also playful prose, the talent of skilled story-tellers, and it''s no wonder that the entries stay so fascinating. La Dolce Vita University makes me crave a return to Italy, and helps me daydream that I''m already there. Like an ideal platter of antipasti, it''s made of deliciously varied bites you can pick your way through. If you want - or want to give a friend - an appetizer that will rouse up a hunger for the glory and festivity of that wonderful place and its'' no less wonderful culture, this book is perfect. --Robert N. Watson, PhD Distinguished Professor of English, Associate Vice-Provost for Educational Innovation, UCLA Imagine it as a dessert course of dark chocolates, filled with exotic fruits and nuts, packed with her parents'' knowledge and love of history and art, her grandmother''s epithets, and her own wisdom and wit, Italian, American, global. The chocolates are alphabetically listed, described and presented beautifully, and offered as something to dip into as you wish. You open it, choose the one you think you will like best, then another, and another. Suddenly it''s gone. Because Carla wears her scholarship lightly, you don''t feel over full, but what a feast! --Denise Scott Brown FAIA, Int. FRIBA and Robert Venturi FAIA, Int. FRIBA Excellent! Bravissima! Delightfully informative, a book to enrich any reader''s life with a greater appreciation of Italian culture--even in everyday experiences here at home, from visiting an art museum to dining in a local Italian restaurant, or from cooking for friends and family to the usage of common expressions and words. Not to mention, it might just inspire you to hop on a plane! --Commendatore Professor Carlo Sclafani SUNY Distinguished Professor and Former Chairperson of the Modern Languages Department at Westchester Community College Carla is the consummate Italian. Mille grazie for sharing your extensive knowledge, insights and fascinating little-known backstories with such affection and humor! --Joan Tucci Author, The Tucci Cookbook An enlightening, entertaining guide to the history behind so much of what we love about Italian cuisine and culture. As a chef and cooking enthusiast I enjoyed the variety of information and perspective on the Italian and Sicilian culture. From antiquity to today, reading this special history written with color and style is a pure joy for the food aficionado and any lover of Italy. You won''t want to miss reading through any part of this book. --Chef Bert Cutino, CEC, AAC, HOF, WCMC Co-Founder/COO, The Sardine Factory Restaurant, Cannery Row, Monterey, CA La Dolce Vita University is an authentic full immersion in Italian culture, history, art, traditions and more. Fun, funny and informative. Brava! --Cristiano Bonino Founder, Food, Stories, Trave1 An obvious love of all things Italian is evident in every essay of this quirky, delicious, and absolutely delightful book. From A to Z topics are peppered with insights, memories, fun factoids and the intrigues of history. Whether you are a seasoned globetrotter or an armchair-traveler, La Dolce Vita University will inspire you to dig deeper into the magic and allure of Italia. --Tara Coniaris Secretary, Board of Trustees at Katonah Museum of Art The enthusiasm that Carla brings to her work is unmistakable and contagious. La Dolce Vita University merits many "students" and readers who share a passion for Italy. --Comm. Stefano Acunto Hon. Vice Consul, Republic of Italy I believe that most rewarding travel experiences are those that engage the senses and enrich you emotionally and intellectually. Reading La Dolce Vita University is a great armchair vacation that captures the essence of Italy. This is the one book to read before visiting Italy - or to put you in the mood for your next one. --Lauren Hefferon Founder & Director Ciclismo Classico and Travel Vision Journeys

Author Comments

Author's Note The mini-essays that follow each treat a topic that I found surprising, intriguing, quirky, fun, or some combination of those qualities. Collectively they begin to express what I find so endlessly captivating about "the Boot." Their organization appears as alphabetical. But nothing is ever quite that straightforward when it comes to Italy. Even if you choose to read these mini-essays sequentially you may very well feel as though you're wandering the mysterious alleys of a medieval town, the hidden viccoli of a larger city or even along the serpentine canals of La Serenissima. Unexpected connections emerge and fresh discoveries await around each corner. Or perhaps you'll choose to dip in and out of this volume at random. Either way, just relax--you're in Italia!--and enjoy the passeggiata. It will lead you to new insights and marvelous revelations, as it has, on my own journey, for me. Readers who are planning to visit a specific Italian city or region may wish to consult the special Traveler's Index at the end. Italy is a glorious and fascinating mosaic. Consider the following passages just a few of its glittering tesserae.

Description for Sales People

The Big Picture "La Dolce Vita University" (LDVU) offers considerable market potential and extendibility as a book franchise, but also ultimately as an entire lifestyle, entertainment and educational brand. Purchaser / Reader Prospects La Dolce Vita University should be a book of broad and perennial interest both domestically and overseas (particularly in the U.K., Canada, Japan and China). It could sell as either an impulse or planned purchase to any of these prospects: A. all travelers to Italy: inveterate, first time (including foreign study students), and even "armchair" voyagers; plus high-end tour and cruise operators Italophiles, to deepen their love and broaden their understanding of Italian culture "lifestyle" audiences with a keen interest in fashion, cuisine, personalities and travel culturally curious "toe dippers" open to a friendly and easy entree to Italian culture ethnic Italians looking to explore and more fully appreciate their cultural roots gift givers for any of the above Targeting-wise, LDVU has numerous advantages since there are myriad Italian travel, heritage and language teacher affiliation groups, organizations and businesses that can be marketed to and with whom alliances can be forged. Below is a sampling of initial possibilities. Marketing Alliances / Speaking Engagements / Special Distribution Opportunities Italophiles, the Italian-American community and heritage groups National Italian American Foundation (NIAF) - the largest and most influential; one of the Board Members is close to the author''s family National Organization of Italian American Women (NOIAW). The author is an active member and friendly with the Founder and Chairwoman Emeritus Dr. Aileen Sirrey; NOIAW is headquartered in NY but there are local chapters in all major cities on the east coast Westchester Italian Cultural Center (founded by Genovese Pope) - the author is well connected there and has done culinary programs for them in the past and they will surely be willing to sponsor an event to promote LDVU Similar opportunities in Philadelphia area (through the author''s friends and family contacts - she was born and raised in Philadelphia and her extended family resides there) Other prominent Italian-American heritage organizations with large local chapters in the NE corridor, Chicago and West Coast; these include: The Order of the Sons of Italy (OSIA) The Italian American Studies Association (IASA) Museo Italo-Americano, San Francisco The author has "two degrees of separation" from Lidia Bastianich, Mario Batali, Stanley Tucci (his mother has written advance praise for the book already) and Chaz Palmiteri. B. Bulk Sales Boutique Travel companies, especially active travel companies with major tour operations in Italy: Ciclismo Classico; Backroads; Butterfield & Robinson; DuVine; VBT; Experience Plus; Food, Stories, Travel; Travels Across Italy; Trek Tours; etc. Larger escorted tour operators such as Perillo Tours and Go Ahead Tours Major cruise lines servicing the Mediterranean Companies (and their US Importers and Distributors) with brands mentioned in the book, such a Nutella, Amaretto, Lavazza Caf

