Erica on the Air

I don't have guests on the air with me much anymore, since Ric's departure from the show several months ago, so this was a nice change. I enjoyed the interchange between us as we meandered through Erica's trip to Italy. The show was very easy to put together since I first asked her to give me about thirty of her favorite photos, enhancing them with several of my own. What the viewer sees is a very typical first-time vacation in my cherished land, part of which I helped her plan.

I thoroughly enjoyed working with Erica as she was the perfect person for whom to plan a trip to Italy, eagerly anticipating my suggestions, immediately doing whatever I asked her to do, implementing everything extremely well in a strange land, and then coming back from her excursion and providing me with tremendous feedback. I have planned dozens of trips for people over the years, and this was surely among the top five most enjoyable for me. Her promise of an appearance on the show was sufficient thank you enough to me, and yet she also gave me a beautiful gift of a book on my favorite artist, and topic of my next show, Domenico Ghirlandaio. I intend, of course, to immediately put the book to good use as I begin today to do my research. The added bit of enjoyment was having the pleasure of her husband Howie's company in the studio. He sat on one of the several chairs at the side of the studio, and I just loved his reactions to the show as it progressed.

The only regret I had was not having thought of providing her with suggestions on the Rome part of her trip. Thus, for example, she went into the Church of Santa Maria Sopra Minvera and failed to take a look at the Michelangelo sculpture of the Risen Christ and the tomb of one of her favorite painters of the 15th century, Fra Angelico. She also went to the Vatican Area, but did not go inside St Peter's to see another of his masterpieces, my favorite, La Pieta, Michelangelo's first and most amazing major work. I would have also suggested the archeological site at Largo Argentina, and several other Roman monuments. Nonetheless, while in Rome she did get to see the Forum from the periphery as I would have suggested (rather than going down into the actual Forum where you just do not get the scope of the stunning majesty), spent time in the Borghese Gardens, went to the Vatican Museums and even spent time in the Raphael Rooms, and took a side trip with her cousin renting a car to Pompeii, not a short trip south of Rome.

While in Florence she touched base with Luca and especially Lidia, and of course, was given the royal treatment by Franco Sala in Orvieto and Civita di Bagnoregio. All things considered, Erica did a stupendous job of planning her first trip to Italy touching on some stunning places. All that is in order now would be a follow-up visit to Venice, the Dolomites, Lake Como, perhaps Cinque Terre, and a closer look at Central Italy, especially Tuscany. I did tell her that if she directed some of the inspiration she obviously experienced by the majesty of Italy into some paintings related to her vacation, I would be happy to give her another chance on a future show. Erica is a very talented artist, appearing in many shows (one with Laura Gurton), and if my followers would like to experience more of her art, please feel free to take a look at www.EricaHartArt.com.

And now for me, it is on to my next show on Ghirlandaio.

A Life's Dream Fulfilled

Some of my favorite shows have been ones in which friends of mine have spoken about their excursions in Italy. This has been broadcast on Alan's Italy either by having the people on the show such as for Franc Palaia and Ric Hirst, or through videotaped interviews such as the episodes labeled Italy in their Own Words. We will continue that theme on Friday evening, June 27 when my friend Erica Hart through photos and recollections talks about her recent trip to Italy, as she describes it to me, her life's dream fulfilled.

Several months ago Erica called me for advice. She had the opportunity to stay with a cousin in Rome and wanted to know what else she could do to enhance her experience. I suggested that she take the train to Florence, but along the way stop off for a one-night stay in Orvieto to see this town, meet my friend Franco Sala and perhaps even drive to Civita di Bagnorego with him. Franco, as I have indicated, owns a restaurant in Civita and might be able to drive her there with him for her to have lunch, walk around, and then return to Orvieto with him later. These plans were arranged by me with the gracious assistance from Franco himself. Erica then would continue on to Florence where she would stay at Hotel Croce di Malta and meet my friends Lidia and Luca.

Everything came off just as it had been planned by me and Erica and her experiences will be the theme of Alan's Italy Show # 94: A Life's Dream Fulfilled: Erica's Trip to Italy. Erica is an artist and having taken wonderful photos will focus on her most enjoyable and memorable experiences. This is the first show of its kind for me with the Italy in their Own Words theme carried to the perfect degree with the person actually appearing on a live broadcast. The previous shows centered on people talking about their trips to Italy either in my living room or in theirs. I look forward to this, and will shelve my opportunity to talk about my favorite artist, Domenico Ghirlandaio for show # 95 two weeks later.

