"Turning Tuscan" is a story about what it's like to fall in love with Tuscany in your mid-life years, to buy a home there, to change around your work, and, finally, to leave the San Francisco Bay Area and move with your wife and children to a tiny Tuscan village. That's the first part. The second part tries to share what it's like living here once you've made the move: learning the language, becoming part of a village community, running a tour company, understanding the political scene, getting an internet connection, enjoying Renaissance art, spending time in the hospital, appreciating the bureaucracy, and enduring customer service at The Phone Company. It has been written in a way that will make you feel like an honored guest invited into the cockpit as we transfer from America to Tuscany and set up shop. And, in case you are wondering what kind of crazy person does such a thing, and whether you might be one, I try to share enough personal history and detail about our lives on both sides of the ocean to satisfy your curiosity. As a foreigner who enters into another culture, there is a limited window of time available to you to see these things and to try to record them in some way. You have to become Italian enough to play the game, but not so Italian yet that it all becomes invisible. If you wait too long, you are no longer in a position to reflect or comment on cultural differences because what people are doing seems totally normal to you. Ripeness is all, as the poet said, and hopefully I've managed to capture for you some of the subtler aspects of living here that travel photos, even high resolution ones, can never reveal.
About the Author: Sam Hilt's other works include a guidebook to Florence's Uffizi Gallery ("The Uffizi Gallery"); a volume of essays that explores the major works of the Florentine Renaissance ("The Renaissance of Imagination"); and a brief introduction to the art of travel planning ("Paradise Now: How to Plan the Perfect Italy Vacation"). All titles are available on Amazon. While teaching part-time in the San Francisco Bay Area for several years, Sam and his wife began organizing summer art seminars in Florence for American travelers. Their avocation gradually became their primary activity, and they have been busy for these past twelve years developing cultural travel adventures throughout Italy and France. Their travel company, Tuscany Tours, may be found on the web at www.TuscanyTours.com. Sam Hilt was born in Munich, Germany, and grew up in Newark, New Jersey. He studied Comparative Literature (English, French, Russian) at Brandeis University (B.A.) and at the University of Toronto (M.A.). He also holds a Masters degree in Psychology from Sonoma State University in Rohnert Park, CA, and a Doctorate in Psychology from The Union Institute in Cincinnati. Sam and Pamela and their two daughters, Siena and Emma, currently spend most of their time in a tiny medieval village in Tuscany.