Top Italy hotels
Do As Romans Do Rome
160 Reviews News: TUSCAN VILLAGER WINS 148 MILLION EURO ON SAT, AUG 22! This week, Aug 20, was the 86th draw without a winner and pushed the pot to 146.9 million euros for Italy's SuperEnalotto jackpot. It...
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Carnival Venice
44 Reviews Carneval di Venezia ( Carnival of Venice ) is a must visit at least once in your lifetime, and to get into the spirit of things, a mask is a must. Venice has seen some form of mask going back to the...
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Dining and Drinking Milan
25 Reviews The custom of aperitivi is helpful when you're on a budget. Many of the bars in Milan, for the price of a drink, will give you food to go along with it. You can easily make it into a light...
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Legends Verona
14 Reviews There are so many contradictions regarding W. Shakespeare and his work, some experts doubt he ever visited Italy and Verona, others doubts he wrote all those novels among which "Romeo and Juliet" is...
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Events Pisa
5 Reviews Last Sunday in June - 'Gioco del Ponte' (Bridges Game) . This is probably the most important festival in Pisa. It involves Mediaeval costumes, horseback parades and 12 teams of 20 people attempting to...
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people Genoa
5 Reviews Raffaele Rubattino was a visionary and the first Italian ship owner to commit his company to steam navigation. He formed the steamship line that would connect Genova to several ports of the...
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Meals and drinks Palermo
8 Reviews Palermo presents an impresive range of fresh fishes . While being in Sicily I ate all my lunch at a friend mom's home, and later on I was trying to find the recipes of whatever she was making. The...
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Festivals/Holidays/Celebratios Como
5 Reviews I visited Como the last week in February, so it was carnival season. Children have a week holiday from school and they can be seen in different masquerade costumes (especially the younger ones) and...
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Signs, Signals & Superstitions Rome
34 Reviews Cigarette sales in Italy fell by around 50 million packets in 2007 compared to the previous year, a report by independent thinktank Ref said Friday, February 8, 2008. Sales in Italy have fallen since...
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Gondole, gondoliere, traghetti Venice
19 Reviews Next to our hotel was one of the 7 Traghetto crossings of the Grand Canal. Ours was going from Campo Santa Sofia, close to the Ca'D'Oro, to the Pescheria the fish market. These are old gondolas...
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Torino's Bull at the Gallery (to be squeezed) Milan
7 Reviews This bull is depicted in the coat of arms of Torino. You see that there is a hole on its genitals and may wonder why. Well, a tradition says that if you put your right heel on this hole and turn on...
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The Patron Saint of Verona Verona
12 Reviews The magnificent look of the apse and Romanesque bell-tower of the basilica of San Zeno. The roof and the apse were rebuilt in the Gothic period. The weathered Veronese stone of which the basilica is...
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Churchs Pisa
7 Reviews This is Santa Maria della Spina by night during the "LUMINARA". The scenery is very impressive so if you are in Pisa on june the 16, in the evening you could take a walk along the Arno River.
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surroundings Genoa
5 Reviews The sea is a basic part of Italian culture. After a day of fishing, local fishermen spend the remainder of daylight enjoying each other's company and re-living their experiences. Students walk and...
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Daily life Palermo
2 Reviews Coming from the UK I know how it feels when you go on holiday and as soon as it gets a little bit hot you need to put your flip flops on and a skimpy little vest top. Well they don't do that in...
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Festivals Celebrations & Protests Rome
31 Reviews Yes, Italy's royal scandal starring the House of Savoy with KING VITTORIO EMANUELE III - he was deposed - exiled to Switzerland - begged to return - was granted his wish - returned - was arrested and...
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Festivals Venice
18 Reviews Before the Regatta started, Canal Grande was a very bussy place, there were lots of moving up and down the chanel. More or less I got impression its big confusion down there on the water front, boats...
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Fashion Milan
10 Reviews Here ... city of fashion. You will not see anyone wearing a simple shirt or dress when they out to town. Most of ppls here, are beautiful with their dress. Not only for woemn, also applicable for a...
