Every great architect is — necessarily — a great poet. He must be a great original interpreter of his time, his day, his age. — Frank Lloyd Wright

Ed. note:  Vicenza is one of my favorite Italian cities, and Tom Weber knows it inside and out. He’s a triple-threat journalist — broadcast, photo and print — and resides in Vicenza, his adopted hometown, in the Veneto region of northeastern Italy. He hosts the eclectic travel/food-and-wine/photography blog The Palladian Traveler.com and is a regular contributor for Los Angeles-based TravelingBoy.com and Rome-based ItalianNotebook.com. Feel free to follow Tom as he “meanders along the cobblestone to somewhere.”

 

(Statue of Palladio in the Centro Storico – Vicenza, Italy | ©Tom Palladio Images)

Andrea Di Pietro della Gondola.

A nice, simple Italian name from out of the 16th century belonging to a humble stonemason, the son of a hard-working miller. But, when a nome d’arte is finally placed behind Andrea’s full name, he rises like a phoenix, well above the crowd, to an elite level reserved for monarchs, popes and nobility.

PALLADIO.

Widely considered to be the most influential individual in the history of Western architecture, Palladio created, nurtured and developed an architectural design style and an associated lifestyle known the world over as Palladianism.

(Villa Almerico Capra “La Rotonda” – Vicenza, Italy | ©Tom Palladio Images)

Born in Padova (Padua) and eventually schooled and culturally polished in Vicenza, the “City of Palladio,” this Italian Renaissance master builder provided an architectural crown jewel to the world that continues to inspire even while he sleeps: the Villa Almerico Capra, La Rotonda.

Since its creation, La Rotonda has drawn poets and artists, sovereigns and statesmen, scholars and art historians, and travelers and tourists alike to Vicenza to marvel at Palladio’s harmonious spatial design.

At its apex, the breath of Palladianism extended from Constantinople, to Madrid, to London to a young nation’s capitol across the Atlantic Ocean – Washington, D.C.  La Rotonda, Palladio’s capo lavoro (masterpiece), as well as all of his other works, continues to resonate today, more than 400 years after his death.

 

(Torre Bissara stands vigil over Piazza dei Signori – Vicenza, Italy | ©Tom Palladio Images)

Without a doubt, the 16th century belonged to Palladio, a man who left behind many outstanding examples of his craft throughout the City of and Province of Vicenza and beyond with his palaces and stately villas. Before Palladio’s passage through Vicenza, it was arguably one of the more downtrodden and esthetically lacking cities around the Veneto region.

(Around the loggia of the Basilica Palladiana – Vicenza, Italy | ©Tom Palladio Images)

It was Palladio who singlehandedly placed Vicenza “on the map,” laying down a solid foundation that has enabled the city to become one of the gems in UNESCO’s World Heritage Site inventory.

He left his mark just about everywhere within the walls of the Centro Storico (Old Town Center) of Vicenza, as 23 individual buildings or sections of buildings are known to have been designed or reconstructed by Palladio or attributed to him. Among these prestigious works are the Loggia Valmarana, Palazzo Porto Breganze, Loggia del Capitaniato, Teatro Olimpico - the world’s first and oldest enclosed theatre and also Palladio’s final design work before his death – Palazzo Chiericati and the just-restored Basilica Palladiana (f.n.a. Palazzo della Ragione).

(©Tom Palladio Images)

In addition to Vicenza proper, the Palladian design style – more importantly, the Palladian lifestyle – is well represented in 24 private villa-estates that dot the landscape all across the Veneto region and are also recognized by UNESCO.

(Original design drawing by A. Palladio – photographic reproduction ©Tom Palladio Images)

Palladio’s imprint on Renaissance architecture was far reaching, and the design and construction guide books that he wrote on the subject – Quattro Libri dell’Architettura (Four Books of Architecture) – became the architectural language spoken around the world, from Europe, to Asia and across North America.

