Italy
Italy, a country in Southern Europe, is known for its art, culture, food, scenery. It is home to some of the best known landmarks in the world, including the Colosseum, the Trevi Fountain, and the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
Italy’s cities are historic and cosmopolitan, with long history and culture. Rome, the capital, is home to ancient ruins museums, churches. Florence is known for its Renaissance art and architecture. Venice, a city built on canals, is a romantic destination with a unique atmosphere.
Italy’s countryside is equally with rolling hills, vineyards, villages. The Amalfi Coast, a stretch of coastline along the Tyrrhenian Sea, is known for its dramatic cliffs, beautiful beaches, and colorful towns.
Italian food is some of the most delicious in the world. From pizza and pasta to gelato and espresso, there is something to satisfy every taste bud. Italy is also a major producer of wine, and its vineyards produce some of the finest wines in the world.
Here are just a few of the many things to see and do in Italy:
- Visit the Colosseum in Rome: The Colosseum is one of the best known landmarks in the world, and it is a for any visitor to Rome. This ancient amphitheater was once the site of gladiatorial contests and other public events. Today, it is a popular tourist destination, and visitors can tour the Colosseum and learn about its history.
- Explore the ruins of Pompeii: Pompeii was an ancient Roman city that was buried by a volcanic eruption in 79 AD. Today, Pompeii is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the most popular tourist destinations in Italy. Visitors can explore the ruins of the city and learn about its history.
- Visit the Uffizi Gallery in Florence: The Uffizi Gallery is one of the most important art museums in the world. It houses a collection of Renaissance art that includes works by Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and Sandro Botticelli.
- Take a gondola ride in Venice: Venice is a city of canals, and one of the best ways to see the city is to take a gondola ride. Gondolas are traditional Venetian boats that are propelled by gondoliers.
- Bask on the beaches of the Amalfi Coast: The Amalfi Coast is a stretch of coastline along the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is known for its dramatic cliffs, beautiful beaches, and colorful towns. Popular beaches on the Amalfi Coast include Positano, Amalfi, and Ravello.
Italy is a truly remarkable country with something to offer everyone!
Buying food in Italy
The supermarket is where we learned the most, and it is also where visitors most reliably get it wrong.
NaturaSì had the best produce of any grocery store we went into, and we went into plenty. It is an organic chain, it is not the cheapest, and the fruit and vegetables are worth the difference. If there is one near where you are staying, start there.
Two rules about the produce section that nobody tells you, and both will earn you a look if you get them wrong.
Put a glove on before you touch anything. There is a box of thin plastic gloves at the entrance to the fruit and vegetable aisle. Handling loose produce with bare hands is not done here, and the glove is not the optional courtesy it is at home.
Weigh it yourself before you reach the checkout. There is a scale in the produce section with a numbered button for every item. Bag goes on, press the number, and it prints a sticker with the price. Turning up at the till with unweighed vegetables stops the queue, and the person on the register cannot sort it out for you.
Tip
When you buy burrata, look on the label for the protected origin emblem. Anyone is allowed to call a ball of cheese burrata. That little seal is what tells you where it actually came from, and the difference is not subtle. Burrata di Andria from Puglia is the protected name to look for.
Tip
The best beauty buy in Italy is in the supermarket, not the pharmacy. Italian made sweet almond oil, off an ordinary shelf in somewhere like Carrefour, costs a few euros and is better on skin than most of what gets sold as skincare at home.
Getting around
The bus is never on time, and that is the optimistic version. Sometimes the bus does not come at all. We waited for one in Cagliari, gave up, and walked.
So read a posted timetable as a rough statement of intent rather than a promise. If the walk is possible, know in advance how long it would take, because you may end up doing it. And never make a bus the last link in a chain you cannot miss: a ferry, a train you hold a seat on, a flight home. Where a train goes the same way, take the train.
