Idyllic Italy. A plethora of fabulous food, marvelous mountains, amazing architecture, stately statues and wonderful walled hillside hamlets. Here you find popes, painters, poets, pasta, and (possibly) potentates.

As we drove tunnel after tunnel threw the Italian mountains, we were drawn by the breathtaking vistas with the rugged mountain peaks of granite in the background. And just as entrancing as the view was the smell of freshly baked breads wafting our way from stores as we entered city gates. Then a search for hearty pasta fare and, of course, a bed for the night.

That kind of total sensory experience, as much as Italy's better-known wonders of art and architecture, reveals what is so fascinating about the country. A visit to Italy is a lesson in living well. Open-air vegetable and fruit markets, neighborhood bakeries and fresh coffee are fixtures of Italian life. Neighbors still meet in the piazza to discuss the day, laundry is still line-dried, even in the largest of cities, and the passeggiata (leisurely stroll) is still made in the evening air -- preferably with a gelato (ice cream) in hand. From the mountains to the coasts, the emphasis is on simple pleasures and high quality.

Wherever you go there are glimpses of the great artistic legacy of Italy. There were no cities or museums that we visited, however modest, which did not contain and cherish some share of Italy’s wealth of art.

And then there is the food. The gentle lifestyle of Italy is partly a product of its civilized eating habits: eating and drinking in tranquility at least once a day seems to be the norm here.

We visited Roman ruins, explored the canals of Venice, gazed at Renaissance art, inspected beautiful churches, and stayed in tiny medieval hill towns. Naturally we also indulged in the pleasures of “la dolce vita”: good food, good wine and gelato.