We’re back from our trip to Italy. I only had the iPhone for photos, and I wished, once we arrived, that I had brought a real camera, but honestly, the scenery and light in Italy are so extraordinary that it’s impossible to take a bad photo, no matter what camera you are using.
We have been to other parts of Italy, but this was our first trip to Florence. Our plan was to spend 5 days in Tuscany, and then to take the train to Naples and then a car along the Amalfi coast to Positano, to visit our friends Carla and Antonio Sersale, the owners of the fabulous Le Sirenuse hotel, and two of our very favorite people on earth.
The night before we left, all four dogs were in a state of absolute despair. Whenever they see us pack our bags, they stage a series of highly dramatic and seemingly over-rehearsed portrayals of grief. They skulk around with sad, sad eyes, their tails between their legs, whining, pawing at us, refusing to eat. It’s very uncalled for, as we don’t travel often and when we do, they’re not kenneled, but rather, they stay in their own home with a caretaker who dotes on them. Still, they like us to think that they might die of sadness before we return.
Once I had everything packed into my little case, Holly decided that there was one last thing I was forgetting. Her.
I love the Italian language, though I don’t speak or understand more than a few words. I guess it’s the loveliness of the words which, when strung together in sentences and spoken, creates a very lyrical and pleasing sound. Like Spanish words, Italian adjectives end in vowels, which adds a loveliness; plus they have a gender, which brings them to life. Take the word “beautiful,” for example. If you try to describe Florence, you are inclined to overuse the word because, first, the countryside leading to the city is beautiful, and when you arrive in Florence, though you have been told how beautiful and historic it is, and though you may have visited many other beautiful and historic cities, you find yourself almost blindsided by the unmitigated beauty all around – the filtered quality of the light in the alleyways, the purple hues of the surrounding hills, the winding cobbled streets, the clanging of the bells of the cathedrals, and the cathedrals themselves (El Duomo!), the aromas wafting from cafes, the river Arno, the Ponte Vecchio, but most of all the Italian people, who are, almost to a person, extraordinarily beautiful. Or rather, they are bellissimo, if they are men, or bellissima, if they are women. The word bellissimo is like a caress, it’s open-ended and alive, and, in comparison, the word beautiful seems clunky. It just comes slamming to a halt the way all consonant-ending words do. Beautiful is dull. It actually rhymes with dull. Bellissimo, though! Bellissima! Sigh.
I have a sort of emotional disorder that causes me to burst into audible and alarming sobs when I encounter le cose belle (beautiful things). I am never prepared for this. So, on our first morning in Florence, we decided to climb the bell tower in El Duomo, the city’s famous cathedral, and all the way up, Denis and I were chatting and joking and stopping to take photos, and then we arrived at the top and we found ourselves suddenly aloft, in the open-aired belfry, and the ancient city was all around us and the sun streamed in on us in soft golden columns and so I burst into tears. Denis immediately removed himself to the other side of the tower and gazed out at the city and would only return to my side when I had composed myself.
Denis and I are both emotional about cathedrals. When I enter a medieval place of worship I’m filled with awe. I find it incredible that when resources were so hard to come by, when lives were so short and so perilous, when, instead of cranes and forklifts, they had only the muscle and sweat of man and beast, people chose to build elaborate structures that didn’t offer them shelter or supply them with running water or food. but instead, were designed as glorious offerings of magnificent praise; monuments of faith and hope and love. That the spiritual life so clearly took precedent over the material is what makes me blink back tears and reach for my husband’s hand – a hand that, in cathedrals, is usually clenched in rage.
Denis is infuriated by cathedrals. He sees in the rich ornamentation, the statuary, stained glass and all the cold, expensive marble only the filthy corruption of the papacy and the ruthless exploitation of peasants. His view is the polar opposite of mine – he sees, in cathedrals, the material completely obliterating the spiritual. The nuns, visiting from points across the globe, give him chills. The smell of incense launches him into a sort of Catholic school PTSD trance and by the second day on any trip, he just waits outside whenever I want to wander into a church.
As I mentioned in a previous post, we also visited Siena, San Gimignano and then, finally Positano and the very romantic, Le Sirenuse hotel.