One of America’s “Founding Fathers,” Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the United States and a self-taught architect of note, absorbed Palladio’s theories of harmonious spatial design and claimed Palladio’s collective writings were the bible.

(A U.S. nickel coin | ©Tom Palladio Images)

An ardent disciple of Palladianism, Jefferson adopted the Palladian lifestyle and modeled his Virginia estate, Monticello, after Palladio’s masterpiece La Rotonda. If you don’t believe me, just look at the back of a U.S. nickel (5-cent coin) and you’ll readily see the design similarities between the two villa-estates.

(View down to the Centro Storico – Vicenza, Italy | ©Tom Palladio Images)

Fast-forward to today and one can readily see that Vicenza is a thriving, cosmopolitan city. With a population of approximately 270,000 around the greater metropolitan area, Vicenza – based upon the value of its exports — ranks as the third largest industrial center in Italy. One of the Bel Paese’s wealthiest, Vicenza has come a long, long way since the days when it was looked down upon by its more successful rivals around the Most Serene Republic of Venice.

(Flowers front Ponte San Michele – Vicenza, Italy  ©Tom Palladio Images)

The Vicenza of today counts among its “favorite sons” international fashion brands Bottega Veneta, Diesel, Marlboro Classics, Marzotto and Pal Zileri; bicycle components manufacturer Campagnolo; and, Dainese, the benchmark label of protective wear for motorcycling, snow and extreme sports. Add to that, the city’s stature as the epicenter of the world’s finest goldsmiths and host to the internationally acclaimed VicenzaOro gold exposition three times a year.

(The porticos of the Basilica Palladiana – Vicenza, Italy | ©Tom Palladio Images)

By all accounts, Vicenza’s luck began to change when the young stonemason arrived, rolled up his sleeves and went to work, work that centuries later would award him the keys to the city. His city. The city of Andrea Di Pietro della Gondola – La Città del Palladio.

 

For complete tourist information, in English, on the City of and Province of Vicenza, the Palladian buildings and villas, hotels, food and wine, and events logon to: http://www.vicenzae.org/index.php?lang=eng

Buon viaggio!

 

 

Umbria: Food, Wine & Words 

Eat, drink and find your voice in the “green heart of Italy” 

May 30 – June 7, 2014

 

Join acclaimed travel writer and blogger Linda Dini Jenkins for a week-long adventure under the glorious skies of one of Italy’s most beautiful regions.

This adventure is limited to eight participants only and includes lodging at the spacious and inviting Villa Fattoria del Gelso in Cannara, in the shadow of historic Assisi.

Linda is the author of Up at the Villa: Travels with my Husband — praised as one of the “Ten travel books I’d give my girlfriends” by www.journeywoman.com — and is the creator of the entertaining and informative travel blog, Travel the Write Way (www.travelthewriteway.com). Her writing also appears in Dream of Italy, Richmond Times-Dispatch, HealthCare Traveler and AAA’s Home and Away.

During our week in the sun, Linda will share some of her secrets to effective travel journaling in a series of low-key optional writing workshops, using exercises that are sure to help participants capture their Umbrian experiences to the fullest.

Participants will travel to several of Umbria’s storied hill towns; will eat and drink well; will write sparkling journal entries; will experience L’Infiorata (Umbria’s incredible flower art festival); and will still have plenty of time for exploring and relaxation.

This package includes seven nights in the fully restored 17th century Villa Fattoria Del Gelso, located on a 40-hectare working farm that is literally walking distance from colorful shops and restaurants and centrally located in the village of Cannara. The trip is designed for relaxed learning and sightseeing via foot, bicycle and van. Not every moment has been scheduled — if there are other things that you’d like to do, the possibility exists.

Fee includes villa accommodations, all breakfasts, welcome and farewell dinners, pizza-making party and cooking class on premises, a winery tour with lunch and transportation to Assisi, Spello and Montefalco by private van. Both writers and non-writers are welcome. Bring your swimsuit, camera and journal. Andiamo!

