I struggle to appreciate the beloved Italian firewater called grappa. Finishing dinner at Rome’s Ristorante da Fortunato with a glass, my friend Stefano (who runs Hotel Oceania) explains that his greatest joy is grappa ‘ specifically, a chilled grappa with a Tuscan cigar on his sailboat halfway to Corsica.
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Bernini’s Apollo Chasing Daphne (in Rome’s Borghese Gallery) is my favorite statue in the history of European art. View the video below, and hopefully you’ll see why.
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If you’re looking for sumptuous art, head to the Gallery Borghese, which gets my vote for the best interior of any palace in Europe. Every inch is richly decorated, and, from the perspective of Baroque sensibilities, it works. We were filming there for three hours on a Monday, when it was closed to the public. Delightful experience. Join me for a quick little walk with Cardinal Borghese, Canova, and, of course, the father of the Baroque movement, Bernini.
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It seems I always spend my birthday filming in Europe. My present this year was being legally inside Rome’s great sights with our big camera and tripod. We had a great day in the National Museum, Colosseum, and Forum. As we spent well over $3,000 for the day’s permissions, we were shooting vigorously until being kicked out at 7pm. Everything had gone wonderfully, and just a few minutes before 7:00, I was celebratory. As cameraman Karel got the last angles on the Arch of Titus, I met a gang of happy Filipino tourists, and asked them to sing me “Happy Birthday” in Tagalog. They obliged, giving me a wonderful birthday memory.
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As I was dining al fresco in Rome, just off Campo de’ Fiori, a helicopter droned overhead. A group of tall, trim men in black dress jackets wandered around listening to their earpieces. While I’d chatted with them (and left thinking, “Wow, no sense of humor”), I didn’t put things together. Turns out Hillary Clinton was eating dinner a block away, and they were scouting a little walkabout for her. An hour later, an energy swept across the square like a tiny urban tornado. The word spread: It’s Hillary Clinton. I jumped up from my plate and walked through her entourage to shake her hand. She works so hard, I just wanted to say thanks. She asked me what I was doing here. “We’re making a TV show for PBS, ” I told her. She said, “Let’s keep PBS alive.” Hooray for Hillary.
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