INSIDE:

Florence’s Vasari Corridor 2

Places to Stay When Golfing 4

Italian Golf Notes 5

Golf Travel Planners 8

Volume 7, Issue 3 www.dreamofitaly.com April 2008

for divine intervention with your nextshot.

Many Italian courses are historic, club-houses are architecturallysignificant, players dressfashionably, and the food isdivine. Before a 1 p.m. teetime, my husband and Ijoined a dining room full ofwell-dressed golfers linger-ing over their pinot andrisotto.

For me, the exploration ofItalian golf started a decade ago when I became determined to break up mymuseum and cathedral marathonswith something my husband wouldenjoy. It took me a few years to deliver.It wasn’t easy to research golf in Italy;most guidebooks did not have “golf”in the index, and most still don’t.

continued on page 4

believe it is safe to say Italy willnever be marketed as “golf’s nextIreland.” Case in point: out of a

population of nearly 58 mil-lion, only an estimated100,000 Italians play golfcompared to two millionwho hunt. Still, golfing inItaly has abundant charms.

If you are paired with anItalian, he or she may pointout Leonardo da Vinci’s birth-place through a grove ofolive trees (Montecatini GolfClub) or ancient aqueducts (Rome GolfCourse), and you might drink your 19th hole prosecco in a clubhouse builtinside a fortification from the Austro-Hungarian Empire (Circolo GolfVenezia). If you pass a holy waterreceptacle as you walk along a fairway,as I did at Ugolino Golf Club nearFlorence, you might pause to plead

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The British introduced golf to Italy in the 19th century.

rand new in 2007, La Bandita is theTuscan castle in the sky of owner

John Voightmann and his wife Ondine.Trading in his successful music-industry career to build and run aninn in Tuscany’s picture-perfect ValD’Orcia area, Voightmann has effec-tively imported his American Dream.On the top of a large hill, alongside asheep farm and surrounded by landbelonging to UNESCO (meaning the land will forever remain undevel-oped), La Bandita presents abreathtaking panoramic view as wellas the ultimate hideaway location.

The driveway to La Bandita is a long,winding gravel path, unmarked offthe main road. It jostles and bumps asyou climb and then climb some more,prompting prayer that your rental carwill survive the trip. Yet as soon asyou plateau and park, the sweet, coolbreeze and 360-degree view ofTuscany’s beloved rolling hills are like a tonic to the now-forgotten discomfort of the drive.

Voightmann greets his road-wearyguests with a handshake and an offerof Campari and soda, instantly com-municating the intended casual andrelaxed mood of La Bandita. The innis meant to feel like a friend’s home,and though the service and amenitiesmost likely outdo those of youracquaintances, the overall sentimentis that you are among friends andencouraged to act accordingly.Comprised of two squat stone farm-

Tuscany’s Newest Hideaway:

Hitting the LinksItalian Style

BLa Bandita

2

Two years of restoration on the façade of Flo

Walk with the Medicis

I get a lightning tour of theRenaissance, as we elbow our waythrough crowds gaping at Primavera,The Adoration or the Tondo. Then it istime for my appointment, becausebefore flying out I took advantage of anew cultural package offered byAbercrombie and Kent. At 11 a.m. avery tall, anonymous wooden door isopened on the top floor of the Uffizi. Ifyou’ve passed it, you’d have assumedit led to the intendente’s office or theplace where they keep the remainderedpostcards. But no, once Roberto and Iare admitted we findourselves in a silentother world. Steepstone steps covered inrich carpet lead downto the VasariCorridor. The Mediciswalked it on a dailybasis; Hitler visited itin 1938 and MarcChagall came herewhen he was madean honorary citizen ofFlorence in 1984.

The CorridoioVasariano leads fromthe Uffizi in the cen-ter of Florence, over

the top of the Ponte Vecchio and intothe Pitti Palace. It is a tall and graciousprivate passageway connecting whereCosimo the Great lived and the city statehe governed. Built in just five months,the Vasari (named after its architect)was intended to allow the Medicis toget into the office without having tomix with the murderous plebs below.

