My mother used to marvel over how fertile Italian soil is. She would say that everything grows here. And what’s true for the plant kingdom is doubly true in the realm of human relationships. In Italy friendships find fertile soil and grow quick and strong.

The last day and a half with our second of five tour groups is a shopping day, by design. And similarly by design I am able to duck out of the daylong cashmere shopping extravaganza with the six ladies who have been our guests and companions for the past week. I will not be missed because with each other, with Suzy, with Marco, this group has everything it needs. But this was not always the case. At the beginning of the week five of the six knew at least some of the members of the group. The sixth was a stranger to the group. And Suzy and I knew a couple of the group in varying degrees.

But by the end of the week we were a group in the truest sense of the word. Just like the group of guests we had said goodbye to the week before, seven days of sharing a van, sharing each meal and sharing a voyage of discovery had forged friendships where none had existed before and deepened the friendships that were brought with them to Italy.

But not only did our group develop friendships among themselves, they made friendships with many of the Italians with which they came into contact during the week. Indeed, one of things Suzy and I try to accomplish during our weeklong tours is not just to show our guests what Italy looks like, but to have them experience what it feels like. It is a fundamental difference, like the difference between reading a book and actually living the story.

We don’t simply introduce our guests to our Italian friends, we mix it up. We eat at restaurants and then have the chef over for dinner. We take walking tours of ancient cities where the tour guide is as much the center of attention as are the buildings. We taste wines with the winemakers not in some fancy tasting room, but over lunch with the winemaker’s entire family. We share tables together – Italians and Americans – and struggle together to communicate, make food noises together when tasting something delicious, dance together when listening to music and laugh, smile and hug together. If Americans are uncomfortable with the greeting and parting kiss when they arrive in Cannara, they are addicted to when they leave.

Our weeklong “tours” are not really tours at all. And they don’t have so much an agenda of things to see as they are an opportunity to experience. Because when you give this country an opportunity to make a connection, it is very fertile indeed.

The fertile soil in this country produces an incredible bounty to feed the body. But its culture of openness and friendship even more feeds the soul. And after two weeks here with two different groups, it is safe to say that we are well fed.

Ci vediamo!
Bill and Suzy