That’s right…102! I had no idea that I had put out over 100 blog articles until I counted them this week. I’ve really been a bit chatty, haven’t I?!

I have enjoyed every minute in the production of these articles, mostly about my favorite place — Italy. ‘Why do you do this?’, you ask. Because I want you to be stimulated through my writing and photos to visit Italy yourself. And, as an added benefit, I get to travel voyeuristically along the way as I write and go through photos from great times gone by.

“I absolutely love doing this, and I certainly hope that you enjoy my blog articles, and that you find them helpful in some way”

Italy is a place with beautiful scenery highlighted by mountains, plains, coastlines and lakes…a prolific history of art and culture (I know that you’ve heard of Michelangelo and the Roman Empire)…vineyards and their wineries producing the world’s best wines, like Brunello…authentic (it has to be, right?) Italian food…and a loving, smiling, happy people.

Today, I thought I would give you of my ‘Top 10’ articles. I’ve categorized them into ‘Visiting a Particular Place’, ‘Experiences We’ve Enjoyed’ {that you would, too), and ‘Helpful Travel Tips”. These are my favorites because of memories of the times and places involved, be they humorous, joy-filled, frustrating, or whatever — or because I felt that they were particularly informative in preparation for your own upcoming Italy trip.

If one of the descriptions catches your eye, go ahead and link to the article so that you can enjoy a small slice of Italy, too.

[OK, I have a confession to make. There are actually 12 articles listed below…I just couldn’t pare it down to 10…sorry about that]

Each listing below has a clickable bolded heading that takes you to the original article.

Visiting A Particular Place

Stay Here, Eat Here, Drink Here: Banfi

A beautiful Tuscan day at the Banfi pool

This article lays out for you the full Banfi experience that you will just have to live through yourself one day. We’ve visited the Castello Banfi twice and found the experience to be absolutely wonderful. The tour of the Banfi winery is outstanding. And then there is the Castello Banfi itself…a must see, as well as a must stay. Dining? Yes, you have your choice of the informal La Taverna, as well as the fabulous La Sala dei Grappoli. The enoteca where you can taste and then purchase wine? The largest and most beautiful we’ve seen — and we’ve seen many. Published on May 24, 2016.

A Visit to Villa Cimbrone

The view along the walk from Ravello to Villa Cimbrone

If you will be visiting the Amalfi coast, with its breathtaking mountainous backdrop, you absolutely need to journey up those mountains to the the town of Ravello. It sits high above the town of Amalfi and has spectacular views from the Belvedere. The gardens are charming and there are several restaurants between the town and the Cimbrone Gardens from which to choose, like our selection, Il Flauto di Pan. Published June 7, 2016.

Renato Ratti Winery

Talk about a fabulous and unique winery and visit thereto! This Piemonte winery has been environmentally inserted into the side of the hill upon which the town of La Mora sits. Gravity provides an energy-saving way to transport the developing wine from vinification to storage. The grape of this Piemonte winery is the Nebbiolo and their top wine is Barolo, of course. Our tasting was of vintage Barolo wines going as far back as 1998, which gave us a personal and up-close education on a wine’s tannin, fruit and color over time. Published September 17, 2019.

Stay Here: Borgo San Felice

There is a beautiful place to stay and eat in the heart of Tuscany, and it is the Borgo San Felice. A friend had stayed here and highly recommended it…we are glad he did! The owners basically purchased a small Tuscan town and converted it into a marvelous resort hotel experience. From the ancient chapel to the modern swimming pool, we enjoyed it all during our two visits there. And the food of their Ristorante Poggio Rosso was delicious, whether at breakfast or dinner. Published January 12, 2016.

Stumbling Upon Something Magnificent

Just what was it that we stumbled upon? It was a church sitting high on a hillside overlooking Lago Lugano, just west of Lago di Como. Oh how dumbstruck we were when we opened the doors of the church of Albogasio Inferiore in the small, lakeside town of Albogasio-oria. They say that one can’t judge a book by its cover, and that goes too for churches. The inside has beautifully painted fresco walls and ceilings, as well as other gorgeous ornamentation. Published July 28, 2015.

Experiences We’ve Enjoyed

One Fine Day

The setting is the Amalfi Coast. The conveyance was a 38’ Itama boat, captained by a friendly Gian-Carlo. The day was wonderful. This is the quintessential way to see the Amalfi Coast — by boat. We cruised in luxury with prosecco in hand. We swam the White and Green Grottos. We dined waterside on the Isle of Capri. And every bit of this day was perfect. Published September 29, 2015.

Enjoying Italy-Bought Wine

It’s strange how certain things can trigger memories of the past. We had that experience one lazy day…and those memories were certainly fond ones. What was it that triggered these great memories? It was wine, of all things. It was a wine that we had tasted at lunch in Radda in Chianti and one that we subsequently purchased at a winery in Tuscany. The setting for this article is our living room…in front of a roaring fire…with good book in one hand and a good wine in the other. Published February 2, 2017.

Wild Goose Chase

I’ve chased a wild goose or two, and I’m sure that you have, too. This incident relates to the day we bought a nice wine, as discussed in the article just above. We were on our way to a highly praised dinner…as praised on Trip Advisor. What we found when we arrived at the very small hilltown of Poggio alla Croce was an unexpected mystery. We had a reservation that I had managed to pull off in Italian…at least I thought I had. Find out what happened and how our evening managed to end. Published February 2, 2016.

Your Romantic Gondola Ride

If you’ve been to Venice and you haven’t ridden in a gondola, then you haven’t really been to Venice. The ubiquitous gondola is the iconic symbol of Venice. Your gondola experience should be a romantic one. This means that there is a certain time for your ride…a time that is best for reasons more than just romance. And, as each time has its place, I give you a suggestion on the best place to start (and end) your ride. Published July 12, 2016.

