Venice River The Romantic River in Venezia Italy

Venice River The Romantic River in Venezia Italy

Venezia Italy, Town of water, this may be an appropriate designation for Venice. The town is located in the northeastern part of Italy is directly reminiscent of a name, origin of the Venetian merchant Marco Polo.Nama who wanders into a number of Asian countries is easy to remember because it listed in various history books that taught since elementary school. The name Marco Polo can not be separated from Venice. Even the name immortalized as the name of Marco Polo airport in the city.

Venezia, better known as a tourist town and industrial city. Heritage of fame makes trading city of Venice as one of the famous tourist spots on the shores of the Adriatic Sea. With the nickname The Queen of the Adriatic which is still attached. You can use the fast trains such as Eurostar and train-like economy class to visit Venice. From various cities in mainland Europe there are some trains which, directly or have to change trains. The train stopped at Santa Lucia Station.

In some places you can find 24-hour cafe, so you need not fear starvation. Want hot coffee to drink tea available in the corners of the station. After that for around the city that was built from the small islands that we use the vaporetto or water bus from the station named Ferovia, not far from the station. From here visitors can surround a number of places in Venice. There are a number of routes that can be passed from this base. One popular route is Ferovia-San Marco. Magnificent buildings hundreds of years old and have been directly adjacent to the sea. Palaces, churches and museum-style Ghotic, Venezia, Byzantine and Lombardesque are also small-island. The island of more than 100 that are connected with canals. In this channel operates a traditional boat called a gondola.

This is a vehicle which is used if you want to surround the villages on the island. While the bus is only used water outside the canal. Water bus stop in some places and to route Ferovia-San Marco taken within half an hour. On the water bus station in San Marco, you will meet with the vendors of souvenirs, ranging from Venetian crystal, necklace, or a replica of the gondola.


Some tourist sites frequented by tourists, such as the Academia Gallery, Campo Santo Stefano and the Church of San Moise. There's San Marco Square, the Basilica of San Marco and the Ducal Palace as the next destination. Channel San George, a Geto, the Palazzo Rezzonico, estuaries, littoral, Torcello, Burano, Murano, Lido and several churches that have historical value, including Antonio Vivaldi manggungnya place next to the Basilica of San Marco. It took several days to be able to visit all these tourist sites. No need to worry about lodging. Hotels in Venice offers the usual fare in three seasons, the low season (January 3 to January 31), middle season (February 13-March 14) and high season (November 10-December 27).


When Venice became a tourist destination you, do not forget to buy a souvenir glass crystal. Venice is known as a regional producer of high quality crystal souvenir in Europe with a variety of forms. When you come to Venice to coincide with a holiday, you should come somewhat early, so no need to queue long to get the water bus.

Bleeding Espresso giveaways - and it's not coffee! It's our Travellers Calabria guide!

As you'd know if you follow me on Twitter, Calabrian-based blogger Michelle Fabio over at Bleeding Espresso has been running an interview with me this week about writing our Calabria guidebook, travel writing, travelling, the writing process, and our lives as travel writers. She's also running a contest to give away 5 copies of our Traveller's Calabria book. All you have to do is post a comment on her blog at the end of the Q&A and at the end of the week (tomorrow), she'll pick the 5 winners and give them a book each. So, what are you waiting for? Get over there! Here's part 1 of the Q&A, part 2, part 3, and part 4, and you can read part 5 tomorrow - last day, so don't miss out!

Pictured? The beach at Scilla - in Calabria of course.

Our Italy books hit the shelves!

I almost forgot to tell you... as my regular Cool Travel Guide readers know, we spent a lot of time in Italy last year researching and photographing first editions of new travel guidebooks, starting with a month in Calabria, then a month in Milan, followed by more than a month in the Italian Lakes region and Northern Italy. Our Calabria book written for the Thomas Cook Travellers series hit the shelves in late April (see this post), and our Northern Italy book for the same series will be released in a couple of weeks (you can buy it here). While we're proud of all of our Italian books - Terry shot beautiful photos for them and we put a lot of work into researching and writing them, a book that we're especially proud of (it took even more blood, sweat and tears during particularly challenging circumstances), is our book released last month on the Italian Lakes, including Milan and Po Valley Towns, which we wrote for Footprint's new Italia series. Do have a flick through them when you're next in a bookshop. And don't hesitate to let me know if you ever need tips on travel in Italy.

Our Calabria book hits the shelves!

The first edition of our Calabria guidebook which we wrote for Thomas Cook Publishing is soon to be released. We spent just over a month there last May researching the book and Terry shot the gorgeous images, and we spent another month or so writing it. It wasn't an easy book to do for a number of reasons, which makes us extra proud. And I was glad to find that I still got a little excited today when I opened the package from London. We've worked on more than 40 guidebooks so it's nice to still get a bit of a kick out of the achievement. But first editions tend to do that for you because they're so completely your own - you do preliminary research, write the outline and shot lists, go on the road and do the real research, in our case Terry also shot the pics, you then write the thing up, do your mapping, answer editor's queries, advise on photos, check the proof, and so on. So it's hard not to feel as if it's your baby.