The view from our room
Photo courtesy of Le Sirenuse
Photo courtesy of Le Sirenuse
We had an early flight from Rome on Sunday, so we left the Amalfi coast just as the sun was rising. Bellissima (o?)!
Sì, molto bello.
I’m with you about the tears and the awe.
I want to live in that hotel.
Thank you for sharing, the photos are bellissima. I feel like through your words and photos that I got to visit too. Have a great day.
Lovely! Thanks for this… Once, I unwittingly got into some trouble (fleetingly, thankfully!) at the Vatican with a very stern nun. However, her sweet Filipino counterpart made it all better in no time! Still, I’m like you when it comes to cathedrals…and I’ve actually read about Florence and the weepiness you describe.
Seriously, thanks for this—it’s a beautiful start to my day!
Florence is on my “Bucket List”, Ellyn my traveler enjoyed her brief visit..Pics are always a welcome on South Street. Love to you, have to get together for coffee a the Market, try for next week..
I loved this post. I appreciated reading the different perspective that you and Denis have on cathedrals. I also appreciated you sharing that you become emotional regarding the beauty of a place. I have felt that way too and it is comforting to know other people have had similar feelings.
Thanks again for the wonderful photos. I really appreciate seeing them.
Beautiful-0.
Re magnificent cathedrals, you and Denis interpret the dichotomy of the human race–its capability for breath-taking beauty and culture, and unspeakable darkness and evil.
Thanks for sharing your amazing trip.
La scrittura porta le immagini e l’immaginazione alla vita. Grazie per aver condiviso le vostre emozioni con noi.
See? I’m practicing!
This made my morning, especially since it’s so dreary and rainy (again).
I loved Antonio’s blog, but I don’t think he’s written anything recently. He is a scrittoro di talento.
PS – that photo of you and Denis is really lovely.
Thanks KC, And speaking of blogs, I love your recent entry about dear Snoopy. We’re so glad he is with you.
http://thundermoonfarm.blogspot.com/2011/10/ten-things-we-love-about-snoopy.html
When we were in Florence last year I asked our guide if people still attend services in these beautiful duomos and he told us “just the elderly go, the young have no time”. I found this so sad.
I wholeheartedly agree with you on your beautiful description of Florence. It’s truly magical.
What a lovely peek into what was most obviously a lovely (gross understatement) getaway!
Perfect light to see on a dreary day in Virginia—
Welcome home—and thanks for the glimpse.
I don’t know what it is, but I too break into tears at the sight of something beautiful…so I can identify. Beautiful pictures…thanks so much for sharing.
Thank you for taking the time and bringing us along on your beautiful trip. Loved all the pictures. Welcome Home.
What a background in the picture of you and Denis! Thanks so much for sharing a bit of your trip with us, Ann. I loved seeing the pictures.
Thanks for posting the photos and sharing your adventures with us, Ann. It’s all so breathtaking that I find myself leaning further and further in to see the images better, literally trying to breathe some of that Italian sun and air.
I’m with you on the beautiful places response, and yet I’m with Denis in regard to the church in terms of her history and her ruling people. Somehow I’m able to separate my feelings – all the ones you say Denis has – from the physical places of worship themselves. I think because I know the folks who built those places were probably my kind of people, lovers of colored glass, smoothed & carved wood, sky-painted ceilings. Though I absolutely get the Catholic school PTSD symptoms whenever I see a nun or a priest. Or a chalkboard or ruler.
So glad to know you had such a luscious vacation. I’m sure those fur babies are happy to have you home again.
Thanks for this Ann, you write so well and the photos are just beautiful, ! The subject Divine, Mark was stationed in Italy for years, such a gorgeous gorgeous place !
so sweet to read about your dogs. that’s the worst part of travel for me – leaving the pets behind. i used a kennel once and called every day to check on our dog. the dog was fine. me? not so much.
i was in italy years ago and just loved it, too. i had a little, ummm, romantic liaison with our bus driver for a week. i had no idea what the hell he was saying – and didn’t care!!
Uh, Lisa. Don’t leave us hanging. Did he show you his canneloni?
Go Lisa!
