Italy Travel Guide
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What Not To Do In Venice: The Top 5 Tourist Mistakes
Gondolas, palaces and 'O Sole Mio"—ahhh, the usual romantic image of Venice. Granted, the city known as "La Serenissima," is quite lovely and enchanting, but also full of money potholes and tourist stereotypes.
Because we like you, and because we've had our fair share of Venice visits and wish all the same enjoyment for yours, we're helping you out with our list of What Not To Do In Venice: The Top 5 Tourist Mistakes.
Check them out, after the jump.
Tags: Architecture Travel / Museum Travel / Rome Travel / Italy Travel / Zaha Hadid / → All Tags
Zaha Hadid Opens An Art Museum In Rome With No Art
Oh my gosh, would you believe that another building by Zaha Hadid got built? The Baghdad-born architect is famous for her futuristic designs, but most only stay looking good on paper. She has a few buildings scattered around the world, but the newest one in Rome takes the cake in terms of scale and space.
Dubbed the MAXXI Museum, or National Museum of the XXI Century Arts, it is a triumph for Zaha. Having opened only several days ago and described by the NYT as "less a unified lone structure than a convergence of long, shiny, serpentine modules — a bit like a space-age highway interchange," the Maxxi is already going down in architecture history. And since we've got a thing for good design, modern art and any new museum exhibitions, the Maxxi is fresh on our radar as well.
Tags: Literary Travel / Museums / Leonardo da Vinci / → All Tags
Leonardo Da Vinci's Notebooks Give You A Reason To Return To Milan
Need several excuses to visit Milan? A Renaissance-era library has begun exhibiting Leonardo da Vinci's notebooks, which due to preservation requirements will go on display 45 pages at a time and rotate every three months. So if you can't get to the Bibliotheca Ambrosiana by December 2 to check out da Vinci's military drawings, you have until 2015 to get there and see some of the polymath's magnificent work.
Founded by a cardinal who thought it would aid the Counter-Reformation, the Biblioteca Ambrosiana hosted the second public library in Europe and, unlike most book collections of the day, displayed its treasures in glass cases instead of chaining them to desks against thievery. These days, you still can't borrow anything from the Bibliotheca, but it offers literature classes and, for now, a chance to check out some da Vinci you won't find in other museums.
Tags: Five-Bad-Rap-Cities / Bad Rap Cities / Naples Travel / Urban Travel / → All Tags
Five Cities With a Bad Rap: Naples, Cosa Nostra
Some locales can’t seem to shake their less-than-sparkling reputations despite efforts to lock away the skeletons of yesterday. We’ve decided to highlight five of these Bad Rap Cities that are making moves to shed their grimy and gritty images in hopes of becoming more tourist-friendly. Maybe, just maybe, after reading this series you'll be willing to take a chance on them. Enjoy.
Why Go?
The revitalization projects have seen a vast improvement in the overall vibe, with middle-class neighborhoods like the Vomero cropping up all over the city, but locals insist the media ignores it, preferring instead to continue casting Napoli in a bad light. But there are lots of efforts to clean up Naples' act, literally, from the mayor’s tax incentive to pretty up buildings' grim exteriors to the current construction boom designed to expand and improve the underground metro system.
A multimillion-euro project is also underway to revamp the Port of Naples into a sleek cruise ship terminal and shop-filled walkway designed greet and impress the one-million passengers passing through each year. So,if it’s been a while since you visited Naples, chances are you wouldn’t recognize it now.
Tags: Prime-Plane-Spotting-Map / Plane Spotting / Alitalia / Venice Travel / Italy Travel / → All Tags
'Marco?' 'Polo!' Hop A Boat To Plane-Spot In Venice
If you know anything about Venice, you know that it is a city built on water, so it's quite fitting that the perfect location for plane spotting is onboard a boat. But not just any boat, we're talking about the water taxis between Venice's Marco Polo Airport and Venice proper. The airport sits on marsh land right on the coast, while the tourist-filled portion is out in the middle of the lagoon.
Going between the airport and the city of Venice therefore means taking either a private boat or the Alilaguna Waterbus right underneath the paths of arriving and departing flights. While you rock on the waves of other speeding water taxis passing by, you can look up at airplanes from carriers like Alitalia and other major carriers. Smaller LCC airlines like Jaunted personal favorite Germanwings sadly won't be found here, but at Treviso Airport.
Tags: Film Festival Travel / Venice Film Festival / Celeb Travel / George Clooney / Michael Moore / Paris Hilton / → All Tags
Hugo Chavez and Paris Hilton Take Venice Film Fest By Storm
The big news at the 66th Annual Venice Film Festival—aside from George Clooney introducing his latest girlfriend to the world—has to do, as always, with movie debuts that tend to get film buffs riled up in their plush, reclining chairs. This year's festival drew names including Oliver Stone, Matt Damon, Michael Moore, and—oh, god—Paris Hilton to the celebration of international film.
Stone had one of the more memorable red carpet moments of the festival when he walked buddy-buddy style with Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez to the premiere of South of the Border, his film about the leader and stereotypes associated with him. As The Telegraph UK reports, the two were surrounded by a swarm of 50 bodyguards. Necessary, sure, but also in keeping with Stone's penchant for controversy.
