Jaunted

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The Special Ryanair Welcome at Bari Airport

Now, we know you always get, uhh, different treatment on a Ryanair flight but, when we arrived at Bari Airport in Italian region of Puglia fresh off our recent flight, this is not what we were expecting to find.

A heath checkpoint solely for Ryanair passengers? A health checkpoint sponsored by Ryanair? A sanity test for the unfortunates disembarking from O'Leary-jet?

We didn't dare ask, lest we be subjected to the health check. And since we were unfortunate enough to be flying with British Airways, we didn't get to test it out, either. Maybe next time.

At least there's something that made us happy to be flying BA.

[Photo: Jaunted]

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If You're Freaked Out by a Leaning Big Ben in London, Beware Venice

In case you haven't heard, London's famous landmark Big Ben is leaning. The announcement was made just this month, with the detail that the very tippy top of the clock tower is 1.5 feet off center. This has naturally sparked fears that Big Ben may take a dive into the Thames, but—from all we know of Venice's various leaning towers, this won't happen in our liftetime...nor that of our children or children's children, so chillax.

For comparison, see the Campanile (bell tower) of Chiesa di Santo Stefano (St. Stephen's church) in our photo above. It's one of several towers with an impressive lean in La Serenissima, and it's been boozily tilting (and twisting) since it was rebuilt in the 1800s following a lightning strike nearly three centuries earlier. Although it's in constant danger of collapse, tourists still absentmindedly gather below it at pasticcerias and ristorantes.

Even worse is the 143' white campanile of San Giorgio dei Greci, which was completed in 1592 and has been leaning from the start. Paranoid travelers will now likely add "hard hat" to their Venice packing list, we suppose.

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Looking Down on Venice from 34,000 Feet

This is the kind of thing you miss when you pull the blind down on your window seat: Venice from the air.

We took this on a BA flight from Gatwick to Bari the week before last. When we’d flown the same route a couple of years before, we’d been treated to an unforgettable sight of Venice, with the Grand Canal snaking its way down the middle of the city. So this time we were prepared.

As we were crossing the Alps, we asked one of the flight attendants when we’d be going over Venice. “Will we be going over Venice?” she said, in that typical glum BA style. “I have no idea. Only the pilot would know that.” So we asked her to ask the pilot, who said that yes, in 10 minutes, it’d be coming up.

Ten minutes later, there it was. Not as perfect a view as the last time, but you can still make out the Grand Canal, Giudecca, San Michele, Murano and the Lido. Straordinario!

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Sicily Wine Commercial Does Its Job of Making Us Long for Italy

We occasionally run into these situations, where a commercial for some product reminds us that beautiful people in Italy are having a lot more fun than we are. Last time it was this insanely fun commercial by Italian vermouth company Martini, which was filmed in Croatia but still retained its Italian ethos. This time it's a commercial by Italian winemaker Tasca d'Almerita, which looks like something that could have been produced by an Italian tourism board. Except it's better.

The video is titled "A Glass of Sicily, and Adweek tells us that there's an Itanian "viral media company" behind the 80-second production. That explains, at the very least, how a commercial for a wine maker ended up with an interactive map on Flickr, though not why it was filled with photos and videos that are functionally travel advertisements for Sicily. Again, if they didn't get at least some money from an Italian tourism board they got ripped off. It's a gorgeous commercial.

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Tips and Tricks for Fellow Newbie European Travelers

What would your life be like if you hadn't yet traveled to Europe? If you'd spent years reading travel novels and fantasizing over guidebooks, but hadn't made the big leap? This is the case for Andy Miles, who in his late twenties is embarking on his first trip to the continent and walking us through the emotions and observations of a true Newbie Traveler. Read his previous adventures and follow along all week as Andy takes us along on his inaugural Euro journey.

For my final installment of this Newbie Traveler series I wanted to pass along some tips that other newbie (or even seasoned) travelers may find useful. If you followed along on my journey this week, you'll see that I went to London, Paris, Rome, and Zurich and even though I know I have much more to see and learn, I feel that I'm pretty well versed in the intricacies of European travel.

1. If you plan to do a lot of traveling by train, and your pocketbook allows for it, I would always suggest trying to upgrade to first class. I know, this tip probably sounds as obvious as "when flying, try to sit in first class," but to be honest we never found it prohibitively expensive. It's something you can take care of right there at the train station even if you already have economy tickets. Just go to the train and look for someone in a uniform. Most of them carry mobile devices and can upgrade you on the spot!

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The Newbie Traveler Treads the Cobblestones of Rome

What would your life be like if you hadn't yet traveled to Europe? If you'd spent years reading travel novels and fantasizing over guidebooks, but hadn't made the big leap? This is the case for Andy Miles, who in his late twenties is embarking on his first trip to the continent and walking us through the emotions and observations of a true Newbie Traveler. Read his previous adventures and follow along all week as Andy takes us along on his inaugural Euro journey.

I know Rome is a big deal, but having the opportunity to see it up close and personal gave me new perspectives on life, time, and how many things in this world are temporal. The Roman ruins have such a presence that they emit a feeling of history, and even if you didn't know much about Rome, you'd know that something very significant happened there.