Lisa! Details please!
this is just between us girls, right? so, he was charming, funny….. we’d be out at piano bars and coffee houses until the wee hours, then back on the bus a few hours later. sigh… regarding the canneloni and meatballs? yeah, no. more like penne and cherry tomatoes. can’t win ‘em all.
Lisa!! Hahaha!!! Bet you have loved meatballs ever since !!
Your pictures are truly gorgeous…iPhone did a terrific job! Glad you had a wonderful time!
Your dogs must be thrilled you are home! How did Mark react?
I agree with Denis. When you think how the pope lives/lived and then think about how Mother Teresa lived….they had such VERY different lives….and yet who did more? And don’t even get me started on the nuns! One of the main reasons I became a teacher had to do with the beatings my classmates and I received from these spiritual women.
Your post brought back memories of my husband and my visits to Italy. Like you, I am filled with awe whenever I visit a duomo, and have a tendency to burst into tears at the beauty of it all. Like Denis, my husband wanders off until I compose myself! : ) I don’t think I could ever tire of Italy, it is truly bellissima!
I just tried to post a “reply” under Lisa’s most recent comment but wasn’t allowed so am posting it here. Lisa, this is such a great story. So what kind of tour was it? Did the others know? Sounds like a VERY fun trip.
it was a blast! the tour was with kids and teachers/parents from my hometown and i went with my mom (a teacher) and my good friend, denise. franco (the paramour) and i clicked from the first night and my mother and denise were so understanding. i’d sneak into our room at 2 or 3 a.m. my mom’s only request: ‘don’t complain about being tired.’ we’d all meet up at the bus at 8 a.m. and we tried to be subtle but a couple of the kids had spotted us one night and everybody knew. one of the older women on the trip complained everyday about him being too tired to drive, it was unsafe… blah, blah, blah… when we had to say goodbye at the end of the week, you’d have thought he was leaving for war, the way we carried on.
we headed to greece next, taking an overnight ferry. i woke up the next morning, planning to get breakfast. instead i found out that i had slept through the greek isles, breakfast and lunch. 14 straight hours!!
after we got home, franco and i actually kept in touch for awhile.
next time we have a get together, i’ll bring pictures – he was yummy, in spite of being, well, hung like a hamster.
OMG! Hilarious!
What Amanda said!!
And Lisa, it would be so great to see you some time soon for a get-together — and given some of the details that have been revealed, I’m quite curious about those photos you say you’ll bring …
What a great, romantic story. So funny and sweet. Thanks Lisa.
would be great to see all of you gals, too, arliss!
Hung like a hamster hahahah!!!! i think it was my greek ex hubby posing as an italian!!!!
Such a wonderful post, Ann. It has me sighing. I too am sometimes suddenly awash with emotion when in a beautiful place. And I love what you so eloquently say regarding bellissimo and bellissima.
Arliss, the older I get the more these sudden outbursts of emotion overwhelm my senses too. And everytime they do, I think of the phrase Ann uses in her memoir to describe this moment (or disorder): “emotionally incontinent.” I love this phrase and use it all the time (Ann, I hope you don’t mind).
I do not have time to write much. Yet, this is one of the nicest photos of the two of you.
and of course, you forgot Holly… how could you…???
:)
How about concerning the novel you’ve been working on a title like, ‘Hildy’s Bottle’? That’s a pretty catchy title for a book like the one you described. If you think about it, no one who reads the book will forget that Hildy thinks she has an alcohol problem, so a title like this one would work well in grand scheme of things if you figure that there is very broad amount of material that is actually mentioned in the book, don’t you think? Keep it simple Ann. Enjoy Italy!
Brendan Ryan
The Brendan Ryan Company
Houston, Texas
Thanks Ann! The pictures are wonderful and you have such a way with telling a story. Lots of travel dreaming going on the west coast. Very nice relaxed picture of both of you. Very cool t-shirt coloring.
Lisa, wow, that was a trip to remember. And with a punch line. lol
Just found your blog after Abby Dodge tweeted to some others that they really need to see it. I figured if they do, then so do I!
Wonderful 
The pictures of Italy are just breathtaking. I would love to go there some day. Thanks for sharing! and congrats on your book being accepted by St Martins!!
Hey Dana, welcome aboard!
