Italy Things to Do
There’s no shortage of things to see and do in Italy - find out what you must-see, and the tricks to maximizing your time in the country.
CioccolaTÒ: Turin’s Chocolate Festival
So, it’s pretty well established that I like Italy. In addition to Italy, I’m also a fan of chocolate (like, what, 99% of the world population or something?), so when you put the words “chocolate” and “Italy” in the same sentence I’m going to perk up a bit. That’s why I went to Turin for the last day of that city’s annual chocolate festival - CioccolaTÒ.
The name of the festival, CioccolaTÒ, is a play on the Italian word for chocolate and the Italian name for the town of Turin. In Italian, chocolate is “cioccolato,” and Turin is “Torino” - so by writing it CioccolaTÒ, with an accent on the end of the word, they’re cleverly emphasizing the Torino aspect of this chocolate festival.
Date: March 9th, 2008 |
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Bargello in Florence
The Bargello might have once been a prison, but by telling you to visit the Bargello in Florence I’m not saying you should commit a crime and get yourself arrested. Actually, I’m advocating that you visit an excellent museum of sculpture.
Florence’s Bargello was once a palace, then later a prison (even a place where executions once took place), and was turned into a museum in 1865. The building now contains some famous sculptures from the 14th through 17th centuries. It comes in a distant third behind the Uffizi and the Accademia in terms of number of visitors, but it’s no less artistically important - so if you’re looking for outstanding examples of art without having to wait in long lines, then the Bargello is a good bet.
Some of the more famous pieces housed in the Bargello are a few lesser-known works by Michelangelo (his “Bacchus” actually looks drunk), Donatello’s bronze statue of “David” (the first free-standing male nude since antiquity), and two entries submitted to the contest held in 1401 to determine who would create the now-famous Baptistery doors.
Date: February 27th, 2008 |
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Accademia Gallery in Florence
I’ve met several people who walk into the Piazza della Signoria in Florence, look over at the statues flanking the entrance to the Palazzo Vecchio and think, “Oh, wow, there’s Michelangelo’s David! Right out there in the open! How cool - and I didn’t even have to pay an admission fee.” My goal here is to keep you from being one of those people.
See, while there’s a statue outside the Palazzo Vecchio that looks like Michelangelo’s “David,” it’s actually a copy. The copy stands in the exact spot where the original once stood, so you can get an impression of what it might have looked like in its “natural environment,” as it were. You can start to appreciate what the rulers of Florence were trying to convey to their would-be enemies by putting an image of David outside their offices. But to see the original, you’ve got to look elsewhere - you’ve got to stand in line and pay an admission to get into the Accademia.
Date: February 21st, 2008 |
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Creepy Wax Bodies at “La Specola”
In Florence’s Oltrarno neighborhood, probably the biggest attractions are centered around the Pitti Palace, the former residence of the ruling Medici family. But for something a little less stately (but no less historical), you might want to take a peek into La Specola, the Museum of Zoology & Natural History. It’s right next to the Pitti Palace, but is a tourist sight of a completely different color.
La Specola is a collection spanning more than 30 rooms, with objects like fossils and stuffed animal specimens, but by far the most intriguing part of the museum is the room full of anatomical human wax models which date from the 18th century. Rather than being the Florentine version of Madame Toussaud’s, however, these models served a very specific purpose - they were intended to aid medical students in understanding the human body. Many of the figures have been stripped of their skin, and some are exposing the many layers of nerves, muscle and organs underneath. The displays are entirely made of wax, but the molds for each one were created from actual corpses - so there’s a shocking degree of realism here.
Date: February 13th, 2008 |
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The Duomo in Florence
If you’re used to Gothic cathedrals like Notre Dame in Paris or Westminster Abbey in London, stoic and stately in all that gray stone, you might be in for a shock when you see the Duomo in Florence. It may be Gothic, but its multi-colored facade is anything but stoic.
At the heart of historic Florence, the Duomo (which means “dome” in Italian) is the city’s main cathedral and dates from the late 13th century. The cathedral’s full name is Santa Maria del Fiori. While the striped facade may look somewhat avant-garde, it was actually designed to mimic the existing striping on the Baptistery out front. The Duomo was originally constructed without its crowning dome, which left a giant circular hole in the roof, because the designers didn’t yet know how to create such a dome without inner supports. They were sufficiently optimistic that it would eventually happen, however, so they went ahead with the plans and just lived with a big hole in the roof until the dome was finally added in the early 15th century. The dome was eventually designed by Filippo Brunelleschi, and climbing to the top of the dome to look over the city of Florence is now one of the highlights of a visit to the Duomo.
