The San Giovanni Days


Book Description

An engrossing story of life among societys refugees and misfits in a rundown hotel in San Franciscos North Beach district during the post-beat era.




Rick Steves Snapshot Hill Towns of Central Italy


Book Description

You can count on Rick Steves to tell you what you really need to know when traveling in the hill towns of central Italy. In this compact guide, Rick Steves covers the essentials of the hill towns, including San Gimignano, Volterra, Montepulciano, and Cortona. Explore the Galgano Monastery, Volterra's Etruscan Gate, Orvieto's Duomo, or relax while wine tasting in Montalcino. You'll get Rick's firsthand advice on the best sights, eating, sleeping, and nightlife, and the maps and self-guided tours will ensure you make the most of your experience. More than just reviews and directions, a Rick Steves Snapshot guide is a tour guide in your pocket. Rick Steves Snapshot guides consist of excerpted chapters from Rick Steves European country guidebooks. Snapshot guides are a great choice for travelers visiting a specific city or region, rather than multiple European destinations. These slim guides offer all of Rick's up-to-date advice on what sights are worth your time and money. They include good-value hotel and restaurant recommendations, with no introductory information (such as overall trip planning, when to go, and travel practicalities).




Cobblestones, Conversations, and Corks


Book Description

“Giovanni Ruscitti has written a wonderful book of special relevance for all North and South Americans whose ancestors have migrated from Asia, Europe, and Africa. His journey to the land of his forefathers is so meaningful not only because of the discovery of what connects us ‘Americanos’ to the rest of the world but also the journey within. A trip in which we all feel recognized. Bravo maestro!” —Hernando de Soto, finalist for Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences, and author of Mystery of Capital Amazon #1 Bestseller Cobblestones, Conversations, and Corks is a passionate and deeply moving story about a father-son relationship; a culture rooted in family, food and wine; and an ancestral small town in Central Italy that was left behind after World War II. On November 11, 1943, the Nazis invaded Cansano, forcing its two thousand inhabitants to make a tough decision—fight and be killed or sent to a POW camp, stay behind as servants to the Nazis, or move into the unforgiving mountains of Abruzzo while the Nazis used their village as a home base. Giovanni Ruscitti’s family chose the latter and spent the next few months living in horrendous winter conditions in the rugged mountains. When the war ended, they returned to a village so ravaged by the Nazis that, today, the town has less than two hundred citizens and remains in a dilapidated state. In this memoir, Ruscitti visits Cansano for the first time with his family, including parents Emiliano and Maria. As he walks Cansano’s cobblestones, his father’s stories and life are illuminated by the town piazza, the steep valley, and the surrounding mountains. He relives the tales of his parents’ struggles during World War II, their extreme post-war misery and poverty, their budding romance after, and their decision to immigrate to the US in search of the American Dream. Ruscitti’s adventure is not just an exploration of his homeland but reveals what family, culture, wisdom, and love really means. And what our heritage really tells us about who we are.




Food Festivals and Local Development in Italy


Book Description

What does the proliferation of food festival tell us about rural areas? How can these celebrations pave the way to a better future for the local communities? This book is addressing these questions contributing to the ongoing debate about the future of rural peripheries in Europe. The volume is based on the ethnographic research conducted in Italy, a country internationally known for its food tradition and one of the European countries where the gap between rural and urban space is most pronounced. It offers an anthropological analysis of food festivals, exploring the transformational role they have to change and develop rural communities. Although the festivals aim mostly at tourism, they contribute in a wider way to the life of the rural communities, acting as devices through which a community redefines itself, reinforces its sociality, reshapes the perception and use of the surrounding environment. In so doing, thus, the books suggests to read the festivals not just as celebrations driven by food fashion, but rather fundamental grassroots instruments to contrast the effects of rural marginalization and pave the way to a possible better future for the community




Rick Steves Italy


Book Description

Now more than ever, you can count on Rick Steves to tell you what you really need to know when traveling through Italy. From the Mediterranean to the Alps, from fine art to fine pasta, experience it all with Rick Steves! Inside Rick Steves Italy you'll find: Fully updated, comprehensive coverage for planning a multi-week trip to Italy Rick's strategic advice on how to get the most out of your time and money, with rankings of his must-see favorites Top sights and hidden gems, from the Colosseum and Michelangelo's David to corner trattorias and that perfect scoop of gelato How to connect with local culture: Walk in Caesar's footsteps through the ruins of the Forum, discover the relaxed rhythms of sunny Cinque Terre, or chat with fans about the latest soccer match (calcio, to locals) Beat the crowds, skip the lines, and avoid tourist traps with Rick's candid, humorous insight The best places to eat, sleep, and experience la dolce far niente Self-guided walking tours of lively neighborhoods and museums Vital trip-planning tools, like how to link destinations, build your itinerary, and get from place to place Detailed maps, including a fold-out map for exploring on the go Over 1,000 bible-thin pages include everything worth seeing without weighing you down Coverage of Venice, Padua, the Dolomites, Lake Country, Milan, the Italian Riviera, Florence, Pisa, Lucca, Hill Towns of Central Italy, Siena, Tuscany, Rome, Naples, Pompeii, Capri, the Amalfi Coast, and much more Covid-related travel info and resources for a smooth trip Make the most of every day and every dollar with Rick Steves Italy. Planning a one- to two-week trip? Check out Rick Steves Best of Italy.