Pricing and itinerary coming soon.

For more information, please contact linda@travelthewriteway.com.

 

 

 

Twin words are the most valuable and overlooked gift in language acquisition. — Susan Elizabeth Nus

 

I love the sound of Italian. As I child, I could listen to my father and grandfather talk to each other for hours and never get bored. Sometimes, with the help of hand gestures, arm movements that took in the room, crooked heads and raised eyebrows, I actually knew exactly what they were saying.

In high school, I studied Spanish, because Italian wasn’t an option back then. But there were so many similarities between the two, that at some point I could actually answer my grandfather in Spanish and he knew what I was saying. That was when I learned to love Italian words and language.

As an adult, I’ve wanted to learn Italian very badly. I take beginner classes in advance of my trips to Italy, do very well, and then forget most of it until the next refresher course. I am pretty good in tourist Italian, but everything is in the present tense. It’s frustrating. A friend of mine moved to Belgium years ago and, although she was pretty much fluent in French, still had this complaint: I hate that I’m not funny in French. I know what she means. It’s the difference between being book-smart-adequate and really knowing the language.

 

So when I learned about Italian instructor Susan Elizabeth Nus’ new book, Italian Fluency — reading that it could be my “short cut to Italian fluency” — I was intrigued. Nus takes a radical approach to language learning, focusing on the vast numbers of cognates, or twin words, that exist between the two languages. I knew that some words were similar, of course, but I had no idea of the extent of cognate mania that existed. Now I can see how familiarizing myself with these twin words will take a lot of the stress out of learning vocabulary — and that will free me up to practice the language in a more confident way. They’ll keep me in my language comfort zone, so to speak.

 

 

Want examples? Consider these words:

il sentimento                      the sentiment

la differenza                       the difference

la funzione                          the function

flessibile                               flexible

creativo                                  creative

incessante                             incessant

stupido                                   stupid

la farmacia                           the pharmacy

ritornare                                to return

segreto                                    secret

 

Well, Nus puts forth a whole book of ‘em: noun, adjective,  adverb, and verbal cognates. And then she offers up cognates by category — people, food, health, business, etc. But watch out for the false cognates (so you think morbido is morbid? Think again.) and start right now on the “1,000 essential Italian vocabulary words.” Really. This is a truly fascinating look at what’s similar, rather than different, between the two languages. Read this book, learn some cognates, and I guarantee you won’t feel like such a language idiot!

Susan Elizabeth Nus has a Master’s degree in Italian Literature from Catholic University and a Bachelor’s degree in Spanish Literature from George Washington University. She has taught Romance languages for eight years, and has lived in Spain, Germany and in three different regions of Italy. But I think my favorite thing about her is that she has a fish named Dante.

Of course, Nus stresses that cognates are not a magic bullet, just a beginning. We language learners still have to focus on grammar and syntax (and a few well-placed gestures) and find a way to work on pronunciation. If we’re in a class, that’s great. But listening to Italian radio and television stations also helps. And to wrap our heads around current and idiomatic usage? Try to read an Italian newspaper every day — or scan the internet for Italian blogs, YouTube videos, websites and more. Armchair travel to Italy every day and some of the panic will slip away.

As a trained ESL instructor, I’m a big advocate of the using all the Reading/Writing/ Listening/Speaking modalities, and Nus suggests that we do some of each every day to stay in shape. To help, she provides a raft of links and suggestions for how we can do that on a regular basis. If you’ve ever been curious about learning the world’s most beautiful language or, if you’re like me, have been thwarted by lack of time or opportunity, you’ll find this book to be an amazing help as well as a great ego boost.

Allora . . . parliamo italiano con Italian Fluency!

 

Buon viaggio!

 

 

“Our battered suitcases were piled on the sidewalk again; we had longer ways to go. But no matter, the road is life.” – Jack Kerouac

 

I went for a pedicure the other day, to lessen the back-breaking monotony of packing. The color I chose was a rather nice frosted pale peach. I didn’t realize that it was called Nomad’s Dream until this morning, when I took it out of my purse. I had had a dream last night that I was going to write something today about being nomads again. Crazy life . . .