After getting settled at the hotel, we decided to go downstairs to find something to eat. Instead of just winging it on our own, we figured it'd be a good idea to ask the concierge for a suggestion. I sauntered up to the desk and asked, "Is there some good Italian food around here?" As the words were leaving my mouth my own internal dialogue was "ARE YOU REALLY ASKING HIM THIS RIGHT NOW?!" Thankfully, he just laughed and said, "Of course!"

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The Cast of 'Jersey Shore' Finally Says Ciao to Filming in Florence

We hope the cast reviewed our guide to interacting with human statues

It is again safe to travel to Florence without unwittingly ending up an extra on Jersey Shore. That was fast. Just as it still seems like the eight-strong cast of the MTV show were settling into their Italian digs, they're already out. The eight weeks of filming for the fourth season wrapped this weekend and Snooki, J-Woww, The Situation and assorted other characters have already left the (historical) building, flying out of Florence and back to New Jersey.

That's right; while the Italy season debuts on MTV on August 4, the cast will be in the midst of the fifth season, to be shot back in their old stomping grounds of Seaside Heights, NJ. Their pay-per-episode estimate? Definitely over six figures, says Daily Mail. With that you think they could afford some nicer luggage (see their bags here).

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America Has Successfully Shipped the 'Jersey Shore' to Florence...For Now

Somehow—no doubt thanks to MTV's greasing the cogs—the Jersey Shore gang has made it overseas to their temporary new home in Florence, Italy. After some logistical hiccups that delayed their arrival for filming their fourth season, Snooki, Vinnie, J-Woww, Sammi, Mike, Ronnie, Deena and Pauly D all dropped their luggage and picked up the Dirty Italian phrasebooks this weekend at their townhouse in centro.

Of course the Daily Mail is practically stalking the cast, breathlessly reporting on every store they stop in and every cobblestoned corner they turn, followed as they are are curious crowds.

Thus far they haven't done anything particularly interesting or culture-offending, but they are using paper maps. Like, umm, MTV couldn't get them smartphones with an international plan for this, where they could just bring up Google Maps? Perhaps seeing them attempt to fold a big paper map is part of the fourth season's humor? Whatever, we're bored now and unless J-Woww starts sleeping with Berlusconi, we're about to tune out.

[Photo: Splash/Daily Mail]

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Will 'Jersey Shore' Season Four in Florence Be Finito Before It's Even Begun?

Far be it for us to leave you without the latest Jersey Shore news, which this week involves some international conflict. It seems that the city of Florence has revoked some of the filming permits required for MTV to follow the Guidos and Guidettes for their fourth season of hijinks. The shooting was due to begin and Snooki has already packed her hair straightener and Paul D his hair gel, but this holdup could mean something more than a delay.

Already Florence's mayor is against Jersey Shore's coming to town, and with the Palazzo Vecchio and Uffizi Gallery specifically turning away the crew, we wonder if MTV's smooth talkers will able to iron this all out and make the Italy season happen at all. Summer is, after all, the busiest tourist season in Florence and we're sure the city isn't keen on having these American brats garnering more attention (and crowds) than Italy's own ancient masterpieces and landmarks.

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Where to Go with Your Tax Refund: Italy

Tax day is coming, and you are excited not because you look forward to sifting through receipts and credit card statements, but because you're getting a fat refund...probably. The economy may be on its way back up, but you should try to stretch that tax refund as far as you can.

If Uncle Sam is padding your wallet after tax day, and you don't feel like a tropical getaway, consider a trip to Italy. The Land of Pasta is a perfect tax refund vacation, since websites like Travelzoo and Kayak Deals regularly run tons of package deals.

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Pop-Up Restaurant 'The Cube' to Take Over Europe's Most Scenic Tourist Spots

If you want to try a pop-up restaurant while traveling abroad, head to a European landmark. New itinerant eatery The Cube isn't in an empty warehouse or old restaurant space. Instead it will pop up atop notable European buildings and mountains.

The Cube will serve its first meals in Brussels on top of the lovely Parc du Cinquantenaire from March 25 to July 3. Commissioned by appliance-maker Electrolux, the restaurant will head to Italy, Russia, Switzerland and Sweden, spending four to 12 weeks in each location. The Cube's website offers renderings of the restaurant atop of the Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana in Rome and on the edge of a canyon in Switzerland.

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Need an Italy Vacation Rental? How About Berlusconi's Sex Castle?

He has property inside and outside of Milan, a palazzo in Rome and a villa in Sardinia, and yet all these lovely locations aren't enough to host Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi's retinue of call girls. According to the Telegraph UK and intercepted communications, Silvio's dalliances have lately been focused instead on a rented 15th century castle just outside of Rome—the Castello di Torcrescenza.

What Berlusconi hosts there are "dinners" with former Playboy models and other beautiful women, likely prostitutes procured from various sources he has, sources which are now being publicly named. Thus, we can only believe the his castle "dining" is over and you can look into renting the place for your next wholesome family vacation in Italy...or for other things. It does sounds nice:

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