Which is why I always find it curious when writers don't update their own books. With publishers like Lonely Planet you don't always get the opportunity to - editors move around so much, so by the time an edition needs updating someone else is managing the book and they don't know you from a bar of soap and have writers they like to use. But most publishers invite the original authors to update their books. I've already twice updated the DK Top Ten to Dubai and Abu Dhabi which I co-authored. Yet, along with our Calabria books, copies of Crete, Cyprus, Milan and the Lakes, and Sicily also arrived today - all books I updated during our time in Italy last year; all second editions of books written by other authors. Perhaps the timing wasn't right, there were clashes with other projects, or the job just didn't pay enough. Perhaps the challenges we faced on Calabria provide some insight. We haven't taken a close look at our Calabria book yet but already we've noticed a photo we don't recognise of a seaside restaurant in Cosenza. Cosenza, of course, is inland. And that's the reason Terry refuses to look at our published books. Hopefully the person who updates the second edition will pick that one up.

Keen to read more about Calabria? Take a look at my posts from last year:
On the road again... in Calabria!
Is Calabria the new Puglia?
Calabria: Europe's best-value destination
10 Reasons to travel to Calabria: part 1 & part 2
One more reason to visit Calabria: Liquorice!

History of Colosseum in Roma, Italy

Construction of the Colosseum began under the rule of the Emperor Vespasian[1] in around 70–72AD. The site chosen was a flat area on the floor of a low valley between the Caelian, Esquiline and Palatine Hills, through which a canalised stream ran. By the 2nd century BC the area was densely inhabited. It was devastated by the Great Fire of Rome in AD 64, following which Nero seized much of the area to add to his personal domain. He built the grandiose Domus Aurea on the site, in front of which he created an artificial lake surrounded by pavilions, gardens and porticoes. The existing Aqua Claudia aqueduct was extended to supply water to the area and the gigantic bronze Colossus of Nero was set up nearby at the entrance to the Domus Aurea.

Although the Colossus was preserved, much of the Domus Aurea was torn down. The lake was filled in and the land reused as the location for the new Flavian Amphitheatre. Gladiatorial schools and other support buildings were constructed nearby within the former grounds of the Domus Aurea. According to a reconstructed inscription found on the site, "the emperor Vespasian ordered this new amphitheatre to be erected from his general's share of the booty." This is thought to refer to the vast quantity of treasure seized by the Romans following their victory in the Great Jewish Revolt in 70AD. The Colosseum can be thus interpreted as a great triumphal monument built in the Roman tradition of celebrating great victories.[11] Vespasian's decision to build the Colosseum on the site of Nero's lake can also be seen as a populist gesture of returning to the people an area of the city which Nero had appropriated for his own use. In contrast to many other amphitheatres, which were located on the outskirts of a city, the Colosseum was constructed in the city centre; in effect, placing it both literally and symbolically at the heart of Rome.

The Colosseum had been completed up to the third story by the time of Vespasian's death in 79. The top level was finished and the building inaugurated by his son, Titus, in 80.[1] Dio Cassius recounts that over 9,000 wild animals were killed during the inaugural games of the amphitheatre. The building was remodelled further under Vespasian's younger son, the newly-designated Emperor Domitian, who constructed the hypogeum, a series of underground tunnels used to house animals and slaves. He also added a gallery to the top of the Colosseum to increase its seating capacity.

In 217, the Colosseum was badly damaged by a major fire (caused by lightning, according to Dio Cassius[12]) which destroyed the wooden upper levels of the amphitheatre's interior. It was not fully repaired until about 240 and underwent further repairs in 250 or 252 and again in 320. An inscription records the restoration of various parts of the Colosseum under Theodosius II and Valentinian III (reigned 425–450), possibly to repair damage caused by a major earthquake in 443; more work followed in 484 and 508. The arena continued to be used for contests well into the 6th century, with gladiatorial fights last mentioned around 435. Animal hunts continued until at least 523.

