Stirrings and a New Direction

My small hiatus of 5 weeks from broadcasting have produced movement from my inertia to begin to think about a different approach to getting the show on the air and on Youtube. I have contacted PandaTV which services Tivoli, Red Hook, Rhinebeck, and Rhinecliff on the other side of the Hudson perhaps 35 minutes from Woodstock. The director of the Panda TV public access, a big supporter of mine, has consented to help me get my computer hooked up to their system for some live broadcasting while we wait for eternity or the new broadcasting facilities to be up and running in Woodstock, whichever comes first. My appt with a system geek is set for Wed, Jan 7 at 11:30 AM. We shall see. I have about 8 shows on the drawing board and it would take a bit of work to get them organized for broadcast. Yet I miss the whole thing and look forward to moving ahead making things happen instead of waiting for the water to wash over me as I lay lazily on the beach. (my feeble attempt at metaphor!).

I will keep you posted.

Update on Alan's Italy

No end in sight for any new broadcasts. I was told that the equipment from the studio has been moved into the new location for the year which is basically a trailer. Ellen just left me a message that I shouldn't expect to go on the air either this or next week. As far as I know there is no end in sight. I could broadcast from Panda TV in Tivoli, but since I am still working at the college for another week, I can wait. The repeat system used by the town of Woodstock for their off-hours shows might be up and running much sooner than any live broadcasts, but that doesn't help anyone who watches my show regularly on Youtube. Those people will just have to surf through the 103 previous episodes.

My own feelings about this situation is a combination of resignation to something I cannot help, plus a feeling that perhaps I needed a respite. It's been almost four weeks since the last live broadcast, and I really haven't missed it much, partly because I have been very busy, and partly because I may be tired of it. I need to be told that there is a target date for a new show, and to then do my usual routine of getting ready and doing a performance. That may give me a greater feeling of connection to the show than just sitting here not knowing what is going to happen.

Meanwhile, I have shied away from thinking much about our plans for our Italian adventure for next May/June, because with Laura's recent accident, we have to see how she is doing. I assume we are going since it is a bit far in the distance. I certainly will not have trouble now extending the shows until next May since this hiatus gives me more flexibility. I may even combine some of the almost planned Tuscany shows from my last trip. Many of these shows were intended to be stand alone shows on some of the small towns, but since I will not need to create so many shows since it is already December, I may just combine a couple. The experience only lasted a couple of hours of actually visiting the towns.

Will keep you informed.

Hotel Villa Steno, Monterosso al Mare, and Racing the Clock

I think I may have just made it to do this show before we close the studio for an indefinite amount of time. We have been notified that the process of moving the equipment from the studio into a smaller trailer would begin shortly. There would be at least a one month hiatus to do another broadcast, and then perhaps a year when we would be able to get back into the studio. Assuming that is true, I will not be missing anything more than perhaps one broadcast. However, when it comes to contractors, schedules, deadlines, and promises, I have become very jaded, so it was with great relief that we finally got this show completed, although there was the some difficulty that occurred during the early part of the show.

People always ask me how it is possible to perform a show on Italy for so many broadcasts. I respond by saying that I simply relate the story as it happened while we were at a particular place, whether it were an attraction, hotel, restaurant, or whether I was taking a car, train, or ferry. Accompanied by videos and photos, the process happens almost by itself. Nothing was more true than our stay at the Hotel Villa Steno in the Cinque Terre town of Monterosso al Mare. For the hotel, I went through the entire process of choosing a place to stay using a variety of criteria such as location, convenience, quality of room, and responsive characteristics of the people at the hotel during the e mail phase of the selection. To me the place we decide to stay is more important than anything else. Being 4,000 miles from home, we want to be in a hotel which offers a down-home experience with as much charm and beauty as possible. Price is considered, but within certain parameters, I do not spare our budget while traveling. I wanted also a nice view, and of course, a town or city that held great promise for the length of our stay.

The Hotel Villa Steno was not only the highlight of our three day visit to Monterosso, but perhaps the best part of our two week vacation, excluding the time we spent with our three closest friends, Luca, Lidia, and Franco and their families which is always pure joy. In fact, as I indicate in the show, it had been our dream since 2009 when we were in Monterosso for the first time, to stay in a hotel on or near the beach. However, reading about the Hotel Villa Steno on Trip Advisor as reviewed by the actual guests who have stayed there made me want to see what this excitement was all about. When a hotel is rated number 1 out of 20 hotels, then it is indeed special. Not only were we not disappointed, but the hotel surpassed our expectations by virtue of the kindness and graciousness of our hosts, owners Matteo and Carla Pasini. Alan's Italy Show # 103 focused on our experiences at the Hotel Villa Steno and also our visit to the Old Town of Monterosso al Mare. The intention is to concentrate on the New Town on the next show, # 104.

The interview had been set up by Matteo and me through e mails. I knew that would be the central point of this show. Taken together with video of our room, and photos of everything else in the hotel, and the Old Town of Monterosso, this would constitute an entire show. The charming, informative, and intelligent demeanor of Matteo, to me, was the highlight of the presentation. Surrounded by the overall experience of staying in a superlative hotel with extraordinary features made for one of the best shows of my series which began three years ago. The views from our balcony, of course, were amazing, the same views basically that one gets from their breakfast terrace. The surrounding area was extremely evocative, a perfect Italian town.

I told Matteo beforehand that I would have to speak on the air about the two negative aspects of the hotel and Monterosso. As might have been expected, he understood. The trip to this marvelous town by car was difficult, but could have easily been overcome by traveling there by train, as I explained on the show. And the fact that the hotel was at a very high point in the town (providing stunning views) would necessitate climbing a lot of steps. That problem also was solved by taking a taxi to the front door; however, if one has the mobility to climb, gorgeous gardens awaited the journey to the top. Laura and I plan to return, possibly in two years, and will certainly not let these two problems get in our way.

Anyway, the result of this show was a marvelous portrait of a charming and gracious family and their equally wonderful hotel placed amid the extraordinary town of Monterosso al Mare. It is my hope that Alan's Italy Show # 103 was appropriate in conveying our profound appreciation for one of the best three days stay at a location in Italy during our past thirteen years of Italian travel.

Show # 103 - Monterosso al Mare, Part 1: Old Town Postponed Until Next Week

I spent a lot of time working through this very important show for tonight's broadcast. Laura and I even spent about an hour this morning honing and rearranging and adding additional photos. I was ready, but unfortunately as sometimes happens, Ellen just could not get the studio's computer to work effectively. She told me that she could have put it through on an alternative system, but I insisted on the perfection to which we have become accustomed recently. My now friend, Matteo Pasini, in Monterosso whose ten minute interview was to be the highlight of the show and the basis for the first half of the broadcast which was to have focussed on the amazing time we had at his very special hotel, was my prime reason for my intense disappointment. Otherwise, next week this week, who really cares that much, but I just do not like to disappoint people who deserve better. I just sent him an email indicating the postponement, and felt terrible doing that. I am not sure he understands that when trying to produce a show on public access TV, things can get pretty strange. This is what we have generally come to expect over the years, but not for a while have we had such a malfunction. We will try again next Friday, November 14.

One more thing. The people whom I have the opportunity to interview in Italy think of Alan's Italy as a professional operation, even though I try to explain to them the concept of public access television. I even go so far as to say something like, "ya know we are not CNN or NBC. We are a local TV station and of yes, the videos of the shows do go on Youtube." The expectations they have bring me up to the point where I also start developing an expectation beyond what they should be, setting standards for myself and Ellen as well that are probably too demanding. Early on my expectations were much less than they have morphed into over these three years. It takes something like what happened this evening to remind me of the crude manner with which we have been working under since 2011. A large dose of reality is what I came home with this evening.

Mostly Unrelated to Italian Travel (But not totally)

I just bought a lottery ticket whose payout would be 321,000,000 before taxes. I said to myself that if God exists surely he would know (because he would certainly read minds) that I intend to give a lot of that to charity. Since I have played the lottery many times, I came to the conclusion that in all probability God doesn't exist.

