LuminosityItalia

By Mariella Radaelli and Jon Van Housen LuminosityItalia Compared to the Amalfi Coast, its bustling neighbor in Italy's province of Salerno, Cilento might seem like land that time forgot. Long stretches of its beaches remain untouched by mass tourism and a time-honored way of life continues in its countryside, where medieval borghi largely stand in their original state and small agricultural operations hand make sublime artisanal products. But it is certainly a land remembered in the long sweep of history and myth. It is where Palinuro fell in love with the cold-hearted nymph Kamaratòn, where some of the best temples of Magna Graecia were built and remain, and in much more modern times, where the Allies first invaded mainland Europe in WWII and created their own legends with the names of Cilento’s hamlets and villages attached. Blue-on-blue beauty of sea and sky in Palinuro . And that underdeveloped state could be its greatest asset. Home to Blue Flag – or entirely pristi

By Mariella Radaelli With its modern architecture, Recco seems out of place on the picturesque Italian Riviera. Yet it is remarkable in its own right as a paradise for food. Tucked into a thyme-scented hillside, the sea town of the Golfo Paradiso borders the slow-paced fishing village of Camogli and is only a two-hour drive from Milan. While Camogli, shortened from Case delle Mogli, got his name from the women who watched over the town while their husbands were at sea, Recco’s name originates from the Romans who called the borgo “Recina”. When I was a child I used to walk with my mother from Recco to Camogli every morning during our August vacation. To me Camogli meant buying fish directly from the fishermen, while Recco meant fantastic recipes. Both were summer retreats for the Milanese whose families have returned for generations for their annual dose of sunshine, focaccia and trofie. My father picked Recco because it was “the capital of Ligurian cuisine”. And still it is.

By Jon Van Housen and Mariella Radaelli When the hardy residents of Livigno gave a cask of wine to the Capuchin friars of Bormio in the 8th century to gain autonomy for their high valley, they couldn’t have known they were setting a precedent that would continue down through the ages, even up until today. Isolated far from the centers of power that variously controlled Italy, surrounded by the Alps and a crossroads for smugglers, Livigno enjoyed the independence of benign neglect and thrived on trans-mountain trade in the centuries that followed. The Austrian Empire confirmed its autonomy in the 18th century and the government of Italy upheld the tradition in 1910, granting the commune tax-free status. Today Livigno’s duty-free prices for gasoline, alcohol, tobacco and a range of other commodities draw visitors from across Italy and even adjacent Switzerland and Austria. Livigno in summer But the Lombardy mountain village has an attraction that makes it even more alluring. The