The world's most jawdropping drives, pt 1

We do a lot of driving as part of our guidebook research - rather, my partner and co-author Terry drives and I do the trip planning and navigating. So it's inevitable that some of the most memorable aspects of our trips are the roads we drive. I stumbled across Matador's The World's Most Spectacular Roads, which inspired this post. As I only write about places I've been, here's my pick of some of the globe's most jawdropping drives from the roads we've travelled over the last few years. I've categorized them by country or region, as some destinations are gifted with so many dramatically beautiful routes:
1. WESTERN AUSTRALIA: this colossal island's most stunning drives are in the West. Our favorites are in the Kimberley and Pilbara regions of the Northwest, especially those through the area's national parks, including Karjini, Purnululu (Bungle Bungles), Millstream-Chichester and the Kennedy Range National Parks. Empty roads run through flat arid outback landscapes sprinkled with strange wildflowers, incredible rock formations, and mountains sliced with deep river gorges. These are also the country's most isolated roads (pictured) where you can drive 900 kilometres between towns and not see a soul, so a 4WD with extra fuel, water and supplies is recommended.
2. MAINLAND GREECE: the country's mainland boasts some of the planet's most breathtaking drives. Those we've loved best are the road from Edessa via Florina and Pisoderi to the splendid Prespa Lakes and fishing village of Psarades, near the border with Macedonia and Yugoslavia, which boasts some of the most pristine country we've come across; the narrow roads through the high country of the Pindos range with their monstrous rugged snow-capped mountains, hills thick with shrubs in every shade of green, and grey granite rock formations around Vikos Gorge; and the wild ruggedly beautiful Mani region of the Peloponnese (read more about our Greek travels on our Lonely Planet Greece Trip Journal).
3. CRETE: yes, we know Crete is an island of Greece, but Crete has so many amazing drives with spectacular scenery it deserves a listing of its own. The high roads of the isolated southeast coast skirt the mountains offering virtually birds-eye-view sea vistas, scenic routes snake through the elevated rural plateaus of central Crete offering picturesque views of villages and farmland, while the views from the windy roads of the west coast are so awe-inspring you'll find yourself stopping at every turn to take photos.
4. CALABRIA: Aspromonte, Sila and Pollino National Parks in Calabria, Italy, offer breathtaking scenery. In all three national parks, high roads snake through thick forests that form canopies over the roads - the drives are spooky in parts (very dark and moody) and the air fresh and fragrant. But once out of the woods, the views are almost always stunning, whether it's a vista of a hilltop village cascading down a mountain or a field blanketed with wildflowers.
5. CYPRUS: good narrow roads criss-cross the central Troodos mountains through thick aromatic pine forests dotted with Byzantine fresco-filled churches and splendid monasteries, the most impressive being the serpentine road through Cedar Valley; in the northwest, from Pomos to Kato Pyrgos, pretty fishing harbours bob with boats while around Kato Pyrgos the road rises to majestic heights, where it's just the mountain goats enjoying magnificent coastal vistas; and in Northern Cyprus, the road through the Karpaz Peninsula takes you through pristine country where wild donkeys graze on green meadows, by pretty turquoise coves watched over by crumbling Byzantine churches, and to one of the island's best beaches, a wide stretch of sand backed by high dunes.
Read part 2 here.

Brilliant minds think alike, or, Why so many guidebooks share the same listings: part 2

By Lara & Terry*
If you've just joined us, this continues from the previous post so read this first.
So, why would these three places now get glowing reviews in an updated guidebook? What do they have in common? The answer: all of these places do excellent public relations. And when you read the reviews it’s quite easy to tell that the writer hasn't set foot in any of the places, or if the person did, they were blindfolded. A quick search on Google revealed that many of the reviews of the restaurant we left out of our edition use the same language to describe the chef, the preparation of the food, and the cuisine itself. It’s not a coincidence. It’s simply a recycled press release. And to the writer in a hurry on a tight budget, the 'general consensus' is enough to tick it off for inclusion and write the review from the establishment’s website, a press release, or other lustrous reviews.

In this particular city, we had tried all the restaurants we put in the first edition of that book, as we’d been regular visitors to the city for years. And on subsequent visits we used our local industry contacts (hotel staff, chefs and so on) to identify new places to try. But what we found most interesting from our guidebook test were the other reviewers’ responses to the restaurants we didn’t think were very good. When we discussed this with our informed local contacts in the restaurant or hotel business they almost unanimously said: “I can never understand why foreign writers think that place is so good!” One famous chef we recently interviewed knows exactly what we’re talking about. He told us that one dish that was on his menu for only a couple of months a few years ago keeps appearing in 'reviews' of his restaurant in travel guidebooks and articles. He blames one high-profile magazine article (which has since appeared on the internet) for this and is bemused by diners coming in and asking for the dish! The mention of this dish is his benchmark for judging whether the writer has even looked at his menu.

And this is why buying a guidebook is such a lottery. If you’ve been to a city before and you’re looking to buy a guidebook on it for another trip, look for a review of a hotel or restaurant you know. Is it in there? Good. Does the review make it sound remotely like the place you know? Yes? Excellent. If it doesn’t list it or it describes it in a way that’s not like the place you know, leave the book on the shelf.

Just as an aside, we were relieved to find that our names aren’t mentioned at all in the current incarnation of that first book we originally authored. It’s somewhat petty of the publishers, seeing our content was original, but considering the state of the current edition, we’re actually grateful!

Pictured? One hotel in Northern Italy that in no uncertain terms lives up to its eco-friendly credentials, Vigilius Mountain Resort. This is a photo of our room. We actually stayed there. Do you trust us?