This reminded me of a story I heard on the West Wing TV series (for which I recently started to blog). A guy is living in a house in a town where there is going to be devastating flood. He hears on the radio: "Get out of town fast. there is a flood coming." He says, "Nah, I don't have to worry. God will protect me." The town floods, and he climbs to the roof of his house. A rowboat passes by with some rescue workers inside, one of whom screams at the guy, "Get in this row boat or you will die in the flood!" "Nah," screams our guy, "God will protect me." Then a helicopter passes by and screams down at him with the water almost on top of him, "Hey, we will lower a ladder. Climb up the ladder to our helicopter." "No," again our guy screams, "I have faith that God will protect me!!!"

Well the guy drowns and when he gets to Heaven, he asks to see God. "God," he whispers softly, "I have always been a loyal believer. I was certain you would have protected me from the horrible flood waters. What happened?" God replies: "I sent you a radio broadcast, a rowboat, and a helicopter. What the Hell are you doing here?"

Well I have been blessed with good health, a wonderful family (many of them anyway), great friends (some), a great career, love for Italy, and many other wonderful things. So what is my problem believing in God?

Putting together Alan's Italy Episode # 103 this weekend. Cannot wait. It is featuring one of the great gifts I have received from............ Matteo Pasini, the owner of Hotel Villa Steno in Monterosso al Mare granted me an interview when we were there last May. I will also begin talking about oner of the most beautiful towns in Italy, starting with Old Town and continuing the next show with New Town.

An Unexpected Boat Ride Becomes a Show

Being the type of person who likes to plan ahead, once we embarked upon the boat trip to Portovenere from where we were staying in Monterosso al Mare last May, I was delighted to find that we could most likely develop this into a broadcast. My intent, as I indicated on last evening's show, was to take the train to Levanto which would have been perhaps a twenty minute trip by train. This would doubtless have been a show anyway, but when the train strike derailed (pardon the pun) that attempt, I realized that we had something even better. Most people get to see the amazing villages that make up Cinque Terre from the land, mainly because the boats do not run for most of the year. However, in nice weather, we lucked out and had a fabulous view of the Ligurian Coast, completely unexpected. Also at the end of the ride was our main destination, Portovenere, also a future show. But how can we simply show the coast for a entire broadcast? I decided that we needed another show about Cinque Terre. After all the last one had been over 2 1/2 years ago, # 10, and this would be more complete with the view from the sea, and adding the previously unvisited town of Corniglia which we skipped the last time we were there back in 2009. Actually I was going to develop the photos of Corniglia into a separate show, but then thought better of it and decided to weave those pictures in a larger show about the entire region. Thus what was presented was a really wonderful travel summary of one of the great areas in Italy, Cinque Terre, which in English means Five Lands. So I combined land and sea photos, threw in a couple of fun videos from the boat, gave a more detailed description of where this area was in relation to the entire country, and created a really fine broadcast, and very helpful to anyone about to visit the region, complete with advice on how to travel to this remote location and once there how to get around.

The main problem I encountered was what to do about the two shows I have planned which will focus strictly on the town in which we stayed in May 2014, Monterosso al Mare, one of the five villages. In those shows I am using videos as a main basis for the broadcast, but also had a lot of newer photos of this wonderful place to stay. I decided that I would give a brief glimpse of that town, much shorter than the views I gave of the other four, especially Corniglia, and then do the more detailed analysis of Monterosso later. This we get to see the New Town and Old Town only for a short time. I will talk more about how I developed that concept in the blogs which focus on shows # 103 and # 104. In that creation I will do one show on the Old Town and one on the New Town, mainly because the two videos are so wonderful as I interview two really amazing people, the owner of the hotel in which we stayed Hotel Villa Steno, Matteo Pasini and the owner of the bar, Colpi di Timone, along the beach where we met that owner, Giancarlo Basso. As luck would have it the hotel is located in the Old Town and the bar in the New Town, thus perfectly placed for those two shows.

Meanwhile when I pulled up to the studio, there was a huge trailer that was parked right where we usually put our cars while we are inside the studio. I knew this meant that the studio renovation was nearing its commencement. So first all the studio equipment will be squeezed into the new location, then they will start the renovation. Ellen indicates that we will not be able to broadcast for a while as the inside of the trailer becomes the new, albeit temporary home of Woodstock Public Access Television. I told her a smaller studio does not bother me at all, since after all, what do I need, just a table, a camera, and some controls. Who cares how much space there is. The problem will be that the tech people will have to get the work done to move everything over. So there could be a hiatus when there is no Alan's Italy and no subsequent blog that usually accompanies that. I am a prisoner of whatever is going to occur!!!! I will keep you posted.

A New Blog

If you like the Alan's Italy Blog and my writing and the former TV show the West Wing, then please check out my new blog, Alan's West Wing Reflections at alanswestwing.blogspot.com.

Reasons for Cancellation

My apologies to my many readers of this blog for canceling Alan's Italy this week, and therefore forestalling the writing of the blog regarding the show. My engineer, Ellen, and I have come down with fierce colds that prevented us from going forward. I probably could have performed last evening, just as I actually went to work in the city the day before (a horrible experience under the circumstances), however, it may have been madness, so, what the heck, we just postponed a week. Therefore, those of you who either enjoy reading the blog or watching the show will have to wait until Friday, October 24 for Alan's Italy Show # 102, Cinque Terre Revisited. In fact I couldn't even do my usual last minute modifications in the presentation, because I was literally in bed yesterday all day. After setting up the album I was to use for the broadcast, I decided to add some things and change the presentation, which I couldn't do. Now I will have the time to work on honing the final product which could make for a better show overall. I hope you tune in.

Finally a Show About Bellagio

After two weeks of stewing in my juices about the major mistake I made on show # 100, I finally got a chance to correct the error. As you may remember, I indicated that the "eastern fork of Lake Como" was really the Western Fork. I was happy that is out of the way.

Meanwhile, I focused on Bellagio after three straight shows related to Varenna. I realized that I had hundreds of photos of Bellagio, but never really spent much air time showing too many and discussing my many visits. I actually had decided to break the idea into two parts, a show about Bellagio and then another just about the Villa Melzi which we just recently visited back in June. When Laura saw the breakdown, she indicated that I needed to combine the two. I also then came to the conclusion that I could not have sustained two 50 minutes shows, added the Villa Melzi photos to the Bellagio show which made more sense anyway, and off I went.

The show was perfectly engineered by Ellen, and after seeing the show myself realized that it was almost perfect on my end as well except for indicating that the sculpture at the Villa Melzi was neoclassical when in reality it could have been originals from ancient times. I should have looked that up.  A small error, but otherwise a nice smooth broadcast. I am now for the most part finished with Lake Como, four shows in total.

I now turn to Cinque Terre for what may turn out to be probably four shows, the coastal boat ride which will give me a chance to review the entire Cinque Terre experience, which I had produced early in 2012 as one of the first shows, two shows on Monterosso al Mare, and another on the stunning town of Portovenere which is just south of Cinque Terre. I have a lot of photos of the only town we did not visit in 2009 Corniglia, but not yet sure if that will be a separate show or rolled into the Cinque Terre Boat Ride Show.

An Evening to Remember

As I said on the broadcast last night, I never imagined that I would have gotten this far. When the idea to do a show was first broached to me during the early spring 2011, I not only scoffed at the idea presented to me by my friend, but had forgotten according to him that the idea was actually given to me a year earlier and rejected outright as folly. Getting the project under way was unbelievably difficult. Nobody could figure out how to hook up the new MacBook Pro computer I especially bought for the show. I truly must have given up at least a dozen times, even given away the computer because I just not figure out how to use it. Then I had a kidney stone attack, subsequent surgery, and an emotional breakdown. For months I basically gave up the project. I must have always thought that I might return, as evidenced by the fact that during that hiatus I actually had peppered two albums which were intended to become the basis for the first and second shows, Venice and Florence. Then on a crisp November morning, I called my future engineer and great friend Ellen and asked her if we could try this out in the studio. Another month passed by while we tried to find the way to broadcast, until finally on December 9, 2011 (my daughter's birthday) we did a show to DVD which would have been placed on the "carousel," the system that creates weekly programing from DVD's created during live shows. After the show was taped, I suddenly blurted out to Ellen, "I can do this live!" In reality I was terrified to go on live TV, but the next week on Friday evening, 5 PM, December 16, 2011, I did my first live broadcast. That decision basically changed my life and you can plainly see on the anniversary edition for the 100th show.