In 1565 the plebs weren’t at all happywith Cosimo, who’d grown tired ofjust being Florence’s banker. He want-ed to be Duke of Tuscany, too, and,

once duke, he didn’t want to be assas-sinated. To get his patron safely intowork each day, Vasari built a sealedcorridor from one side of the Arno tothe other. He did it in record time, bulldozing through existing buildingswhen he could and skirting them when he had to. That it happened soquickly is extraordinary, that it looks sobeautiful is beyond belief.

You cannot just walk into the VasariCorridor. You have to apply at least amonth in advance and be accompanied

all the way by someonelike Michele, our secu-rity guy, who is thereto make sure I don’tdamage or steal any ofthe pictures. This is theother remarkable thingabout the VasariCorridor. In the 19thcentury, when therewere no more Medicisleft to assassinate, thecorridor was turnedinto an overspill artgallery for the Uffizi.

As we reach the bot-tom of the steps,

Roberto shows me

The crowds outside the Uffizi are not much shorter out of season. Book aVIP ticket in advance and you stand in a queue to collect it then stand inline to surrender it and by the time you’ve done all that you may as well

have queued up with everyone else. Today, though, I have Roberto Martelli at myside. Dapper, bearded and speaking English come Americano, Roberto is a nativeof Florence and slips me inside in record time. That is what he is paid for, thatand his knowledge of Botticelli, Leonardo and Michelangelo.

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3dream of

ITALYKathleen A. McCabeEditor and Publisher

Copy Editor: Stephen J. McCabeEditorial Assistant: Laura Cimperman

Design: Leaird Designswww.leaird-designs.com

Dream of Italy, the subscription newsletter coveringItalian travel and culture, is published 10 times a year.Delivery by mail is $89 per year in the United States and$99 abroad. An Internet subscription (downloadablePDF) costs $79 per year. Subscriptions include onlineaccess to over 50 back issues and regular e-mail updates.

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Copyright © 2008 Dream of Italy, Inc. All RightsReserved. Reproduction in whole or part without per-mission is prohibited. Every effort is made to provideinformation that is accurate and reliable; however,Dream of Italy cannot be responsible for errors thatmay occur. ISSN 1550-1353 www.dreamofitaly.com

®

rence’s Santa Maria Novella is now finished.

Over the Ponte Vecchiorichness of the Uffizi and its 16th-cen-tury service tunnel. Now Michele, ourminder, opens a door and suddenlyRoberto and I are in the grounds of thePitti Palace, emerging like Alices froma most curious adventure. All the yearsI have walked across the Ponte Vecchioand never paused to wonder about thestructure above or why it disappearedinto the Uffizi. Now I know, but willanyone believe me?

—Adrian Murphy

This article first appeared in The Independent(U.K.) in January 2008. Reprinted with permission.

The author took advantage of a package available fromAbercrombie and Kent (44-0845-6182213;

www.abercrombiekent.co.uk) including bed and breakfast at Florence’s 5-star Helvetia & Bristol and

a half-day tour of the Ufizzi and Vasari Corridor.

To visit the Vasari Corridor, you must be accompanied by a guideand book in advance. Select Italy offers private and shared toursof the famous passageway, Wednesday through Sunday at 11 a.m.The tour begins with a 90-minute visit of Uffizi Gallery high-lights, followed by a 60-minute guided visit of the VasariCorridor. The cost for a shared tour is $150 per person. For moreinformation, call (800) 877-1755 or visit www.selectitaly.com

—K.M.

The Details

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The Ponte Vecchio and the Vasariwould have been blown up too toimpede the Allied advance, but Hitlersent word that it was not to betouched. He had fond memories ofthese nine windows installed onMussolini’s orders to allow the Fuhrera good view when he visited Florencein 1938.

As we leave the bridge itself we pass awindow that was cut into the outerwall of the 14th-century Santa Felicitachurch when the Corridor demolishedits portico, thereby affording theMedicis a view of divine service.Roberto and I then followed a dog-legdiversion round the outside of theMannelli Tower. In 1565 the bolshyowner refused to allow the corridor topass through his property, so Vasarisimply diverted it round the outsidelike a car going round a cliff edge onjust one set of wheels.

At the gallery’s end we find a weddingportrait of the last of the Medicis, AnnaMaria Luisa, who willed the family’s artcollection to the people of Florence ather death. We have her to thank for the

scorched paintings that were hangingwhen the terrorist bomb of 1993 wentoff below, killing five people, demol-ishing the Quisisana Hotel (where ARoom with a View was shot) and wreck-ing these canvases.

