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This article originally appeared in the August/September 2020 issue of Dream of Italy. Iris Origo’s 1957 work The Merchant of Prato: Daily Life in a Medieval Italian City at times paints a rather bleak picture of the townspeople. Early in the text, scholar-biographer Origo quotes an unknown 14th-century Pratese gentleman’s reflective writings upon returning from time spent in Padua and Ferrara: I …

This article originally appeared in the August/September 2020 issue of Dream of Italy. When I dream of Italy I dream of being lifted, as if on wings, to the Fonte Martino Guest House and Estate, nestled in the Tuscan countryside of Montepulciano. Floating up a winding path between cypress trees that pierce through ethereal clouds to touch the blue sky, I arrive at …

This article originally appeared in the June/July 2020 issue of Dream of Italy. When I dream of Italy, I dream of the soul knowing that happens on a warm September day, late afternoon. Bright sun, light breeze, San Gimignano rising on the hill like a beacon from the valley below. Cypress trees line our view, framing the city on the hill …