About Wandering Italy: Advice for the Worn-Heeled Traveler
Wandering Italy was conceived to get deeper into Italy's little places, the odd nooks and crannies that are largely unprofitable to write about but interesting to travelers who've "done" the big three and are searching for "the real Italy" which is really all around them.
James Martin, a Professional Vagabond, lives part time in one of those seldom visited spots in Italy called la Lunigiana, a place in far northern Tuscany along the Via Francigena that sports over 160 castles and some pretty unique cuisine. He likes talking about his odder experiences, which you'll find in the Wandering Italy Blog (headlines below). Before becoming a travel writer, James went through several "career" phases: as archaeologist, electrical engineer, and race car driver. He's obviously unstable as hell, as the worn-heeled traveler should be.
You can at least hear his voice and see how much stability he has as a human tripod: James Martin Travel Videos.
You can email him: email or follow him on Twitter: @wanderingitaly
Cover your eyes. It's not purty, but he's in his enivronment:
What We Cover in Italy
The small places. Surprising places.
The Via Francigena is an ancient pilgrimage route that has shaped Italy's landscape since the 900s. It's getting more press these days, as folks look for something more spiritual than coach tours. We're interested in the route for its interesting architecture and the carvings on Romanesque churches at the height of the pilgrimage craze in the 11th and 12th centuries, when folks thought that it was easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than a rich man to get to heaven. So the rich dropped some pretty good money trying to garner favor with God, and the results are interesting indeed.
We like valleys like the Valcamonica, with its incredible concentrations of rock carvings hacked out through the ages, regions like the Marche, Puglia, Calabria and Sardinia, and those special foods like truffles to explore. Thanks for joining us for the journey through Italy's smaller and less touristed places. They're no less interesting than Rome, only smaller and with fewer tourist resources. We encourage you to explore them with an open mind, a little knowlege of the Italian language (or some unabashed hand signals) and no small amount of joy for discovery.
Wandering Italy means taking your time, noticing the details, and planning just enough to get you to interesting places. Life is a hoot when you let yourself go.
Projects
We're currently working on creating a resource for folks who travel right. Those would be folks who love discovering a culture that isn't theirs. The easiest way to do this is to rent a vacation house and stay a while, participating in the local food festivals called sagre and shopping in local markets. If you don't speak much Italian, you might be unaware of the differences in shopping in an Italian market. So, keep an eye on our Italian Food page for the evolution of this project.
Speaking of food, got an iPad? iPhone? Planning a trip to Tuscany? We have the mobile app for hungry vacationers. It's called Tuscany for Foodies, and it's available now in the app store: Tuscany for Foodies. Over 130 restaurants, caffes, cooking schools and market tours, food guides and even how to manage a "real" Italian meal.
If you like good, staunch food, you'll want to check La Cucina Povera.
And if you like the island of Sardinia, we've broken it out and made it a whole wandering site in anticipation of our mobile app on the island: Wandering Sardinia.
Hosting
Wandering Italy is hosted on the best host I've found over the last 11 years of running web sites: JaguarPC. If you've got questions, they get answered fast. You get lots of space and resources on the shared hosting, and even more on the semi-dedicated. There are some amazing prices of VPS as well. Check 'em out. JaguarPC.
Wandering Italy - The Blog
Keep up with our wanderings in the Lunigiana of Northern Tuscany in the spring and fall, and our philisophic and sometimes foody scribblings when we're home in the US.
Wandering Italy Blog
Everyone Goes to Florence, Italy
Do You Need a Car to Visit Italy?
Rebuilding Vernazza, a pixel at a time
About James Martin and Wandering Italy
Good Reads
Europe Travel
C'mon, take a trip to Europe
Italy Travel
Travel Information on Italy
Wandering France
What you need to know about France and French culture.
La Cucina Povera
The cooking of the Poor
Content on this page ©2011 by James Martin, all rights reserved.