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Italiano Vero 5 Ways to Live and Relax like a Real Italian
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Italiano Vero 5 Ways to Live and Relax like a Real Italian

Would you like to eat pasta, treat yourself to gelato and drink wine on the balcony overlooking the Tyrrhenian Sea? While you count days to your next vacations, we will go on a journey across five regions of Italy and make a holiday plan for everyone.

Life on the Amalfi coast

Life on the Amalfi coast

Overlooking the Tyrrhenian Sea

Overlooking the Tyrrhenian Sea

Positano

Positano

Romantic
Where: Amalfi Coast, Positano

Life on the Amalfi coast is stylish, bright, and slightly frivolous. This is mostly due to nature and warm sea. Even the very name of the city of Positano is something in tune with the word “positive”. And this is really true! This city is so beautiful and romantic that it’s hard to hold back your feelings. No wonder, it was here that the feelings of famous celebrity couples flared up for the first time: Greta Garbo and Leopold Stokowski, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Barton, Laurence Olivier and Joan Plowright.
Positano nested on the rocks and its streets are entire steps, but you will need just a couple of days to fly on them like a bird. It is best to get acquainted with the city on foot. Walk around the botanical garden surrounding the ancient royal palace of the King of Naples, Joachim Murat; drop into small art galleries; admire the rocky shores, orange groves, and the sea from the Path of the Gods. There are about a hundred of restaurants in tiny Positano, if not more. It is worth having dinner in San-Pietro gourmet food while listening to opera arias and pleasuring spectacular views. Another restaurant is La taverna del leone , which is unimpressive on the outside, but here they serve, as they say, snatched pizza. No wonder the tavern appears in the tops on Tripadvisor. Visit Il Ritrovo if you want to try the best seafood pasta.

Where to stay. Plenty of houses, apartments, residences, and villas are suggested for rent in Positano. Choose options with a spa (Turkish bath, jacuzzi and massage room are required) and a fruit garden, so that you could pick a fresh fruit from the tree for breakfast. If you wish, you can rent a villa on Galli island, the one Rudolf Nureyev owned not so long ago. If you feel some creative urge, you can arrange a cooking lesson at home. 

Even the very name of the city of Positano is something in tune with the word “positive”. And this is really true!

The city is beautiful and romantic

The city is beautiful and romantic

Positano nested on the rocks

Positano nested on the rocks

Enjoy your time in Positano

Enjoy your time in Positano

Celebrity-like
Where: Como Lake


Why will you like it here? Mountains, clean air, orange trees on the shore, and romantic sunsets reflected in the water – this is what Lake Como looks like. No wonder it attracted George Clooney who immediately bought a villa here. A trip on a ferry or boat is a great way to get acquainted with the red-roofed cities from Cernobbio to Bellagio, which is called the pearl of Como and is considered the most beautiful in this area. So make a stop here to get into a café near the embankment or take a walk along winding cobbled streets until you get hungry. Have lunch in the tiny island of Comacina with its small church, a couple of art workshops and the Locanda dell’Isola Comacina restaurant. The owner, Benvenuto Puricelli, greets the guests personally and then brings the menu, which has not changed since the establishment of the restaurant in 1947.

Bellagio is called the pearl of Como

Bellagio is called the pearl of Como

Pier of Bellagio

Pier of Bellagio

Boat trip

Boat trip

The narrow streets of Bellagio

The narrow streets of Bellagio

City Como

City Como

If you hope to have dinner with Clooney or Richard Branson, move to Cernobbio and get into IL Gatto Nero. It is very romantic even without any celebrities with its open terrace, candles on the table, and a reflection of the shivering lights in the lake. If you feel like a tireless shopper, go to Como, which has been the center of silk trade since the Renaissance. They still manufacture this tender fabric here but not on that scale. The silk produced here is delivered to such fashion houses as Hermes famous for their stylish silk scarves. Keep this in mind.

Where to stay. In any of these beautiful towns on the shores of Lake Como. The best idea is to stay at the historic Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni in Bellagio, where Kennedy was staying. As an option, you can choose a historic villa or manor, where such celebrities as Winston Churchill once lived. Here you will find a view from the windows to Lake Como, an antique interior and, certainly, a cool wine cellar. Well, you may also find the accommodation with a wood-fired oven for pizza. It is likely that a celebrity will have rest in the neighborhood, like Drew Barrymore, Sting or Helen Mirren. Although this option will not be so important for you when you freeze to Como with all your heart.

