A EUROPEAN HOLIDAY 2017-18 PEOPLE

ALL THE PEOPLE WE MET ON OUR EUROPEAN HOLIDAY

Travel is all about exploring new places, eating food whose names you can't pronounce, and trying your best at wrapping your tongue around" thank you" in a language that makes the grace note sound like "donkey evil". Travel broadens one's horizons, it exposes you to new cultures and if you're very lucky it gives you new friendships that will live for a lifetime. Touching new cultures, making an effort to reach out to locals, veering off course away from the typical tourist destinations are the keys to those friendships.

La Residenza sits just off the Via Veneto in Rome. It's not a major hotel but a sweet one with a perfect location to Rome's central core. As the concierges at the front desk rotated through a series of faces there was one face that was always there once the bar service opened in late afternoon. Rick took to sitting in one of the comfy lounge chairs and when I joined him we became the bars biggest crowd in those early evening hours. Alessandro, the bar manager, was the smiling scruffy face we became familiar with during our early evening decompressions. He was always ready to create a cocktail specifically for us. Over our short Roman stay Alessandro was our confidant, a man who loved his job, an artist of mixology. As we started out our European holiday it was Alessandro who set the tone ringing in the hoiday spirit with guidance and a real sense of humor.

All the shops surrounding Rome's Via Condotti had windows displaying winter mannequins draped in fur and wrapped in wool with one exception. Antica Sartoria was all summer and beach. We always travel the shopping streets of Europe with the caveat that if one of us wants to go into a certain shop we all go along. This one was Emmy's choice and she bonded right away with the store manager. We spent hours as the manager kept bringing dress after dress to Emmy's changing room and begging her to try on a new ensemble with her only pleasure being seeing Emmy decked out in a huge smile.

When traveling the hill towns of Tuscany, even for a teetotaler like me, wine has to be on your list if for nothing more than as a curiosity.  I quickly learned the most important word you need to know in those hill towns is Burnello, a variety of wine grown in Montelcino, where wine is a currency more valuable than gold. That's where we met Hilaria, an encyclopedic connoisseur and sommelier who managed the enoteca on a cobbled street of cream-colored buildings in the middle of the town just down the hill from the village's main attraction, Il Castello di Montalcino. It wasn't hard to see the importance of Brunello as Hilaria graced us with tales of her world travel in the pursuit of the globes best vintners. She even knew the best wine store in Manhattan and how at Chambers Street Wines we could find a selection of wines we'd not find anywhere else in the United States.

As an instagramer I'm making daily connections with people all over the world. In Rome we were able to make a face-to-face connection with one of our followers in a real world connection rather than through the intangible Internet. Babastyles is a vintage and antique clothing store tucked onto a side street just off the Tiber. Daniela's beautiful couture pieces and accessories was a treat for all of us. It pays to sometimes follow your connections. It got us an invitation to return the following day for a party and a holiday cocktail Unfortunately we were leaving that day and had to pass but we now have a real Instagram connection!

One of the best ways for navigating an unfamiliar travel destination and a good way of getting to know the locals is through its shops. Walking into a boutique displaying merchandise you can't live without is a great icebreaker. When we walked into MarceletMarcel we got more than we bargained for. Marcel grew up in the Jewish neighborhood of the Marais. She opened her shop nine years ago specialize in her own line of menswear. You can't get her clothing anywhere else but here and if you're gay or a dandy this is where you want to go to get outfitted. But beyond the incredible fashion there's Marcel flattering you in perfect English and taking over your life while you're in Paris and her shop. She knows everything: restaurants, nightlife, shopping and just how to enjoy life. From now on every trip to Paris will include a return to MarceletMarcel and I'm sure the purchasing of a whole new seasonal wardrobe.

We've written so much about our friends in Italy and Holland but there's no way I can not mention them again. The Saracinis have become our family away from home. Our Tuscan home we refer to as the farm. We've called it the farm so often as in "we're going to the farm" that many of our friends have incorrectly assumed that it actually is our farm. Well it's not, but Stefania and Alessandro's inclusion of us in their lives has given us permission to conceal the fact that we don't actually hold ownership but nobody else has to know that.

The reins of the agriturismo have been slowly ceded to Gulio, the Saracini's youngest son. He's turned into an excellent chef, a threat to his mother's graciousness and another knowledgeable wine aficionado. Nothing is too difficult or problematic for him.

Jacapo, the oldest son, has become the farms agriculturist. He tends to the vineyards, the olive groves and the running of the farm.

Alessandro, whose English has never been a match for his wife's and sons', talks with his pouring hand. The grappa and vin santé are never allowed to see an empty glass. His humor needs no words; he's an excellent mime.

If the farm in Tuscany is our home away from home, Holland holds our hearts with the other part of our extended family. We met the Vermeer/Van Zons at the farm when our kids were so young and small they'd fall asleep in our arms over late dinners as we sat poolside sipping lemoncello and talking in three different languages that made the leaves of the trees overhead flutter with laughter. Spending the New Year with all of them completed our winter holiday that would have been missing an important component if it had not happened.

So get out there and mingle when you travel. The riches of travel aren't relegated to the sights alone but to the people and those memories you collect along the way.




















THE GALLERY

Les Jardins du Champs de Mars
Robert Doisneau, photographer
Represented by Michael Hoppen Gallery, London