Around Italy: Umbria, Italy’s Green Heart of Medieval Towns, Truffles, Olive Oil, and Sacred Landscapes Umbria is the green heart of central Italy, a landlocked region of forests, hills, valleys, olive groves, vineyards, medieval towns, monasteries, and deeply rural food traditions. Perugia Perugia rises high above the surrounding valleys. Etruscan, Roman, medieval, Renaissance, and modern layers coexist through arches, stone streets, piazzas, churches, and underground struct

Around Italy: Toscana, Renaissance Cities, Medieval Hill Towns, Vineyards, and the Art of Living Well Toscana shaped much of the world’s image of Italy. Florence, Siena, Pisa, Lucca, Arezzo, San Gimignano, Montepulciano, Pienza, Cortona, and countless smaller towns sit among vineyards, olive groves, cypress roads, wooded hills, and agricultural estates. Firenze, the Cradle of the Renaissance Florence became one of the great centers of Renaissance art, banking, politics, archi

Around Italy: Liguria, Italy Between the Sea, Cliffs, Villages, and Pesto Liguria is one of Italy’s most dramatic regions, a narrow crescent of land squeezed between the Ligurian Sea and steep mountains. Villages cling to cliffs, terraced fields climb hillsides, fishing ports sit below mountain roads, and nearly every part of the culture reflects the challenge of living with limited space. Genova, the Great Maritime Republic Genova was one of the great maritime powers of the