Where will you be going in Italy, Annie?
I've almost gotten there twice, but never quite managed to, and have wanted to go ever since studying Renaissance art. Florence has always been my number one choice. The closest I got to Italy was seeing Mount Blanc from a mountain I climbed in the French Alps (I don't remember just where this was any more, although it was maybe a three-hour drive east of Lyon - I'm not sure if we drove all the way to Haute-Savoie or not). Also, one strand in my ancestry was from near Trento, and only a couple of weeks ago, a researcher found the exact town. Unlike the forum administrators, though, this may not mean I have Italian blood (which sounds so exotic in these northern climes ... ). It seems likely that the family in my ancestry spoke Mócheno, or possibly Cimbrian (ancient German dialects), who came from either Switzerland or Austria many centuries earlier.
Let's see, another Zefferelli film with gorgeous Italian landscapes is "Brother Sun, Sister Moon."
Let us know your itinerary!