Introduction or Preface

Introduction By Carla Gambescia I''ve been writing this book my entire life ... though I only realized it a few years ago. My earliest sense of myself was not just that I was a little girl but that I was Italian. This made me feel special. I don''t know why I felt this, but I did. As it happens I wasn''t born in Italy, and Italian was spoken only rarely in our household by my father and grandmother and occasionally by visiting relatives. Three of my four grandparents immigrated at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and my parents came of age during the Depression. A favorite family story was that when my father was courting my mother, he once gave blood for a small payment so he could buy her a Coke. He graduated from medical school, they married, war was declared, and my father joined the Navy. Like so many Italian-Americans, my father was eager to defend the country of his birth. (During the war his troop ship participated in the invasion of Sicily.) After the war family life resumed, and eleven years later I made my grand entrance. My parents were fiercely proud of being Americans, but within the family there was also tremendous pride in our Italian heritage. Both my parents imparted this to me in ways that were more than just a "feeling." I learned to appreciate being Italian through the lenses of their personal interests and passions. Every Sunday after church, my father gave me my Italian lessons. Lessons always began with words and pronunciation but inevitably lead to what I loved best, stories--the stories of my father''s favorite Italian geniuses throughout Italy''s history, beginning with the Romans. Daddy admired Julius Caesar and was named for him: Pasquale Julius Caesar. Julius Caesar had been captured by pirates when he was a teenager, crossed a famous river, and triumphally returned to Rome as one of the most brilliant military leaders who ever lived. I had several favorite stories: the story of Galileo dropping a big ball and a little ball off the Leaning Tower in Pisa; of Mr. Vivaldi teaching young orphan girls to sing and play violin in Venice; of Michelangelo painting the great ceiling upside down all by himself; and a sad story of Dante who couldn''t marry Beatrice, the girl of his dreams, but who instead wrote the greatest love story in the world, dedicated to her. Like all children I loved to hear my favorite stories over and over, and they imprinted on me just like Hansel and Gretel and Little Red Riding Hood. My mother much preferred art to history and loved Italian Renaissance art in particular. She had several big beautiful books of paintings which we would often look at together. By the age of seven, I could reliably identify a Raphael from Michelangelo or a Botticelli from a Titian, and began forming my own artistic opinions. My parents are very proud of my precocious skill which I was called upon to display for relatives, all of whom were naturally impressed! But I can also remember feeling frustrated with Mom''s love of Madonna and Child scenes, especially during the Christmas season. I would beg her to choose a family Christmas card with Santa Claus, Frosty or, better yet, Rudolf--yet she would not relent and stuck with her beloved Madonnas or a Holy Family, even on the postage stamps! One year she selected a card with Raphael''s Madonna Della Seggiola which caused me to impertinently ask why the baby Jesus was so chubby. There was no critiquing Raphael, her very favorite artist. When I was eight we all traveled to Italy and visited the Vatican Museum; my mother was so moved by Raphael''s Transfiguration she wept. My father died prematurely three years later. By that time I had outgrown his storytelling, but I can still remember those stories almost word for word. My mother lived a long life, and art and painting and applied arts--not just by great Italians--always filled her with wonder, and she passed that passion on to me. I passed through my teen years and young adulthood with the typical detachment young people can have from their childhood. Italy receded into the background as I built a career in advertising and marketing while also traveling widely across six continents for work and play. Then in 1995 I signed up for a cycling trip in Sicily with a boutique travel company specializing in "authentic" Italy with native guides. A magical thing happened: I rediscovered my roots and I fell deeply in love with the land of my ancestors. Following that fateful trip, I took dozens more (eleven by bike) exploring the cities and the countryside in every region, seeing Italy in summer and winter and spring and fall, and delighting in the richness of its cultural gifts. In 2007, while a consultant to the Ciao Bella Gelato company, I co-created and co-led a unique tour dubbed the Giro del Gelato which went on to be awarded "Best Trip in Western Europe" by Outside Magazine. But that original "Bella Sicilia" tour was life-changing, and that is no exaggeration. As a result, I resolved to open an Italian-inspired restaurant, not because I was a foodie--though I love food!--but because I wanted to create a place through which my guests could feel they too were "there" even when they were still "here." About 12 years later I made that dream a reality and operated a very special restaurant for nearly a decade. It was called Via Vanti! (a contraction of via and avanti for "the way forward") and was very popular, not just because its food was delicioso--we were a top Zagat

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