- Paperback: 288 pages
- Publisher: Verdera Media (June 2010)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0986588709
- ISBN-13: 978-0986588709
- Product Dimensions: 1.4 x 2.2 x 0.2 cm
- Shipping Weight: 358 g
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #196,443 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
Product Details |
Product Description
Product Description
An Italian Odyssey is a story about a midlife couple who embarks on a great adventure — walking 1,000 km on the Via Francigena, an ancient, elusive medieval pilgrim trail through the heart of Italy.
Historically, the Via Francigena was a broad network of trails originating in ancient Francia, an ever-changing backbone of Roman and medieval roads leading to Rome. Today, unlike the Camino de Santiago in Spain, only a few hundred people have walked the entire Via Francigena through Italy during the past decade. It is a barely discovered, obscure, and sometimes challenging trail to navigate.
The couple’s initial plan was to walk and eat their way through Italy using their own homemade guide and map books. But their adventure takes on a life of its own as they face unexpected challenges. With both themselves and each other, they struggle with the constant physical and emotional demands and outcomes of navigating an arduous route that is not well signed. But with dollops of Roman and medieval history, a dash of contemporary culture, plenty of sensual food and wine, and gracious Italian hospitality, they also share many romantic and magical moments.
Only after they endure sweat, tears, and frustration, when the strange concoction comes to a boil and the flavors and juices ooze out, do they realize and discover the true meaning of their journey. In the end, An Italian Odyssey is a classic bittersweet tale of the couple’s expectation of walking and eating through Italy—a unique culinary and walking pilgrimage.
An Italian Odyssey will appeal to readers who love all things Italian, its history, culture, and food, and those who like traveling and walking; or by the armchair traveler who enjoys reading about other people’s adventures. Readers will also appreciate the rewards and discoveries that come about from tackling real life challenges and struggles. It is a story that combines a great adventure of personal growth, individually and as a couple, with the backdrop of Italian history, contemporary culture, food, and wine.
This travel memoir is co-written by both authors, so the reader can appreciate the story from the male and female perspective.
Buon viaggio!
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
"An Italian Odyssey" is an absolute delight,
By
This review is from: An Italian Odyssey: One Couple's Culinary and Cultural Pilgrimage (Paperback)
An Italian Odyssey is an absolute delight for anyone who loves adventure, loves to travel, loves long distance walking, loves good food, loves learning about different cultures, and loves meeting people! Neville and Julie are great observers, and have written with such great descriptions, that you truly feel part in their adventure! Through many turmoils, that are balanced with joys, we are made aware that this couple's strengths are one another! A wonderful, happy read!
5.0 out of 5 stars
This book is a little dangerous,
By Timecheck "backpack45.com - Camino Chronicle... (Oakland, CA United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: An Italian Odyssey: One Couple's Culinary and Cultural Pilgrimage (Paperback)
Not too fond of crowds or guided tours? Ever want to just strike out on your own on some trail in foreign lands? Then this is the book for you. There are now a lot of personal accounts of the Camino de Santiago walk, but as soon as you look for accounts of those off the beaten path trails in Europe, you will find a very small number of accounts and a smaller yet number of authors. Italian Odyssey is a good addition to that select group.After reading Italian Odyssey you might opt for the opulent tour package. Julie and Neville, after walking the Camino de Santiago, hear rumors about another pilgrimage trail network, the Via Francigena from France over the Alps to Rome. They did their research, picked a start point that was about 1000 km from Rome (in Switzerland) and started out. You learn as the book progresses that there is no English language documentation for the trail, no guidebooks, maps, etc. Still, there is the internet, so they have done their own research and are well prepared, they think. Julie has some basic Italian and French. They tell their story in a tandem fashion, an episode told by one, and then the other's account. This works surprisingly well. You soon realize that they sometimes share quite different views of an event. Things frequently do not go well. To me as a reader, this is quite entertaining, though somewhat painful. I relive their moments, having had the same experiences myself. Travel is rarely stress-free and when walking difficult terrain, the route vague, or unmarked, and the weather inclement, spousal conflicts arise, trivial in retrospect, but for some reason important at the moment. In spite of their difficulties, you get the feeling that they are having an exciting journey. We learn quite a bit about small town life in Italy. Throughout the book there is a food thread. I think food cravings are a component of all long distance hiking, but they have elevated it to an art. Foods of the area have been researched ahead of time, and as we follow them through Italy, we also learn about the local food specialties to be sought out. My only criticism is that when they get to Rome, the book just stops, period. I wasn't ready yet. I wanted at least a wrapup, maybe an appendix on resources, and even an index. If you are a long distance walker, this book is a little dangerous. You are going to have couple of thoughts about Italian Odyssey. One, this does not sound like fun. Two, I think I'll checkout Via Francigena. Maybe it should be on my to do list.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Living the Dream,
This review is from: An Italian Odyssey: One Couple's Culinary and Cultural Pilgrimage (Paperback)
I like how both Julie and Neville each have a voice in this book. Neville's interest in the historical elements of the Via Francigena adds depth to the descriptions of places along the way. The culinary encounters just made my mouth water. Having walked a pilgrim route within the past year, I was also reliving some of my own physical and emotional challenges of that life-changing journey.Overall, Julie and Neville's story mirrors my own experience, of having walked the Camino de Santiago, and then realizing there are other routes to be walked. I was especially interested to hear of Neville's illness (Guillian-Barre syndrome), since a member of our extended family has been left with far less physical mobility as a result of his bout with the disease. The fact that Neville is able to continue doing long trekking journeys is heartening; it got me thinking about the restorative properties of walking, and also, the idea that walking to sacred sites can be healing in itself (Lourdes comes to mind). Since my partner has some long-term health challenges, I'm considering that we should be walking for his health, rather than sitting around waiting for the inevitable decline. Lots of "food for thought" in this book, on many counts. Needless to say, the book has many aspects, and I know I need at least a second reading to digest more of its content.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Want to see more reviews on this item?
|
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