So why are we packing? Because after eight years in central Virginia (Midlothian, to be exact, just about 15 miles outside of Richmond) Tim and I have decided to move back to our adopted home of Salem, Massachusetts. We couldn’t be happier. Although we could use some Floo Powder and a good spell to simply transport us and our stuff from here to there. Alas, that is not to be so.

According to Wikipedia, a nomad is a member of a community of people who move from one place to another, rather than settling permanently in one location. It says that there are an estimated 30–40 million nomads in the world even today, so I guess we’re in good company.

Tim and I started our lives together after a chance meeting at an event at the New York Hilton Hotel in 1990. Since then, we’ve lived in Burlington, Vermont, moved to Boston’s South End and then on to Cambridgeside, smack in the middle  between Central Square and Harvard Square in Cambridge. Then we moved up to Salem, Mass. where we lived for a record 10+ years. Now we’ve been here in Virginia for nearly eight years, and it’s time to go.

Our Salem journey will take us from the William Pickering House at the corner of Essex Street and

Bott’s Court — where we used to live — to the John Pickering House on Broad Street, just a few blocks away. I’ll continue to write and will also assume the responsibilities of a part-time Executive Director for the Pickering Foundation. Tim will continue his career as an investment advisor and will, from time to time, assume the responsibilities of Dobby, the house elf, paying careful attention to what’s going on inside a house that was built in the mid-17^th Century as well as managing the grounds, of which there are about two acres. It’s a whole new adventure for us (except with a built-in community of greatly missed friends and a newly invigorated city center) and we are very much looking forward to it.

The point about being nomads, I guess, is that we have friends and family who have never been quite sure about all this moving business. When I lived in New York as an adult, for example, I moved five times in 17 years. And now, here I go again. New state, new surroundings, new service providers to seek out, new clients to find . . . when I put it that way, it sounds like a hassle. But I guess it’s what keeps us going. The newness of it all.

I realized one thing over the past year and that is this: no matter how much I dream of Italy (and I do), I also dream of Salem. And that’s something I can do something about right now!

We’ve had a good time here in Virginia, but our suitcases are just a few weeks away from being piled on the sidewalk again. The road is life, and we’re merging onto it once more. See you at the truck stops.

 

Buon viaggio!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ed. note:  Okay, so immediately after my rant about no unsolicited guest posts, here’s the latest guest post. Solicited. I’ve known Paula and Giovanni for years, and am pleased to offer their story here. Paula was born in Boston to Italian American parents, and her great-grandparents came from the Province of Avellino. She has a degree in languages from U. Mass Boston and also studied Italian at L’universita per stranieri in Perugia (Umbria). Paula worked and lived in Italy for three years before she and Giovanni  settled in the U.S. Next time you’re in Salem, Massachusetts, be sure to stop by their restaurant for some authentic Italian home cooking. Tell them I sent you . . .

 

When people hear that I was in St. Peter’s Square the evening that the new pope was elected, I receive comments such as, “You were so lucky! . . . Talk about being in the right place at the right time! . . .You couldn’t have planned it better.” Listening to these comments, I think back about how we happened to be at St.Peter’s on that particular evening. And I think maybe we did plan it.

For the past 22 years, my husband Giovanni and I have owned and operated the Caffe Graziani in Salem, Mass. In the spring of 2012, we expanded our business to include exclusive guided tours to Italy, and specifically to Giovanni’s hometown of Piglio, located approximately 35 miles south east of Rome. Our first tour in March 2012 was a huge success and we couldn’t wait to plan our next travel adventure.

We began making preliminary itineraries in May of 2012 for the following year. Our first draft itinerary had a departure date of Sunday, March 10, 2013. This would get us to Rome on the morning of Monday, March 11^th.  We planned to stay in Rome for two days and then depart on Wednesday, March 13^th for Piglio.

