You would do well to wander into the Galleria Gilibert. It is a delightful place steeped in atmosphere, with its dark wood paneling and old bookcases containing antique books and its walls hung to the ceiling with antique prints and old maps. It looks like a setting for a Victorian novel, Dickens, perhaps. If old books fascinate you, you may never leave.

Everything you see is part of one man’s private collection, the late Alfredo Gilibert. His lifelong dream was to open this shop and he succeeded in doing so, together with his son, in 1992. His son, also a passionate collector, has now taken over. You will be met by two delightful women who will happily tell you about the treasures around you, but who are also just as helpful with questions about the city.

On the floor upstairs there is a large, airy space which is used for various cultural events such as book presentations, discussions and exhibitions.

(Insider’s hint: Ready for another caffé? The sophisticated, historic Caffé Baratti e Milano – small photo to the left – is just across the gallery and should be seen. Try some of their famous Gianduja chocolates!)

The castle belonged to a branch of the Ricasoli family from the 13th Century, according to historical records, until it was sold to the Societá Vinicola Toscana in 1968. It’s dour, grey-stone exterior conceals what would once have been an intimate, romantic, albeit grand, home. Walls are decorated with trompe l’oeil, similar to that found in French and Bavarian castles, and the seemingly broken doors (in faux marble frames) were, in fact, designed to ensure that no room was sound-proof, thereby preventing intrigue during the Sienese-Florentine wars. The pezzo forte (lit. “strong piece”, as in highlight) of the tour however is without doubt the original, cosy theatre, built in 1740, and still containing some original scenery from a play performed in 1742.

All behind an unpromising facade perhaps, but beauty and history there for those in the know.

www.castellomeleto.it

San Marino was founded in 301 A.D. by Saint Marinus, a stonecutter from Dalmatia, who was fleeing from religious persecution under Emperor Diocletian. San Marino still has a reputation for welcoming people seeking protection. Even Garibaldi stopped there for 24 hours in 1849 when fleeing the Austrians with his troops. During WWII, over 100,000 were given safe haven. Today, the Republic has diplomatic relationships with over 100 countries, is a member of the UN, and even held the Presidency of the Council of Europe for six months in 2006-07.

San Marino claims to be the oldest republic with the longest continuous democracy in the world. Its first legislative statutes, enacted in 1253, are still in effect! (The 31,632 San Marinesi are very proud of that fact.) In 1797, Napoleon legitimized San Marino by recognizing it as a sovereign power. Two Captains Regent govern for six months, appointed by the democratically elected Great and General Council.

Three towers now sit high upon the mountain in the old town. The first, Guaita, built in the 11th century, was critical in the battle against Rimini’s 15th century Malatesta rulers. The second tower, Cesta, was built in the 13th century, while the third, Montale, was erected in the 14th century. All still standing tall, for the MANY visiting travelers to see.

It was in the early 1400s that the five Mazzarditi brothers built a stronghold here from which they held rule over the small villages along the coastline. Their reign was characterized by domination, raids, and terror. Finally the Visconti family, in a successful siege, was able to trap the Mazzarditi on the island, and kept them trapped in a standoff until the Mazzarditi surrendered for fear of starvation.

The islands soon passed from Visconti hands to the powerful but benevolent Borromeo family. The Borromeo rebuilt the castle, calling it Rocco Vitaliano, and they used it to protect their domain from Swiss raids from the east.

Still owned by the Borromeo today, the ruins now protect only wildlife that uses the crumbling walls as home, and the only raids that take place on its shores are those of the occasional small rowboats or motorboats that stop here to picnic or fish.

Fumone (“big smoke” in Italian) has been strategically important since the early Middle Ages when sending smoke signals acted as a warning system to the smaller towns below – and as far away as Rome – that the storming barbarians were coming to town.

Architecturally a vast medieval fortress with a history spanning over 1000 years, the Castello di Fumone has housed knights, popes, generals, occasional intruders of the marauding kind, and Italian royalty who live there to this day.

Tales of intrigue, mystery, and spirituality echo throughout the 70 rooms where you’ll encounter the castle ghost, the chapel where Celestino V died (he was the only Pope to have ever abdicated), the museum section including a Canova sculpture of Paulina Borghese, secret passageways, and a spectacular hanging garden.