The Cool Travel Guide to the Italian Lakes

We were surprised during our recent research trip in Italy to find that after Venice and Rome the country's next most popular travel destination seemed to be Sirmione, a small walled town on a tiny peninsula, accessed by a drawbridge across the moat of a castle on gorgeous Lake Garda. It's a place you rarely read about in travel magazines and yet its cobblestone streets, hotel sun decks and narrow beaches were crammed with sunburnt tourists. While the rest of Italy may have seen far fewer Americans than usual (due to the devalued dollar and stateside recession), the Lakes weren't feeling the dramatic drop in numbers of US visitors that other parts of Italy were. The Clooney factor played a part on Lake Como of course (more on that later), however, the waterfront towns and mesmerizing villages on the other lakes, especially Lakes Maggiore, Lugano and Orta, were buzzing with foreign visitors. Irish, Australians and Russians in particular descended on Italy's most romantic of destinations. Want to find out why? Here's a quick cool travel guide to Italy's alluring lakes:
* Lake Orta (pictured) - the most enchanting and our favorite, it's also one of the smallest lakes, and one of the most exclusive, with elegant private villas gracing its shores and only wooden row boats to cause ripples on its tranquil waters. Three reasons to visit: the magical fairy-tale hotel Villa Crespi and its sublime Michelin two-starred restaurant, the pedestrian-only medieval village of Orta San Giulo, and pretty postcard-perfect Isola San Giulo opposite.
* Lake Como - aside from George Clooney, other handsome stars include the city of Como itself (very elegant with great restaurants and good shopping), pretty Bellagio at the end of a peninsula, with an array of grand hotels and superb restaurants, including Villa Serbelloni; the elegant waterfront village of Menaggio, Grand Hotel Tremezzo, and lush lakeside botanical gardens such as those at Villa Carlotta.
* Lake Garda - known more these days for its fishing, watersports (especially windsurfing) and theme parks (Gardaland), Lake Garda was once more infamously known as the home of Salo, the capital of Mussolini's puppet-state. Boasting its fair share of genteel lakeside towns (namely Salo, Gardone Riviera and Sirmione), elegant villa hotels (Villa Feltrinelli), and sublime Michelin-starred restaurants (Villa Fiordaliso), it's also home to one of the whackiest house-museums around, Il Vittoriale, which once belonged to eccentric and flamboyant writer-poet Gabriele d'Annunzio.
* Lake Maggiore - a massive lake (as its name indicates) that's famous for its islands, Isola Borromee, Isola Madre, Isola Bella and Isole di Brissago; while not as pretty as the other lakes, it's still enormously popular with Italians and northern Europeans; the beautiful village of Cannobio with its waterfront lined with restaurants and cafes is the highlight, followed by Verbania with its breathakingly beautiful gardens at Villa Taranto.
When to go: summer is when the lakes are at their most beautiful and is the most popular time, but it's also the most crowded; spring and autumn are also lovely periods; in winter the lakes are misty and moody, but many hotels and restaurants are closed.
How to get there: fly into airports at Milan (Malpensa is closest for Como, Orta and Maggiore and is served by most major international airlines) or Bergamo (served by myriad low-cost airlines and situated between Lakes Como and Garda) then hire a car. Your own transport is essential to really explore the lakes.
What to do: spend your days driving around the lakes (they're enormous so allow a minimum of 2-3 days for each), taking boat trips around the lakes (public ferries run frequently and are affordable; car ferries less affordable but handy; taxi boats expensive but memorable); strolling elaborately landscaped botanical gardens; reading a book in the many lakeside parks; enjoying apertivi at a waterfront bar as you savour the sunset; and lingering over a long dinner as you watch the moonlight reflect upon the water.
Where to stay: the lakes are home to some exquisite and often opulent waterside hotels; we stayed at Albergo Terminus at Como; Villa Crespi at Lake Orta; Villa Serbelloni at Bellagio; and Grand Hotel Gardone on Lake Garda.