We then turn the corner and come faceto face (literally) with more than 700self-portraits. This is what theCorridoio Vasariano is famous forthese days. The Medicis collectedartists’ self-portraits, everything fromTintoretto to Van Eyck to Vige le Brun,one of France’s first women painters.When the collection passed to the statein 1865, the corridor, hitherto just athoroughfare, became a superb galleryof the self-portrait.

As we pass over the tops of shops onthe Ponte Vecchio, Roberto draws myattention to “Cosimo’s Eyes”, roundbarred windows that allowed the para-noid duke to spy on his subjects. In themiddle of the bridge, however, thereare large picture windows that lookwest down the Arno to the threebridges that were rebuilt after theWehrmacht withdrew in 1944.

A concierge from the Hotel Saturnia inVenice was so impressed with myinterest he mailed me a thick book ongolf in Italy. I was so excited — until Irealized it was all in Italian. I haveabundant interest but limited skills inthe Italian language. I can get aroundtown, shop successfully, order dinnercompetently, and carry on short con-versations…but I could not read thisbook.

Although the links togolf on the ItalianGovernment TouristBoard Web site take youto sites that are all inItalian, there are otherways to find informa-tion on courses. I’mgoing to venture a guessthat not many of uswould plan a triparound particular cours-es. To the contrary, weplan the trip and thenfind the courses that arenear towns we will visit.

It is still not easy toresearch Italian golfcourses on the Internetbut I found a fewdecent sites (see side-bar). One odditycommon to these sites isthat a course likeUgolino, one of the bestknown in Italy, is listedunder a different nameon each site: Golf ClubUgolino, FlorenceCircolo Golf Ugolino(but actually listedunder Tuscany coursesas Grassina, the name ofits address in a smalltown near Florence) andFirenze Ugolino GolfClub.

Tuscany

Surely some of the world’s best “roomswith a view” are in the 15th-centuryVilla San Michele in the town of Fiesolehigh above Florence. Its façade isattributed to Michelangelo, and a diningroom has an expansive 16th-centuryfresco of The Last Supper. Three well-regarded golf courses are within 45minutes: Ugolino, Poggia dei Medici andPavoniere.

At Ugolino, it was amusing to see a“No Dogs, No Spikes!” sign. Golf inItaly began in 1889 when British trans-plants founded the Florence Golf Club,the country’s first golf association.They built Ugolino, perhaps Italy’sbest-known course, 15 miles fromFlorence in 1934. You don’t needpower here; you need finesse.

They don’t slap up plain clubhouses inItaly; Ugolino’s is protected by theDepartment of Fine Arts. Inside, tablesare set with linens and fresh flowers.There’s faith here, too, in the form of aholy water receptacle affixed to a treealong a fairway.

After Chuck and I played our round,someone on staff introduced us to afellow Americans. Don and his wifelive in Florence part of the year, andinvited us for drinks that evening attheir apartment overlooking the PonteVecchio. It was amazing to see the sun-set from that heavenly angle.

For a different kind of sport, outletshopping, we made our way to a greatcenter simply called The Mall, within ahalf hour drive of Ugolino. We pur-chased some discounted Loro Pianacashmere and Bottega Veneta leather.Temptations included Gucci andArmani. No food court here: there wasa stylish café.

If you don’t need to have every detailscheduled ahead of time, arrange toplay after you arrive and settle in. Ifyou are staying in a hotel with aconcierge, it will be easy. If not, mostfront desk staff — even in small hotelsin Italy— are very resourceful.

Once you commit to adding golf gloveand shoes to your packing list, the

toughest decision will bewhere to stay and play ifyou are not starting with aset itinerary. According tothe Italian Golf Federation,there are about 300 coursesin Italy. Travelers can golfaround the northern lakesor major cities, near beach-es, in the mountains or at aspa resort. The regionswith the most choices areEmilia-Romagna, Lombardy,and Piedmont in the north;Tuscany and Lazio in centralItaly; Campania and Pugliain the south.

