Do you travel allot? Tired of the stress of seeing all the sites? Do you feel you need a vacation after your vacation? Do something that's good for your soul!
Slow down , take it easy, it's time to smell the roses and the wines and the cheeses. A "slow travel" vacation could be what you need. Forget Rome, Florence and Venice in two weeks with all their museums and statues and lineups. Try a two week sojourn in the hills of Montalcino or Cortona(Tuscany) or another rural Tuscan area, to contemplate life, the wine, and the food and what's missing in life with all its rushing around. Rent a car and an apartment in a country villa. Settle in, unwind, reellaaxxx and eat at the villa the first night as they usually serve amazing food, you won't want a hamburger again. Spend the days slowly, enjoy a book or go for walks. Most of these Tuscan villas are elevated from the valley floor and have some breathtaking views that can actually make it hard to read as you keep looking up from your book to look again. When you do look up or stroll around you probably will see a small town or two perched atop a local hill and you think to yourself, I'll go there tomorrow or maybe the next day, do it, you'll like it I'm sure.
There are so many small towns scattered close by that driving to one is a pleasure as the roads wind and climb around and down the local hills, just don't rush, you'll get there. When you get to a town, walk slowly through the tight streets, get a gellato, sit down some where and just watch people. You can tell the difference between the locals and the tourists easily. The locals are taking the time to talk to each other either at local bars or are with you at the gellateria, the tourists, well thier rushing around with their cameras clicking. Pop into the small shops I especially love the wine, cheese and sausage deli's,. Buy some things to take back and enjoy slowly at your leisure. If you are hungry don't look for the tourist menus' or flashy restaurants, you must look for a small trattoria or osteria (restaurant) that has mostly locals in it and make sure it's busy as it means the food is good and cheaper than in "tourist" restaurants. Get the house wine, I have never had a bad one and they are usually fantastic and the cheapest.
If two weeks in one place beautiful place sounds to much, then split your vacation, and have a week in the country and a week on the coast. Italy offers the longest coastline in Europe and my favorite is the Amalfi coast. I actually find the sea more calming and relaxing than the country. I particularly like the Amalfi coast as the land rises from the sea at 30 degrees or more so almost anywhere has a view to die for. There are many small towns dotted along this south facing coast which offers warm, sunny weather from march till October. Rent a villa with a terrace and a car (a must) in an out of the way place, off the beaten track and enjoy some of the best time of you life. Avoid August as there are just to many tourists both Italian and foreign all over Italy. Any other time and this coast is a vibrant, colourful, fragrant jewel with a view.
When I travel these areas the countryside or seaside is so varied and picturesque and has such a calming effect on me that it becomes my dream every time I come here to actually move here to live, so I can feel this feeling everyday. I really want to take the next turn or follow a sign to see where it will lead me. I always wonder where the other fork in the road would have taken me. Life is like that, take the other way and it can change your life. So can a "slow travel" vacation, it's called a vacation for a reason, your supposed to come back rested as you've taken a vacation from your busy life. You absolutely will want to come back and you will tell all your friends that you had the best vacation ever. You will also have a different perspective on life.
To assist you in this slow travel vacation is "Sense of Italy" Di Giuliana Pinelli, her business is showing the real Italy, the way Italians experience it. Giuliana and her team can assist you in planning your "real" vacation, tailor-made, just for you.
www.senseofitaly.com
By James Spalding
