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It's amazing how many Mauians are hungry (and thirsty!) for a taste of Italy. When I told people I was going to Rome, Tuscany and beyond, the coconut wireless buzzed that dozens of others were going at the same time. So their stories, too, are peppered throughout this travel piece.

We'll start with Rome - and - nobody describes it better than Maui artist, sculptor and poet Piero Resta, who spent fall in his native Italy carving a 7-ton block of white carrara marble (the same kind Michaelangelo used) for a four-star boutique hotel in Maremma on the Etruscan coast.

"Rome is like a golden octopus," says Piero. "It has all of these tentacles to get lost in and then you always can come back to the center. It's got the grandeur of Paris, but with a medieval quality and with the intimacy of a small village. On a contemporary level, it's got new art galleries, films and festivals happening all of the time. It's magic."

We certainly found the magic while we waited to attend the International Wine Academy of Roma in Il Palazzetto at the top of the Spanish Steps.

The press conference for "Inglorious Bastards" was about to happen just across the Piazza Trinita dei Monti at Il Palazzetto's sister property, the five-star Hotel Hassler Roma. We heard that Quentin Tarantino was in attendance as well as the producer, Lawrence Bender. Italy apparently is one of the last places that a movie premieres on the market and the name of it in Italian is "Bastardi Senza Gloria."

Burning some time before our wine class, we walked around the legendary Hassler and checked out every nook and cranny from the Michelin-starred Imago restaurant to the Amorveri Spa to the famous bar, where every James Bond has sipped a martini, shaken, not stirred.

Top tourist sites like the Villa Borghese and the Pantheon would have to wait, because the Hassler was way cool, and we were green with envy that we were not staying there in the thick of all the five-star action.

The hotel's owner and general manager, Roberto Wirth, was in the Palm Court greeting guests, and we met him. As it turns out, the Swiss-born, fifth-generation hotelier lived in Hawaii and is still reeling over his fishing club, de Porto Ercole, losing to a group of Germans at the 1987 Kona International Billfishing tournament. "They caught the winning marlin, and all we caught was a mahi! A mahi!" he lamented.

Then it was off to the International Wine Academy of Roma at Il Palazzetto a few steps away, its terrace entrance providing an awesome view from the top of the Spanish Steps all the way past St. Peter's Basilica.

Housed in a 16th-century building, Il Palazzetto presents an ongoing wine class with different themes each week. It's a lot of fun and worth every Euro ($15). Barbara Di Fresco taught our lively group in both English and Italian. We talked about and tasted the wines of Puglia, Abruzzo, Calabria and Sardegna. One Italian lady said the Colli de Serpito tasted like "salami,"?and the room erupted into a roar of laughter. It was hysterical. But the class was educational, too.

Afterwards, we huffed up the never-ending, wrought-iron, spiral staircase to the best dinner we had in Rome. Il Palazzetto had deep bordello-red walls, red anthuriums in glass jars and a cozy fireplace. Autumn dishes such as potato-and-pistachio gnocchi with scorpion fish ragout and turnip tops; and shank of lamb with balsamic vinegar, potato puree and chestnuts were so grand, they were biblical in proportion. The impeccable service, more wine, and lemon cheesecake topped with chocolate "cream ice" also bowled us over.

While the above-mentioned restaurant was world-class, everyone seems to agree some of the more humble eateries are also real winners. Piero told us about Campo di Fiori, an area of Rome with a central piazza that is almost like a food court with restaurants extending down every alleyway or "tentacle." Stroll up and down and come back to the piazza, watch the mimes and the mandolin players, and eventually and leisurely find a dinner spot and settle in.

We scored at an off-the-beaten-track trattoria in Campo di Fiori, where armchair soccer players watched their favorite teams on TV. We ate pasta carbonara with bacon, eggs and peas; and pizza Margherita from a wood-fired oven as we sipped wine from a house pitcher.