Tips for travelling Italy's autostradas: thank god for Autogrill

We recently finished a four-week research trip driving through Northern Italy. As we've spent a lot of time on Italy's autostradas (motorways, freeways), here are some tips to travelling the autostrada:
WHO: Every man and his dog drives the autostrada, from Italians doing the daily commute to work to truckies doing long-haul trips between countries. During holidays you'll be joined by campervanners and caravanners, who can be the most bothersome, generally driving well below the limit and slowing everyone down. Followed by drivers on their cell phones of course!
WHAT: Italy's autostradas are mostly dual carriageways and offer few places to exit, turn around, stop, rest, and refuel than freeways in many countries we've driven in, so always know where you're going, stay focused, fill up, and plan ahead. Or hope you see an Autogrill. Attached to fuel stations, these excellent one-stop-shops are a stand-up cafe, panini stop, book and music shop, delicatessen, and gadget heaven in one. You'll find anything here from a beach towel to a phone recharger.
WHERE: Autostradas criss-cross the country, connecting all major cities (see this list), the handiest being the A1 taking from Milan to Rome and on to Naples, the A4 from Milan via Venice to Trieste (although the area around Venice is almost always clogged), and the A14 running along the east coast from Bologna to Bari, which is picturesque.
WHY: The autostradas are fantastic for zipping between cities. Sit on 130 kph (the legal limit, although most Italians do 160 kph) and no sooner have you left one city that you realize you're already approaching another. Don't dare blink or you may miss a hilltop town or castle worth a detour. For cash-rich time-poor travellers the convenience and (mostly) smooth ride makes taking the autostrada worthwhile, however, budget travellers should be aware tolls are expensive and can add up. But these days, with the high cost of fuel, buses aren't cheap either, trains never were, and no other form of transport gives you the flexibility a car does.
WHEN: During some periods motorways can get just as clogged as the highways, so there are times to ditch the autostrada in favour of quieter country roads or simply staying put: on Friday afternoons in the warmer months avoid driving in the direction of beaches and lakes when Italians go away for the weekend; avoid travelling anywhere on a Sunday afternoon when everyone is returning home; and avoid any road during Italy's August vacation month, when everyone in the country is going anywhere they can as long as it's away from home and in the sun.
HOW: Make sure you're prepared:
1) carry lots of notes and coins: tolls are expensive, costing us anything from €1.60 to up to €14 for our most expensive trip
2) use the best quality maps you can find; the Italian Touring Club maps are excellent
3) know the route numbers you need, destinations along the way, and the city at the end of the line because Italy's road signage is terrible and the only constant is their lack of consistency: one destination may appear on one sign, but you may not see it again until it's time to get off and then it may be too late
4) know which exit to take to get to the part of the city you need (check with your hotel); some cities have two or three exits, generally a 'centro' (centre), sud (south), nord (north), oeste (east) or ovest (west)
5) stay alert - the autostrada exit and entry roads can be a nightmare, twisting and turning around, up and over each other like a tangled spiral (this is where you'll find bottlenecks, especially if it's anywhere near a port or industrial area); one wrong turn and you can waste an hour or more
Have I put you off? If you think the highways and back roads are better... well, that's another post!

Random musings from the road: Italy

Some random thoughts and observations after a couple of weeks on the road in Northern Italy (and two and a half months in Italy in total) from my traveller's notebook:
* Italians are the most cultured people in the world - barely a conversation passes with the Italians we meet without mention of a great composer or musician, of an art movement or artist, of architecture and photography, of food and wine. Caravaggio is much more likely to to come up in conversation with an Italian than Kate Moss, grapes more than gossip. The only celebrity name to cross any lips has been George Clooney, but then he's an honorary Italian anyway.
* Italians are the most civilized people in the world - the more we observe and compare the everyday life of the locals with the behavior of tourists on holidays, we're convinced of this. While the Italians drink wine with meals, including lunch, tourists sip cans of Coke. While the Italians order several courses and savour a meal slowly, tourists stick to one dish or settle for a slab of pizza. While the tourists wander the streets at night in Birkenstocks and shorts, the Italians dress up or, even when they're dressed casually, look as if they've dressed up. While the Italians sit on a park bench and read a book, the tourists text messages home on their CrackBerries.
* Nobody knows how to live like the Italians - they start work late (compared to most Western countries), they take several hours off in the afternoon for a long lunch and siesta, they return to work in the evening for a couple of hours, then they head out to meet friends or family to socialize over dinner or drinks. They work to live rather than live to work. What's not to love about that?

Inspiring Italy and The Grand Tour

We've been on the road in Northern Italy for a couple of weeks doing guidebook research and we're both utterly exhausted and yet completely stimulated. How can we not be inspired in a country like Italy where we're surrounded with such history and culture, art and architecture? Wherever we drive, it's not long before we come across a Medieval tower, a Renaissance palazzo, or a Gothic church. Poppies and ruins may have moved the 19th century travellers, but for me it's lakeside geraniums and leaning towers. As I write, the bells are ringing in the 12th century tower of a church I can see out our window. It's easy to understand why The Grand Tour-ists treated the country as their finishing school. There's no better place to be stirred by the beauty of the surroundings and be motivated to learn. And that was what The Grand Tour was about after all - just take a look at this wonderful Getty exhibition on The Grand Tour. While the term may be hip once again (and perhaps we played some tiny part in that when we started writing our travel blog Grantourismo two years ago for Charles and Marie?), these days it seems to be thrown about and attached to any extended sojourn or backpacking trip without any real understanding of what it means. The New York Times' Frugal Traveller, Matt Gross, claims his current 12 week jaunt across Europe is some kind of reimagining of the classic Grand Tour, and as interesting as Matt's posts can be, his main concern seems to be staying within his €100 budget each day. His trip's link to The Grand Tour is tenuous and he seems to be coming away from his experiences of destinations having learned little more than how to hitchhike or find the best budget eatery or pensione. The Grand Tour was about so much more. It was about being inspired by history, beauty, art and literature, but most of all it was about learning, about becoming cultured, civilized, cosmopolitan, about getting to know the world.

