There are so many scenic venues in Italy that one could spend a life time travelling through the country photographing and painting. A few areas that have been of particular attraction and interest are Lake Como, Tuscany and Umbria, the Cinque terre, and Sicily.

Lake Como and Northern Italy
Lake Como, situated in the foothills of the Alps and close to the Swiss Border, is one of the most beautiful places in Italy. Surrounding estates are reminders of the European aristocracy that have populated the region for centuries.

Tuscany and Umbria
People choose this central part of Italy to visit because of its many wonderful cities-Florence, Assisi, Sienna, Perugia, Spoleto, to name a few. The heart of this renaissance area is noted for its art, its walled towns, its wines, pottery, festivals, etc.

The Cinque Terre
This area on the Ligurian Coast of Italy is made up of five small villages, each a few miles apart from one another, not easily accessible by car. One can hike from Monterosso to Vernazza through vineyards and olive groves, passing donkeys and men working the terraces. Or one can hike from Riomaggiore to Manarola on a trail that follows the sheer rocky coastline, affording spectacular views of the water. One can also climb straight up to the medieval town of Corniglia, a climb that requires good physical conditioning and willpower.

Sicily
"Invade Sicily, everyone else has." This advertising slogan for Sicily's capital, Palermo, is today more of an invitation to visit than resignation to foreign occupation. With so much invasion, recorded from the 9th century BC and so much destruction through history from earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, I expected Sicily to seem repressed and overwhelmed by disasters, dark in tone like the gray stone color of medieval towns. I thought Italian dialects would be incomprehensible to a student of pure Italian, and I had prepared myself to feel the Sicilian's resentment and suspicion of outsiders. But Sicily surprised me. Of those I met of the five million people that make this island the most densely populated part of Italy, I sensed vigor, industry, and entrepreneurial spirit.