Back in the Saddle

Show # 93: My 25 Favorite Photos was designed several weeks ago when I was running out of ideas. I threw together 25 of my favorite photos and decided to just talk about them in terms of when they were taken and why with a brief summary of my personal feelings about them. The photos Laura and I have taken over the years are very precious to us and have a lot of meaning. I thought that would be a good show. It was intended to be just a filler, but gradually I warmed to the idea of doing shows like this every so often, since the photos are the basis for Alan's Italy and in a wider sense the record of our amazing trips to Italy. This will be the first of many.

I enjoyed the presentation very much, but I have been very jet-lagged, sleepy a lot, waking up at 4 or 5 AM every morning, headachy, lethargic, and until yesterday very constipated, all the signs of jet lag which seem to be getting worse each year. By the mid-way point in the show, I could barely stay awake. Doing a show is hard work, and a person needs to be wide awake. I almost went to the YMCA this morning, and if I had, I would have been too tired to do the show. The very essence of the excitement of talking about my favorite places in Italy kept me going. Ellen did brilliant work on her end.

I have become rejuvenated with a lot of new ideas exclusive of the ones we gathered from our most recent trip. I will be doing a show about my favorite Renaissance artist, Domenico Ghirlandaio with a lot of material I took off the internet. I will focus on his works in the three churches in Florence, Santa Maria Novella, Santa Trinita, and Ognissanti, and touch upon a piece he has in San Marco. I have the images ready to go and now must do the research to get a handle on the history, iconography, and background. Then I will do a show on train travel in Italy focusing on the Train Station in Florence, Santa Maria Novella, SMN. I was at the station this past trip checking something out for our ride the next day when it came to me to use my IPhone to photograph every nook and cranny of the station. The show after Ghirlandaio will focus on that concept. I also have a show developed on Shopping in Florence and the Streets of Rome, and together with Professor Eve d'Ambra's appearance on the show in late July, I am quite set for a while. This is good because Laura's computer just crashed, and she bought a new MacBook Pro with immense memory and storage. Therefore her editing process of the photos just taken will be delayed by several weeks leaving me on my own. But have no fear, because I can continue now for quite a while alone with what I have and some ideas that keep coming to me. Now that my college teaching is over for 3 months, and my book fully written and almost ready to be published, I can devote my energies to my TV show exclusively.

Absolutely Amazing!!!

We have returned from our latest adventure in Italy. It never ceases to amaze me how different each experience is. This time it was a blend of stunning views, delicious food, obscure and charming towns, and the warm embrace of friends. Towns so remote and unassuming such as Seravalle, Montecarlo, and Sassi tucked away in the hills of Tuscany were introduced to us by our dear friend, Lidia. She graciously permitted us to stay with her at her lovely home for four nights, cooking sumptuous meals and treating us as family. We experienced equally gorgeous, but much less obscure villages in Cinque Terre and environs such as Monterosso, Corniglia, and Portovenere. We discovered why everyone loves the Hotel Villa Steno in Monterosso, as it is situated amid beautiful views, and hosted graciously by the owners Carla and Matteo. Florence exuded its usual warmth as our friends from the region and somewhat beyond gathered to dine with us. Franco Sala, owner of Trattoria Antica Forno in the extraordinary hill town of Civita di Bagnoregio, met us at our favorite restaurant in town, La Spada, driving for hours from his home in Orvieto. Our friends Luca and Mary treated us to a delightful evening at their home in Figline Valdarno, with Mary cooking one of her masterpiece dinners. When we arrived in Lake Como, staying at our favorite town of Varenna, we relaxed amid the most beautiful scenery, excellent dining, and delightful breezes, staying at the wonderful Hotel du Lac. We became closer friends with Simone and Silvia who own the glorious Bar il Molo right on the waterfront.

All of these themes will be explored in depth during the coming year on Alan's Italy beginning probably during the summer after we have had the chance to sort it all out. In the meantime I have several shows nearing completion for your viewing pleasure on Youtube, which will be broadcast live on Woodstock Public Access.