Tag: Italy Travel

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Oh Romeo, Romeo. Verona Considers Turning 'Juliet's Balcony' into Honeymoon Suite

Where: Verona, Italy
May 21, 2013 at 10:39 AM | by | Comments (0)

Over in fair Verona, one of the most famous literary tourist sites is about to make it rain. Sadly the cash flow is only going their way as Verona is considering charging a few Euros to view the balcony and courtyard of "Romeo and Juliet," even if it isn't the real thing (because it's fictional).

Verona played home to the star-crossed lovers of Shakespeare's play, and it's said that certain families in the city's history were the inspiration for Shakespeare's play.

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What Everyone's Buying in Rome: A Pin-Up Calendar of Priests

Where: Rome, Italy
May 15, 2013 at 1:07 PM | by | Comment (1)

Welcome to "What Everyone's Buying," a new series on souvenirs, wherein we investigate what tourist trinkets are the hottest selling in hotspots around the world.

How could a simple black & white calendar, with the simple name "Calendario Romano" cause such a titter among tourists? Simple—by borrowing the pin-up concept and applying it to handsome Roman Catholic priests.

Spend enough time in Rome and you'll begin to notice they're everywhere—the fathers in their conservative black vestments—having un caffe e cornetto next to you in the morning, or petting a cat on a windowsill. The calendar selects 12 (having a chiseled jawline is more qualification than being actually ordained) and photographs them in innocent occupation, though their eyes betray less than innocent thoughts. Preview all 12 months on the back of each calendar.

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The Four Roman Churches You Must Visit to Complete a Papal Pilgrimage

Where: Rome, Italy
March 25, 2013 at 9:06 PM | by | Comments (2)


St. Paul's Outside the Walls, a basilica you should probably check out

It's a crazy time in the Catholic Church right now. There are two popes! It's almost Easter! Spring Break means Catholic school kids are misbehaving!

WIth all the hubbub surround the Vatican of late, maybe it's time to go old school and score you some Indulgences, AKA "Get Out of Hell Free" cards. Indulgences were once granted by the Catholic Church for good deeds done and acts of humility, but eventually they became a commodity sold or gifted to those held in favor by a corrupt church, centuries ago. If you've seen The Borgias, then you have some idea of what we're talking about. Indulgences technically don't exist anymore, but they sorta still do.

In any case, there are a few ways of going about earning indulgences, if you're into that. One is to climb the steps of the Scala Santa on your knees and reciting the correct prayers, the Scala Santa being a marble staircase supposedly brought to Rome from Jerusalem, where it was the stairs on which Jesus met Pontius Pilate.

Another way of earning an indulgence is to visit Rome and make a pilgrimage to each of the four "major basilicas," all which happen to be within a quick walk or subway ride of each other in la città eterna.

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The Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel Reopen to Tourists After Conclave

March 18, 2013 at 9:35 AM | by | Comments (0)

There’s a new pope in town, but that doesn’t mean that pope-a-palooza is winding down anytime soon. If you’re lucky enough to be in Rome there are many opportunities to check out the goings on around the arrival of Pope Francis, and you’ll even be the first to score some fresh-out-of-the-box papal souvenirs. However, the whole conclave thing was an inconvenience to those looking to check out some of the Vatican’s best tourist attractions: the Musei Vaticani.

Beginning today—Monday—the Vatican Museums are once again open to the paying public, and that includes access to the Sistine Chapel. Visits to the Borgia Apartment as well as the Collection of Modern Religious Art are available too, so once again you’ll be getting your Euro's worth when you check things out.

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Rental Cars as WiFi Hotspots. It's Happening in Italy.

Where: Italy
November 26, 2012 at 10:16 AM | by | Comments (0)

Italy has a lot of good stuff we don’t have here at home, but the thing we’re missing most here—besides an abundance of gelato—is WiFi in our rental cars.

All the car connection magic comes from the folks over at Hertz and their rental car empire. It’s called Hertz Mobile WiFi, and it’s a little pocket-sized thing that’s offered up to rental car customers in collaboration with Wind Mobile. Basically it sounds like a mobile hotspot that goes right in your car and gives you all-the-time access to the internet no matter how many wrong turns you take or exits you miss.

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Your Skis Fly Free This Winter If You Fly Monarch

October 25, 2012 at 10:10 AM | by | Comments (0)

It’s never too early to start thinking about ski season, and that’s especially the case with November just around the corner. Sure the good flakes might not start coating those slopes until a month or two from now, but we’re thinking that there will be plenty of the white fluffy stuff to get you outdoors. The only problem with skiing is that there’s a lot of equipment to lug and things get even more inconvenient when you need to fly to the mountain. Thankfully there’s one airline over in Europe that’ll serve as a lift for your equipment, and they’ll do it for free.