On the road again... in Northern Italy

After a few days regrouping (oh, and researching of course) in Turin, we're hitting the road again this week in Northern Italy, to explore the country's beautiful lakes, mountains, valleys, and vineyards, as part of our guidebook research. While we're staying in some exquisite hotels, unfortunately they don't always have great internet access - even when their websites say they do! - so if you don't hear from me, you know where I am. I'll get back to you with some more tales from the road and give you more of a taste of our experience of Italy as soon as I can.

5 reasons to love Italy

For all my complaining about getting things done here, I still love Italy and after countless trips, it remains one of my most favorite countries in the world. Here are a handful of reasons why:
1. Italian cuisine: it's hard to get a bad meal in Italy. You can get some very average meals, but if you know where to go you can get truly great food - and at low prices. It's hard to say that about many country's cuisine. And then there's the regional variation, and the variety within regions! Deserving of a post on its own.
2. Italian people: passionate, philosophical and polite sums them up in our experience over the years. They're endlessly enthusiastic and animated, thoughtful about every tiny matter, and incredibly courteous. There's nothing like walking out your door only to have the person who meets you in the corridor say buonjourno! How can you not have a good day?
3. History is everywhere: it's not only in the (very fine) museums, but there are very few places in the country you can go without stumbling across medieval castle ruins or a baroque church or a Roman temple, or more recent remnants of history, such as an elegant Fascist era office block. People who are reminded of such a long history each day, live life with a certain pride.
4. Beauty surrounds you: whether it's the fresh produce at a daily market, the idyllic landscapes of the countryside or coast, or beautifully cut fashion in a store window, Italy is both blessed by beauty and the masters of producing beauty.
5. The Italian lust for life: Italy inspires a lust for life in the way few countries do and its people respond with an appropriate way. They may operate at slower pace than the rest of the EU, start work later and take longer lunch hours, and leave as early as they can on a Friday so they can get away for the weekend. But who wouldn't when there's such great food to eat, such fascinating people to meet, such an engaging life to lead, and such beauty everywhere?

Italians passionate? Si! Especially when it comes to football

By Terry Carter*
Something that strikes us about Italians is their love of football**. In Amantea in Calabria a few weeks ago the local’s favourite team had just won a match so we were stuck in our car for a while in the middle of the celebratory procession through town. We were the only ones not tooting our horn or hanging out of the car cheering! Here in Milan in our apartment on the Navigli last week we knew Euro 2008 was on when we heard screaming and cheering from the local bars down on the street below. We turned the TV on to see Italy playing the Netherlands. Every time Italy had a shot at a goal (and missed) the collective groans echoed through the streets. After their loss, the locals quietly streamed out of the bars, jumped on their biciclettas and Vespas and headed home. On Fridays the streets are generally filled with locals heading for aperitivo hour at the local outdoor bars. But last Friday the streets were empty. We were thinking it was probably the threatening weather or Friday the 13th keeping locals at home. But then loud cheer echoed through the streets. Euro 2008. We turned on the TV to see Italy playing Romania. Even with the sound turned down we could tell how the game was going by the noise emanating from the bars. Very little noise means Italy is not doing well. Groans mean they’ve had a shot at goal and missed. Wild cheering indicates a goal from Italy, while silence means the other side has scored. As I write this, the game between Italy and France has not long started. The mood of the whole neighbourhood will change depending on what happens in the next hour and half. Italians. Passionate? No denying it. Even in the streets of ‘reserved’ Milan. Gotta go - the football's on.

* Terry is my husband, co-author and occasional co-blogger
** generally called soccer in countries where it’s not the main form of football

A Tale of Three Tastings in Rome: Tasting #3 Ristorante Il Pagliaccio

By Terry Carter*
Our third memorable meal turned out to be at Michelin-starred Ristorante Il Pagliaccio. We had wanted to eat here for a while, having heard great things about the chef and glowing recommendations about the inventiveness of the menu of Anthony Genovese. Visiting for lunch, we were the only patrons there, yet we hadn't been able to get a table for two nights. Manager Daniele Montano explained that they open for lunch to keep people like us happy (he guessed we were ‘food tourists’), as well as the businessmen and politicians out to impress. To be honest, there were so many highlights to this meal it’s hard to pick out some favorites. The gnocchi with oysters and caviar was sublime. And we had the best prepared pigeon, served with peas, pea puree and mushrooms, that we'd ever had in our lives. The wines were perfectly matched and the service was warm and generous. Il Pagliaccio might translate to the weeping clown, but this meal made us weep tears of delight. Although we were a little melancholy for more after we left…

Great meals have a flow about them and great restaurants exude a certain confidence. The wines match the food well, the waiting staff work seamlessly together, and the kitchen brings out fresh ingredients cooked with care and often plenty of flair. But great meals don’t have to be as intricate and delicate as dining at Il Pagliaccio where a new wine and new taste sensations were presented with every course. They can be as simple and rustic as La Taverna dei Fori Imperiali, or more classical and refined like L'Arcangelo. When we go out to eat we’re happy with any of these three types of experiences. And when a meal clicks, it makes all the ones that don’t feel that way seem like wasted opportunities - something that really irks us when we’re working on a guidebook and blow a tonne of money on a restaurant that we ultimately can’t recommend. But while we are researching stories, to have three memorable meals in just as many days, with such a gamut of experiences, is one of the pure joys of travelling. Don’t you think? It’s one of the reasons we do what we do!