You too can make your mark and sign the guest book here at the castle when you come for a visit, or you can play queen or king for a couple of days and stay in what were once the knights’ quarters, now turned bed and breakfast.

Castello di Fumone, staggering in its massiveness and authenticity, designed by history and not by Disney, is the real thing.

Sunshine? Tick! Azure coastline? Tick! Delicious food? Ditto! But nowhere else in Italy does it feel, just briefly, that you’ve left the intrusions of the 21st century behind. Time moves slowly and people are genuinely welcoming. From fairytale trulli and semi-pagan shrines, to stout Norman fortresses and frothy, baroque palazzi (all unblemished by graffiti), its complex history and culture is vividly apparent. Even the myriad local dialects, of diverse ethnic origin, indicate that you are in an Italy completely unlike that of the more trodden paths.

Acres of gnarled, ancient olive groves thrive in seemingly barren, rocky soil. Going for a run along a meandering, rural road – the fading sunlight reflected off the red earth washing everything in rosy hues – wave to a shepherd, and be wished “Buona sera” as he cajoles his cling-clanging goats round the tomato-field, past the cacti and over the next rise.

- Contributed by Lynda Higgs, global nomad, frustrated writer, and observer of this beautiful and bewildering, fascinating and frustrating place in which she currently lives.

To be fair, the guidebooks don’t call it that, but being surrounded by rice paddies probably created the ideal situation of an abundant supply of geese with which to practice this specialized cuisine.

One great option if you want to sample the local dishes? “L’Oca Ciuca” (The Drunken Goose), situated right behind the piazza, with its own goose product delicatessen. With apologies to the large amount of geese consumed, we were not sorry to try the heavenly ten-hour roasted goose. The goose eggs were delicious, but words cannot describe the goose salami and prosciutto.

L’Oca Ciuca. Via XX Settembre, 37, Vigevano. Tel. 0381-348091; www.locaciuca.com

- Contributed by Jean Tori, artist (www.jeantoriartwork.com), who rents holiday houses in her medieval hamlet in Umbria (www.caiporrihomeinumbria.com)

Started up in the 60’s by Prince Karim Agha Khan and bought from the Venetians Luigi and Nicolo’ Donà dalle Rose for billions, Porto Rotondo is one of the top summer resorts for worldly Italians. Although close to archaeological sites, luxurious hotels, projects by famous architects such as Couelle, and aquamarine water the international crowds often opt for the nearby Porto Cervo which also hosts the Sardinia Cup sailing regatta in September.

Porto Cervo and Porto Rotondo together are part of the Emerald Coast urban planning where a cappuccino costs 1,50 Euros rather than 90 cents. Then there’s always Olbia’s supermarket where you can avoid the jewelry priced items…

or one could always simply invest in a fishing rod.

The property and grounds actually contain more than one villa. The first is from the 15th century, but best known is the grand 18th century Villa dei Cedri itself, built by the Miniscalchi’s of Verona but which over the years was also home to Napoleon and HQ to Feldmarshall Erwin Rommel, among others.

The villa’s name comes from the hundreds of cedars from around the world planted throughout the thirty five acre gardens. Over the centuries other types of enormous trees were planted too including Giant Sequoias, quite an unexpected sight in Italy, making a walk in this park a walk among giants.

Fine, lots of trees… but what about my sore muscles!?

In 1989 the current owners realized they needed more water for the grounds than was supplied by the small natural stream and so decided to sink a well to hopefully tap an aquifer. As luck would have it they hit two, one at 500 feet and another at 700 feet, which spring forth with a total of 1.3 million gallons of water a day… at 102° F and 110° respectively.

Among the beautiful trees, the park now has two equally beautiful lakes that you can soak in all day, fed by the hot springs via jets and waterfalls throughout for hydro-massages that will cure any post-hike or skiing aches.

Ahhh….

Oddly from the time of the Roman occupation until Mussolini appeared requiring the re-smelting of the millennia old iron slag for the war effort, nothing very much happened here.

Then, under the mountains of slag, the Etruscan tombs emerged and today this enchanting, beautiful area is one of the most important archaeological sites in Europe.

The Etruscan God of the area, Fufluna, God of love and wine, birth, death and rebirth, no doubt roams the area once again with that enigmatic Etruscan smile. Nature reborn and never looking better!