Moana Kuewa

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		2009.09.08 - 2009.09.07 ITALY Tuscany Driving Tour w Wineries Niece Marie Auntie Chris Location: ITALY: Tuscany The Tuscany region is renowned for its landscape and wineries (both Niece Marie Messina and Auntie Chris agree that it looks very, very, much like the winery areas of California near her home in Temecula and Napa Valley). In the countryside, among the vineyards and olive groves, there are hamlets and farmhouses, as well as fortified villas and castles that symbolize the violence and intercommunal strife that tore Tuscany apart after Roman rule during the Middle Ages. The Tuscany region was deeply impacted by a decisive turning point in the history of the Roman Empire that came with Emperor Constantine I’s conversion to Christianity in 312 AD and his decision to build a new capital at Constantinople (Byzantium) (now known as Istanbul in Turkey). By the 5th century, the Empire was split into two. In its weakened state, Rome and the Western Empire could not stem the tide of Germanic invaders migrating southward and Italy fell first to the Goths and later to the Lombards. In the late Middle Ages, old feuds between the Roman Catholic Pope and emperor thrived throughout the 14th century, kept alive by two warring factions – the Guelphs, who backed the papacy, and the Ghibellines, who favored imperial power. The cities of Lombardy and Tuscany used the political confusion to grow in strength. It as against this turbulent backdrop that a great new age in painting was inspired by artists such as Duccio and Giotto. Also at this time, the Florentine poets Dante and Petrarch laid the foundations of Italian literature. In the 15th century, the Tuscany region saw a flowering of the arts and scholarship unmatched in Europe since the days of Greece and Rome. Architects turned from the Gothic to Classical models for inspiration, while painting, with its new understanding of perspective and anatomy, produced a generation of artists that included such giants as Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, and Michelangelo. The patronage for this cultural “rebirth” came from the wealthy families that ruled the city states of the north, led by the Medici of Florence. Several imposing castles and villas were built throughout the Tuscany region for the Medici family, patrons of the Renaissance, who supported eminent scientists, such as Galileo. In spite of intense rivalry, they oversaw a period of uneasy stability out of which the Renaissance grew. Niece Marie Messina and Auntie Chris enjoyed the leisurely drive through the countryside stopping at their discretion at a number of picturesque wineries to sample the internationally y renowned “fruit of the vine” especially the wine originally created in the Tuscan area, Chianti (did you know that there is a white and a red Chianti). Chris hopes to return to this area one day with her friend, Liana Hodges, who’s family originated in this area. Also, Niece Marie mentioned several times that she’d LOVE for Auntie Chris to recreate her own version of the movie, “Under the Tuscan Sun.” Who knows what the future holds. Traveling Individuals Names: Niece Marie Messina & Auntie Christine Bauman * Most of the descriptions are taken from the DK Eyewitness Travel Guide – Italy