I only began using Youtube to store the shows in a place that my friends could see it since most of them lived away from the Woodstock viewing area. I never imagined that there would be 100 shows, that 17,000 views would have occurred by the 2 1/2 yr point, or that Youtube would even allow so many one hour videos on their site. I liked the idea of the blog, because the whole process of conceiving a show, creating the images and story to go with it, along with the actual mechanics we perform in the studio was so emotionally wrought with anxiety, trepidation, and excitement (all of which comprise the story of my life) that I needed that outlet for closure. Everything fell into place so beautifully for me that here I am with, in my and a other people's mind, an amazing and incredible creation. I say this with the utmost modesty, however. I am not a producer, broadcaster, or performer. I am a teacher of mathematics with a passion for Italian travel enhanced to a great extent by my relationships with my friends in Italy. But other than my work at the college, this project has come to define who I am. I rarely have a conversation with anyone, be it at a party, dinner, or any tete a tete without the topic of Alan's Italy coming up. It is absolutely amazing.

I hate anniversaries, birthdays, and most occasions. I like life just kind of rambling along without fanfare. As the one hundredth show loomed, I dreaded having to create something "special." I thought about a lot of possibilities like some old videos I never showed to the audience, some kind of slide show which included my favorite photos (which I actually did for the two year anniversary edition), a boat ride along Cinque Terre (which will be a future show), etc. This idea of the evening we spent with Simone and Silvia seemed appropriate. I then rescheduled a lot of stuff I had planned. I put Lake Como first among the places we visited during the last trip and sent Cinque Terre into the future, and began planning for a Varenna show (number 98) to kind of introduce Lake Como, then the Bar il Molo show (number 99) to set up the 100th. Then I had to build a show around what would never have carried a full 50 minute broadcast so I added four other highlights of my trips throwing in our adventure in Pisa in 2012, the Orvieto experiences (2012 mostly), the La Spada cooking demo and interview with the owner, Simone. Then I had a big decision to make. If I chose the boat ride and dinner with Simone and Silvia, I would be diminishing the importance of the 2013 Venice Biennale experience, which was actually and probably the best time I ever had in Italy. Both from Laura's amazing achievement perspective and from my own participation having interviewed all those wonderful artists, it kind of hurt to push that into 2nd place when clearly it should have been number one. Yet I felt that I had already produced a lot of material on the Biennale and Venice from 2013, and had yet to talk about the really, really wonderful evening on Lake Como. Then, of course, I could not do a special show without talking about my wonderful and devoted friends we visit in Italy. Voila! That is how I conceived this show.

Yet, being who I am and have tried to explain (even on last night's show), I cannot, absolutely and completely incapably, do a show without screwing something up. In this case at least two things that most (all?) people would never pick up. At this point if you haven't seen the show, go watch it and come back and see if that is what you saw. I should probably not even say this since only a few people people might know this. Being who I am, i.e. honest, here goes. First, and only Laura would know this, I identified the photos of the interior of the restaurant, Terlindana in Sala Comacina as my creation when they were actually taken by Laura. Sorry, I did go into the restaurant, but only to use the bathroom. Second and most troubling, I identified the boat ride and dinner as having occurred on the "eastern shore of the eastern fork of Lake Como." I said that at least six times. Totally wrong, Alan. What a doof. It is the western shore of the western fork of Lake Como!!!!!!! Damn!!! I know that, but the little bird on my shoulder who always seems to give me the wrong thing to do and say took the lead here and I screwed what could have been a perfect show. However, let's face it; I can never have a perfect show. Thus and finally, I hope, ALAN'S Italy with all the warts, mistakes, flubs and fluffs will continue to amaze me and I hope entertain all of you and others who may happen upon it. To you my reading and viewing audience, I say, however. Thank YOU!!!!!!

Divine Life on Lake Como

Broadcast # 99 focused on my interview with Simone Deghi at a lovely table overlooking Lake Como. Simone is a wonderful, energetic, and enterprising young man whose ambition for his enterprises appears to be endless. His charming responses were very heart-felt and sincere, but sometimes it is difficult to hear him. This was entirely my fault as, although I knew to project my voice and having been a teacher for 43 years and a broadcaster and lecturer for 2 1/2, it comes naturally by now, Simone could have used a microphone. The noises of the boats on the lake, and around the restaurant prevented him from sometimes being heard that well. Nonetheless, if you listen carefully, his warmth and sincerity come through very well. His restaurant is wonderful, and keeps getting better all the time. Bar il Molo is a delightful place to dine and enjoy the amazing scenery on the lake. The tour of his various facilities worked better as his voice was easier to hear. I think the fabulous time we have any time we dine here comes through very well. My next project for myself is to get a clip on mic for interviews.

The follow-up to this show was supposed to have been perhaps a visit by Simone and his publicist to the US to do a show live talking about his newest project, a gallery with five parts each representing a craft unique to the lake and Varenna. Unfortunately we cannot continue with that project due to an intense and comprehensive renovation of the Woodstock Public Access Studio which will commence within the month. Not only can we not plan special projects such as his visit, but even my regular bi-weekly show may be in jeopardy. Certainly I am told to be flexible for the next several months, as I may nor not be able to broadcast for a while, and even then in the modified location of a trailer which will be parked just outside the existing space. The new studio will be larger and better, I have been told. The trials and tribulations of public access television.

Meanwhile I am still planning the special anniversary show # 100 which will have several segments. First Laura promises that she will create a new series of photos for the introductory montage. The songs will remain, however. Second I will talk about the best part of my Italian adventure, my dear friends who have graced my life with their love and devotion starting with Lidia and Luca, and continuing with Franco. I also speak a bit about Susan Chalkley. Then I show a graphic which shows a list of my five favorite experiences in Italy since I began Alan's Italy in 2011, showing some photos and talking about why that experience was so meaningful to me. The culmination will be our most recent adventure, that special boat ride and dinner with Simone and his partner, Silvia, at Sala Comacina, a place reached only by water taxi on the western shore of the western fork of Lake Como. Much better know than Sala Comacina is the tiny island, Isola Comacina which is recommended by Rick Steves as a daytime side- trip from anywhere on the lake. Then we will move ahead as best we can with the next hundred episodes.

Lake Como Highlighted

For the first show about our recent trip I chose to return to Lake Como, actually our last stop on this tour. Normally I would begin with our first destination and work my way through each broadcast chronologically. Because there is a chance that the owner of the Bar il Molo in Varenna, Simone Deghi, might come to the United States and appear live on the Alan's Italy, I rearranged things to make certain that when he actually arrived that the series of shows on Lake Como in general and Varenna in particular had already been broadcast. If he doesn't make the trip, it would't matter, because this current series of shows is spectacular anyway.

So I started the series using my favorite destination in Italy Varenna. Even though there are no museums and churches, it is the scene of some of my most relaxing and enjoyable times in Italy, truly a place to slow down and enjoy the stunning beauty of Italy. I went back and did some background on Lake Como and my five trips there beginning in 2007 when I first met Simone. I then showed the variety of charming and gorgeous side streets and lanes that make Varenna so remarkable. I also focused on the Hotel Villa Cipressi where we used to stay and the current favorite, Hotel du Lac, where possibly we will stay from now on. The spectacular location with the lake in the background and the amazing patio where we spent a lot of time kicking back with prosecci and lemoncelli made for a sublime and relaxing experience, truly unforgettable. I also spent a lot of time talking about how wonderful Bar il Molo was, and also our formal favorite, Vecchia Varenna, also lakeside for stunning sunsets (for which I chose about a dozen of my favorites photos taken during our five previous trips).

I ended the show with a brief preview of the next two shows. The first will feature why Bar il Molo is our favorite informal venue on the lake highlighted by a series of interviews totaling thirty minutes with Simone, owner of the bar (really a restaurant, pizzeria, and gelateria). He shows us around his various enterprises including his B and B and new art gallery. The second show in that series will mark the 100th broadcast and will focus on my five favorite times in Italy since we started Alan's Italy in December 2011 ending with the penultimate moment, the sunset motor boat ride hosted by Simone and his partner, Silvia, to a wonderful restaurant where we dined away the evening. That spectacular boat ride and dinner will be the main focus of that special anniversary show.

