For Italy, the country whose national characteristics resonate most with him and which he became acquainted with early on, Wolfgang Hildesheimer has repeatedly found words that go far beyond empathy and warmth: words of fascination, indeed of love. Twice, Hildesheimer and his wife Silvia settled beyond the Alps: in Cal Masante di Sopra near Urbino and in the Graubünden town of Poschiavo, which actually geographically belongs to Italy. Here, he will live longer than anywhere else. It is a good, fertile ground for Hildesheimer's writing and painting, but also for the immediate enjoyment of life: the encounters with people, their landscapes, and, not least, their cuisine. Dietmar Pleyer vividly illustrates Hildesheimer's relationship with Italy and Poschiavo in this variably composed book. Selected excerpts from his notes.