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Other Verona
18 Reviews not a proposal! Mmm and not really a "local" custom but I though that placing it under the "to dos" was a little too much- Anyway, up to the 2009 spring the civil weddings took place nearly only at...
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language Genoa
2 Reviews The local dialect of Genoa (Zena) is most interesting. Coincidentally, Genoese is spoken in 2 towns in Sardinia, one of which is Calasetta, so i grew up speaking a little Genoese. In Genoa, as in all...
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Shopping Palermo
3 Reviews In general people are less focussed on famous labels like Armani, Versace (like in Rome). I couldn't believe the number of blond people. (probably has to do with the history of a/o the Normans). The...
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Tipping/Restaurant Charges Venice
10 Reviews Cappuccino — a shot of espresso infused with steamed milk and foam and drunk in the morning by Italians, but never after lunch or dinner, since with that much milk is considered a meal in itself, -...
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Ciao: when to use it! Milan
3 Reviews English is hardly spoken in Milano. Oh dear, huh?. ;-) Nevertheless, don't let this deter you from visiting this great city. You can pick up some Italian before your trip to Italy. Memorize common...
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Events Verona
11 Reviews Tocatì (Your turn! in Verona dialect) was a frequent word exanged beetween children playng along the roads, swapping roles in the games. How many times i told it! Time of no cars around, no PCs or...
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museums and exibitions Genoa
3 Reviews A new special service offered by the "Associazione Le Voci" You can rent a cd-player with a complete audioguide in many languages to visit step by step the principal places of interest in the city....
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Italians place a very high value on clothes and looking good. Cmon, they look sharp even when they are just going outside to water the flowers. However, when you see Italian officials in uniform they go all out:) Of course you have the ceremonial guard that safeguards the Italian President with their elegant uniforms with feathers. (these guys are real unfriendly about having their picture taken for some reason) You can also look at the bersaglieri, a unit that traditionally wears a steel helmet decorated with a bunch of plumes!The cops look good, I'm sure they don't look so good if you are getting arrested. Ive even seen one police unit that has a cape as standard of their uniform. After all, Valentino and Armani were involved in the design of Italian police uniforms. here's a fun link:http://www.kryon.com/inspiritmag/scrapbooks/sb-IFP-05.htmlEven when you are coming into the country,...
In many Mediterrean countries daily life happens outside on the streets, especially in small towns or in small quarters of bigger towns. People sit on benches and chat for ages, they meet on the streets to exchange the latest news or they just sit outside in the sun and enjoy the day or a break from work. And especially the older generation, mostly when they have retired from work, forms this image we love so much in Greece and Italy, France and Spain, and which is found in so many holiday photo memories. They just show “us” (aka the population which hunts for money and power and who has lost the ability to live a slower and happier life) how nice life can be.When I was in Bevagna (Umbria) I saw these two chairs outside in the street which represent this outdoor life so much, and even in a special way. These chairs are not only chairs where locals sit and chat, these are chairs which...
If only more countries would have such colourful cemeteries like in Italy – the deceased would definitely be more happy! One example is of course famous San Michele, the cemetery of Venezia la Serenissima. Like here, the cemeteries are usually divided into several sections, according to the type of graves and the religious beliefs. Many graves are decorated not only with a photo of the beloved ones but also with marvellous statues, often referring to his or her life. And then of course there are the typical colourful “mass” graves, with very little space but a lot of decoration, usually plastic flowers and photos and small objects and electrical lamps, often as a flame, related to the beloved ones. The deceased play an important role for the religious Italians, that’s why November 1 and 2, ognissanti and giorno dei morti, are celebrated. In a way this reminds me of Mexico. During this...
In Italy people only sit down in a café if they want table service. This is unlike America where you go to the counter place your order, receive your coffee and then sit down. There is no cost for a table.It is not the same in Italy. Order coffee at the counter and you are expected to drink at the counter. Sit down and it is implied you wish to have table service. This will cost more, sometimes quite a bit more.You are not being gouged. In Italy waiting tables is a profession. Unlike in the States Italians pay a waiter a fair wage and there is no tipping. So if you sit down it costs the café a fair amount of money to pay the person that is waiting on you. Don’t get your panties in a knot. This is how it works for everyone not just the “tourists”.Some of our nicest moments in Italy have been when we were tired and splurged and sat at a café. The waiters are so nice and it is a real...
