November 11, 2008

The Tuscany Effect

Issue #4

In This Issue:

• Message from Serenella

• Tuscan Wisdom

• Live like a Tuscan - Honor Your Traditions

• New Recipes from Authentic Italian Women

• Tuscan Spotlight - Billionaire Babies in Tuscany

• Italian, the language of Romance:  Expressions of Love

• Website and Blog

• Contact Us

I’m late, I’m late, I’m late for an important date…

In keeping with Tuscan behavior, I am overdue on this newsletter. I apologize. To make up for this, I am sending you a very special preview offer on villa rentals before anyone else can see it.

I took a bad fall at a seminar a couple of weeks ago and have not been able to use one hand (which makes typing very interesting)!

I missed writing to you. I hope you had a great Halloween and got lots of treats.

Here is a picture of a Halloween window display sent by Marlene from Lucca. Yes, Italians are now celebrating Halloween too. They have been influenced by American movies and marketing and they love any excuse to celebrate!

Thanks to all of you who have sent comments, tried recipes, enjoyed your Italian hot chocolate and purchased products. Our Tuscan family keeps getting larger and larger!

Alla prossima (until next time),
Serenella

Celebrating Tuscany

I believe I inherited my passion for traveling from my maternal grandfather "Nonno Giulio." Between 1896 and 1975, Giulio Bertolucci crossed the Atlantic 10 times to live in Italy, various parts of the U.S. and in different countries of Europe. He was an artist, a true adventurer and one of my heroes.

Following in his footsteps, my first trip to the United States occurred when I was 20 months old. My (Burlingame, CA) high school senior year write-up included: "She hopes to travel and live in exciting places all over the world." Luckily, I have been able to do just that for both business and pleasure and feel blessed to have lived extensively in two of the world's most beautiful places, my native Italy and my adopted California.

My mother and father were never crazy about traveling so I guess the travel bug can skip a generation. Of my two sons, one is a travel fiend who has taken solo adventures all over the world, including a stint in Thailand for six months to build homes for the tsunami victims; my younger son would rather stick a needle in his eye than set foot on an airplane.

Although everyone in our family does not share a lust for travel, we are united in taking pride and joy in celebrating our Tuscan/Italian traditions, from language, food, Holidays and various customs to the products we use in everyday life. We strive to embody the Tuscan passion-centric way of life, both in our personal and professional endeavors.

It is in this spirit of celebrating Tuscan living that I invite you to join me and embrace the Italian within you, whether on a trip to Tuscany or in the comfort of your own home.

Speaking of traditions, what are your traditions?

Another important facet of Tuscan life is the maintaining of traditions. I recently exchanged emails with a gentleman currently working in Amman, Jordan who is the son of an Italian immigrant mother. It was wonderful to share similar stories of our childhoods in northern California. His family has kept their traditions alive for many years as well. His stove-top espresso-maker still goes wherever he goes.

In Tuscany as in many other places, traditions come from history, religion, geographic area, culture and, family. For those of us whose families immigrated from other countries, the continuation of traditions was a way to hold onto sentimental and family ties, to lessen the feelings of loss and to pass on to future generations a bit of family history. Traditions are a wonderful way to teach children.

My own fondest childhood memories of growing up in California are of quintessentially Tuscan connections: My father interspersing fairy tales with stories extracted from Dante's Divine Comedy or from Roman mythology until the characters were vividly alive for me; the tears in his eyes as he passionately recited poetry or nostalgically described the beauty and wonder of the art, literature and history of Italy. A great fan of "Romanticism," Babbo (Tuscan for Dad) wrote his own poems to recite on special occasions. Being wickedly mischievous, he also created witty parodies of old Tuscan folk songs that generated great glee at Italian-American gatherings.

My maternal grandfather shared with me the stories of his childhood during which, despite his poverty, he laboriously trudged for miles to attend the Art Institute in Pietrasanta and walked "Where Michelangelo walked." Nonno Giulio fueled my imagination with "Let’s pretend we are on the beach in Viareggio! Tell me what you see." Or, "Now it's Carnevale. Watch the huge floats rolling down the Passeggiata as people cheer and everyone watches in awe!"

My memories are replete with Nonno's ever-present humor and the twinkle in his impossibly blue eyes during the patient teachings I so eagerly received; oil painting (who can forget the look texture and smell of those paints or the magic that oozed from those brushes?), sculpting, casting, papier mâché (used to build the allegorical figures for the enormous floats at the Carnival of Viareggio) and even masonry. (Every house we moved to quickly featured a fully functional, wood-burning oven designed and built by my grandfather).