"Sometimes a pitcher of the house wine with pizza and a salad or a casual meal is the perfect thing," says oenophile Jim Powlan of Chambers & Chambers Wine Merchants, who goes to Italy on regular occasions.

"Oftentimes the Italians have their best wine before dinner and a much simpler wine with dinner." So the advice is, "When in Rome, drink like the Romans."

Trastevere area of Rome is peppered with all sorts of eateries and my former high-school classmate, Eddie Neiman, and his wife, Margaret Tanner, "token Romens" and "token Mauians," stayed there while we were in town.

They found a "gem of a restaurant" on dei Salumi, just yards away from their bed and breakfast. "Sette Oche is on a quiet street not far from Piazza in Piscnula. We stumbled in at 11 p.m. on a Sunday night and the folks there couldn't have been nicer or more accommodating to our pleas for food at such a late (even by Roman standards) hour," says Margaret.

In addition, we met them at Piazza Navona by the famous Bernini sculpture that was in the movie "Angels & Demons." We walked to Trattoria Gigi on the cross streets of via Belsiana and via del Contiti. The waiter looked just like Bruce Willis. "But I don't have his money!" he said, as he brought us bruschetta, carafes of wine and espresso.

Another great wine experience may be had at the St. Regis Rome, where "Angels & Demons" star Tom Hanks stayed when filming there. Di Vino is a cave under the hotel's restaurant, Vivendo. It is part of the Diocleziano Roman baths that in 305 A.D. accommodated 3,000 people. It sets an ancient stage for tastings and pairings with temptations of orange-honey-glazed duck with grilled polenta and thyme; and basil-filled red mullet on chick-pea puree and shellfish sauce.

Chef-owner Matteo Mistura of Matteo's Pizzeria in Wailea went to visit his family in Liguria with his wife, Gianna Mistura, about the same time as we did. They stopped in Rome and raved about Enoteca Antica.

"The location was great for people watching," says Gianna. "Truth is, we were thrilled to be in Rome. The energy was high (as most cities on a beautiful, sunny day), but mostly because we were starving for great food. At Enoteca Antica, we enjoyed a fantastic wood-oven thin-crust pizza, and a perfectly prepared Amatriciana pasta (a Roman light tomato sauce with pancetta) and an amazing chianti."

Matteo's friend and employee, Lorenzo Fabiani, just went to his native Italy, too. Lorenzo's father owns the Hotel Cristallo in Pellaro on the Italian Riviera near the Cinqua Terre. Check it out if you travel there.

When in Florence, you must eat at Fiore restaurant, according to twin artists Alessio and Marcello Bugagiar, who were born in the great art city. (They painted Florence's Ponte Vecchio, the most famous bridge in Italy, and it now hangs in the new Bistro Casanova in Kahului.)

"As far as Fiore goes, you must try the ribolitta, a specialty dish of Florence. I also suggest the fresh pasta with truffle cream sauce and the porcini dishes," says Alessio.

Alan Jahns of JMD Beverages, who sells Italian wines at many Maui restaurants from I'o to Longhi's to Cafe Marc Aurel, turned me on to Small Vineyards Tours. Doumina Whyman hand tailors visits to food-and-wine establishments a normal tourist can only fantasize about.

"Our lodgings are always beautiful, and our itineraries are relaxing, educational and fun," says Doumina. "I take you right inside our Small Estates where the winemaker is waiting to offer you his well-worn table, delicious food, and tours and tastings of our small-estate wines. Then, mix-it up with cooking classes, hiking, city-tours with fantastic guides, olive oil and lots of great Tuscan food."

Dr. Gaylen Wiger of Kaiser Permanente and his wife of 35 years, flo wiger, took a tour to Podere Cione Winery in Chianti with a group of about 20 Mauians. I?told them I'd heard about it from Doumina.

