There’s information here on both cities and more remote destinations - from the top to the toe of the beautiful boot.
Anyone traveling to Naples right now should be warned - the streets are full of garbage.
While strikes are common in Italy, the garbage collectors have stopped taking away the garbage not because of a labor issue but because “they have nowhere to take it.” The Campania region has been dealing with a garbage crisis for years now, and clearly there’s no solution in sight. Residents of Naples have taken to burning the gigantic piles of garbage, which have been there since mid-May. So in addition to the awful stench throughout the city, …
1 comment
Not too long ago on the BootsnAll Community, someone posted a question about having a whopping three days to spend in Venice and Florence, and wanted advice from members about which city to spend more time in. The majority of the respondents said Florence (one day for Venice and then off to Florence), but it got me thinking - I, of course, had a hard time answering that question because what I advised was something more like, “Pick one or the other - for that short amount of time, don’t try to do both.” But I get it, sometimes …
No Comments
Here’s a little video of one of Italy’s most famous sights, the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
When I visited Pisa in 2001 (for a few hours only), the tower was roped off and no one was allowed to climb it - which is as it was for years. Until they’d figured out a way to stop the tower from continuing to sink at such an advanced pace, people weren’t allowed to go inside. What’s most interesting to me about the tower is that if you look at it from the side you can actually see the evidence of the architects attempting to correct for the tilt which was beginning even before construction was complete. Instead of leaning at one constant angle, you’ll see the top few “stories” actually lean a little less.
1 comment
One of the best ways to get to know a country is to get to know its festivals. While this often means braving crowds (something savvy tourists try to avoid), it also can mean seeing a city or region at its best. Some festivals are also mainly local events, drawing few tourists, so even if you’re one of thousands of attendees you still might be one of only a few who aren’t from the immediate area.
[Update: It appears that the guy behind the festival finder I glowingly reviewed here has begun a partnership with a different website, so the site has changed. I'm updating the links here, but the information may not all have moved yet.]
Italy gives the traveler countless opportunities to enjoy local festivals - it seems like some part of the country is in party mode at any given moment. There are the saint’s days, food-related celebrations, sporting events and more. Thankfully, there’s a great online Italian festival finder here - you can look them up based on the time of year or the region of the country, which is perfect for someone who’s visiting for a short and pre-determined amount of time.
Some highlights I found just by playing around…
You might think a category of festivals called “Self-Beaters” wouldn’t yield many results, but you’d be wrong. There are, count ‘em, six festivals that fall under this category. One of them is described thusly: “On Good Friday there is a solemn parade in homage to the Madonna that dates back to a horrific medieval period in which the men of the town parade about town hitting themselves with objects imbedded with glass and nettles while the townsfolk wail, sob and groan in sympathy. They make themselves bleed and many of them actually cause scarring injury to themselves. This pathetic ritual has remained almost intact since ancient times even through its existence is poorly justified. The self mutilation is followed by food (who could eat?) and merrymaking (including, probably, lots of drinking) all over town.”
No Comments
Even if you’re not Catholic (heck, even if you’re not religious), being in Vatican City on Easter weekend might just be worth braving the crowds. If you happen to be in Rome this weekend, here’s the Pope’s schedule. It actually began on April 1, because the whole week is holy. (You might already know this, but I had no idea until I read it just now.)
At any rate, here’s the weekend schedule:
Saturday, April 7 - Holy Saturday
Easter Vigil in the Holy Night, Vatican Basilica, 10 p.m.
Sunday, April 8 - Easter Sunday
Mass of the Day, …
1 comment
There have been several articles around the web lately about the Puglia region, and the gist is always, “It’s really great here, but don’t tell anyone!” My hunch is that the Puglia tourism board is working overtime, which is fine. It’s just that the idea that it’s a big secret when it’s all over the web is kind of silly. Still, I’m succumbing to the pressure and highlighting one of the articles, so I guess they’re succeeding on some level, eh?
Puglia is Italy’s heel (the stiletto, if you will - and I will) and is increasingly popular with tourists - especially those from the United Kingdom. But at the moment, most tourists don’t venture much further south than Rome. If they do, they’re visiting Pompeii and that’s about it. So while you’ll find more tourists in Puglia than you probably would have ten years ago, it’ll still be refreshingly quiet as compared to, say, Florence or Rome.
Some of the things the author of this particular article found appealing about Puglia were:
No Comments
When we last visited Italy, the husband and I also spent about a week just north of Split on the Dalmatian coast in Croatia. We’d seen pictures of the country the year before, and it looked beautiful. We’re not the only ones to think that - more and more tourists are visiting Croatia, often jumping over the Adriatic from their trips to Italy. Every so often there will be a question in the Europe forum of the BootsnAll Community asking how one gets to Croatia by ferry from Italy - so when I found a website with some information about it, I thought I’d mention it here.
No Comments
Venice is one of those cities people will tell you that you “have to see” in your lifetime. I’m not one of those people. I love Venice, and if people ask me what to do or see there I tell them, but if you don’t have a burning desire to see Venice, that’s fine by me. There’s plenty of world to see out there without other people making “must see” lists for you. But I digress.
If you’re in Venice for a few days, do yourself a favor and get off the island. Visit the nearby smaller islands of Murano, Torcello and the subject of this little video, Burano. In my experience, it’s the middle one in terms of toursty-ness. Nearly everyone takes the short trip to Murano (home of famous glass blowing studios), and nearly no one visits the furthest-away Torcello (mostly nature reserve, so very sparsely populated, but with a beautiful church). Burano, famous for its multi-colored houses and lace-making, is midway between the other two in both distance from Venice and in the number of tourists who bother to visit.
No Comments
As if there isn’t already enough to see in Florence, the birthplace of the Renaissance, now bird enthusiasts have another reason to become Italy enthusiasts as well:
A pair of falcons have chosen an unusual home to nest and bring up their young - the top of Florence cathedral.
A webcam has been set up to follow the peregrine falcons … Bird lovers and others can follow the birds’ movements in the run-up to the appearance of the first additions to their family, expected towards the middle of this month.
So if you’re into falcons or …
No Comments
Venice seems to inspire either love or hate - I’ve yet to meet someone who is wishy-washy about it. Before my first visit, I remember being warned of the smelly canals and cruise ship crowds - and despite being there in the heat of mid-July, there wasn’t a whiff of anything foul in the air; and we overnighted in Venice for a couple days and so were treated to the post-crowd city. As it turns out, I’m one of those people who loves Venice.
A visit to Venice isn’t about checking off a list of things to see, rather the city itself is the thing to see. I might think you can’t leave Venice without setting foot in the Basilica San Marco (perhaps my favorite church anywhere), and while there you might as well take a tour of the Doge’s Palace nextdoor and take the elevator to the top of the Campanile (the church’s bell tower). If you’re an modern art lover, there’s a Guggenheim museum on the Grand Canal, and Leonardo’s Vitruvian Man is housed in a Venetian museum.
No Comments