While organizing activities for our days in Rome, we realized that the majority of museums are closed on Mondays — so we had to shift our plans slightly. We changed  to a March 11^th departure instead, thus arriving in Rome on Tuesday, March 12 and departing for Piglio on Thursday, March 14^th. Our trip’s day-to-day itineraries are quite full, and last year we had already visited both the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel. So rather than repeat the visit exactly, we planned for a guided tour of St.Peter’s Basilica on the afternoon of March 13^th.  Still the Vatican, but something a little different.

Our plans were finally firmed up. But on February 11,2013, Pope Benedict XVI announced that he would retire at the end of the month. As only the second Pope to retire — and the first in modern history — this was news that rocked the Roman Catholic world. The moment I heard it I thought,  “We could be in Rome when the new pope is chosen!” I was glad we had “planned” to skip the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel, because the Chapel is where the Cardinals would hold their secret conclave. Now the only question was, When would they hold the conclave?

Cardinals arrived in Rome from all over the world during the first week of March. Our group landed on March 11^th.  The conclave began on March 12^th.  The city was abuzz with activity. Our own Boston Cardinal Sean O’Malley was a favorite of the Italian press.

Following our tour of St. Peter’s, Giovanni and I, along with several members

of our group, were in the Piazza San Pietro at 4:45 on Wednesday afternoon, March 13^th.   Rumor had it that there would be a vote at 5:00 p.m. So we found a strategic spot in the rain-soaked piazza from which we could observe the famous chimney amidst all the umbrellas.  Five o’clock turned to 5:30, 6:00, and then the last rumor was that the vote could happen any time between 5:00 and 7:00 p.m. Still, we waited.

As the rain continued, some of our group grew discouraged and left. I decided

I wasn’t going anywhere until I saw that smoke. I and three others of our

North Shore group remained with the hundreds of thousands who now filled the piazza. At 7:07 p.m. our patience was rewarded.  When that white smoke emerged, the crowd burst out in cheers, tears, song, prayer, and chants of “Viva il Papa!”

About an hour later, the new Pope Francis finally came onto the balcony. He asked the crowd to pray for him. The silence in the piazza as 500,000 people bowed their heads and prayed was moving. Then we received Pope Francis’s first blessing to cap a day that we will never forget.

 

Buon viaggio!

I’m posting this on behalf of all the bloggers who write their hearts out every day, week, and month and have to take time to deal with spam guest blogger requests. We’re sick of them! — LDJ

 

It happens all the time. You start a blog and diligently write every day or so. Then it’s once a week. Then once a month. Then, it’s whenever you damn well feel like it because, well, life gets in the way. Billable work must be done. The garbage needs taking out. You have to get to the gym (you try, anyway). Meals must be cooked and bills must be paid. Unless your livelihood depends on your blog, it’s all too easy to let it slip away.

Believe me, I’d much rather be telling you stories about getting lost in Genoa on my trip to the Ligurian Coast or how I would not recommend beginning a trip to the U.K. by taking a radical wrong turn straightaway out of Heathrow. But reality must take precedence.

So it is with a heavy heart that I open my e-mails each day awaiting the latest crop of “I want to write a guest post for you” messages. Many of them use the exact same language; obviously, these are form letters or computer-generated pitches. The English teacher in me screams silently as I read them. Herewith, some actual pitches:

• I am XXXX from XXXX and I am interested to write a guest post in your site. I can write on topics about anything that has to do with cruises, trips, travels, vacations or if you have some particular subject lines that you have been thinking about that I could help you with please feel free to suggest.

• I wanted to reach out to you as we have a client who is trying to get as much interest and coverage in their online mentions as possible. We would be really happy if you would agree to mention or write about their recent press coverage and would be willing to work with you to understand how we can achieve that.