Here are some favoritehome-away-from-homeplaces to play:

Hitting the Links continued from page 1

4

“There's no looking at a building he

Circolo del Golfdell’Ugolino

Places to StayHotel Villa San Michele

Via Doccia, 4Fiesole (Florence)(39) 055 5678200

www.villasanmichele.comRates: Start at 670€ per night including

breakfast.

Fattoria Mansi BernadiniItalian Vacation Villas

Alice Tetelman and Martin Wenick (202) 333-6247

www.villasitalia.comRates: Weekly rental rates for the villas,which sleep 10 to 14 people, range from

$4,850 to $10,580.

Hotel Terme di SaturniaSaturnia

(39) 0564 600111www.termedisaturnia.com

Rates: Start at 200 € per person, pernight, including use of facilities and

breakfast. Weekly packages available.

Hotel Villa SerbelloniVia Roma, 1

Bellagio(39) 031 950216

www.villaserbelloni.comRates: A double room with breakfast

starts at 375 € per night.

Hotel CiprianiGiudecca 10

Venice(39) 041 5207744www.hotelcipriani.it

Rates: Start at 690 € per night includinga full American buffet breakfast.

Also see Dream of Italy’s March 2006 issuefor a villa rental that comes with its own

private 18-hole golf course.

5

re after seeing Italy.” — Fanny Burney

Our next Tuscan home was near thewalled city of Lucca.Alice Tetelman ofItalian Vacation Villasrecommended theestate, Fattoria MansiBernadini. It is knownfor its wine and extravirgin olive oil — andfive beautiful rental villas. I loved walkingup the old, unevensteps in the 17th-centu-ry building, runningmy hands along thesloping walls. Despitemy affection for wood-en beams and otherrustic touches, I wasglad the bathroom wasnew and the bed linenscrisp.

On a long stone tableoutdoors, a huge break-fast spread welcomedmulti-national guestsevery morning. We satamong skinny cedarsand pots full of fatgeranium blossoms. Aquilt of fields spreadout below. From therewe were invited byGiovanni Giurlani, abusiness associate ofAlice Tetelman (andone more reason to usean agency to makearrangements), to theCosmopolitan Golf &Country Club inTirrenia, which wasvoted best new coursein Italy when itdebuted 15 years ago.The links course haswide fairways andwater on 11 holes. Thecopper-domed club-

house, an homage to Florentine archi-tecture, is surroundedby an enormoussemi-circular swim-ming pool.

Love of spas as wellas golf curiositybrought us to thethermal spa calledTerme di Saturnia(see Dream of Italy’sSeptember/October2002 and February2007 issues) in south-western Tuscany, anhour from Rome.Cosmopolitans areshaken and served atthe striking, modern

bar, and art auctionsare a typical eveningdiversion for well-heeled Europeanswho tend to keeptheir white terryrobes on all day.

International golfcourse architect RonFream designed afirst-rate American-style course. Afteryears of delays, itfinally opened lastyear. Constructiondirector Pietro Binaghiexplained that in Italy

you have to getapprovals from manyconstituencies. Notonly had there beenthe usual questionsabout preservation ofhistory and land-scape, but there wereother concerns:Would the cowsadjust? Will it lookgood from the

air? Should the 15 villas on the coursebe spread out or clustered?

Lake Como

From our base at the elegant Hotel VillaSerbelloni in Bellagio, a flower-filledtown often called the most beautiful inEurope, we took a water taxi almostdirectly across the lake to Menaggio &Cadenabbia Golf Club. A rich Britishtourist built this club, and its tight,

The Italian golf season starts inspring, generally in April, and ends inOctober. Some courses are open yearround but not all.

Many courses are closed Monday,except when a holiday falls on a Monday.

Italian clubs are crazy for tournaments. FromFebruary through November, many have two tothree tournaments a week. This is how theymake money and Italian golfers love to play intournaments because of the prizes that thesponsors give. Tournament sponsors vary fromBMW and Sony to local Rotary and Lion’sClubs.

In Italy, a country that disdains rules, mostcourses are the standard 18 holes and somehave 27, but you might find others that are 11 oreven just three holes.

Some private courses ask for verification of anofficial handicap from a U.S. golf club.

Book a tee-off in advance, even the day before,just like at home.