Helpful Travel Tips

Getting There: Bellagio

Bellagio is undoubtedly the most charming town we have visited, and its important how you get there! It sits on the end of a peninsula on Lake Como. You can auto there, but the road is twisty-turny and you may arrive with a bit of fuzzy brain. You can arrive by train…kind of…at least you will be close, but will require a ferry ride from Varenna. And you can arrive by boat…but not just any boat. You definitely don’t want the hydrofoil. What you want is the slow boat from the town of Como. It’s a slow ride and it is absolutely beautiful. Published August 2, 2016.

Another Way Into Italy

Of course you can fly directly to Italy, but there is a way that you might find to be a lot more fun…and relaxing. Why not start your Italy adventure in Switzerland?! You start in Zurich and take one of three trains into Italy. That has been our favorite way because it is a fabulous way to overcome your jet lag…as well as seeing the beautiful Swiss countryside. Published July 30, 2019.

Please, Thank You, and Where's the Bathroom

Don't let the fear of not knowing the Italian language keep you from Italy. Our experience has shown that for most of the places that we go (i.e. not too far off the beaten path), English is well spoken. I do recommend the joy of giving Italian a try, as it’s kind of fun to order a light breakfast by saying, “Pane tostata con burro e marmellata di arance”. But for sure, don’t let the lack of parlando Italiano keep you from Italy. Published August 14, 2016.

Now you know what I know — that being that the above are my favorite article posts. Trust me when I say that it was super difficult to pare them down to those twelve.

I absolutely love doing this, and I certainly hope that you enjoy my blog articles, and that you find them helpful in some way. If a trip to Italy is in your future…and I certainly hope it is…then the article ‘A Trip to Italy in Your Future? Read On!’ is a guide to using the Index of Articles to help you plan for your trip.

And, I really would love to see you there in beautiful Italy! But, in the meantime…

Ciao for now,

Steve

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During our travels, we've had occasion to stumble upon some great things. When I think of stumbling upon something great, I immediately think of an absolutely beautiful day while visiting Bellagio.

“We still find it hard to believe what we stumbled upon that day, and I think you will, too.”

We still find it difficult to believe what we stumbled upon that day, and I think you will, too.

We were traveling with our friends Debbie and Scott (see last week's blog) and they decided to spend a day boating on Lake Como while we rented a car to drive into Switzerland.

Bellagio is not a large town and we were surprised to find a small garage that had rental cars. Here is our nice rental, complete with stick shift (do you remember how?).

[click on an image to get a larger view]

We got up extra early and we were just able to catch the last ferry of the day to travel from Bellagio to Menaggio, on the west side of the lake. Why would an early-morning ferry be the last of the day, you ask? A general transportation strike was set to start at 9:00am today, of course! It is Italy, you know.

With Bellagio receding in the distance, we made it to beautiful lakeside Menaggio, with its ubiquitous geraniums.

We took some time to have a light breakfast con Coca Cola Lite, of course...

...and for co-pilot Ellen to check the map for our route into Switzerland.

Along the way, we were treated to the fantastic Italian lakeside scenery, like these white swans skimming across the lake.

These guys were hoping that we would toss a bit of our croisant to them.

And the sun continued to provide gorgeous views as we drove along the lake.

The lakes in northern Italy are surrounded by mountains like this one.

Oh no! What's that blocking the road? It was the first of three buses traveling together that were making their way through a small town with it's very narrow roadway -- this is the main roadway along the lake, by the way.

They each had to move forward and back a few times to make it around the corner. We had to fold our side mirrors in, and with about 3" to spare the buses made their way past us.

Driving along Lake Lugano, which is half-in Italy and half-in Switzerland, we made a turn and came upon the charming little village of Albogasio..

Ellen suggested that this would be a great place to stop to explore life-on-the-lake in Italy. She saw the church you can see at the very top of the town and she decided that it would be our goal. As there are no auto roads in this town (residents park on the small pier that you can see sitting above the lake on the left), we sought out a way up.

A time worn path made its way up the hillside.

As we worked our way up, we had views like this one, which is Melissa's and Max's favorite.

We loved the rustic nature of Albogasio, with gardens and lovely views of Lake Lugano.

As we continued up, it was obvious to us that this village has been here for a long time.

Ahhh, getting closer.

And now the entrance is in sight.

On the lake-side wall, we found coats of arms painted on the side of the church. Each represents one of the seven archdioceses of Milan.

And finally, the door to the church.

We grasped the latch of this time-worn door, and...

...we were staggered by the inside of this small church sitting high on the side of the hill above Lake Lugano!

We've been in many beautiful churches in Italy, but we were stunned by this dazzling site. We found that this church was built in 1628 and was filled with magnificent 17th century paintings.

The ceiling above the altar has a painting of The Coronation of the Virgin.

The altar was adorned by these four silver bishops.

The two side chapels are also beautifully painted, like the one below. One chapel is dedicated to Saints Gioacchino and Anna, and the other to Saint Giuseppe. Notice that the scene below is all canvas with the exception of the alter with Christ's statue. The columns are not real, nor is the base on which the putti sit.

We were sad to leave, but we had miles to go on our day of adventure. Working our way down through the village, we found our way through the stone labyrinths...

...until we finally made it down to the road where we had parked.

This was just the start of a day of unexpected surprises. I'll tell you about the rest of our day another time. So, stay tuned.

Ciao for now,

Steve

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102 Blog Articles...But Who's Counting?

Visiting A Particular Place

Experiences We’ve Enjoyed

Helpful Travel Tips

Stumbling Upon Something Magnificent