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Calcata, Italy and making travel more meaningful via literature

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A few months back, Rick re-aired an older episode of the podcast that had travel writer David Farley talking about his book, "An Irreverent Curiosity," about his time living in the village of Calcata (just north of Rome) while hanging out with the wacky inhabitants and looking for a strange holy relic that went missing from the church a while back. I bought the book and read it since i was heading to Rome soon after. A great read! Even better: visiting the town of Calcata after reading it.

i've done this before. I read Francis Mayes' 'Under the Tuscan Sun" and then went to Cortona. I also read John Berendt's "The City of Falling Angels" before my last trip to Venice. It's a great way to make travel more meaningful and I highly recommend it. And all three books too!

Does anyone else do this?

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11647 posts

Yes, I have done this often. Irving Stone’s “Agony and the Ecstasy” , focusing on Michelangelo’s life, set in Florence and Rome, is one of them I recommend.

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1297 posts

Yes, absolutely. Our Venice collection extends for several feet, and keeps on growing.
Perhaps helped by being friends with a bloke who lives in Venice and writes.
Philip Gwyn Jones.
“To Venice with Love”

We are described as “the Brilliant Aussies”.

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2147 posts

Enjoyed reading Anthony Doerr’s Four Seasons in Rome. It’s actually a memoir, but a pleasure to read such a great writer.

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2329 posts

Vincent Schiavelli's "Many Beautiful Things" about Polizzi Generosa, Sicily, sent us directly there! (And we loved it.)

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2421 posts

hey hey all
if interested in going to the village of calcata there is a tour from rome termini
withlocals.com/ rome
a day in calcata: picturesque bohemian town
aloha

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709 posts

Calcata is one of our favorite surprises. We discovered it by chance visiting family about 5 years ago and were amazed by how unique it is. I've never specifically read and traveled but I do like identifying with the places that I have visited when I come across them in literature.

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I forgot to mention that I read Jan Morris' great book, "Trieste and the Meaning of Nowhere" and then went to Trieste, which really brought the place alive for me.

Whatever the case, thanks for your comments. It was fun to see what other people have read about and then traveled to. And to try to get to Calcata, next time you're in Rome. A really unique place.

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