Terry Carter* is my partner and co-author.

A Tale of Three Tastings in Rome: Tasting #2 La Taverna dei Fori Imperiali

By Terry Carter*
La Taverna dei Fori Imperiali** was casually recommended to us by our guide, Petulia, from Context while we were on our way to visit some bespoke shops, and it was another memorable stop. A modest, old-fashioned trattoria, we were instantly taken with the casual nature of the staff. ‘Dad’, who appears to do the cooking, walked through the restaurant wearing the kind of apron that generally makes the rest of the family giggle, but the food was delicious, as was the wine selection. We ordered off-menu as this generally translates to the ‘specials’. In good Italian restaurants ‘specials’ don’t mean the stuff from the back of the walk-in refrigerator that’s well past its prime, it means the dishes that are made from what was bought fresh from the market that day. We had a beautiful freshly-made caponata (a 'salad' comprised of cooked eggplant, olives, pine nuts, celery, more than a little sugar, vinegar and olive oil, with some wonderful buffalo mozzarella on the side), followed by some handmade pastas, of which a veal ragout with late-season truffles was an aromatic delight. Even a neighbouring table’s comments*** that they had to keep drinking wine to "drown out the garlic taste" of the same dish* couldn’t deter us from fighting over whether our ‘half-half’**** rule applied.

* Photographer-writer Terry Carter is my husband and co-author
** at Via Madonna dei Monte 16
*** Notes for our neighbouring table (while desperately not trying to sound like a food snob): it was truffle, not garlic that was giving off the strong aroma (costs much more, smells very different); ‘al-dente’ means ‘with bite’, this is how pasta is cooked, although the ‘bite’ varies depending whether the pasta is secca (dried) or fresca (fresh); and ‘Dante’ was a writer, so asking if a pasta is ‘chewy’ because it’s cooked ‘Dante’ is like asking to be sent to the Inferno.
**** our ‘half-half’ rule is what we use when we have two dishes we both really want to try. We eat half and then swap plates. Conditions apply and there is often a little cheating. As when one person is faking that their dish is ‘just OK’, but is secretly having a food orgasm. This is generally easily discovered by noting the facial expressions of the cheating diner.

A Tale of Three Tastings in Rome: Tasting #1 L'Arcangelo

By Terry Carter*
On our first day in Rome we dumped our bags and quickly headed out to lunch at L'Arcangelo, a classically understated yet elegant ristorante, where the quietly charming owner-sommelier Arcangelo Dandini exudes the confidence of someone who knows that the food and wine are exemplary. For example, an octopus salad with potatoes, capers and artichokes was perfection on a plate. The balance of the flavours and the amount of each ingredient were impeccable. Sometimes you’d take a mouthful of a dish and you’d just know that these ingredients were made for eachother, making me wonder why I didn’t cook more simply when we’re staying in apartments. Our rigatoni alla matriciana was one of the best pasta dishes we’d ever sampled and if the head chef is from India he’s had excellent guidance from Arcangelo, who is responsible for many of the recipes and much of what’s on the menu. The wines recommended (including the owners’ own lovely bianco) were beautifully matched and the meal flowed seamlessly, leaving us floating off giddily for a well-earned siesta. Now that’s our idea of fine dining.

* Travel writer-photographer Terry Carter is my husband and co-author (although that's my lazy photography, pictured).

At home in Milano: remembering the importance of having a room with view

While some writing and photography commissions keep us on the road for a while crisscrossing regions and countries, as we've just done researching the Calabria guidebook, others, such as city guides, require us to settle down in one place for a while to do research. Usually we rent an apartment and create the 'home' we miss when we're on the road and we endeavor to live like locals as much as possible. This post is the first in a series called 'At home in (insert city)', which I'll write whenever we're based in one place for a while, and where I'll share both the fun stuff and the occasional frustrations of living in 'foreign' cities. We're in Milano now and the image is that of the French doors in our dining and living area and the view from our fourth floor across to an apartment block that's typical of our neighborhood, the Navigli. Navigli refers to the two canals that run through this lively area of Milan, a neighborhood jam-packed with restaurants, bars and cafes and funky little shops, that still has a village feel. From the window I can see elderly ladies who've dressed up to go to shopping exchange niceties with friends they bumped into on the street, dreadlocked Italian students with their art portfolios over their shoulders cycling home from university, and on the balcony opposite a a hip young gay couple sipping something in champagne flutes, as they too enjoy the action down below. We arrived a week ago and after we unpacked and set up our work space on the dining table, I looked out the window and said to Terry: "We need to make sure we always rent apartments with a room with a view - it's just so inspiring." Terry agreed. The view provides a constant source of entertainment, amusement, information, and of course, inspiration. We not only enjoy what we glimpse when we glance up from our work, but we sit in front of the window and appreciate the aspect more fully when we take breaks for coffee or lunch or a glass of vino bianchi in the evenings. Those are the times when, looking out that window, we learn about the rhythms and rituals of the everyday lives of the locals as we watch them go about their daily business, heading off to work, returning home, eating out, meeting friends for drinks, even watching the football together as they were in the bars tonight. Aside from the 'research value', it's just such a joy to take in the vistas and the vibe of life on the street. And enjoy the changing light.

