Story and photos by Lesley O’Malley Keyes

I board a plane to London to avoid an overnight flight to Italy. Refreshed and ready, I leave from London Gatwick the following morning on a flight to Florence. As luck would have it, the girlfriend I am visiting has an apartment in the center of Florence, close to all the major attractions. Around noon we get a move on to try to take in the full experience of this city in a short time.

Around Florence

The city is a beautiful monument to the Renaissance, the artistic and cultural reawakening of the 15th century. The orange tiled dome of the Duomo rises high above the city and is Europe’s fourth largest church. Climb the steps to the top to enjoy a breathtaking view of the city.
Ponte Vecchio, the oldest surviving bridge in the city, built in 1345, was once home to traders, blacksmiths, butchers, and tanners. They weren’t a very tidy bunch, and as predicated by the times, they disposed of their waste materials in the broad Arno below. Today the streets are lined with small shops, jewelry boutiques, and antique stores.
Explore the piazzas and select a place for dinner from the extensive restaurant options. You can find great food and wine as you would expect, but it is expensive. Be sure to drink a good Chianti Classico with dinner and Grappa or Sambuca as an after-dinner drink.
On to Siena

After two nights in Florence, we are bound to Siena by train. Traveling by train is easy and inexpensive, but travel light as the smaller stations do not have elevators. Rolling through the Tuscan countryside of green pastures, fields of wild flowers, and quaint terra cotta buildings, we pass a farmhouse called San Fabiano, which will be our home for the next two nights. This is the estate of the Fiorentini family, and includes a castle built by King Angioino in the 12th century and a family church still in use. Filippo and Rachel Fiorentini restored the farmhouse in 1998 and now entertain tourists from all over the world. The 1800-acre estate includes sunflowers, vineyards, corn, sloe, and many species of plants and trees. Sofia, the Fiorentini’s dog, will even seek out white truffles for guests who so desire.

The following day we travel into Siena. With its 17 parishes and wonderful medieval architecture, including the famous Piazza del Campo, there is a multitude of history etched into every surface of the city. We enjoyed a good lunch while being entertained by street performers on the Campo. The Piazza also occupies the site of the old Roman forum, and for much of Siena’s early years, was the city’s principal marketplace. Exploring the streets and alleys, you will find both quaint and designer shops selling local leather, shoes of all designs and colors, wonderful local produce, and the inevitable tourist trinkets, too. Should you visit July 2 or August 16^, you can see the famous Sienese Palio—a bareback horse race first recorded in 1283.

For that evening’s dinner, we shop for cheese, salami, pasta, bread, and wine and prepare a feast. Make sure to cook in one evening while in Italy. The local markets abound with fresh meats, cheeses, vegetables, and more, and it’s a great place to try out your most basic Italian.

All Aboard for Rome

The following morning we board a train for Rome. Tonight we will experience a different kind of hospitality at Villa Spalletti Trivelli, a 12-room luxury hotel. In 2004 the hotel was transformed from a family home to an exclusive hotel for discerning travelers by Giangiacomo Spalletti Trivelli, son of Count Piero. The location is perfect—on Via Piacenza close to Quirinale Palace, home of Italian President of the Republic, and with most major attractions in walking distance, along with an all-service spa.

We fully enjoy relaxing in the sitting rooms and library and take full advantage of the spa. The weather improves and we begin with a guided tour of the Vatican. I advise pre-booking this as the lines are almost impossible without advance reservations. We took a three-hour tour that included viewing the Sistine Chapel. Make sure to also visit St Peter’s, the Colosseum, and the Pantheon, and don’t forget to climb the Spanish steps before throwing a coin in Trevi Fountain.

On to Umbria

Next we rent a car and drive the nearly three hours to Umbria. Umbria is often referred to as Tuscany’s ‘gentler sister.’ It is a canvas of medieval hill towns, inhabited in the sixth century B.C. by Umbrians, farmers, and later by the Etruscans and Romans. In the middle ages, the Lombards established a dukedom centered around Spoleto. By the 13th century there were many independent city-states, most of which were eventually absorbed by the Papal States where they remained until Italian unification in 1860. These old towns are truly magnificent—Perugia, the region’s capital, being my personal favorite. The countryside is abundant with olive groves and produces some of the world’s best olive oil. Other local specialties include lentils, trout, cured meats, and a variety of well-regarded wines.

We are hosted by friend who lives in a renovated a farm house close to Montone. Our hosts, the wife American and the husband Italian, prepare gourmet meals for us including perfectly ‘al dente’ pasta dishes, bruscetta, and pizza, plying us with local olive oil and wine. We walk among the gentle countryside, the fields aflame in red poppies. Brightly colored geraniums are a popular flower in the gardens of the many hillside homes, creating a picture book look.

For the remaining days we see too many Duomos to count, view breathtaking frescos, eat delicious gelato, and admire the hand-hewn leather purses. With friends it is easy to relax and let them take over the business of travel.

Lesley O’Malley Keyes is a regular contributor.

By Mike Morin

Photography by Gary Wong

I was a Red Sox fan before being a Red Sox fan was cool. I grew up in Detroit, also known as Tigertown, where the Tigers won the World Series in 1968, my senior year in high school. I loved my hometown team, but I also secretly loved the Boston Red Sox. I moved to Boston 16 years later in 1984, ironically the same year Detroit won another championship. That didn’t matter to me. I was now free to come out of the closet and cheer for Rice, Dewey, and Remy. At the time I didn’t know, nor did I care, that fully two decades would pass before the curse of the Bambino would be forever broken.