Monarch Airlines out of the United Kingdom is gearing up for ski season and offering to carry your stuff under the belly of the plane without an extra fee. You do need to book your tickets between now and the end of 2012, and you’ll end up saving yourself roughly $65. They’ve even got low rates to many popular destinations, as rates start around $55 each way inclusive of taxes to spots like Friedrichshafen and Innsbruck.

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This is a Real Thing: Italy's New Museum of Gelato

Where: Bologna, Italy
October 11, 2012 at 12:52 PM | by | Comments (0)

One of the reasons travelers and tourists flock to Italy each and every year is for the food. Obviously there’s pizza, pasta, and plenty of other warm and savory dishes, but when it comes to dessert there’s really only option on our menu—gelato. Thankfully there’s now a shrine dedicated to the cousin of ice cream, just one of Italy’s national treasures.

The Carpigiani Gelato Museum is now open for business. Exhibits reveal the history of gelato, like from where it came and how it got to where it is today. There’s over 10,000 images showing the evolution and history, and there's even twenty different original machines. Tools of the trade, videos, and other multimedia displays round out the offerings, so you’re definitely getting the full gelato experience.

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No Snack for You! Rome Threatens €500 Fine for Street Eaters

Where: Rome , Italy
October 8, 2012 at 1:15 PM | by | Comments (0)


Illegal snacking in Piazza Navona

What's the Italian for "no snacking?"

We have no idea, but travelers are about to find out as Rome has enacted a new law banning the activity of eating snack foods within the historic center city.

Si, vero.

Chow down on some cioccolato in vicino of the cobblestoned streets and you'll be liable to pay a fine, which ranges from €25 to €500, though what exactly you'd have to do to warrant the €500 penalty is not stated (perhaps pour a banana split on Neptune in the Fontana di Trevi and then lick it off?!)

It's a law that specifically targets careless tourists, and Telegraph UK explains where you'll have to keep that gelato gluttony in check:

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The Adventures of Travel Cat: Lake Como, Italy

Where: Nesso, Italy
August 15, 2012 at 6:05 PM | by | Comments (0)

Kitty cats. They rule the internet and, whether we realize it or not, pretty much the world too. Ever noticed how cats sometimes stake out the coolest spots in a city? This new feature—Travel Cat—focuses on exactly that. Submit a photo to be featured by tweeting or Instagramming it to us (details below).

Travel Cat spotted near: Lake Como, Italy.

This week's Travel Cat is from Jaunted twitter friend @musciobros, who says of this ginger cutie:

"Here's an orange cat I found on a tiny street in Nesso, Lake Como, Italy. Lo sono un gatto splendido!"

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Run, It's the Polizia! Or Walk. Whatever.

Where: Italy
August 1, 2012 at 12:07 PM | by | Comments (0)

Don’t worry—we didn’t get arrested or anything, but we did think this teensy Citroën police car was pretty darn unique when we spotted outside the Vatican's Piazza San Pietro. We just wonder where the bad guys—or general troublemakers—sit when the officers decide to take the perpetrators back to the station.

Anyway, we did notice several different kinds of law enforcement—again, no fault of our own—when traveling around Italy. So we thought we’d share a quick recap of our internet research, just in case you wondered the same thing on your next trip to Rome, Venice, Florence, or Naples.

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'Molto Bene' for Alitalia's Upgrades

Where: Italy
July 26, 2012 at 10:03 AM | by | Comments (0)

Lots of new changes coming to Alitalia over the next few months. From a full fleet renewal, more transparent fares on their most popular flights, and even a very generous offering for their passengers from young to older. In true Italian fashion, they have named their newest classes of services super romantic names.

In the past 3 years, the Italian airline has spent a considerable amount of time, not to mention, euros, on creating a more pleasurable experience for all of their passengers. In a quest to fly the youngest fleet in the world, they have bought new planes and refreshed existing planes. By the beginning of next year, the entire fleet will be an average of about 6 years old.

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Daytrippin' Italy's Lake Como from Varenna on to Bellagio

Where: Bellagio, Italy
July 12, 2012 at 1:01 PM | by | Comments (0)

Part 2 of 2 on our travels in Italy's Lake Como district. Read Part 1 here.

So we found ourselves in Varenna, and we were definitely enjoying all that the lakeside town had to offer; however, there was still more of Lake Como to explore. We knew that Bellagio seemed to be the place to go when on the lake, so for a little less than $6—about €4.60—we hopped the ferry for a ride across the lake.

Gestione Governativa Navigazione Laghi runs the frequent service, and they’ve got things down to a science. Cars roll off and on the boats with regular service, and all the tourists follow right after for a quick trip across the lake. Just be sure to double check the schedule, or you might be visiting a different town—not that that’s a bad thing!

The ride across the lake was probably one of the best aspects of visiting Lake Como because it allowed for great views of both Varenna and Bellagio right from the waterfront. It probably didn’t hurt that we had pretty much perfect weather as well. Even if you didn’t have time to walk around and explore the different towns and villages surrounding the lake, it might be worth it to just take a roundtrip ride to get a few snapshots to show off back at the office.

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