On Christmas Eve the Three Wise Men stopped at La Befana's house to see if she wanted to come along, but she said she was busy, and declined (boy did she regret that!). So the legend is that she goes from house to house in search of the Baby Jesus. On the eve of the Epiphany, January 6, Italian children set out their shoes for La Befana, to fill with gifts of all kinds like toys, candies and fruit. If the children were good, their shoes would be filled. If they were bad, they would find their shoes filled with coal.The website has more information in detail, however it is only in Italian.
Easter is celebrated throughout Italy although Good Friday isn’t a holiday. But the holy week is attended by special processions, often a life re-enactment of Christ’s passion on the evening of Good Friday. And of course Easter is the time when special sweets are prepared in the homes and also being sold in the pastry shops. One of these is a dove, symbol of peace. Of course not a dove as animal but as a pastry. Another typical sweet for Easter is the huge egg made of chocolate, hollow inside and filled with several sweet treats. These huge eggs are wrapped in colourful paper or come decorated with flowers and spring symbols made of icing. Very delicious and very much tempting to buy during a trip to Italy around Easter. But... it is difficult to transport these back home. I saw one of these chocolate eggs in Norcia and it took me approximately half an hour to decide that it will break...
When you visit Venezia or travel through Veneto and Friuli-Venezia you cannot help but notice the many people in bars who sip a bright orange drink. This is called Spritz. This name definitely does not sound like typical Italian and is in fact rather of Austrian remains. Its orange colour is originated in the type of bitter alcohol it contains, mostly Aperol but also Campari, Cynar, or Select. This is where a variation in colour from orange to bright red comes along with the Spritz. The other ingredients are white wine and water or soda and mostly an olive. When I was in Venezia I thought I should better avoid it during the day, because I thought of the alcohol and that I might end up staggering around almost dead drunk. But after my first Spritz I found that it does not make drunk at all and at the end I found myself having one together with a Latte Macchiato almost every day. In case...
There is no word to describe Italia’s thick dark brown life giving liquid properly except that it is pure heaven. And it might even represent Italia better than churches, festivals, artists or pasta, pizza and all the other delicious food – il caffè is famous not only throughout whole Italia. Although to my experience it can only taste real in Italia. So far I didn’t find any caffè bar outside of Italia where they served it the way it is served in the country. Maybe because caffè is not only the liquid but the surrounding atmosphere? The click-clack noise, the barista makes when he empties the powder device? The characteristic sound of these huge machines when the water is heated and steam evaporates at the end? Caffè making is art and this becomes obvious when you stand at the bar and watch the barista doing his/her job. (Now that I write this, I realised that I hardly ever saw a...
Allover in Italy historical festivals are celebrated throughout the year. These are always accompanied by historical processions and several performances. One of the performances is also the art of flag throwing. This dates back to medieval times and earlier, when standard bearers had very important roles during war times. A flag was the symbol of a town or quarters of towns. Apart from participating in historical festivals, flag throwers’ contests are very popular throughout Italy. Gubbio’s sbandieratori (flag throwers) are extra special in that context. Their flag throwing skills dates back to 15th century when they were performing during religious festivals and war times. Today they proudly perform with flags which reflect the very ancient roots of this town: Ikuvium, the ancient town of the Umbri, a nation older than the Etruscans. Their letters assimilated Etruscan letters and are...
Albergo Del Senato Rome
5 Reviews and 1076 Opinions The Pantheon is my favorite building in Rome and might be my favorite building in the world. The...
Al Ponte Antico Hotel Venice Venice
6 Reviews and 473 Opinions My sisters and I stayed 2 nights at this hotel and our time there was priceless. Matteo and his...
Hotel David Florence
6 Reviews and 920 Opinions My husband and I stayed at the hotel 4 years ago and loved it, so when I planned our family trip...
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Q: my wife would like to tour a winery while in florence. Anyone have any positive experiences / possible days trips?
A: no experience in Florence, but wanted to add my favorite house in Italy in the Piemonte region, Michele Chiarlo, been there met him and son in person. very good wines if...
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