A Great Alternative

By now, a ticket to a Sox game at Fenway Park was already the hottest and hardest ticket in town to get. So hard, in fact, that not one seat has gone unsold since before May 15, 2003. What’s a faithful member of Red Sox Nation to do? Then it came to me: Catch a Southwest flight out of Manchester to Oriole Park at Camden Yards, unofficially known as “Fenway South,” when the Red Sox are playing in Baltimore. It’s a trip I’ve taken twice and will continue to many more times. You’re there in just over an hour, quicker than a car ride from Concord to Boston. Oriole orange gets replaced by Red Sox red inside the highly acclaimed downtown stadium, practically creating a home field advantage for the visiting Sox. Despite declining Oriole attendance in recent years, turnstiles spin like whirligigs when the Red Sox come to the stadium by Chesapeake Bay.

Sox Fans at Camden Yards

“I try to get there every year,” says Janice Page of Henniker, who is a registered nurse at Concord Hospital and serves as New Hampshire governor of Red Sox Nation. “I went twice in 2007. Camden Yards is such a beautiful ball park. Inner Harbor is a great family area. I’ve never paid more than $25 for a ticket, so it’s affordable for families,” she adds. Page is right on the money. When you take into account the price of Fenway tickets (if you can legally find any), paying $50 to park after getting stuck in the rat maze known as Kenmore Square, then spending $100 to feed a family of four, it’s not that much more to make a weekend of it in Baltimore and see two games while you’re there. Depending on the price of gas, driving might save you even more money. Caravans of Concord-area Sox fans take cars and buses. Judy Becker of Hooksett, a nurse case manager, took a motor coach trip with a group from Catholic Medical Center last summer. “We stayed just outside downtown Baltimore at a Marriott about 20 miles away,” says Becker. “We also toured the Inner Harbor and took a water taxi. As a nurse, I enjoyed the Johns Hopkins tour that was very interesting.”

Sights & Delights

There’s plenty to see and do in downtown Baltimore, with many attractions being short walking distances from the stadium. The Maryland Transit Authority has an efficient transportation system, Light Rail, which runs from BWI Airport and stops near Camden Yards plus several places in between, making this an easy trip without a rental car. Besides your automobile, you should plan on leaving your Dr. Oz diet books at home. Eutaw Street, which runs directly behind right field, the equivalent of Boston’s Yawkey Way, is crammed with food vendors. Red Sox fans walk shoulder-to-shoulder, jockeying hot dogs and roast beef sandwiches, trying not to spill a drop of precious beer on a fellow Sox fan. Even former Orioles great Boog Powell has a food stand. Billowing plumes of openpit smoke beckon hungry Red Sox fans to sample grilled ribs from Boog’s Barbecue, behind the right field wall of Oriole Park. Sox fans also go home with sample packets of Old Bay seasoning, the must-have, not-sosecret ingredient in those famous Maryland crabcakes, which are handed out by roving Eutaw Street hawkers. Not everyone thinks Baltimore ballpark food beats Boston’s. “Oh boy, I guess I’d have to say Yawkey Way has better food,” says Page. “When you go to Baltimore you want to try new things. My kids are crazy about Dippin’ Dots (ice cream). They don’t have those at Fenway.” Page also finds lots of fellow Red Sox Nation tourists tend to congregate at chain eateries like Cheesecake Factory and Hard Rock Café, in addition to several local restaurants and pubs nearby. Despite an overwhelming Red Sox presence, Orioles fans can get noisy when their team does well, which hasn’t been often in recent years. The centerfield jumbo scoreboard teases Red Sox fans with lots of tongue-in-cheek barbs during the game. It’s not unusual to see more than 20,000 Sox fans for weekend games in Baltimore. “Baltimore is a very friendly city. The people are very friendly,” says Page. Becker agrees. “They [Orioles fans] treated us very well. There were a couple of young guys in our section and there was some goodnatured ribbing back and forth,” says Becker. Not so in New York. “We’ve been to Yankee Stadium and weren’t too impressed. The food wasn’t as good and Yankees fans aren’t the most gracious,” Becker adds. My informal survey of Oriole Park food vendors and seat ushers backs up Becker’s assertion that Boston fans are by far more pleasant when visiting Baltimore than are Yankee followers.

First Love: Fenway

Despite the lack of Fenway creature comforts, there’s still no place like home. New Hampshire Red Sox Nation governor Page still remembers her first visit to a Sox home game 29 years ago. “I was 25. When you walk through the tunnel and see the Green Monster, it’s an awesome feeling. When I talk to someone, I tell them you gotta prepare yourself for when you walk through the tunnel. I still have the stub. It was 1980. The ticket price was about $8.50, two rows off the field,” she recalls. While Fenway Park prices are a bit higher than eight bucks these days, Baltimore remains an affordable option. Becker plans to introduce some young family members of Red Sox nation to Fenway South this season. “We may go to Baltimore this year, especially since Southwest has reasonably priced flights. I may take my 10- and 12-year-old grandsons.” I’m right behind you, Judy. Tiger Stadium is long gone and I’m still in love with the Red Sox. Plus, nothing beats a rack of Boog Powell barbecue ribs and a cup of Dippin’ Dots.