One of Tuscany’s wealthiest and most graceful cities, Lucca is a gem not to be missed. It’s worth a visit from your UnTour in Florence or even our rural Tuscany UnTour, based in the southern part of the region. Colonized by the Romans in the 2nd century BC, this otherwise flat Tuscan “hill” town still…
Peggy Guggenheim was an American heiress and eccentric who made a name for herself by amassing one of the broadest and most important private collections of modern art in the world. Born and raised in New York, she moved to Europe and spent time with her first husband running in the bohemian circles of the…
Our new Italian UnTour Director Amber Martin recently returned from a visit to all six of our Italian UnTours. It was the only one of our UnTour areas where she had not spent time before. Here she shares her first impressions of the Amalfi Coast. The very moment I stepped off the bus in Amalfi,…
All of us on the UnTours team have been here for 20 or more years, which is a good thing, given how knowledge intensive our work in Europe is. So when Andi Cancelliere Sheehan, our Italian UnTour Director for 25 years, left our staff during COVID, it was hard to imagine how to fill those…
…And we’re back! Italy was the first country in Europe to shut down, so it felt particularly satisfying and a little poetic that it was one of our first countries to welcome UnTourists this summer. The Lorenzis and the Moormans were our first guests in Italy, the first UnTourists to return to Italy since 2019….
While our Tuscany UnTour is in Brunello wine territory, the Chianti Valley is within easy day trip distance and offers another flavor of farm traditions, scenery, village life, and viniculture. If you love natural beauty, robust red wines, and hearty food, look no further than the Chianti Valley. The Chianti villages hold a special place…
This guest post by Carol Yee is adapted from her book book Welcome Back to Abuja Once Again: How I Became a Citizen of the World. When one thinks of Tuscany, one may think of Florence, the leaning tower of Pisa, and the Palio in Siena, but also of pasta, wine, and gelato. And this is…
Our Tuscany UnTour staff Tracy Hyde has been busier than you might expect during this pandemic that has frozen travel. She has turned her talents to Zoom and invited UnTourists into her kitchen to learn to make traditional Italian dishes with her. Here’s Tracy’s recipe for eggplant parmigiana, along with wine recommendations. In addition to…
You might have heard of the Stendhal Syndrome, or the Florence Syndrome. You may have even experienced a mild case of it yourself. It is the feeling of being overwhelmed by too much art: too many beautiful paintings, sculptures, frescoes, mosaics, architectural wonders. It is a particular physical and mental response to art that was…