Professor D'Ambra Returns to the Show

Ever since Professor Eve D'Ambra agreed to come back to the show to make a presentation on Pompeii I have been very excited. I knew that this would be just like taking a course, but even better because I would be able to guide the presentation and ask questions along the way. It was very easy to set up this show. Eve sent photos, I set up the album, and with very little preparation on my part, we nonetheless put together an excellent broadcast. Her husband, Franc Palaia, who has made perhaps a half dozen or more shows in his own right was present as well. With Ellen also, of course, in the studio, it was nice and lively, and very exciting. Our only concern was that there would be too much material to cover in the one hour and sure enough as I kept glancing at the clock on the wall, I began to realize Eve would never be able to complete a discussion on each of the photos. Franc and I agreed that the best kind of show is one in which there are no limits either way and that I would just go for as long as I wanted whether it would be 90 minutes or even shorter with 40 mins or whatever. It's really very hard to judge how long a broadcast will be. Eve did not cover all the photos, but even leaving out about 2 or 3, it was still a wonderful summary of the greatness of this extraordinary archeological site.

Pompeii itself is an amazing place to study and visit. A lot of it has been rebuilt, but the basic framework of the 2000 year old city remains quite intact after all these years. Professor D'Ambra's expertise clarified so many of the important aspects of the town. It is important to have a guide with her knowledge to explain what everything means. After all not only are we viewing a great city from Ancient times, but we are learning how people lived two centuries ago. To me it always appeared that the Ancient Romans had an amazingly advanced culture complete with beautiful pubic baths, stunning open spaces, and magnificent homes of many wealthy people, two of whom were women, Eumachia and Julia Felix indicating that despite the patriarchal society women did have some major power.

I have been to Pompeii twice, and despite that fact a new story unfolded. My initial question to her was to compare the degree of preservation (and reasons for that) of Ostia Antica (near Rome) and Pompeii. The former was the Ancient Roman seaport abandoned because of the disease that prevailed at that time which prevented any kind of habitation. Thus the town survived almost as intact as Pompeii which, of course, survived because it was buried by volcanic ash. Both towns are fascinating to learn how people lived two thousand years ago. However, the advantage of having a professor explain is an amazing privilege that I once again thank Eve D'Ambra very much.

We now begin to broadcast the places which Laura and I visited this past May and June beginning with Lake Como. In that regard we begin with Varenna, our favorite town on the lake. We continue with a focus on Bar il Molo, our favorite cafe/restaurant on the lake, so for spectacular scenes, tune in.

Future Shows

My loyal viewers and readers deserve a lot of credit for keeping me going. I would like to thank all of you for your support. Although I only sometimes receive e-mails from my fans, I can see how many people read the blogs and watch the shows. I am very gratified, and it provides the added motivation I need to sustain the project.

As you all know my wife, Laura and I returned from Italy this past June with over two thousand photos, most of which are stunning! It has been our pleasure subsequently to fashion them into future broadcasts. How is this accomplished you might ask? Laura begins the process by editing all of the photos and placing them on a hard drive for me to transfer to my computer. This took a couple of weeks. Then my first step is to create large albums (perhaps 600 or more photos) of the four places we visited, so that I started with albums representing Cinque Terre, Western Tuscany, Florence, and Lake Como. The second step is to go through every photo once just to become acquainted once again with the places we visited thinking ahead to future broadcasts. The third step is to create smaller albums representing the intended shows I wish to create. The fourth step is to hone those albums into what will eventually become a future broadcast. The fifth and final step, which will not occur until a week or two before a scheduled broadcast is to hone once again to create the actual show. While I am performing this final step, in all probability I am doing research for some of the places with which I am not well acquainted. At this time I begin to take notes which I will use on the actual show. It is then possible for me to tweak further a few times during the final hours, just to make certain everything is the way I want it to be. When I am confident, comfortable, and somewhat relaxed (not totally as you well know), then I set everything aside and hope for the best!

The past week I worked towards step four, and although not quite ready, I have arrived at a tentative schedule for the next year. I say tentative because I can never be sure who may want to be a guest on the show or what sudden idea I may have. For example, when I found out that Professor Eve D'Ambra was willing to do a show on Pompeii, which as you know is scheduled for August 8, I set aside everything to accommodate her. Nonetheless, it behooves me to now list the upcoming shows until and through most of the spring.

Show # 97: Pompeii with Professor Eve D'Ambra (Friday, August 8)
# 98: Varenna on Lake Como
# 99:  Divine Life on Lake Como: Bar il Molo
#100: Special 100 Anniversary Special: A Evening to Remember - Dinner with Simone and Silvia at Sala Comacina
# 101: Villa Melzi on Lake Como

I chose the Lake Como material first deviating from my usual chronological approach to our trips, since it is possible Simone may come to the United States to be on a show live and I wanted to set the stage for that event.

# 102: Return to Cinque Terre: Boating Along the Coast
# 103: Monterosso al Mare, Part 1 - The Old Town
# 104: Monterosso al Mare, Part 2 - The New Town
# 105: Boat Trip and Afternoon at The Beautiful Town of Portovenere
# 106: Return to Western Tuscany: Lucca
# 107: Return to the Alpi Apuane, Part 1: Castelnuovo di Garfagnana
# 108: Return to the Alpi Apuane, Part 2: The Castelnuovo Fortezza and Eglio-Sassi
# 109: Tuscany with Lidia Part 1: Montecarlo
# 110: Tuscany with Lidia Part 2: Serravalle
# 111: Tuscany with Lidia Part 3: San Miniato
# 112: Tuscany with Lidia Part 4: The Town of Vinci and a Look at It's Native Son
# 113: The Streets of Rome
# 114: Selected Renaissance Art at the Metropolitan Museum in NYC
# 115: My Favorite Sculpture Museum in Florence: The Bargello
# 116: Shopping in Florence

At two shows a month, this should bring us into the month of May, ready for the next trip which is too tentative to discuss now.

I hope you enjoy the coming year complete with my best attempt at quality shows and very readable blogs about my experiences broadcasting Alan's Italy. I have now exceeded 15,400 views on Youtube, and 6,100 reads of this blog. I have planned about a half dozen trips for people, and have advised countless others on smaller segments. Although I have cut back on my lectures, library forums, and courses on Italy, as you know, I am now also heavily involved in my life's career of college teaching in mathematics which begins again, I hope, soon.

Thanks for everything!!

Warmest wishes,

Alan

Understanding Train Travel in Italy

After an extraordinary day on Thursday during which time I reconnected with long lost cousins who I hadn't seen in perhaps 30 years, I eagerly looked forward to doing a show I always wanted to do. As I explained on the broadcast, I hate driving in Italy, but once I am securely ensconced in my seat on the train, really relax in the warm embrace of a smooth ride to wherever. My goal was to spend perhaps fifteen minutes talking about some of my favorite experiences, good and bad, of train travel in Italy during the past 22 years. There have been scores of train rides from and to practically everywhere, exposing me to numerous experiences. The goal of that segment was to rather selfishly relive some of the happiest moments of my Italian travel experience, and despite the fact that some of the negative experiences seemed at the time to be rather disturbing, are an integral part of my life leading up to this moment.

I then planned the rest of the show to explain the entire process of train travel including all the minute elements that a person must go through until they finally sit back and enjoy a great ride. One of my biggest challenges has always been determining the correct train, time of  travel, obtaining tickets, finding the train at the station, and then trying very hard to place myself on the platform near the correct car and then find my seat. The final part of that can be very harrowing, especially when hundreds of people are also trying to do the same thing at the same time. There is not more aggravating experience than competing with so many people trying to find their seats on a narrow car. The Italian Rail System, Trenitalia, has made it much easier lately to find your car and one of my goals was to explain that process.

I hope I succeeded in making train travel in Italy easier for people, and perhaps Alan's Italy Show # 96 will become a beacon of light for people seeking to plan their own trips to and around this great country.

Meanwhile I eagerly await the show in two weeks which will focus on all aspects of Pompeii through the expert eyes of Professor Eve D'Ambra of Vasser College. After a two-year hiatus, Eve is back to guide us all through the amazing story of one of the great tragedies in history which has been translated into one of the most fortuitous events. The more Pompeii is uncovered, the greater becomes its glory, as people all along the spectrum from tourists to experts use the remains of the town to understand more about the Ancient World. I hope this will be a harbinger of things to come with Eve participating more on the show.