Date: February 7th, 2008 |
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San Bernardino alle Ossa: Milan’s Bone Church
If you’ve been following along, you know that I have an odd fascination with what I call “bone churches.” Before my first trip to Italy, I had heard about a crypt in Rome that was decorated with the bones of thousands of dead Cappuchin monks. It sounded bizarre, and well worth a visit, and I’m so glad I made the side trip back then - the Cappuchin Crypt in Rome is one of my favorite places in the city. So when my friend Jules emailed me a few days ago with the news that she’d heard of a bone church right here in Milan, I knew what my next must-do assignment was.
La Chiesa San Bernardino alle Ossa, or the Church of St. Bernardino of the Bones, is just a couple minutes’ walk from the Milan Duomo in a relatively unassuming-looking church (especially compared to the ornamentation on the Duomo), and the entrance is even on the side that faces a quiet piazza rather than the big street on the other side. Still, I wandered around to the piazza and found the big doors open. I had an hour before the church closed for lunch, which was plenty of time. I pushed open the side door to enter the church and found a perfectly ordinary church, rather small, with nothing particularly spectacular or interesting about it. Most worrying was the distinct lack of any bones anywhere.
Date: March 6th, 2008 |
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Wine Tours in Italy
You don’t have to be a wine snob to think about going on a wine tour in Italy. This is a country known the world over for the magical transformation from grape to vino, and the bottom line of any wine tasting is just whether or not you like what you’re sipping. If you want to learn how to talk about wine like a true connoisseur, that’s fine - but certainly not required.
A simple web search of the words “wine tours in Italy” will turn up countless results, so you certainly shouldn’t lack for choices of tour companies which offer wine-focused itineraries. If you’re hoping to learn about the wine you’re tasting as you enjoy the stunning views around you, an organized tour of a region’s wineries is a good option. This way you don’t have to plan out your route or even worry about driving after sampling one too many Chiantis - and many of the tours you’ll find will come with a guide who’ll help you understand the different wines you’re tasting. An organized wine tour is also a good choice if you don’t already have a rental car, and don’t want the hassle of navigating your way through Italy’s back roads. Plus, if the tour you’re looking at is an overnight trip you’re also likely to be spending the night in excellent accommodations and eating fabulous meals, too. These trips can be a food lover’s dream come true.
Date: February 26th, 2008 |
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Weird & Wonderful Milan
Milan isn’t usually the kind of city people come to spend more than a day or two, usually at one or the other end of a trip and only because they’re flying in and out of Malpensa Airport. Italy’s financial capital isn’t swimming in what most people would consider tourist attractions, but it’s an interesting city nonetheless - and if you’ve planned ahead you can make the most of your time here rather than just watching bad Italian TV in your airport hotel room.
In addition to the regular things to do in Milan, however, if you’ve got …
Date: February 20th, 2008 |
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Doge’s Palace in Venice
Right behind St. Mark’s Basilica in terms of actual attractions worth visiting in Venice is the Doge’s Palace. And, ironically, the palace is also next to (and kind of behind) the Basilica.
The Doge’s Palace, or “Palazzo Ducale” in Italian, is the former home of Venice’s rulers, the Doges (or Dukes). Back when Venice was the an important port city and the heart of a powerful city-state, the people who governed the city lived in and ruled from these rooms. The palace also housed the city’s court, and convicted prisoners would take a one-way trip across a tiny bridge into the prison in a building across a tiny canal. The current Palazzo Ducale dates from the early 14th century, though it rests on the site of prior fortified buildings. The palazzo is prominently visible from the Grand Canal.
Date: February 11th, 2008 |
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Uffizi Gallery in Florence
For many, a visit to Florence just isn’t complete without some time spend in the famous Uffizi Gallery (”Galleria degli Uffizi” in Italian). After all, there’s nowhere else on earth that you can sit in the center of a room full of gigantic Botticelli paintings and just drift off into a world of colorful myths and legends.
Unfortunately, everyone wants to see the Uffizi, and most of them will be there at the same time that you’re there (or at least it’ll feel like that). Lines to get into the museum can be hours long, and waiting outside in the hot summer Tuscan sun can be horrible. And who wants to spend a whole day of your precious vacation time in a line? So while I highly recommend a stop at the Uffizi, I even more highly recommend that you make a reservation in advance. But we’ll get to that in a minute. (And if you want to jump ahead, learn more now about booking tickets in advance.)
First of all, what’s inside this Uffizi place, and why do you want to see it, anyway? It’s a reasonable question. The truth is, if you’re really not a museum or art person, you may not feel any qualms about skipping the Uffizi Gallery. But even if you’re only marginally interested, it’s one of those experiences you should go for if you can. After all, this is Florence - the birthplace of the Renaissance - and so much of what’s important about the Renaissance hinges on the art. It is almost counterintuitive to visit Florence and not visit the Uffizi.
Date: February 5th, 2008 |
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