Hidden Tuscany
Discovering Art, Culture, and Memories in a Well-Known Region's Unknown Places
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
In Hidden Tuscany, acclaimed author John Keahey takes the reader into a part of Tuscany beyond the usual tourist destinations of Chianti, Florence, and Siena. The often overlooked western portion of Tuscany is rich with history, cuisine, and scenery begging to be explored, and Keahey encourages travelers to abandon itineraries and let the grooves in the road and the curves of the coast guide your journey instead.
Follow Keahey as he turns off the autostrada and takes roads barely two lanes wide to discover fishing villages along the Tuscan sea. Then move inland into rolling foothills adorned with cherry orchards, ancient olive groves, and sweeping vineyards that produce wines that challenge Chianti's best. Here it is still possible to follow the paths of Romans, Crusaders, and pilgrims from throughout the western world who were eager to reach Rome.
Hidden Tuscany provides intriguing images of places such as Livorno, a port city with canals; Pietrasanta, Tuscany's Citta d'Arte; and Capraia, an island formed by volcanoes. Keahey engages with the inhabitants of these enchanting landscapes, whether sculptors who toil in marble studios or residents whose own memories and traditions illuminate major moments in world history.
From coastal towns to vineyards farther inland to the Tuscan archipelago, Keahey reminds us that each village, city, and island has its own unique story to tell. For armchair travelers and vacation seekers alike, Hidden Tuscany brings a new side of this classic Italian region to life, and the result is mesmerizing.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Travel writer Keahey (Seeking Sicily) delivers another insightful look at the wonders of Italy, this time focusing on the coastal areas of western Tuscany to discover places most Americans "quickly pass through en route to somewhere else." Keahey focuses his attention on islands and inland villages that have "some of the most spectacular scenery in all of Tuscany." He explores his many passions: food, discovering how the "uniqueness of certain dishes, region to region, village to village, comes out of what is available in each local spot"; art, visiting the one hundred sculptors who work in the area at any given time, following in the footsteps of Michelangelo; and history, including a moving account of the German massacre of the residents of Sant'Anna di Stazzema during WWII. This is not a guidebook, but Keahey succeeds completely at producing a book that lovingly describes the beauty of the region at the same time that it embodies what Keahey feels is the best "guide to being a traveler: pick a direction, carry a map so you know how to get back to your resting place each evening, and set out each morning with no agenda."