New Territory for Me

For the first time I attempted to discuss, solo, the art of a great Renaissance Painter. For the occasion I chose my favorite artist Domenico Ghirlandaio. I have loved his work and his story for over 20 years, so using him for my inaugural foray into unknown territory seemed appropriate. Although I knew quite a bit about his life and work, I did tremendous amounts of research over the past several weeks. Other than a slight mixing of the photos within the actual album from iPhoto (reason unknown), the show was acceptable to me. At the time I felt uneasy, insecure, and seemed to fumble my way through. Ellen told me it was wonderful, and upon further scrutiny at home came to the same conclusion. For some reason I am always quite hard of myself. In this case I had bad news about periodontal work I would be undergoing soon, so did not seem to have my full concentration. Nonetheless, examination of everything indicates a fairly good presentation, crisp(despite some fumbling around because of the mixed-up photos), and I appear competent.

Usually I would do a show of this type with Ric Hirst, but with him out of the picture, I am flying solo. I like doing art broadcasts, however, and will attempt to do more. I would still like to focus on sculpture and will try to get something together on my favorite sculpture museum, The Bargello. Also, I would like to do some shows on some more artists such as Raphael and perhaps Fra Angelico. I would prefer to focus on less famous artists, not Leonardo, or Michelangelo whom Ric and I did twice, in Florence and Rome.

Meanwhile we near the time when Laura will have completed the editing of the photos we just came home from Italy with. I will download soon and begin to put together albums which will be turned into shows. I saw some of them and they appear to be spectacular. I have several ideas that I developed during the summer so far not including these newer photos, and would like to not have to use the newer stuff until I have consumed more of that. Not sure as yet how many shows could be created from the 2000 or so show photos of the areas we visited, and would very much like to take my time with that process. Therefore, you may not see one of these newer shows until the fall. Stay tuned.

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.

Top to Bottom

Tonight's show was the second half of views of Florence in particular and Italy in general, this time from the top after show # 91 talked about views from street level. Although I put together the streets show months if not years ago, this show was a recent invention. Since it went hand in hand with its sister show on streets, I placed the two broadcasts in consecutive sequence. It, therefore, appeared that the two shows were constructed in tandem. I love walking through places in Italy gathering in the charm, mystery, and history. Surely one cannot visit anywhere in Italy without seeing it from every angle, street level, towers, roofs, and if in Venice from the water. I have focused on all those various concepts and am now ready to move on. That is what I hope to bring home from my next trip to Italy. The plan is to visit as many smaller towns as possible leaving the larger cities for some future trip, except, of course, for Florence where I visit on every occasion. I do have a show on the drawing board related to shopping in Florence, but other than that I will deviate from views of Florence, Rome, and Venice for a while. If anything, I will try to get inside museums and discuss the art that I most enjoy.

A future show will focus on the Bargello, the great gallery of sculpture in Florence. Another may enter other museums such as the Palatine Gallery of the Pitti Palace in Florence or the Accademia of Venice. Since I no longer have an expert artist with me, I will have to do the research and study the works on my own. These future shows will not expert analyses of these selected museums but rather my favorite works. In that way I will be the most comfortable talking about the great artistic achievements of mostly the 15th and 16th centuries that I have liked the best over the years. But again, I also hope to visit some really stunning smaller towns in Western Tuscany and on the Southern Ligurian Coast in the area of Cinque Terre. We shall see.

As for the actual show, viewers may hear loud noises. Once again these extraneous sounds came from the community center of Woodstock (next door to the studio) where the rehearsal of a performance was occurring and I must say quite a bit of overacting was also taking place. Other than that the bordcast appears to be flawless, so enjoy once again.

In any case I now take a break and if you wish to follow the blogs of the actual trip we will be taking, please go to the link in the previous e mail.

If You Would Like to Follow Me on Our Upcoming Trip Then.....

Follow this link:

http://blog.travelpod.com/members/alanjgreenhalgh

An Extraordinary Letter

I never deviate much from the theme of Alan's Italy, but a situation arose three days ago which was quite amazing that I wish to relate. As you may know I have returned to my former profession of teaching mathematics at a community college in New York City after a three year retirement. In that regard I gave my final exam last Thursday with 17 of the 21 students passing the test. Please forgive me as I immodestly say that this is my usual passing result contrary to general occurrences in the department. I always answer every question that a student poses no matter what the query is or how many times it has been asked. One of my students asks a lot of questions as he was having a very hard time understanding. Many of the students have not been in a school setting for many years, and their normal difficulty learning mathematics has been compounded by their absence for reasons as varied as raising a family, earning a living, or just disgust with their inability to succeed. This young man recently served in the United States Marine Corps overseas in some of the explosive locales to which the country has sent troops. He struggled all semester, attaining low grades on unit exams. When he scored a remarkable 82 % on the final exam through his extraordinary devotion to his studies, I wrote an e mail to tell him how proud of him I was and that he has achieved a wonderful accomplishment. He wrote the following response. Please understand that his grammar, punctuation, usage, and spelling are severely lacking, but be assured, he will improve. His language is also "Marine-like" to say the least, but you will have no trouble understanding the essence:

Dear professor Greenhalgh . In the past few weeks your class has been the reasons of a lot of stress ,and sleep apnea , I've invested more time and efforts in in this subject, than in all classes combined but my efforts Alone dint accomplished this , the credits are yours , you are the most dedicated , caring and professional man I've seen, and trust me I've seen a lot of good pipe layer man in my short time in this earth, not once you complained about redoing a problem ,getting interrupted ,or having to explain things over and over , I might not say it in class because Marines  do not "kiss ass" ever!! .I'm actually sad to be honest that in the near future I won't get to stumble with an educator like yourself , you don't do it for the money like you said , " I will retire when I die " thank you for all your time expend and frustrations and dedication, from my part is highly appreciated with the utmost respect.        Thank you.
It pays to be a winner semper fi*

*Semper Fi is the abbreviation for semper fidelis, the US Marine Motto which means "forever faithful"

This exemplifies the reasons I returned to teaching after a three year absence. It doesn't get any better than this!

The Great Balancing Act

If you ever try to write a book, do so when you have no other responsibilities, otherwise you will have to attempt a balancing act to rival any juggler. Today for example I attempted to go to the gym to exercise, see my doctor about my allergies, do some work for my college teaching, get ready for tonight's TV show, write this blog, have dinner with friends, and continue editing my book. Then when I finally got home I downloaded the TV show onto my computer, and uploaded it to Youtube. It is really amazing how a 24 hr day can go so fast. In reality I would rather not have to do so much in a seeming endless procession of what I consider very important activities. Here I am at almost 11 PM and still have a couple of hours of work.

I do not usually get much feedback about my TV shows, but this week had two, one from my friend at the YMCA who finally watched a few videos of Alan's Italy on the Youtube, and my new internet friend who appears to be as big an Italophile as I am. His encouraging words have been very gratifying, and I am pleased to have made a new friend. I also solidified the appt I have with Professor Eve D'Ambra to appear on my show some time during the summer.

The actual broadcast, Alan's Italy Show # 91 - My Favorite Streets of Florence, finally fulfilled a plan I had been honing for two years. Over that time I have compiled hundreds of photos of streets in Florence, eventually narrowing it down to about 150 which I had a great time showing. There were the usual problems. With about 10 minutes into the broadcast Ellen, my engineer, pointed out on the air that my photos were apparently cutting off the bottom of the frames. I could not for the life of me figure out what was wrong, and frankly still cannot. I may have to just modify some of the graphic detail along the bottom of the images. Then, being very tired tonight after a long week, and even longer (seemingly) day, I made a few mistakes that I eventually straightened out. I referred to the Church of Orsanmichele as the Church of Ognissanti (one of my favorites in Florence), and was stymied when I looked at the Piazza della Signoria not knowing what the name was. That was really shocking since I have used that name and been on that piazza hundreds of times. You cannot be 66 years old and also try to have a life as full as a 23 year old and get away with not being quite tired. Somewhere along the line, something will suffer, and there it was right on the air. I did have a nice time, and did not let the two flubs affect my overall performance as I just reviewed the broadcast. As I have said many times, we are a down-home informal show and we do our best to create a worthwhile and interesting show for our viewers. If there are bumps along the way, then that's the way it will have to be.