• I am XXX, a traveler. I have been following your blog since long and found it informative. I can say without hesitation that you have done remarkable work and put a great content on your blog…I assure you to provide informative, relevant and unique content which will adhere to your guest blogging guidelines and would entice more readers to your blog. Please let me know if you are interested for the same.

• We would like to collaborate with you! I’m interested in the price for a blog post with one link in it! Could you please give me the general rates of advertising on your blog  http://www.travelthewriteway.com/  ? Thank you. I hope to hear from you soon!:)

Now, don’t get me wrong: I love guest blog posts! For one thing, it’s always good to get a little break from writing as well as a fresh perspective. But I like very much to have control over what kind of content I foist upon my readers. I have slipped in the past, in one or two instances (I was a newbie) and for that I apologize. I’m trying to keep things uber-professional now. So to all the would-be guest bloggers out there, here’s the deal:

• Most of my guests bloggers are approached by me directly — they have something of interest that I want to share with my readers. It is unlikely that I will accept unsolicited pitches, but since I can’t stop you, keep reading.

• I do not accept money for guest posts and I don’t want to promote your company’s latest marketing scheme.

• Likewise, as of right now, I do not accept advertising (except, as you can see to the right, for my own book. Please buy it.).

• You must be able to write in good English and make a compelling, specific pitch about what you can offer to my readers based on the kinds of things that you know I write about. In other words, be a real writer and do some homework.

• Of course I’ll put a link to you or your company in the story. That’s called social networking. But you’d better be legitimate and bring a unique story or point of view or your piece will not appear here.

• Computer-generated pitches will henceforth be trashed.

I hate to do this, because I know how difficult it is to get started in this business. But standards must be maintained. That’s my rant for this Friday. I’ll be back next week with some actual travel writing. Enjoy the weekend!

 

 Buon viaggio!

 

 

 

I think music in itself is healing. It’s an explosive expression of humanity. It’s something we are all touched by. No matter what culture we’re from, everyone loves music. — Billy Joel

 

Purtroppo, I will not be going to Italy this year. Regrettable, indeed.  I’ve been away two years in a row now, and I’m getting a little twitchy.

But if you get the chance to go, and if you’re a music lover, you’re in luck. There are some fabulous musical festivals and events this year from one end of the boot to the other. Opera buff? Jazz hound? Classical music aficionado?

There’s something for everybody . . . look for the British flag or the English button in the links below.

 

 

Festival del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino

Florence (Tuscany)

May 2 – June 24

www.maggiofiorentino.it/en

 

 

Villa in Canto

Verona (Veneto)

May 10, June 7, July 6, October 5

www.villaincanto.eu

 

Ravello Festival

Ravello (Campania)

June – August

www.ravellofestival.com

 

Arena di Verona Opera Festival

Verona (Veneto)

June 14 – September 8

 www.arena.it/en-US/HOMEen.html

 

Trasimeno Music Festival

Magione (Umbria)

June 29 – July 5

www.trasimenomusicfestival.com

 

Umbria Jazz

Perugia (Umbria)

July 5 – 14

www.umbriajazz.com

 

Incontri in Terra di Siena

Val d’Orcia (Tuscany)

July 19 – 28

www.itslafoce.org

 

Stresa Festival

Stresa (Piedmont)

July 19 – September 7

www.stresafestival.eu

 

Time in Jazz

Berchidda (Sardinia)

August 10 – 16

 www.timeinjazz.it/programma_calendario_pages.php?l=2&id=9&id_cal=124&id_p=327

 

Godere della musica!

Buon viaggio!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

April is the cruellest month, breeding/Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing/Memory and desire, stirring/Dull roots with spring rain. . . T.S. Eliot, “The Waste Land”

 

Whatever.

It’s also National Poetry Month, thanks to The Academy of American Poets — and has been since 1996. It’s become that time of year when schools, publishers, libraries, booksellers and poets throughout the U.S. band together to celebrate poetry and its (hopefully) vital place in American culture. A quick visit to www.poetry.org will reveal the thousands of organizations that participate through readings, festivals, book displays, workshops and other events. Enter  your state and see what’s happening throughout April locally to support the poetic endeavor.