At resort courses and some of themore upscale private clubs, around can be 100€, but for themost part you can expect to pay50 to 80€ per 18-hole round, and30€ for the cart rental; cart use ismuch less prevalent here. Clubrental runs from 30€.

Terme di Saturnia

Menaggio &Cadenabbia Golf Club

1 € = $1.57 at press time

Cosmopolitan Golf & Country Club

Italian Golf Notes

continued on page 8

6

La Bandita continued from page 1

houses, one big, one small, the exteriorof La Bandita presents quite modestlybut nothing could be further from thetruth.

Stepping into the main house’s frontroom is like having the elevator dooropen into a contemporary loft inTribeca. The open design is done all inwhite, save for the back wall, which ispainted a warm honey color. The sin-gular color effectively draws out theroom’s many wooden window anddoor frames, and pleasantly offsets thekitchen’s steel countertop and metallicceiling lamps. The effect is a distinctdeparture from the typical Tuscanfarmhouse interior and wholly refreshing.

Incorporated into the décor are theowners’ two passions:music and travel. Thecenterpiece of the roomis a custom couch andtable hybrid, which

showcases an impressive vinyl collec-tion and record player. The connectingsitting room and library features alarge sectional couch surrounded bybookshelves brimming with travelguides, all organized by region. Thehotel is very much the couple’s home,though they do stay off the propertywhen the inn is at capacity. John’sdrop-down desk is right in the library,and Ondine can often be found typingat the kitchen table.

Located just south of Siena near Pienzaand midway between Rome andFlorence, La Bandita is an ideal loca-tion from which to explore the beautyand gastronomical bounty as well asplan day trips to the big cities. BothJohn and Ondine are quick with goodsuggestions for activities and touring

sites, and John is quicklybecoming an excellent eventplanner.

The inn offers full-family style diningfor guests twice a week. The chef pre-pares local Tuscan fare, and John andOndine pre-select complementary localwines. Dinner is usually served underthe outdoor terracotta-framed pergola,where pink sunsets provide the back-drop. Breakfast is served on portabletrays left outside your room. Othersnacks, drinks and a never-ending sup-ply of espresso are available for thetaking.

The inn’s infinity pool is just 50 yardsbeyond the house on the only plot ofland on which Voightmann couldobtain permission from the Italianbureaucracy to build. Luckily for hisguests, the ideal spot to lounge andwatch the water lap endlessly towardthe patchwork yellow-and-brown hills.

Another favored pastime at La Banditais watching the neighbors: the sheep.

Two white-backeddirector’s chairs sit atopa small molehill perfect-ly set up for viewing

A total of six Tuscan towns and

Terry — which the couple first spottedat the Raleigh Hotel in Miami.

The bulk of the rooms are located inthe main house, while the secondaryfarmhouse, known as the pig sty, hasone and a half bedrooms and an en-suite kitchen — ideal for a couple withsmall children. The property can alsobe rented exclusively by the day or bythe week and sleeps up to 16 people.The rental comes with daily maid serv-ice, concierge, a welcome basket ofgroceries and the services of a privatechef upon request.

—Meg Nolan

Meg Nolan is the author of thenewly released book Italian

Hideaways (Rizzoli, $45.00),from which this article is an

excerpt. Reprinted with permission.

71 € = $1.57 at press time

the sheep’s twice daily trips down tothe water hole. Life at La Bandita isperhaps best encapsulated by thesheep’s daily routine, simple and has-sle-free. Absent of pretense andluxuriously casual, La Bandita haswhat most small inns are after: authen-ticity and individualism.

The eight rooms at La Bandita are sim-ple and quirky yet comfortable. Themission behind the interiors of LaBandita was to take the typical Tuscanmaterials — terracotta, stone, cement-based fresco paint — and employ themin an unusual way. The terracottacanopy bed frames are an attractiveoriginal design by theowners, and the floorsare a smooth whitestone, which Ondine

says was shocking to the Italians wholaid them. The few colored walls werepainted using the same wet cementmixed with paint used for frescoes.That ensures that the color is actuallypart of the wall. The effect is as dra-matic as it is curious.