In two weeks we will broadcast a show which I title, Italy, Top to Bottom which will show what Italy looks like from high up on hills, towers, and hotel roofs, a compilation of stunning images of a bird's eye view of Italy.

A New Leader, Some Mistakes in Presentation, and a Rededication to My Project

On my Youtube site is a list of the most popular shows. Show # 4: Civita di Bagnoregio has been # 1 on the list for a long time, but today it was surpassed by Show # 28: The Roman Forum with Professor Eve D'Ambra. That show nudged ahead after a steady increase in viewers. It nows stands at Show # 28: 838 views and # 4: 836. Eve also did Show # 32 with 200 views, so that the Professor from Vassar College now has over one thousand views in the past 1 1/2 years!

Meanwhile, Riffman 42, one of my viewers indicates to me that two of my photos from Show # 90 were misidentified. One photo which I indicate as the city of Positano is really Amalfi, and another which I identify as Mt. Vesuvius is really Mt. Etna. I checked back with the book I used for the photos and he is exactly correct. What makes me feel badly is not that I made the mistake, but that I failed to go back and review my notes, because in the book I used it is very clearly labeled as he indicates. My apologies to him and to my audience. It is clear that I am too busy. Teaching at the college, writing a book, working out at the YMCA, writing this blog, and also doing this TV show appears to be too much. I have just finished my book, so things should ease up a bit. Another problem here is that when I stray too far from what I am most acquainted, I tend to "wing it" a bit too much. When I do a Florence show or one related to Venice, Lake Como, Tuscany, Rome, and Umbria, I am in my milieu. However, in trying to show pictures of the Amalfi Coast and Sorrento, I have strayed a bit too far afield from my main expertise. I have only been to the Amalfi Coast once in my life for 4 days back in 2006. Once to Sorrento as well back in 1998, and never to Sicily where I would have been able to identify Mt Etna. I apologize, but you can well imagine trying to produce a show of this type every week or even, as now is broadcast, once a month can be very difficult. Nonetheless, without offering too many excuses, I certainly do apologize for the mislabeling.

This is one of the reasons we will be returning to Italy to gather more information focusing on Cinque Terre again, Western Tuscany, Florence, and Lake Como. This 12 day trip should gather together, I hope, about 15 - 20 new shows for your viewing pleasure. Meanwhile my next two shows concentrate on first My Favorite Streets in Florence (of which I am well acquainted), and Photos of Italy taken from above, from towers, hills, etc. I call that show, Italy, Top to Bottom. Then there will be a month long hiatus, and when I return in mid-June I will spend an entire show talking about the trip we just will have taken. I will start with the planning stage, how I created this trip from scratch, the process of planning, and then a brief synopsis and preview of what will be coming during the next 12 months of broadcasts with special emphasis on what I consider to be have been the highlights, yet unknown. Part of the plan will be to document the as yet undetermined drive from the autostrade to the town of Monterosso. Despite my already anxiety over this ride, I will ask Laura, my photographer and videographer, to videotape the ride, which should be spectacular. I will also try to do some interviews with hoteliers and restauranteurs. Those have always been very popular. Lidia has promised to drive us to some beautiful towns near her home in Western Tuscany, and Luca will be taking us to Medici Villas, such as Villa Artimino, Poggio ai Caiano, etc. We will also photograph a villa on Lake Como we have yet to see, Villa Melzi just south of Bellagio. I will then spend the summer getting everything together, that's 2 months to download, edit the photos, and create shows to last the year. I return to the college on August 28, so I will have over 2 months to plan.

That's the news. Congratulations to Prof D'Ambra, apologies and thanks to Riffman42, and a renewed dedication to my wonderful and dedicated audience.

The Then and Now Series Comes to a Close

I saved the best for last. After three shows featuring 19th century photos of Italy, I saved perhaps the most interesting for this last broadcast featuring material from Rome, Milan, Venice, Pompeii, Mt Vesuvius, Bologna, Bergamo, and Verona. This pretty much consumes my supply of photos from the several books I bought while in Florence at the bookstore which used to be the Alinari Brother's workshop and studio. When I return to Florence in a few weeks, I will once again visit this amazing store, but right now, I would like to discover other interesting off-beat locations for further shows. For that I would need Luca, a native Florentine, to assist me.

Meanwhile, I felt that I needed to begin tonight's broadcast by explaining to my audience why we are only producing a show a month instead of my promised twice a month or my four times a month that we did for the first two years. I indicated that my material has gone down in size and needs to be replenished by what I anticipate to be as many as 20 new show from our next trip to Italy in May and June. These new shows will focus on small towns in Cinque Terre, Western Tuscany, and larger cities such as Florence. We will also feature our favorite restaurant in the Lake Como village of Varenna.

Tonight Ellen struggled with several problems related to the live broadcast causing dark frames, sometimes poor quality images, sound issues, and who knows what else. As more and more people use the public access studio, there materialize more and more problems. Amateurs are switching things around for seemingly no reason causing Ellen, a pro, to experience all kinds of issues. Some of these problems are manifest on the Youtube video, but the lion's share, a 70 second strange screen has been edited out by me after the upload to my channel. I hope there are are not too many distractions because the actual 56 minutes broadcast was fascinating. I was quite relaxed and meandered through 19th century Italy making my usual comparisons to the 20th and 21st century versions. The photos of scenes with a mother and her children were to me the most beautiful.

I told Ellen that I would attempt to get back on a semi-monthly format of shows if I could get into the process of creation of shows during the next two weeks. I have pretty much finished my book, and my college teaching is in a two week lull right for spring recess. I do have some ideas, but need to take the time to develop shows around them. That will occupy my time for the next few weeks, but when I return from Italy, that is when I should have a large number of photos which will form the basis for a year's worth of new shows.

Happy Birthday to Me

Yes indeed. I was born at 4 PM, on April 4, 1948. 4/4/48. I have led a privileged life of good health and great friends and family. I have traveled to Italy 21 times and brought back thousands of pictures and many, many fond recollections. I have produced a cable access TV show which helps me to express my passion for Italy, and I have this blog as yet another outlet for my profound feelings about Italy. Yes, I am a lucky guy.

I am thinking about our next trip in May/June and even begun thinking about the one after that in 2015. When I get back from Italy in June, I will really put my mind to preparing TV shows for the next year with perhaps as many as 15 - 20 new projects. Once a month is not enough, and I will set my goal to return to an every other week format. I have already begun planning, but much of that has to wait until I get to Italy to see where that takes me. I will report back sometime in June.

In the meantime I have Italy, Then and Now planned for Friday, April 18, my next live broadcast. This will be the final chapter of the four part series on the 19th century photos of Italy. I am planning to go to the bookstore again with Luca in Florence and find more material, something different perhaps from just places of interest, nut sure yet. All up in the air, but tune in to Youtube on April 19 to see the show.

Thank you for reading my blog for the past two and a half years.

Best wishes,

Alan Greenhalgh

I Owe You Big Time

After a rather long hiatus, the longest during the time I have been writing this blog, I am now back on the horse. To my loyal readers I say, thank you for waiting and now I owe it to you to give you some details of my "Alan's Italy Life". Well, I must start by saying that four weeks go very quickly, and it hardly seems that so long a period of time has elapsed. During this time I had hoped to attempt to develop a lot of new shows, but, alas, I only worked on two of them, one that appeared last night, and the next, and last, one in the "Then and Now"series. The one last night, Tuscany, Then and Now, continues the theme with part 3, after the very successful Florence, Then and Now, Parts 1 and 2. I used one of the Alinari photo journals focusing on Tuscany, and although Florence is of course a part of Tuscany and was included in the book, after two shows, I tried to stayed away from that subject. Instead I planned to start with Pisa, continue through Lucca, Siena, San Gimignano, Pistoia, Volterra, Livorno, Pitigliano, Montepulciano, Carrara, and the rolling hills of Central Tuscany. I worked diligently scanning photos, trying to find the 21st century counterparts, and then performing the necessary function on my MacBook Pro to create the side-by-side image that gives the viewer such a fine chance to find the changes that occurred during the intervening 150 years. I honed the final draft almost right up to air time. I also included on the broadcast several photos of people at work at various occupations during the 19th century, a really fascinating look at how people made a living 150 years ago visually represented.

