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When writer Merrill Joan Gerber is invited to join her husband, a history professor, as he takes a class of American college students to study in Florence, Italy, she feels terrified at the idea of leaving her comforts, her friends, and her aged mother in California. Her husband tries to assure her that her fear of Italy—and her lack of knowledge of the Italian language—will be offset by the discoveries of travel. "I can’t tell you exactly what will happen, but something will. And it will all be new and interesting." Botticelli Blue Skies is the tale of a woman who readily admits to fear of travel, a fear that many experience but are embarrassed to admit. When finally she plunges into the new adventure, she describes her experiences in Florence with wit, humor, and energy.
Instead of sticking to the conventional tourist path, Gerber follows her instincts. She makes discoveries without tour guides droning in her ear and reclaims the travel experience as her own, taking time to shop in a thrift shop, eat in a Chinese restaurant that serves "Dragon chips," make friends with her landlady who turns out to be a Countess, and visit the class of a professor at the university. She discovers a Florence that is not all museums and wine. With newfound patience and growing confidence, Gerber makes her way around Florence, Venice, and  Rome. She visits famous places and discovers obscure ones—in the end embracing all that is Italian. Botticelli Blue Skies (accompanied by the author’s own photographs) is an honest, lyrical, touching account of the sometimes exhausting, often threatening, but always enriching physical and emotional challenge that is travel.

Table of Contents

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  1. Cover
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  1. Title Page, Copyright Page
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  1. Contents
  2. pp. ix-xii
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  1. 1. I Can’t Go to Italy
  2. pp. 1-3
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  1. 2. I’m Going to Italy
  2. pp. 4-5
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  1. 3. Gli Studenti
  2. pp. 6-8
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  1. 4. A Flat Full of Sun
  2. pp. 9-10
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  1. 5. Siamo Arrivati!
  2. pp. 11-15
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  1. 6. Via Visconti Venosta
  2. pp. 16-18
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  1. 7. All Florence and Fiesole
  2. pp. 19-23
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  1. 8. Postcards and E-Mail (One)
  2. pp. 24-26
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  1. 9. Mosquitoes (Zanzare)
  2. pp. 27-29
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  1. 10. First Lessons
  2. pp. 30-33
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  1. 11. Reserved for the Mutilated
  2. pp. 34-40
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  1. 12. A Piece of Laundry (Un Pezzo del Bucato)
  2. pp. 41-44
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  1. 13. Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashonah)
  2. pp. 45-49
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  1. 14. In the Bosom of My People
  2. pp. 50-55
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  1. 15. Florentine Hospitality
  2. pp. 56-59
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  1. 16. The Mystery of Marriage
  2. pp. 60-63
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  1. 17. Fiesole and the Etruscan Sigh
  2. pp. 64-69
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  1. 18. Postcards and E-Mail (Two)
  2. pp. 70-72
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  1. 19. Italian Trains, Italian Men
  2. pp. 73-76
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  1. 20. Seashells from the Adriatic and Roast Sardines
  2. pp. 77-83
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  1. 21. The Fire, the Wedding, the Gondoliers
  2. pp. 84-89
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  1. 22. The Jewish Ghetto in Venice, Losses, and Other Thefts
  2. pp. 90-98
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  1. 23. The Movie Sets of Venice and Florence
  2. pp. 99-102
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  1. 24. Botticelli Women, Italian Wives
  2. pp. 103-106
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  1. 25. Sciopero! (Strike!)
  2. pp. 107-110
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  1. 26. The Five-Hundred-Year-Old Farmhouse
  2. pp. 111-115
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  1. 27. Losing My Way, Discovering Treasures
  2. pp. 116-122
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  1. 28. Cinderella in Drag, a Night at the Ballet
  2. pp. 123-127
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  1. 29. “Rita, You Are the Girl I Have Loved . . .”
  2. pp. 128-133
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  1. 30. The Incorrupt Body
  2. pp. 134-137
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  1. 31. The Altar of the Virgin of Siena
  2. pp. 138-144
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  1. 32. La Bocca della Verità (The Mouth of Truth)
  2. pp. 145-153
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  1. 33. The British Institute Library, Jane Eyre, il Porcellino
  2. pp. 154-160
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  1. 34. The Uffizi, the Spanish Chapel, and Madame Butterfly
  2. pp. 161-168
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  1. 35. Halloween in Tuscany
  2. pp. 169-177
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  1. 36. Gypsies (Zingari)
  2. pp. 178-181
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  1. 37. “A Pistol That Shoots a Big Nail in Front of the Animal”
  2. pp. 182-188
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  1. 38. A Farm Feast, Colle Val D’Elsa, Bongo Drums for the Bishop
  2. pp. 189-194
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  1. 39. Picasso in the Dustbin, Windmills on the Wall
  2. pp. 195-199
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  1. 40. “Tabu”
  2. pp. 200-203
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  1. 41. Daughters of Florence
  2. pp. 204-207
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  1. 42. Massimo’s Lizard-Skin Keychains, Riccardo’s Castagna
  2. pp. 208-214
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  1. 43. No Coins in the Fountain
  2. pp. 215-224
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  1. 44. A Roman Ruin, I, the Sistine Chapel, and Judgment Day
  2. pp. 225-229
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  1. 45. St. Peter’s Basilica and the Pope’s Fishing Cap
  2. pp. 230-235
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  1. 46. The Spanish Steps, Desperation at the Tiber River
  2. pp. 236-243
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  1. 47. The Mosaics and Karaoke Bars of Ostia Antica
  2. pp. 244-250
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  1. 48. Thanksgiving Tacchino Arrosto, Elvis in Sequins
  2. pp. 251-258
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  1. 49. The Olive-Picking
  2. pp. 259-263
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  1. 50. The Artist, Her Villa, the Bombs of World War II
  2. pp. 264-273
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  1. 51. The Christmas Mystery, Two Big Macs
  2. pp. 274-280
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  1. 52. L’Ultimo Addio, Last Views of the Ponte Vecchio
  2. pp. 281-303
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