Just returned from the annual September trip to Italia with Ellie. We stayed in Conegliano for a few nights with the family and then moved up to Cortina d’Ampezzo for the remainder. I suppose I am starting to sound like I am taking it for granted when I say it was more of the usual — outstanding food, drink, daily hiking in the Alps, near perfect weather and world class company. However, any suggestion that I will ever tire of this now routine could not be further from the truth as this is always my favorite week of the year (if I can disconnect from work even close to 50%).

This year we did three great hikes, each about 4-5 hours, including (i) Via Rifugio Ra Stua to Rifugio Senes and Biella (tough decline), (ii) Tre Croci a Podestagno (Cristallo), (iii) we took the funivia to Rifugio Faloria and hiked around Rif. Tondi and down to town (again, difficult going down – almost lost the toe nails).

Certo, we always stopped to refill at one of the Rifugi, the Enoteca, Mamma’s or Zia’s for Casunziei, Zuppa d’Orzo Polenta e Salciccia, Prosciutto and Formaggio (among many other delicacies I have grown to crave), and, to drink my favorites, Skiwasser, Grappa, Birrini, Spritz con L’Aperol or a Radler. Posted some photos at www.flickr.com/jpickell/sets.

Many thanks and love to Rafaella, Giulio, Marco, Zia, Lapo, Lorenzo (I and II), Giuliana, Lorenza, Joe, Luciana, Massimo, Stella, and all the other fabulous and generous hosts.

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The man who does not read good books is no better than the man who can’t. Mark Twain

1. Shantaram by David Gregory Roberts. A moving story that offers a little bit of everything. I am in the first “trimester” so I’ll hold off on my thoughts.
2. The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay. The first page turner of the summer. A bildungsroman (novel of personal development) written by Bryce Courtenay, first published in 1989. Set in South Africa during the ’30s and ’40s and later on in the story, Northern Rhodesia, it tells the story of an English boy who, through the course of the story, acquires the nickname of Peekay. It is written from the first person perspective, with Peekay narrating (as an adult, looking back) and trusting the reader with his thoughts and feelings as he becomes a fighter both in life and the ring.
3. The Agony and the Ecstacy by Irving Stone. A biographical novel about the life of Michelangelo. If you don’t like most history books, the way in which the author weaves together the real life details of perhaps the most talented artist of all time and creates a believable story makes the 800 page story rather painless and will undoubtedly create an appreciation of sculpture in those who have historically seen statutues as not much more than a piece of rock.
4. The Assault on Reason by Al Gore. Mr. Gore does a pretty good job of describing how Bush is re-defining our tri-cameral system and making the other branches of government less relevant in the face of a ill-defined war that he never expects to end. Somewhat redundant but I appreach his honesty and direct approach.
5. Being Logical BJ McInerney. The author attempts but falls short of creating a guide to logic ala Strunk and White (The Elements of Style). He pays excruciating detail to the obvious, fails to provide enough real life examples for the tenets of logic and turns what is supposed to be a layman’s guide into a dust gathering piece of academia.
6. The City of Falling Angels by John Berendt. A great prelude to a visit to the historic city. It tells the story of some interesting inhabitants of Venice, Italy, that the author met while living there in the months following the fire that destroyed the historic Fenice Theater opera house. Among those interviewed is Archimede Seguso, who is arguably the finest Venetian glassblower of the twentieth century. Archimede Seguso lives directly behind the Fenice, explaining the amount of passion he begins to feel after it has burned. This passion begins to directly correlate into his glass, and soon he is creating a whole line dedicated to the memory of the Fenice fire, his own rendition of how the opera house burned. The book explores the local reaction to the Fenice fire, from the Save Venice Foundation to Venice’s bureaucratic government. It also tells the story of many American and English expatriates who went to live in Venice, from Daniel Curtis, who owned Palazzo Barbaro where Henry James and John Singer Sargent were guests, to the poet Ezra Pound who lived the last part of his life in Venice. Upon this book’s release on September 27, 2005, it was number one on the New York Times bestseller list.
7. Too Close to the Sun by Sara Wheeler. The story of Denys Finch Hatton, the basis for Robert Redford’s character in the novel Out of Africa. He was the second son of an earl who took off for East Africa – ’still then the land of the pioneer’ – the archetypal eternal wanderer. He is just as romantic as Redford, according to this spellbinding portrait by Sara Wheeler, but more complex – he was a committed reader, a fine musician and a lover of Chateau d’Yquem wine. His love affair with the writer Karen Blixen comes alive in the bush as Wheeler recreates their safaris. She also describes an epic 6-month trip to Somalia, in which Denys Finch Hatton bought a herd of bony cattle and drove them down to Nairobi.
8. Pigs in Heaven by Barbara Kingsolver. The sequel to the author The Bean Story by the author of the Poisonwood Bible. An interesting commentary about issues that remain unsolved between culturally distinct peoples in America unfolds through the story of Turtle, a 6 year old Cherokee orphan.
9. Imperium by Robert Harris. A 2006 novel by Robert Harris. It is a fictionalised biography of Cicero, told through the first-person narrator of his secretary Tiro, beginning with the prosecution of Verres. tells the story of Cicero’s early career until the point at which he becomes a consul. It follows three main events: the trial of Gaius Verres (a corrupt governor); a political crisis involving Pompey the Great and his arch-rival Crassus; and Cicero’s election campaign and election as consul.

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We spent the last week or so with Ellie’s family, both in Conegliano (Mom, Dad and Lapo) and Cortina (Zia and Marco).. As always, the focus during these stays is on the consumption of the world’s most sumptuous culinary delights, each taste woven together by the most spectalar vistas, festivals and, above all, family and comaraderie. During the last week we attended numerous festivals, including an equestrian jumping show in the Dolmites, a local beer festival in Cortina and watched midnight fireworks up at La Colabra in Conegliano. Unfortunately, my Italian is still very poor; however, even after I learn the language, I am not sure I will ever know how to (or want to) say “enough”! The Italians certainly know how to enjoy life and it is something I will continue to work on. Somehow Ellie and I have committed to someday manage to spend at least 3 months a year in Cortina, the home of our wedding and one of our favorite places on this earth.

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• Appreciating Pacific beaches: Where el Nino and la Nina come to shore