SSoP Podcast Episode 44 — Italy: A Bottle of Red, the Tuscan Sun, and Il Dolce Far Niente

SSoP Podcast Episode 44 — Italy: A Bottle of Red, the Tuscan Sun, and Il Dolce Far Niente

Monday, 26 September, 2022

Do you ever feel like Italy is just showing off just a bit? It’s literally got the best of both worlds, surrounded by the sea and graced with mountains (hello, Italian Alps, Dolomites, and Apennines), woodlands, and hills, including the famous seven of Rome.

The climate is ideal for growing lovely things like figs, almonds, olives, grapes, and… romance. What’s more romantic than sweethearts riding a Vespa under the moonlight? Or a spritz sipped under a beach umbrella on the Italian Riviera? A dip in the Adriatic, a stroll in the Tuscan sunshine, a run down a slope in the Italian Alps — these are the things of which dreams are made.

Which leads us to this fact: Italy has the third highest life expectancy in Europe: 83.5 years of living la dolce vita, the sweet life. The food, the wine, the weather, the language, the history; it’s an embarrassment of riches, and we’re all the better for it.

In this episode, we discuss everything that makes Italy one of the most enchanting places on Earth. We get curious about the world’s largest rock band and a possibly cursed village, daydream about eating pasta carbonara in Rome, and cross the sea to Sicily. Then we recommend great books that took us there on the page, including a love letter to Trieste, a history of Venice through food, a fresh look at Galileo’s life, a novel infused with sunshine and Gothic vibes, and a beautiful story of found family set in Florence.

transcript

Read the full transcript of Italy: A Bottle of Red, the Tuscan Sun, and Il Dolce Far Niente.

The Invitation

buy | read review

Trieste and the Meaning of Nowhere

buy | read review

Cinnamon and Salt: Cicchetti in Venice

buy | read review

Galileo's Daughter

buy | read review

Still Life

buy | read review

A Room with a View

buy | read review

other books we mentioned

rule

other cool stuff we talked about

Perhaps you’d like to listen to some Italian folk music while you dig into these links.

And some photos to set the scene…

boats in the canal at sunset
Grand Canal in Venice. Photo courtesy of Stijn te Strake/Unsplash.
 a man and a woman standing on a balcony overlooking st. mark's square in venice
It's us! In Piazza San Marco in Venice, circa 2017.
The Dolomites in South Tyrol, Italy. Photo courtesy of Michiel Ronde/Unsplash.
overhead view of florence at sunset
Florence. Photo courtesy of Nicola Pavan/Unsplash.
the trevi fountain shot
Trevi Fountain in Rome. Photo courtesy of Michele Bitetto/Unsplash.
green countryside with a lonely villa in the mist
Tuscany. Photo courtesy of Engjell Gjepali/Unsplash.
cliff with colorful houses overlooking the blue mediterranean sea
Portofino. Photo courtesy of Kristine Tanne/Unsplash.
 

italy 101

 painting of a woman lying on a patio in a gown with a bird sitting on her finger
Dolce Far Niente by John William Godard, 1897.
  • Mel cannot get over the episode of I Love Lucy when Lucy stomps the grapes. In case you share her weird affection, you can buy a replica of Lucy’s peasant blouse, read all about the making of that show, and watch the scene:

two truths and a lie

  • Statement 1: High on a hill in the southern province of Matera, there is a cursed village. The locals will not speak its name. Colobraro, Italy: so beautiful, so misunderstood. Here are articles from Atlas Obscura, The New York Post, and Stuff.

  • Statement 2: The richest man in Italy is a pasta baron. They call him Mr. Bolognese. Mental Floss gives us 25 delicious facts about Nutella, and the BBC explains how the world went nuts for Nutella. Loving reminder: Do not forget to stir a generous spoonful of Nutella into a cup of hot coffee sometime soon.

  • Statement 3: The biggest rock band on earth is from a small city in Italy. MTV has the original story — and Billboard covers a special Foo Fighters concert in Italy. Watch the videos below and listen to the Rockin’ 1000 on Spotify. Visit the Rockin’ 1000 website for tour info!

 
  • Lucy Foley is the author of The Invitation. In this throwback video, she answers questions about her favorite reads and other personal stuff. You can hear Mel talk about her book The Hunting Party in our Scotland episode and The Guest List in our Ireland episode.
  • And Dave referenced this AMAZING movie classic:
  • Jan Morris, author of Trieste and the Meaning of Nowhere, was a ‘historian and travel writer who evoked time and place with the flair of a novelist.’ This is a lovely tribute to the author, and here’s a delightful video interview from CBS Sunday Morning:
  • Emiko Davies is the author of Cinnamon and Salt. Here’s her website and Instagram. In case you need to feel the vibe of cicchetti, we present this short video:
  • Dava Sobel is the author of Galileo’s Daughter; visit her website. In this video, she ‘uses her rare gifts for weaving difficult scientific concepts into gripping stories in this lecture about the planets.’

Congratulations! You made it to the end. Here are your rewards:

 

finally…

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This weekend, we recommend a getaway to the warm sunshine and stunning sights of Florence with Lucy Honeychurch, a heroine who would take the world by storm, if she could only get out of her 19th-century muddle.

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