Tuscany. What is it really like?

The author of the Inside “Tuscany: A Second Time Around” guidebook series offers a new book of adventures — and misadventures — while living and traveling in Tuscany and Italy.

Book Sections

I. The Aretine: including life in the major hill town of Arezzo and its Saturday and Antique markets, watching the Giostra del Saracino, and revisiting the WW II atrocity at Civitella in Chiana.

II. Culture: examining the role of the Catholic church in society, understanding and using proper customs and courtesies including when to use ciao and the kiss-kiss, shopping in tiny specialty stores, studying in Italian school, walking in the passeggiata, harvesting grapes, looking at the lives of relatives, and dealing with Italian bureaucracy.

III. Food: finding good restaurants and bars, eating at the great osteria La Capannaccia, ordering caffè in a bar, trying to eat Tuscan bread, and surviving a meal as a guest in someone's home.

IV. Traveling and Living: stories of exploration including the Blue Grotto in Sicily, dealing with a car accident, living and freezing in an 18th century rectory, taking the right photo equipment and pictures, surviving culture shock, adapting to the rapid evolution of connectivity and, buying an Italian cell phone.

V. Driving in Italy: driving in the city and on the autostrada, navigating in cities and the countryside, and dealing with the short-term Italian driver thinking.

VI.Walking the Aqueduct and the magic of discovery.

Praise from Readers:

— Very informative and a must read for anyone going to the Tuscany region or interested the many activities in the region. —

— In the spirit of John Steinbeck (Travels with Charley) and Charles Kuralt (America), Grabinger has authored a book which at once recounts his experiences in Tuscany and gives the reader a rich repertoire for knowledgeably approaching the region. In this fast-paced book, we learn what to expect at meals, on the autostrada, in the shops, and at the markets. It is a great source for understanding and coping with Italian (or at least Tuscan) culture. If you are going to Tuscany, read it! —

— Just to let you know how much we enjoyed your book, my wife and I took turns reading it to each other at our lake cabin in northern Minnesota, we broke out in laughter several times. —