First timer here and I am already hooked! Thanks for sharing your Italian vacation – now I must go, day dream about Florence
Nice to have you here Kiran!
Hi Kiran! I just took a look at your blog, and will be visiting again soon!
Ann, I forgot to mention how great the photo of you and Denis is. You both look so good together. It’s so inspiring to see a couple who can still laugh, chat, and travel together after all those years.
I’m gonna head down to the Bronx now to find me a hot Italian bus driver.
Holy cannoli, Aislinn! Just be sure to avoid the hamsters….
Alan ! hahahahaha!!!
Aislinn, let us know how that trip to the Bronx goes for you!
And as for get togethers, I’ll be in NYC for the Marathon (Nov. 3 – 7th ish) and would love a meet-up with any of you lovely Ann Leary blog-o-philes who’d like to have coffee. In the Bronx, or wherever
Do you write short stories, Ann? Seems like that trip to Italy might have rich seeds for one. I was thinking about how you and Denis walking into a cathedral, you bursting into tears, Denis walking out to wait for you outside, might look to someone who didn’t know the reasons, the dynamics at play. What conclusions might be drawn? And how might that person – male, female? – try to “save” you.
I love stories that spin out from misunderstanding, misreading a situation. They have the energy to go to such comedic and dramatic places, especially when other cultures/languages and mores are involved.
It’s a gorgeous day here in Texas. Luke and I are heading out for a hike at the Arboretum. Hope y’all are just as weather-blessed, wherever you are ~
Denise, I do write an occasional short story and have one that will appear in the next issue of Ploughshares Magazine. Thanks for the prompt. Have been meaning to blog about that.
Congrats on the story in Ploughshares! I will very much look forward to that.
Hi Kiran! Welcome!
What a great bunch of stories …still smiling about the cherry tomatoes and penne. Ann – your trip sounded wonderful and romantic and relaxing. Can’t wait to read your short story. You have such a great tempo to your writing.
I remember really enjoying this Italian cookie – ricciarelli – god, when they pronounced that word, it sounded musical! Totally get what you say about their language. As a kid, I remember Sunday spaghetti dinners with Uncle Vic on the accordion singing Italian songs.
Wonderful pictures Ann. As weird as it sounds, seeing them brought back the distinctive smells of Florence and Positano. I don’t usually pay attention to the way things smell (good or bad). Maybe it’s the smell of the Arno and the Tyrrenhean(?) Sea. Watertown just doesn’t have those smells. In fact it doesn’t have any water, maybe that’s the prob.
Ann – I love that shirt you are wearing,, do tell, where did you buy it? All of the pictures were wonderful, thank you for posting your trip.
You look great
Denis is a lucky man
I’m w/ Denis – good for him – I wasn’t sure about his “catholicism”.
Ciao Ann! Bellissimo il tuo post! I read it with interest!
Maybe you have the Stendhal syndrome?
This happens to me too, but when I see our beautiful Creation, mountains, the nature… maybe because I’m used to see these kind of human buildings everywhere each day.
I would like to be a foreign for a while just to hear my language and to realize how Lyrical it is. Unfortunately I can’t.
Ann what an awesome trip for you two to take. Thanks for sharing such beautiful places with us over the past week or so. The whole spiritual thing between you and Denis is perfect. That’s why God gave him you and vice versa
Bon journo!! xxoo
Hi Ann,
Those pictures of Italy were breath taking. I understand exactly what you mean about bursting into tears at the sight of something beautiful. As a matter of fact before I came to your site I was crying away at a film of a Angel taking the body of a deceased child to heaven. Well that was it. The tears did not stop for quite a while. This was actually filmed from a camera and it was just bright beautiful lights and the outlines. I am sure it was not a hoax as it was so vibrant and amazing. Had to explain but so touching. Then half an hour later I was sent a short film from a Facebook friend from Argentina. The music and the gardens and the story behind it had me at it again. I think now I will rest my eyes for the remainder of the night.lol. We are sensitive women and I wouldn’t change it for the world. I am very happy you and Denis are so happy together. I have never found that yet and I am 53. Married once but maybe just maybe I will find it someday. I am so happy for your both.
God Bless Ann.
Sincerely,
Michele Carter
from London, Ontario.