Romola


Book Description

The most exotic of George Eliot’s works, Romola recounts the story of the famous religious leader Savonarola in Florence at the time of Machiavelli and the Medicis. Of all her novels, this was the author’s favourite. No other Eliot novel was illustrated in its first edition. Romola, however, was sought by George Smith for serialization in the prestigious illustrated Cornhill Magazine. Smith commissioned illustrations for the novel from the rising young artist Frederick Leighton, who had studied in Florence in the 1840s and had frequently painted Florentine Renaissance subjects. Romola was serialised with the Leighton illustrations in the magazine from July 1862 to August 1863. It was first published in book form in 1863; the first edition was published by Smith, Elder in three volumes, and a one-volume edition in two-column format with all but one of the Leighton illustrations was published later that year by Harper & Brothers in the United States. This facsimile reprint is of the one-volume 1863 Harper & Brothers edition, and includes 8 pages of original advertisements from the back of the book. This is one of a series from Broadview Press of facsimile reprint editions—editions that provide readers with a direct sense of these works as the Victorians themselves experienced them.




Rick Steves Florence & Tuscany


Book Description

Now more than ever, you can count on Rick Steves to tell you what you really need to know when traveling through Florence and Tuscany. Walk in the footsteps of the Medici, sip aperitivi, and discover the cultural heart of Italy: with Rick as your guide, Tuscany is yours to discover. Inside Rick Steves Florence & Tuscany you'll find: Fully updated, comprehensive coverage for spending a week or more exploring Florence and Tuscany Rick's strategic advice on how to get the most out of your time and money, with rankings of his must-see favorites Top sights and hidden gems, from the Uffizi Gallery and the Duomo to a 600-year-old perfumery How to connect with local culture: Listen to a street musician's serenade on the Ponte Vecchio, stroll through a morning market sampling freshly-made pasta, and sip full-bodied wines with Montalcino locals at a corner enoteca Beat the crowds, skip the lines, and avoid tourist traps with Rick's candid, humorous insight The best places to eat, sleep, and relax with a glass of Chianti Self-guided walking tours of lively neighborhoods and incredible museums Detailed maps for exploring on the go, including driving tours through the heart of Tuscany and Brunello wine country Complete, up-to-date information on Florence, Siena, Pisa, Lucca, Volterra, San Gimignano, Montepulciano, Pienza, Montalcino, Cortona, and more Covid-related travel info and resources for a smooth trip Make the most of every day and every dollar with Rick Steves Florence & Tuscany. Spending less than a week exploring Florence? Try Rick Steves Pocket Florence.




Rough Guide Sardinia


Book Description

The new-look, full colour Rough Guide to Sardinia is the ultimate travel guide to one of the Mediterranean's most fascinating islands. Discover Sardinia's highlights with stunning photography, colour-coded maps and more listings and information than ever before. You'll find detailed practical advice on what to see and do in Sardinia, from museums and archaeological sites to mountain hikes and beaches, as well as up-to-date descriptions of the best hotels, bars and restaurants for all budgets. The major festivals are covered at length, Sardinia's chequered history and rich archeology are explored, and lesser-known aspects of the island such as its industrial heritage, literature, handicrafts, culinary quirks and trekking opportunities are featured. With loads of practical advice, suggested itineraries and top 5 boxes, The Rough Guide to Sardinia will help you make the most of your time on this stunning island. Now available in PDF format.




Music and Musicians in 16th-Century Florence


Book Description

This second selection of studies by Frank D’Accone, again based principally on the documentary evidence, follows the development through the mid 16th century of musical chapels at the Cathedral and the Baptistery of Florence and of musical establishments at the Santissima Annunziata and San Lorenzo. The lives, careers and works of composers associated with these churches are illustrated and their works analyzed, particularly the theoretical treatise by Fra Mauro, the madrigals of Mauro Matti and the ambitiously conceived canzone cycle of Mattia Rampollini. The final studies, moving into the 17th century, look at the music for Holy Week, and the unprecedented programme of performances at Santa Maria Novella.