At the studio, of course, it surely felt good to be back, say hello to Ellen, and get started. Alas, and of course, since nothing in that place ever goes smoothly, the phone rang at 4:59. Some producer who had used the studio right before our show lost her cell phone and had to come back into the studio to attempt to find it. After Ellen's modest attempt to dissuade her, during the opening theme which lasts about 2 minutes and 30 seconds, the door to the studio swung open and she entered rummaging about the console area making me very annoyed. When she finally left and I was very into the opening, she returned doing basically the same thing. This time I felt like strangling her. She finally left and the show continued unabated. I made a few mistakes, as is quite normal for me after a lapse of time, but was generally pleased with the broadcast. The highlight for my granddaughter, Sofia, will be the 5 minute segment at the beginning with Flat Stanley (you will have to view that segment to see what that is if you do not already know).

At home I realized that there is a one minute period of dead space on the DVD until the show actually starts, but when it does, I like the way it eventually developed. It was downloaded to my computer, uploaded to Youtube, and I made copies for Sofia, and two for the carousel, which plays the live versions in repeat mode. The final stage, writing this blog, is now being executed. So Alan's Italy Show # 89, Tuscany, Then and Now, is there for the viewing!

Meanwhile, I continue to labor to create new shows with hardly any material left. I do an Italy, Then and Now, featuring 19th century photos from all over Italy, next sometime in April, and then I have two distinctly Florence shows, one on shopping and the other on the Streets of Florence, Part 2 (Part 1 was via della Scala). This time rather than focusing on just one street, I will concentrate on several. Then I have a very sketchy album that I started many months ago on Verona, but really not enough for a full show. Either I will get some more off the Internet or just add two others Veneto cities, Vicenza and Padua, all three comprising what I call the "Big Three" diversions from a long visit to Venice. I have actually made two reservations at the well-known Scrovegni Chapel in Padua, but once I arrive in Venice, I really have a very hard time extricating myself. By then we will have returned from our next trip to Italy with a lot of new material which then must be categorized to form new shows, not an easy job. After we return from the trip that will take at least a month for Laura to edit the photos and for me to fashion them into viable presentations. I will do a separate blog post which describes that two week trip in great detail.

I continue to do my real passion of teaching mathematics at the college level enjoying it more and more as the times goes on. I am already half way through the spring term. Imagine that! How quickly the time flies by. I have also finished my book on my 42 year career which will now face the final editing by me before submitting the manuscript to the online publishing company, XLibris.

So thanks for being patient and I shall return!

After a Week of Decision Making, a Great Show

After a week of thinking about how to modify the broadcast schedule to allow for the fact that I am running low on ideas for shows, and the time to think creatively, I nonetheless had a great show. First the dilemma. I am almost totally into my college teaching, sending e mails to students with progress reports, preparing lessons, traveling into the city, etc. I also work out the Y, am writing a book which is kindly being edited by one of my oldest friends, so the show has taken a back seat. I will be working most of today developing shows for the next few months. I have about 5 or 6 ideas, so if I did one a month I could then get to Italy and back with enough photos and fresh ideas to continue. Ellen told me I could cut back, so right now that appears to be the best way to go. I was reluctant to tell her because I know how much she likes to engineer the project. After today I will know more about the future.

Meanwhile, I finally did the show using the Alinari photos of 19th century Florence after a year and a half hiatus. Show # 24, Florence, Then and Now focused on the comparison of how places looked back then compared to how they look today. It is a fascinating concept to examine photos of a specific location and try to analyze how they changed and why. Part of the reason is obviously the passage of time, modern improvements, and social and political issues. Trying to research which of these considerations is the reason is the best part. Trying to recall all this during a live show, in front of the camera, and with very limited notes (my fault), it is very daunting. I still get stressed doing a show, and this after 88 now. I come off much more relaxed than I am, believe me. It has been and always will be a struggle.

So this was part 2 of the 4-part story of 19th century Italy, with Florence well represented in the first two shows. My next one will focus on Tuscany in general outside of Florence, and then all of Italy. Now I have to get to work, so for now, ciao.

Always Something New and Different with which to Cope

If anyone was actually waiting with bated breath to see Alan's Italy Show # 88 - Florence, Then and Now, Part 2, please be advised that after about 10 minutes into the broadcast my computer malfunctioned causing the decision to cancel. We will try again next week. While I was zooming in and then out of my close-up shot of the empty space on the front portico of the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence where Michelanelgelo's David stood for 371 years, from 1502 - 1873. The statue, perhaps the most famous in Florentine History, was removed from the spot chosen by the famous committee in 1502 (Botticelli, Leonardo daVinci among others), was moved to the Galleria Accademia where it has been ever since. In its place at the Palazzo Vecchio in 1910 was placed the copy we all see now. So, for a period of 512 years, except for the 37 year period between 1873 and 1910, there was no statue on that spot. The photo I showed was obviously taken during that period. This always fascinated me, so I did a close-up of that spot, and then as I was "backing up", the screen froze, never to return to normal. Yet another problem with the concept of live broadcast on public access cable television. Just add to the list that I have compiled since Dec 9, 2011 when we began.

Actually Ellen agreed to begin the show10 minutes early so I could end early enough to attend a birthday party for a friend of ours. By the time my computer returned to normal, it was too late to broadcast the show and then get home and then to the party, so we ditched the whole concept. Normally, we just would have continued along starting and ending later than usual. Therefore, other than my computer, the party was the real issue. I will call Apple and see what could be done, but I have already taken steps to correct the problem. I had a lot of other programs opened at the time I was using IPhoto so that could have been the problem. I also took a screen shot of the "empty space" on the Pal Vecchio so there will not be a need to zoom in and out, which I hate doing on the air anyway. I will also rearrange the presentation as I have other ideas now as well. I think the new version should be better than the original. We shall see. Stay tuned.

Horrible Weather with a Hopeful Future

I just wanted my following of readers to know that due to the incredibly terrible weather, we are having difficulties producing additional TV shows, and barring that, the blogs have been sparse as well. It snowed yesterday again as I went into NYC to teach my college students, but returned to a snowy and icy car. Today it snowed again, however the temperatures are supposed to climb for a few days so we may have a respite. With that in mind I am planning to broadcast this Friday, Feb 21. The show is still planned to be Florence, Then and Now, Part 2.

As many of you know one of my great interests is 19th century photography of Italy and the next three shows will focus on that theme with amazing 150 yr old photos of Florence, Tuscany, and Italy in general. Most of this interest has been inspired by my friend and native Tuscan, Luca, who gave me as a gift a photo book two years ago. This past year he brought me to the bookstore which used to serve as the workshop for the Alinari Brothers (Fratelli Alinari) who were the forerunners of 19th century Italian photography. The purchases I made in that store form the basis for the next three shows, Alan's Italy Show # 88, 89, and 90.

I hope you tune in, and apparently a continuous run of views have pushed the total views since the inception of my Youtube Channel to close to 12,000, an astounding number considering the esoteric nature of the material. I am gratified that so many people have taken an interest and will try very hard to get back on the air.

Nighttime Magic

I always assumed that the best way to create a show was to choose a theme, go through our collection of over 10,000 photos of Italy, and choose about 100 - 150 and voila, a broadcast has begun to be formed. Then the tweaking, creating a narrative, and interweave my experiences. That is exactly how Show # 87: Nighttime Magic was created. I knew we had hundreds of nighttime, evening, and morning photos of different places in Italy, so I chose my favorite couple of hundred, narrowed it down to about 150 and fashioned a program. Laura's input helped hone the finished product, as she edited some, and discarded others. The actual broadcast was flawless, and the show will become, as Ellen, my engineer predicted as I left the studio, a classic.

I built the show around some of my favorite towns in Italy such as Sorrento, Varenna, Stresam Varenna, Orvieto, Cortona, and la Spezia, all with evocatively stunning scenes. I also threw in my "big three" Venice, Florence, and Rome. Italy is amazing in the nighttime and evening, truly magical and that came through perfectly on this broadcast.  Places that are charming enough during the day take on a truly eerie flavor in the evening. One of the great experiences for me is to choose a hotel right in the center of a town, stroll to dinner down some blind alley way, have a delicious Italian meal in a small family run trattoria, and then try to find our way back to our hotel down narrow, winding alleyways that pass for streets, getting somewhat (but not totally) lost along the way. The aroma of smoke from fires throughout these towns adds to the mystic. Even when I am home and smell the fires in upstate NY I can easily imagine myself and Laura, strolling arm and arm, wending our way through the maze of medieval streets and buildings hundreds of years old. I can easily imagine myself back then. Just close your eyes and take a deep breath.