My most favorite thing about National Poetry Month (aside from the fabulous posters that come to me each year as a workshop leader) is National Poem In Your Pocket Day: April 18. Try it this year for yourself. Bring a favorite poem to your workplace, school, community organization or book group. Pull it out and read it aloud. Share it with anyone who will listen. Try not to get arrested.

Here’s one to get you started from one of my favorites, Dorothy Parker. Your poem doesn’t have to be grand or serious. The poetry.org site has lots of good suggestions — even poems for young people.. Have fun!

 Comment

Oh, life is a glorious cycle of song,

A medley of extemporanea;

And love is a thing that can never go wrong;

And I am Marie of Roumania.

Buon viaggio!

 

 

Welcome back, loyal readers and hello, newcomers!

Sorry to have been away for so long. Probably you haven’t even noticed, but it’s been nearly two months since my last confession, er, posting.

As my friend David said, I have been muggled. Twice. Taken down by computer meanies who want to get into my system and send you all  annoying messages about Dr. Oz’s latest diet and the miracles of Viagra. I deeply apologize for any inconvenience.

This has been a learning experience for me and one I am still not entirely finished with. It’s a day-to-day thing. For that, I ask your patience.

I’ll be back next week, I hope, with some new stories.

Meanwhile, I hope you’ve had a safe Passover and are anticipating a joyous Easter. This has been a tough “spring” for most of us, no matter where in the world we are. In the U.S., it’s snowing where it shouldn’t be snowing and dry where it should be snowing. The Aran Isles look like the Arctic. And a friend of ours has fled England to be in Florida for the duration of the so-called spring.

Let’s hope normalcy returns soon.

I’m leaving you with a pic of me and Tim at the Cliff House in San Francisco. My parents took me there 100 years ago. It’s still got a great view, and it makes me happy. Jaded SF-ers need not comment. I know, I know.

Buon viaggio e Buona Pasqua!

Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times, when one only remembers to turn on the light.
— Professor Albus Dumbledore

I am a muggle in love. Since the first Harry Potter book landed on our shores in 1999, I have been hopelessly in love with the world of Hogwarts and the boy who lived. My friend Barbara shares my passion. Over the years, she and I have managed to seamlessly introduce Potterisms into our speech. We long to travel by Floo Powder; there have been times, we agree, when a Marauder’s Map could have come in handy; Time Turners and Invisibility Cloaks would, of course, be indispensable. And if we could ever find Track 9 3/4, we would hurl ourselves through the brick station wall with awkward grace and unbridled enthusiasm. Alas, it is not to be.

When the series came to an end in 2011 with the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 2, we were nearly inconsolable: all in all satisfied with the ending, but heartbroken by the sacrifices made by so many of our favorite characters in the final battles against He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named. Will we ever see the likes of Albus Dumbledore again? Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks? Fred Weasley? Sirius Black? Or, my absolute favorite, the enigmatic Severus Snape? Sigh. I live with these people almost every day in my drab non-magical muggle existence. I admit it freely. Please don’t think any less of me. I do not recall spending my childhood in a closet under the stairs, but I may have . . .

Imagine my thrill, then, to learn that in March 2012, the Warner Brothers Studio Tour was opening just north of

London. “The Making of Harry Potter” was being installed at the actual studios where the movies were shot. Armed with my press card and an assignment from The Richmond Times-Dispatch, I ventured across the pond with Tim for a peek.

“The Making of Harry Potter” is a remarkable walking tour that takes visitors behind the scenes of the most successful film series of all time. The former Leavesden Aerodrome, a local airfield and factory that produced fighter planes for the Ministry of Defence during WWII and in later years was a production center for Rolls-Royce aircraft engines, was completely transformed in 1994. Old hangars became soundstages for filming and workshops for constructing sets and props. The airfield’s runway and grassy fields were turned into a fully functioning back lot. And six years later, in 2000, a carefully assembled production team chose Leavesden as the location for a new film about a boy wizard, and the making of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (. . . Sorcerer’s Stone, in the U.S.) was underway.