Funky furnishings like Kelly greenfold-down desks, white plush downcomforters, and thick cushioned chaiselounges keep the rooms feeling whim-sical as well as practical. The walls ofthe bathroom’s free-standing rainshower are painted a deep aqua, andthe showerhead is a cube shapeequipped with its own light, whichwhen turned on turns the shower intoa streaming spotlight. All of this can bevaingloriously witnessed from thebathroom’s vertical mirror, hung at theflattering angle favored by women’sdressing rooms.

Ondine, a travel writer, visits and staysat countless hotels around the world,which is perhaps why La Bandita’s bedlinens, bath products, and robes are thebest on the market. The linens are byBusatti, the skin-care products by Eaud’Italie, pharmacy of SantaMaria Novella and ChiantiCashmere Goat Farm, and the

robes are from Boca

La BanditaPodere La Bandita (Pienza)

(39) 333 4046704www.la-bandita.com

Rates: The rooms, which are referred to as “suites,” start at 250€ per night during low season, and 295€ per

night during the high season, includingbreakfast. The “Pig-Sty Suite”, which

has a kitchen, is priced between 350 and 395€ per night.

The Details

areas are protected by UNESCO.

8

Hitting the Links continued from page 5

There are almost a dozen courses close to Rome.

steep course, in 1907 and made LakeComo his home. Menaggio’s golflibrary is one of the best in the world,with more than 1200 volumes, many ofhistorical significance.

Also in the area arethe heavily-bunkeredLe Robinie GolfClub, the only JackNicklaus course inItaly; La PinetinaGolf Club in a park-like setting carved outof forest; and the siteof many ItalianOpens, Golf Club Monticello withthree types of play on two courses.

Venice

People are almost always surprisedwhen we say we played golf in Venice.Who knew?

Circolo Golf Venezia is on the Lido,the largest island in the lagoon. Theflat, peaceful, countryside course wasbuilt about 75 years ago. There is muchto recommend about an Italian golfexperience, but don’t expect the greensand fairways to be maintained toAmerican standards. I overheard

someone say that play-ing golf in Italy is likeplaying on good publiccourses in the U.S., butwith better food and

ambience.

At this Venetian club,the course was built onsand, with wide fair-ways that haveinteresting slopes andundulations. Abundantmaritime pines, otherseaside vegetation, andthe ubiquitous sand-

based rough force difficult recoveryshots.

Circolo Golf Venezia’s restaurant wasexcellent, as we’d come to expect. Aftera seafood lunch with crusty bread, ahalf-hour boat ride took us back to theCipriani, a hotel that is all fantasy, with20-foot-high ceilings, and the kind ofviews that frustrate sleep. Morning ornight, it was mesmerizing.

In Italy, no matter what you are doing,it’s important to stand still and take inthe view.

—Ann Cochran

Golf CoursesCircolo del Golf dell’Ugolino Via Chiantigiana, 3Grassina — Firenze(39) 055 2301009 www.golfugolino.it

Cosmopolitan Golf & Country ClubViale Pisorno, 60Tirrenia — Pisa (39) 050 33633 www.cosmopolitangolf.it

Terme di Saturnia Spa & GolfResortSaturnia (Grosseto)(39) 0564 600111 www.termedisaturnia.it

Menaggio & Cadenabbia Golf ClubVia Golf, 12Grandola Ed Uniti Como (39) 0344 32103www.golfclubmenaggio.it

Le Robinie Golf ClubVia per Busto, 9Solbiate Olona (39) 0331 329260www.lerobinie.com

La Pinetina Golf Club Via Al Golf, 4Appiano Gentile, Como(39) 031 933202www.golfpinetina.it

Golf Club MonticelloVia Volta, 63 Cassina Rizzardi (39) 031 928055

Circolo Golf VeneziaAlberoni, Lido di Venezia (39) 041 731333www.circologolfvenezia.it

Also check the following Web sites for more information:www.golfcoursesguide.orgwww.golftoday.co.ukwww.golfeurope.com

Golf Travel PlannersDon’t want to do it yourself?

Consult experts who have years of experience:

ITC (International Travel Company)Lois Hancock

(562) 595-6905 www.itcgolf-africatours.com

Sophisticated ItalyCarol and David Ross

(39) 02 48196675www.sophisticateditaly.com

Le Robinie Golf Club

Golf Club Monticello

Circolo Golf Venezia