Florence, Tuscany and Umbria

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This excerpt, from the Pleasures and Pastimes section, gives you a taste of what Florence, Tuscany, and Umbria have to offer and the sights and scenes that make them great places to visit.


The Art of Enjoying Art

Travel veterans will tell you that the endless series of masterpieces in Italy's churches, palaces, and museums can cause first-time visitors to lean, Pisa-like, on their companions for support.  The secret, of course, is to act like a turtle -- not a hare -- and take your sweet time. Instead of trotting after briskly efficient tour guides, allow the splendors of the age to unfold -- slowly. Get out and explore the actual settings -- medieval chapels, Rococo palaces, and Romanesque town squares -- for which these marvelous examples of Italy's art and sculpture were conceived centuries ago and where many of them may still be seen in situ.


Museums are only the most obvious places to view art; there are always the trompe l'oeil renderings of Assumptions that float across Baroque church ceilings and piazza scenes that might be Renaissance paintings brought to life. Instead of studying a Gothic statue in Florence's Bargello, spend an hour in the medieval cloisters of the nearby convent of San Marco; by all means, take in Michelangelo'a David and Slaves in Florence's Accademia, but then meander down the 15th-century street, a short bus ride away, where he was born. You'll find that after three days trotting through museums, a walk through a quiet neighborhood will act as a much-needed restorative of perspective.


Dolce Far Niente

The idea of vacation was probably invented by some hardworking Roman emperor and, ever since, the Italians have been fine-tuning what they call dolce far niente -- the sweet art of idleness. It takes more than trading in a silk tie for a T-shirt; you have to adjust to the deeper, subtler rhythms of leisure, Italian style. Hours spent over a Campari in a sun-splashed cafe[ac]; days spent soaking up the sun on the Amalfi Coast; an afternoon spent painting a watercolor on the shores of Lake Como.


Dining

In Italy, cookery is civilization. In the days of the Roman legions, pundits used to say,  "Ubi Roma ibi allium: where there are Romans, there is garlic). Ever since the days of the Caesars -- when emperors quickly learned the wisdom of "stomaco pieno, anima consolata" (Full stomach, satisfied soul) -- Italian chefs have taken one of life's sensory pleasures and made it into an art, and today you can feast on an incredible array of culinary delights.


Dining is a marvelous part of the total Italian experience, a chance to enjoy authentic specialties and ingredients. You have a choice of eating places, ranging from a ristorante (restaurant) to a trattoria, tavola calda  or rosticceria.  The line separating ristoranti from trattori have blurred of late, but a trattoria is usually a family-run place, simpler in decor, menu, and service than a ristorante, and slightly less expensive. Some rustic-looking spots call themselves osterie but are really restaurants. (A true osteria is a basic, down-to-earth tavern.) At a tavola calda or rosticceria, prepared food is sold to be consumed on the spot or taken out; you choose what you want at the counter, and pay at the cashier. An enoteca is a wine bar where you can order wine by the glass or bottle; most have tables, and many serve savory, light meals and nibbles. A caffe (coffee bar) serves those beloved coffee drinks replicated abroad, plus sandwiches, pastries, and other snacks. Tell the cashier what you want, p
ay for it, and then take the stub to the counter, where you restate your order, and then drink and eat standing at the counter. Remember that table service is extra, almost double; don't sit at a table unless you want to be served.  Buon appetito!


Shopping

"Made in Italy" has become synonymous with style, quality, and craftsmanship whether it refers to high fashion or Maserati automobiles. The best buys are leather goods of all kinds -- from gloves to bags to jackets -- silk goods, knitwear, gold jewelry, ceramics, and local handicrafts. The most important thing to keep in mind when shopping in Italy is that every region has its specialties: Florence is known for leather, straw goods, gold jewelry, antiques, and paper products; Assisi produces wonderful embroidery; and Deruta and Gubbio have for centuries been centers for ceramics.


Thermal Baths

Thanks to its location in the Mediterranean region -- one of the world's most active volcano belts -- Italy is rich in thermo-mineral springs. Consequently, the Italians have developed a special attitude about what we call spas since the ancient Romans advanced the idea of "mens sana in corpore sano" (a sound mind in a healthy body). Perhaps old-fashioned today, taking the waters remains a unique part of Italian culture; it is state-supported and medically supervised. Never mind Greco-Roman worship of the body in templelike baths, choices now range from antiaging cures to American-style aerobic workouts to fangotherapy (medicinal mud therapy). Today, more and more travelers are taking vacations from their vacations by visiting one of Italy's sybaritic spas.


But don't say spa (in Italian, s.p.a. denotes a business corporation). Forget the Roman origins: The term in Italy is terme (baths).  At these centers, drinking and bathing cures are based on naturally produced thermal mineral waters, with mornings devoted to sipping and strolling as well as occasional forays into espresso bars. Then come hot mud packs, muscle massage, anticellulite treatments, and sinus-targeted steam inhalations.


Cura means "treatment," not miracle(s). After the obligatory evaluation by a staff doctor, a regimen is designed which allows plenty of time for sightseeing, jogging, and post-lunch shopping. If staying at a terme in places like Abano and Montecatini, you can add outings to nearby Etruscan ruins, country inns, and wineries.


Vineyards surround hillside terme where Tuscan food and wine can restore your spirits just in case the waters don't. Diversions range from golf to horse races, but hiking the unspoiled countryside -- dotted with castles and Roman ruins -- is the best way to discover the region's riches.