For a period of ten years, hundreds of talented men and women came to call Leavesden home, bringing to life over the course of eight films the magical world of the boy who lived and the battles between good and evil, the consequences of action versus doing nothing and, ultimately, of the power of love.

The tour marks the first time that fans get the chance to step into the actual sets of the movies that have meant so much to them. Everything on display was actually used in the movies — these are not reproductions — from costumes and wigs to tables and cauldrons, from the Horcruxes to Harry’s Nimbus 2000 to the Weasley’s flying Ford Anglia.

Production Designer Stuart Craig has said, “The designer’s job is to provide a place that tells the story.” And Craig has done that and more. For the first movie (no one knew for certain there would be more than one), Craig insisted on making every aspect of every set as realistic as possible, in order to elicit the most honest reactions from the film’s very young stars. So the furniture in the Gryffindor Lounge is real, the glass beakers and Bunsen burners in the potions classroom are real, all the tables and chairs are real — aged with axes and chains.

After ten years of shooting, there were five giant warehouses filled with thousands of items either made specifically for the films or purchased from a variety of specialty shops, including 12,000 handmade books and 40,000 Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes products and packages. More than 16,000 boxed wands reside in Ollivander’s Wand Shop, each box labeled by hand with the names of everyone who participated in the making of the films. Alan Rickman, Helena Bonham-Carter, Richard Harris, Michael Gambon, Maggie Smith, Gary Oldman . . . they’re all there.

The Warner Bros. Studio Tour London is a wonder for Harry Potter fans of all ages. After an introductory talk from our

young blue-haired guide (I pegged her as a Ravenclaw) and a short movie to set the stage, Tim and I wandered through the Great Hall, the setting for Hogwarts’ abundant feasts, marveling at the costumes of each house and reliving Dumbledore’s annual welcome to the classes. We got up close to some of the most iconic sets from the movies, including the Leaky Cauldron, Dumbledore’s office, Diagon Alley, Hagrid’s Hut, the kitten-plated wall of the evil Dolores Umbridge, the macabre Ministry of Magic hallways and the magical Weasley kitchen.

For more than three hours, we toured sound stages “J” and “K”  (get it?) and then retreated to the back lot for some refreshments — including a glass of Butterbeer — and a walk past the Knight Bus, the Dursley’s No. 4 Privet Drive, the Hogwarts Bridge and the old Potter home in Godrick Hollow.

Back into the tour, we saw how some of the “creatures” (Dobbie, the Goblins, Grawp and Buckbeak, among them) were brought to life. Several rooms are given over to the elaborate models and architectural plans for the halls, shops, rooms and the castle itself. And that leads to the finale. When Tim and I turned the corner into the last room, the one that held the achingly intricate model of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, I actually cried. Not kidding here. Tears came to my eyes. Lights on in the windows; owls in the owlry; torches and trees along the paths and on the grounds. It stands more than fifty feet in diameter, and I wanted to walk right in, don a gown and take my chances, battling evil forces and loneliness and unknown terrors around each corner and, wait . . . I already do those things every day. I’m a freelance writer!

Anyway, you should go. Here’s how.

GETTING TO HOGWARTS

Located just 20 miles northwest of central London, the Warner Brothers Studio Tour is easily accessible by either car or rail. It is less than three miles’ drive from the M1 and M25 motorways, and fast trains travel direct from London’s Euston Station to Watford Junction, where passengers are picked up by a free shuttle bus that takes them directly to the attraction.

Tickets are not available at the studio and must be purchased online in advance. Tickets are priced at £29 for adults, £21.50 for children aged 5 – 15 and £85 for a family of four. For more information, and to pre-book your tickets, visit www.wbstudiotour.co.uk.

Buon viaggio!