"It was just fabulous," says flo. "It was out in the middle of nowhere. We asked an old gentlemen on a scooter for directions. He looked as if he were back in World War I. He told us to look for the black Madonna."

The Mauians in Italy celebrating the Wigers' 35th wedding anniversary were restaurateurs Jennifer Nguyen of Saigon Cafe and Jason Chau of Asian Star, musicians Herb and Dee Coyle, English professor Vinnie Linares along with Barbara Fisher, Dan Schiessler, Susan and Jerry Jorge, Cheryl Okuma, Clarence Uehara and Bob Yoshino. They all had a grand time, according to flo, luxuriating in a three-story villa in Arezzo complete with elevators, swimming pool and pizza oven.

"We spent a week at Villa Teresa in Chianti Classico region of Tuscano and it was fabulous exploring the region," says flo. "And, partaking of the wonderful food such as cinghiale (wild boar) and porcini mushrooms (in season) and lots of wine. We ate and drank our way though a number of small communities in the area and never had a bad experience."

Up the mountainous road from Podere Cione is the place where we stayed while in Chianti. Unlike the above-mentioned group's villa, our bed and breakfast was in an 11th-century former monk's abbey called Badia a Coltibuono. In fact, the Italian word "badia" means "abbey."

It is a wine resort, agriturismo at it's finest - complete with a wine-tasting room, historical cellars, day cooking classes, wine shop, antiquities, swimming pools, labyrinth, courtyard, bell tower, church and restaurant. Fringed by ancient forests on 2,000 hectares, it's like a pleasurable fortress. Their separate winery, vineyards and olive orchards are also a must-see. You may buy some of their products here at Wailea Wine and other specialty shops.

Just like the monks who grew grapes there for a thousand years, Badia a Coltibuono remains organic. It's been in the same family for 150 years. I was fortunate to meet one of the owners, Emanuela Stucchi Prinetti, at the Keawakapu home of Shep Gordon about 10 years ago.

Badia a Coltibuono is the perfect place from which to see some amazing towns and sights in Chianti. Move over, Napa Valley! This area has castles and towns such as Radda in Chianti and Siena - both so awe-inspiring no guide book could ever really do them justice.

"My favorite martini in the whole-wide world was the one I had in Siena," says Iris Mountcastle, an avid traveler and unit manager for Queen Lili'uokalani Children's Center. "It was made with the oil of a fresh lemon."

Also near Siena is Greve in Chianti, which boasts the largest wine shop in the region. Le Cantine de Greve is situated in an old cellar and it features 125 wines to try. "You buy a card for 10 to 30 Euro and then you get a Reidel glass and you go from end to end trying different wines," says Jim Powlan.

Maui Planning Commissioner Jonathan Starr and his wife, Helen Nielsen, president of Maui Coastal Land Trust, also spent time in Italy recently.

"We first landed in Rome, driving directly to Tuscany to meet up with Piero and friends. The Country Inn of Montebelli is a magical place," says Helen. "The dining hall is hundreds of years old. It mixes the old with the new as Piero's contemporary pieces are on the walls. The owners grow grapes to make the most exquisite wines (their pinot noir was my favorite), and olives for the finest olive oil."

Of course, Venice is at the top of many Mauians' wish lists and Ariel and Elizabeth Ferrer are Kihei residents, who spent their honeymoon there recently.

"My husband and I spent two weeks in the land of the godfather, starting in northern Italy and finishing at the southernmost point of the country, Sicily. Although we had amazing meals along the way, one standout was during our last night in Venice at an unpretentious neighborhood restaurant outside the Jewish Ghetto called 40 Ladroni.

"We were the only foreigners in the whole place. We sat outside along a narrow canal and chatted with our friendly neighbors and their little boy, Pierro, who couldn't keep still, so we along with the wait staff let him take our order and serve us our meal which consisted of fresh crab gnocchi and linguine with clams. It was a night to remember."

* Carla Tracy can be reached at carlatracy@mauinews.com.