Liquorice: one more reason to visit Calabria

Liquorice! Make that 11 reasons to visit Calabria. See this post for the other ten, oh, and this one too. How could I forget liquorice? Liquirizia in Italian. I've always loved liquorice, since I was a child when my Nanna (nonna in Italian) encouraged my addiction to Aussie confectioner Darrell Lea's original soft liquorice. She'd buy a big brown paper bag of the stuff whenever we'd go shopping and after dinner (or 'tea' as they called it then), we'd sit in front of the television (black and white in those days!), my Pop (nonno), Nanna and I, and we'd demolish the whole lot. Yum! And we weren't alone. 50 million strands of liquorice are consumed by Australians each year. That's 40,000 kilometres worth. Enough to cross Australia 10 times! (See this page for more liquorice trivia.) My passion for the soft stuff doesn't mean I don't appreciate the hard chewy pastels popular in Europe. They're just as delectable and Amarelli's liquorice pastels are the connoisseurs' favorites, as much for the retro tins (pictured) as for the tiny tangy morsels inside. Which is why I was excited during our recent research in Calabria to discover the Amarelli factory was in Rossano. Family-run Amarelli is the oldest liquorice producer, and while the Amarellis were extracting liquorice juice as far back as 1500, they didn't establish the factory until 1731. Their old fortress-like residence is now a fascinating museum dedicated to all things liquorice and the friendly multi-lingual staff run guided tours daily. While you can visit any time, go in the morning if you want to watch the liquorice process in the factory. But expect the sweet mouthwatering aromas to have you heading straight to the gift shop after.

10 reasons to travel to Calabria: part 2

Here are 5 more reasons to venture to Italy's southernmost mainland region:
6. Sila National Park: breathtakingly beautiful, the Sila boasts three turquoise lakes skirted by sandy beaches; rural countryside so idyllic it's as if it's out of a children's picture book with wooden fences, apple blossoms, and horses grazing in the paddocks; forests of pine, fir and birch trees so thick they form a canopy over the road, often dark except for dappled light, making for an enjoyably eerie drive; and wildflowers so aromatic you become addicted to opening the car window and inhaling. Camigliatello, Sila's main town, is a great base for skiing, hiking and exploring the Sila, and a gourmet paradise with gastronomic restaurants and shops selling local specialties such as smoked cheeses, cold cuts and salamis, porcini, and soppressata, a delicious pork sausage.
7. The Calabrian passagiatta: the Italian ritual of the passagiatta or evening stroll, when locals dress up and take to the streets to see and be seen and socialize, is a national pastime and a pleasure to watch anywhere in Italy. In Calabria it's at its most compelling. People dress up more and more people seem to promenade than anywhere else in Italy. (Why? A friend told us "We're more bored here in Calabria!") The sea of sharp-looking people is a sight to behold. My top 5 passagiatta towns are Vibo Valentia, Amantea, Crotone, Reggio Calabria, and Cosenza.
8. Calabria's castles, cathedrals and churches: every town in Calabria seems to possess a splendid duomo or basilica with chapels holding exquisite art and is watched over by the ruins of an imposing Norman castle. There are beautiful churches in all styles and from periods, from the little Byzantine La Cattolica in Stilo to the Church of St Francis in Gerace with a wonderful baroque alter. My favorite castle is Le Castella (pictured) at Isola di Capo Rizzuto, which appears to float at sea.
9. Pizzo: with elegant palazzi perched precariously on steep cliffs overlooking the ocean and a charming old town that's a tiny tangle of pastel-painted houses, narrow lanes and steep stairs reminiscent of Positano. Unfortunately, tourists outnumber the locals at the gelateria tables on the main piazza, and one too many shops have given over to tacky souvenirs, however, wander the pretty backstreets where life goes on as ever and you'll smell the mouthwatering aromas of lunch being cooked and find women hanging out washing over their balconies. (See the blog Palazzo Pizzo).
10. Reggio di Calabria: the streets of this surprisingly sophisticated city are lined with elegant buildings, some in Venetian style; there are good restaurants, great shops and excellent gelaterias, a beautiful new art museum, the Pinacoteca, and the superb bronze Riace statues at the archaeological museum, not to mention an attractive seaside promenade with lidos that are lively in summer and stunning views across to Sicily and Mount Etna.