La Mia Musica Italiana Preferita
Riding around Italy in a two-door, manual Fiat feels cinematic. Probably more like getting stuck in a side street like in season 2 of Master of None than whipping it down Spanish Steps in Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning.
My wife and I traced our finger up the coast between Rome and Tuscany and landed on Porto Santo Stefano. We took our little RC car up to the quiet seaside town to combat our jet lag with a dip in the clear blue ocean and a couple espressos with the seagulls. We rode up to Siena to rendezvous with our best friends, congregating for a few days before a wedding. I somehow avoided stalling out on the hilly, ancient streets or violating the ‘zona a traffico limito’ and was rewarded with wine and laughter in Piazza del Campo.
We took the Fiat to Montelpuciano to see how they harvested, pressed and aged the wine we loved most, only to find out it tasted even better served within its own home. We traveled between Pienza and San Gimignano, feeling as if we were driving across a Windows wallpaper.
The car carried us through the hills near Arezzo to Casa Cornacchi where we shed tears during “I do’s” in the foreground of olive trees. We danced for hours, fueled by seemingly unlimited Spritzes and a DJ named Fabio. We ended our night jumping into a pool under moonlight despite the security guard’s best efforts to stop us.
Throughout the few hundred kilometers that we traveled in that little gem of a whip, I flipped through radio stations to see how the locals got down. Sure we heard a lot of what would be heard on American radio stations, from Bruce to Bruno, but it was the Italian music that had me slapping the ceiling and drumming on the steering wheel. When I returned home, I’d dive deep into the artists I shazammed, discovering Italian classics, pop, or disco music that made me feel like when Jennifer Coolidge says “Palermo.”
This is a reminder that travel isn’t limited to what you see and taste. At the heart of every place is the rhythm that carries it. Maybe you’ll find it busking on the street corner, in the background of an excellent meal, or traveling from here to there.
I encourage you to make part of your trip prework or homework to listen to music from your destination. And if you happen to be going to Italy, I have you covered.
The Starting 5
Album of the Month: Nobody Can Live Forever: The Existential Soul of Tim Maia
I came across Tim Maia in the backseat of a white surf bum van somewhere between Lisbon and Sintra. My driver, DJ, and tour guide, Simao, was an incredible vibe curator, and after a shot of aguardente on the cliffs of Portugal he decided Tim Maia would carry us home.
This compilation album was pulled together by Luaka Bop, a record label founded by Talking Heads front man David Byrne.
Three fascinating things I learned about Tim Maia:
He spent 5 years in the United States starting when he was 17, but was arrested 5 times including his final time in which he was smoking weed in a stolen car, which led to his deportation.
Maia was known to miss his own concerts after completing his own version of a triathlon, consuming whiskey, cocaine and marijuana.
“Starting in 1974, Maia spent a couple of years involved with a religious group called Cultura Racional that held the belief that humans are really aliens that need to reconnect with an elemental form of energy through the teachings of a book called Universo Em Desencanto (Universe in Disenchantment).” (NPR)
Featured Tracks
The plants at Tropenhaus in Berlin were treated to an absolutely incredible Kylie Minogue cover.
Peace, love and positivity.