Traditions and Wonders : Looking Ahead

My neighborhood pasticceria is making their holiday panettone and the fragrance spills out onto the street.

The smell of the buttery, yeasty, dome-shaped Christmas bread is unlike any other. I know that inside the pasticceria, Signora Erminia is organizing her candied fruits — the orange, lemon, citrus and cherry — and weighing them out. A specific number of grams of each fruit will find its way into every panettone.

Such detail-oriented work, continuing a longtime Italian tradition, is ongoing Italy-wide.  Covid be damned, pasticcerie in every part of Italy are preparing local and traditional Christmas-time sweets.

In Amalfi, our friends Giocondo and Carletto are enjoying late season tomatoes, freshly harvested, in lunch time sandwiches eaten in the vegetable garden.

Carletto spent the morning planting the late winter vegetables.

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Many Amalfitani will be eating well this winter, their tables rich because of their traditional gardens.  “These gardens are central to our health”, says Giocondo. “They are the anti-Covid.”

As we start to turn the page on this surreal year, and look longingly to 2021, let’s consider Italy and how we want to enjoy her traditions and her wonders next year.

At the table ?

In museums ?

In piazze ?

In archeological sites ?

In cooking class ?

At festivals ?

Walking ?

In your villa ?

Swimming ?

Sampling wines ?

Picking olives ?

On a private garden tour ?

For thirty years, we’ve delighted our travelers with tailor made trips that include all of these elements.

Review our no obligation survey and tell us what would make you happiest.   Or send us a note. We’ll be back to you immediately with our first batch of ideas, all on a no-obligation basis.

What are you dreaming of in 2021 ?