Tags: Celeb Travel / Film Festival Travel / Venice Film Festival / George Clooney / → All Tags
It's Clooney On A Boat! George Sings For His Superfans in Venice
Often overshadowed by its cousins in Toronto and Cannes, the Venice Film Festival isn't so much forgotten as snuck into most A-listers' schedules in a rush of press trips. But attendees at this year's Venetian outing got a treat yesterday: George Clooney, performing live! One night only!
Also, one song only: After technical problems hit a screening of his new movie "Men Who Stare At Goats," the world's favorite bachelor (despite bringing along his new girlfriend) serenaded the crowd with "O Sole Mio"—tune of stereotyped gondoliers everywhere. Who knew he could sing, besides everyone who saw "O Brother Where Art Thou"?
Tags: Travel Tips / Italy Travel / Rome Travel / Venice Travel / Florence Travel / Milan Travel / Sicily Travel / → All Tags
Indispensable Italy Tips: Beware Bread Baskets And Bare Shoulders
Italy's ancient sites are beautiful but not always handicapped-accessible.
If you're heading to Italy soon, we're totally jealous. We can't get enough of its wonderful cities: Bologna, Venice, Rome, Florence—we just want to move there already. Before you go, here are some tips we've gleaned during our own Italy travels:
· Beware of petty crimes. According to the U.S. Department of State, crimes such as pick-pocketing, theft from parked cars and purse snatching are serious problems, especially in large cities. Be on guard at crowded places like Milan's Central Station and the Trevi Fountain. And thieves in Italy often work in groups or pairs to divert your attention.
· Italy isn't handicapped-accessible. Italy's beauty lies in its ancient buildings, but most aren't equipped with wheelchair ramps and elevators. Buses aren't generally wheelchair-accessible, either.
Tags: Opera Travel / Travel Health / Milan Travel / Italy Travel / Landmarks / → All Tags
What's the Italian Word For 'Asbestos?' Because Milan's La Scala Has It
Yes, we know that's a radiation icon, but we mean it in a Hazmat capacity
A fat lady singing can't do anything for asbestos removal, as Milan's La Scala is finding out. Back in spring, officials in Milan discovered the toxic stuff in the famed opera house's ceiling, and they've just now closed down the 270 seats of the uppermost tier in order to begin removal.
This poses a problem for the tourists who, in last few months, have possibly been exposed to asbestos from officials rustling up there, but thankfully it's been confirmed that there's no spread of asbestos. Ticket holders will either be offered an upgrade to better and less toxic eating, or, if that's unavailable, then a simple refund. No loud Italian opera for the cheapskates, we guess.
Tags: Venice Film Festival / Venice Travel / Celeb Travel / Movie Travel / Events / Michael Moore / → All Tags
Michael Moore Floods Into Venice For The International Film Fest
Today in Venice, the city is full of prosecco glasses clinking and red carpets rolling out as the Venice International Film Festival begins—the world's oldest film festival—and this year brings another impressive roster of films battling for the Golden Lion prize.
Actually, come to think of it, SkyEurope had routes to Venice's Treviso airport; we sure hope no one is stranded elsewhere trying to get to Venice for the films, because they'll sure be missing out on some good stuff. For instance, Michael Moore is using the fest to premiere his newest: "Capitalism: A Love Story," about the US economic meltdown.
Tags: Museum Travel / Art Travel / Rome Travel / → All Tags
A Museum Fit For A Pope And A Prince: Rome's Galleria Doria Pamphilj
When art aficionados plan their trip to Rome, they usually fill their itineraries with popular picks like the Musei Capitolini and the Galleria Borghese. And while those places are nothing to sneeze at, they overshadow one of the city's best private museums: the Galleria Doria Pamphilj.
At the Doria Pamphilj, you can cross out two sightseeing items on your to-do list, since you get a top-notch collection of art as well as a palace. The 18th-century palace and its collection are owned by the aristocratic Pamphilj family, who have held numerous important posts in the country, including Pope. One of Pope Innocent X's modern-day descendants, Prince Jonathan Doria Pamphilj, narrates a great free audio tour of the gallery. He provides a unique intimate perspective, explaining how and why the family acquired some works and which ones are his favorite.
Tags: Overweight Passengers / Easyjet / Hoaxes / Airline News / → All Tags
Drama At The Gate: Overweight Italian Woman Bad, EasyJet Good
We haven't whined about European LCC EasyJet in a while, and you know we like to complain a bit about all those "cheap" airlines that keep adding charges. So you can imagine our delight to hear EasyJet in the news again, even if it's the bad news that the LCC was recently mean to a middle-aged, overweight Italian woman.
But then we discovered that the whole ordeal was faked. Anna Delluci went public about suing EasyJet after they apparently made her step on the scales in front of a bunch of other passengers, then told her that at 98kg (216 pounds), she would have to buy a second ticket to be able to fly. A day after her story went public, it was unveiled as a hoax.