Then, of course, getting back to our hotel, a beacon of light in a dark desert and perhaps sitting in the lobby or garden for an hour or so before heading up to our room really enhances this amazing experience. The whole package is what I tried to convey to my audience; Alan's Italy's ideal stroll around town in the magic of an Italian night.

Two weeks from now I begin a three part series on Italy, Then and Now featuring 19th century photos of places in Italy together with modern versions. First focussing on Florence, then Tuscany in general, and then locales all around the country.

Finally !!!!!!!

When we came home from Italy in June 2013, due to my impatience, we began to put together a show on the 55th Venice Biennale. That process continued until Friday morning, Jan 17, 2014. I usually change shows a lot between the conception and the broadcast, but this was the world's record. I decided not to do the show several times, and even the past week came to the conclusion that this would be too difficult. The Palazzo Bembo Shows at least had videos in which the artists themselves explained their work. In other shows related to art, I have along side me either Ric, Franc, or Eve. This time I would be on my own, and frankly, although somewhat schooled in the Italian Renaissance, I would have trouble doing a show on the 15th century Italian Art I have seen and studied for twenty years. Although Laura refused to appear with me or even be on the phone during the broadcast, she did spend countless hours with me helping to put together the show, explaining the art, teaching me about what I would be showing, and encouraging me to go through with it. I was rearranging, adding, and subtracting up to 3 PM on Friday, and went into the studio very nervous for the first time in a very long time.

It began with Ellen telling me of a house catastrophe, so I was upset about that at the get go. I looked over my notes which were "voluminous" in comparison to what I usually have. Sometimes I do a show without any notes at all. We began and the show went fairly smoothly although, because I did not have my reading glasses with me, I had a hard time reading. Nonetheless, I did it and it was now over once and for all. In the future I would have a hard time trying to figure out if I should do an art analysis show of any kind, but for now that is it. Now I can turn my attention to other projects and prepare for my renewal of my college teaching which begins on January 28.

Upcoming I will do as my next show on Jan 31 the Nighttime Magic Show about which I was quite excited, and Laura has shown no excitement. I am, however, very excited about simply showing stunning photos of amazing places without much commentary. That will be a welcome change. I can simply talk about the places pictured, and why they presented a nighttime or evening or morning sunrise view that captured my imagination. That is really my favorite thing to do. Then Ric has promised a two-part history of Florence during the 13th - 16th centuries. Otherwise I still have three Then and Now Shows, one on Florence (Part 2), one on Tuscany, and the last on all of Italy. That will be fabulous, because the Florence, Then and Now, Part 1 show that I did during the first year of production is still one of my favorites. After that I have a variety of decisions to make before we head to Italy for new material. I have one on Shopping in Florence that I think will be quite good, as there are many ways to shop in Florence ranging from markets to expensive upscale boutiques, and I pretty much know of them all, or most at least. Then I was thinking about a show on the Streets of Florence focussing on the famous and not so famous. Oh yes, Ric has also indicated a desire to do one on Carsulae, the very obscure but amazing long abandoned Ancient Roman Town which only has nondescript ruins. He knows a lot about that town and can pin point where everything in the town was.

So that's where we now are. I have a website for my college students which you may find interesting, www.profgreenhalgh.com. Have a look but it is very esoteric.

A Florentine Masterpiece

After having a detailed back and forth e mail exchange with my friend Lidia who lives in Western Tuscany about 40 mins from Florence, I headed to the studio for the long awaited show on the Baptistery of Florence, one of the most famous landmarks in Italy. Ric Hirst and I had planned to do this show for a very long time and finally it came to pass. We arrived considerably earlier than we usually get there so that Ric and I could look over the entire show and determine correct order and also to eliminate photos that we did not need. This process only took about 10 minutes and we were on our way. Ellen was the picture of true perfection, even doing the sound check while Ric and I were having a private conversation before the broadcast began. There was nothing about the presentation that was lacking, and Ellen was so professional we hardly knew she was doing anything behind the console. If shows were broadcast like this every week, I would be very happy, and perhaps not have anything about which to write here !

Meanwhile by virtue of a lot of studying and his extraordinary knowledge of Italian history, Ric weaved a fascinating tale through the early fifteenth century. The entire story of how Italy became what we know today is an amazing story, and surely the occurrences in Florence played a significant role in that saga. Many scholars date the Italian Renaissance from the 1401 announcement that the East Door to the Baptistery in Florence would be sculpted using a different design from what had been there since the previous century. That sculptural masterpiece was accomplished by Andrea Pisano and was to be moved to the South Side, while a new conception would replace it on the East Side facing the main entrance to the Cathedral. The determination of who would be given this assignment would initiate the most significant one hundred years of art history beginning with the selection of Ghiberti for the honor of sculpting the doors. His competition is like a who's who of Florence Art, including Dontatello and Bruneleschi. Ric tells the tale with stunning images taken by Laura Gurton, and all put together by yours truly.

Meanwhile on the show we announced that the next show would not skip a week, but take place next Friday when I finally do the 55th Venice Biennale. Then two weeks later I will broadcast my Italian Night Magic with my favorite photos of Italy at night. In the interim Ric will put together a two part history of Florence during the 13th through 16th century. I already told him to take his time and we can even do four shows, but we shall see what comes out of that. Those 400 years changed the world, and we will take a very close look at that.

Pre-empted by a Snow Storm - and Some Good News

Ric Hirst and I were supposed to do the show on the Florence Baptistery this evening, but were stopped in our tracks by the snow storm that nailed the northeast with savage force. This turned out to be a bit serendipitous, however, because we decided to change the format of that show to a degree. Here is the story (there is always a story).

Ric and I were speaking during the week, and he indicated that he would like to answer two questions I asked him a long time ago. One question was: Why did the Renaissance begin in Florence in the 15th century ? Actually this question was asked by me to him and a few other people I knew just before I was about to do Alan's Italy Show # 2 on December 25, 2011. I just watched that show, and noticed that at the end of the show I had planted a question. Sorry. I had Ric call me just to get the phone calling thing going and that was the question that he was instructed to ask me. I did answer the question, but the query is really so profound that he continued researching it for parts of the past two years. The second question I asked him was simply to talk a little about the workshop/apprenticeship concept that existed in Florence during the 14th century on through the years. That question was for my own purposes, but was also referred to on that show. When Ric requested to talk about that, I immediately told him that at the beginning of the next show we do, he can have the time to answer both questions. Then he e mailed to me a list of the wealthiest people in Florence in the year that a tax record indicated the top 1.4% of the population. This concept is tied up in the other two questions, so right then and there I decided to make his next show a two parter. Even though he will still talk about the Baptistery, he will also talk about Florence in the 15th century, an idea for a show we have been batting around for several months anyway.

So next week's show, January 10, weather permitting, we will first look at the Renaissance, Workshops, and also how all of this was tied together to the enormous wealth that existed in Florence starting actually in the 13th century with the rise of the banking industry right up to the present. Then afterward Ric will begin to talk about the Baptistery, preceded by a discussion on baptistries in general. He has a lot of stories to tell related to this theme and there seemed to me no way he could accomplish all that in one sixty minute show. Therefore we will split the broadcast into two.

Meanwhile, many residents of Ulster County and elsewhere in the northeast, people are trying to dig out from a mountain of snow which began falling two days ago and continued through this morning. I was out and about after my snowplowing had occurred at about 2 PM. The roads are awful, slushy, icy, snowy, and worst of all very slippery. These very hazardous conditions did not, however, stop many very, very stupid people from driving way too fast under these horrid circumstances. It never ceases to amaze me how people could not only jeopardize their own lives but other motorists as well by just driving like they really have somewhere urgent to get to. I have often asked friends of mine, "where are these people hurrying to all the time? Please tell me! I must be missing something and want to go wherever they are going." So for now, staying home nice and safe and warm under my own roof, where I don't have to worry about reckless drivers.