I can still hear my grandmother's soft voice singing Italian child’s tales to me, some very sad indeed. She hailed from the town named after Giacomo Puccini and her passion for opera was endless. Nonna Assida would sooner skip a meal than miss the weekly broadcasts from the Metropolitan Opera Company. She joined in on the lyrics and melodies and patiently explained or re-enacted the very melodramatic stories with hilarious, elastic facial expressions and bold gestures. I can also see my Mamma cooking and cleaning while recounting our family stories and delighting in the tales of a seemingly endless number of eccentric and free-spirited relatives.

My grandfather had the uncanny ability of finding any Italians within a hundred mile radius and inviting them to our home; a few stayed with us for years! All the fellow immigrants we knew listened each evening to the Italian language radio broadcasts from a San Francisco radio station. A certain "Francesconi" first, then Sirio Galli in later years kept listeners abreast of happenings both in Italy and in the local Italian-American community.

For the various holidays (be they Italian holidays or those adopted in America), everyone worked for days to meticulously prepare, from scratch, traditional food specialties and family recipes - hand-made Tordelli (Tuscan ravioli), sugo (meat sauce) brodo (broth - usually a chicken/beef combination), salsicce (sausages) and prosciutto, pesce marinato (marinated, fried fish), aringhe sott'olio (herrings in olive oil), Torte di Pasqua (Easter pies), Topini (gnocchi) and many more. Even vinegar and grappa were home made! Our welcomed guests were made to feel at home and treated as family.

How often, during my visits to Tuscany, a certain something - a smell, a sound, a taste - becomes a key to a family memory from long ago and unexpectedly unleashes feelings and sensations locked in the remote chambers of my heart.

How about you? What family traditions do you have? What do you share with your children, family and friends? I would love to hear these from you and perhaps share your stories.

Recipes from Authentic Italian Women:

Here are some new recipes from Italian women on the Toscana Mia Blog:

• Cantucci di Prato (Small Almond Cookies or Biscotti)

• Baccala con la bietola (Salt Cod with Swiss Chard)

• Risotto con le Cicale (Risotto with Mantis Shrimp)

Tuscan Spotlight: Billionaire Babies in Tuscany!

However you may feel about the recent election results, it is clear that our future generations have a challenge. We need leaders who think internationally, truly understand the economy and want to give back to their communities. We need to look to our children.

I have joined with my friend Linda Samuels (author, teacher and international business guru) to plan a tour to Tuscany for children and their families.

According to Linda, "Our children are the new heroes." Linda is committed to creating Billionaire Baby entrepreneurial centers in every major city in the world within the next 10 years so our children learn how to conduct business responsibly and take care of themselves and their communities.

Five-year-old Abigail, one of Linda’s clients, says, "No matter how much money you make, you need to give back. Don’t be greedy." After earning her first $200 selling hand-decorated gift bags on Craigslist and EBay Abigail donated some of her money to The Boys and Girls Club of Boston.

The focus of the Billionaire Babies tour is to show the families that it's possible to be profitable while supporting the arts, music, culture and community. In fact, banking and commerce make up the cornerstone of culture that gave powerful Renaissance families like the Medicis the ability to be philanthropic.

Linda and I are taking the kids and their families to visit a leather factory, marble, ceramics, and wine companies plus a cooking school to show them how those businesses thrive, even in dire economic times. What better place to take young entrepreneurs than to the birthplace of Leonardo da Vinci? If he could envision submarines, airplanes and armored tanks over 500 years ago, think about what our future generation of kids can imagine.

Linda Samuel’s business coaching and financial sessions with the families are included in the tour scheduled for April 18, 2009. You can read the press release or detailed description of the tour on the Toscana Mia website.

http://toscanamia.biz/tour-billionaire.htm

Italian, the language of Romance: Expressions of love (special request from recent Toscana Mia Wedding clients):

Useful Phrases for an Italian Romance:

Ti amo: I love you
Ti adoro: I adore you
Mi manchi: I miss you
Ti penso sempre: I always think about you
Sei sempre nel mio cuore: You are always in my heart
Voglio baciarti: I want to kiss you
Baciami!: Kiss me
Sei molto bella/bello: You are very beautiful/handsome
Voglio restare sempre con te: I want to be with you always

Ok now, go out there and be romantic. And let me know how these phrases work for you!

Need more information about traveling to Tuscany?

Please contact Serenella Leoni, your Tuscany Lifestyle Expert, to reserve your place and to answer your questions.

Follow Serenella online at her social networks at:
Twitter: www.toscanamia.biz/twitter
Facebook:  www.toscanamia.biz/facebook
MySpace:  www.toscanamia.biz/myspace
Linkedin: www.toscanamia.biz/linkedin
Linkedin Group - Tuscany Travel: www.toscanamia.biz/linkedintuscany