Mountains, clean air, orange trees on the shore, and romantic sunsets reflected in the water – this is what Lake Como looks like

Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni

Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni

Restaurant Serbelloni

Restaurant Serbelloni

Romantic dinner

Romantic dinner

Artistic
Where: Val d’Orcia, Tuscany


Why will you like it here? Tuscany is not only Siena and Florence, full of tourists, but also Val d’Orcia. Did you hear about it? The most popular with photographers and artists of the Renaissance landscapes are all here. Moreover, these velvet fields and cypress hills are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Long walks with cameras and easels in the expanses of Val d’Orchi are waiting for you. But don’t forget about three cities: Pienza, Montalcino, and Montepulciano as well as one estate of Borgo Santo Pietro (Borgo Santo Pietro, which are also worth your attention. Take a look at the sights and then have lunch at Terrazza Val d’Orcia in the tiny Renaissance Pienza. You will not find risotto here, but carpaccio, tagliatelle and other Tuscan gourmets will be the best. Montepulciano is first of all the legendary red Vino Nobile, which you must try and only then admire the cathedrals full of works of art, small squares, and fountains. Montalcino also means wine, Brunello di Montalcino (try it in the cellar of the Rocca Fortress), 15th-century dwelling houses, and the Abbey of Sant’Antimo. Borgo Santo Pietro is a glamorous estate in a quiet rural setting. Once upon a time, pilgrims rested here on the way to Rome and now they rent it out to those having vacations. They carefully preserved historical entourage here, restored it in some places and supplemented with five-star benefits and Michelin-starred Meo Modo restaurant.

Where to stay. In a large estate or a villa but definitely in the gardens. All you need for il dolce far niente, sweet idleness, is the sun, beautiful landscapes, and a swimming pool. You can book drawing lessons taught by an artist, tasting wines with a sommelier, cooking classes with a chef and horseback riding tours with a coach in the nearby areas.


Val d’Orchi velvet fields and cypress hills is a UNESCO World Heritage Site

Velvet Hills of Tuscany

Velvet Hills of Tuscany

Sights in Pienza

Sights in Pienza

Val d’Orcia

Val d’Orcia

Millionaire
Where: Sardinia, Porto Cervo


Why will you like it here? Porto Cervo was founded by Prince Karim Aga Khan in the 60s as an exquisite resort for the rich and famous. There are a luxury golf club and marina. Believe us that looking at them is like watching the sights. Absolutely everything in Porto Cervo is of the highest level: starting from the service and ending with the beaches. The most popular and beautiful one is Liscia Ruia with its long coastline, strawberry tree scent in the air, velvety white-pink sand, and exclusive parties. If you have a vacation with a child, it is better to choose a more distant Baia Sardinia with a water park, and if you are a surfing lover, there is nothing better than Rena Bianca. Here you can try any dish cooked by famous chefs in the best restaurants: Il Pescatore, La Pergola, Il Pomodoro, La Terrazza. After midnight, head for Sottovento Club always full of all sorts of gloss people. The best of them prefer to hang out in a club with the eloquent name Billionaire, which is located on the water and has a large swimming pool and a very cool restaurant.

Where to stay. All villas and hotels are of the top class. Cala di Volpe (www.caladivolpe.com) hotel is even worth an excursion. Princes, kings and, of course, celebrities love to stay here. The hotel was built by the famous Jacque Kuehl and since he was on friendly terms with Salvador Dali and Pablo Picasso, his creation is permeated with surrealism from top to bottom. Multicolored stairs and “dancing” walls as if they were not created by man but carved out of limestone by water, bright spots of the walls… There is something of Gaudi in all of this.


Porto Cervo was founded by Prince Karim Aga Khan in the 60s as an exquisite resort for the rich and famous

Porto Cervo

Porto Cervo

The resort for the rich and famous

The resort for the rich and famous

There is a luxury golf club and marina

There is a luxury golf club and marina

Everything in Porto Cervo is of the highest level

Everything in Porto Cervo is of the highest level

Pastoral
Where: Umbria


Why will you like it here? Umbria is the only region of Italy without a coastline but it is called the green heart of Italy. So why not experience Italian rural life in the vast forests and fields? Pamper yourself with its wonderful heritage: landscaped gardens, heated pools, spacious equipped kitchens, family dinners, fruit and vegetables directly from the garden. Many fams suggest great restaurants, but it’s better to learn how to cook Italian food by yourself. And to ride a bike in the Umbrian expanses between the morning espresso and dinner at a garden table. Throw a coin into the Pozzo di San Patrizio well with 70 windows and 248 steps inside in Orvieto. Enjoy the paintings of Perugino, Raphael’s teacher, lie on the shores of Lake Trazimeno, and admire the Cascate delle Marmore marble waterfall created by the Romans in Citta della Pieve. Then switch to gastronomic Umbria extending from Spoleto to Norcia. Norcia is called the truffle capital of Italy, where you can try an omelet and meat with these valuable mushrooms in almost every restaurant and trattoria. Prices there are not so high.

Where to stay. In a large manor, where you can live next to several families of vacationers and never meet. Thanks to the open spaces and well-thought-out landscape, you will have a complete feeling of privacy having wifi, a kitchen, and a pool. You can rent a country house, play bocce in the big yard with local kids, and cook food on a real wood-fired stove. Hospitable owners will tell you where to go and give you a bottle of wine as a present. Just because they are Italians.


Umbria is called the green heart of Italy. So why not experience Italian rural life in the vast forests and fields?

Italian food is a national treasure

Italian food is a national treasure

Umbria

Umbria

Green heart of Italy

Green heart of Italy

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