Results tagged “Italy” from Intelligent Travel Blog

Fact-checking Andrew McCarthy's upcoming January/February feature, "The Three Faces of Rome," got me thinking about the Eternal City's 2,000-year past, layer upon dusty layer of it.

Currently, only two metro lines serve the city of 2.5 million. A third, set to open in 2015, has unearthed archaeological artifacts (like the Dionysos head, unearthed near Via Sannio, Rome, above), many which will be exhibited in the stations themselves. What else has been unearthed by metros around the world?

Here are some highlights I found in my research:

• In Athens, when the city expanded its metro to accommodate the 2004 Olympics, 30,000 artifacts were found scattered beneath 17 acres.

• During construction, a 11th or 13th-century shipwreck was discovered at Yenikapi, what had been a harbor in Byzantine Istanbul.

• Approximately 2,000 fossils (mastodon, camel, ground sloth) dating back 16.5 million years were located way beneath the surface of Los Angeles.

• Construction of Line 14 of the Paris metro unearthed canoe-shaped boats 32 feet below the banks of the Seine, dating to about 2,800-2,500 B.C., hinting at what may be the earliest human settlement in the area.

•  At what is now Pino Suárez station in Mexico City, an Aztec temple was found in the 1990s and is displayed in the passageway between lines 1 and 2.
  

Friend of IT Barbara Fallon is just back from Italy, where she took cooking classes and explored life in the Tuscan hills.
 
Housed in an old Tuscan farmhouse in Mercatale di Cortona, nine female friends from around the U.S. are gathered for a week of Italian cooking classes with chef Faye Hess. She's already taught us so much--from making the perfect mushroom risotto, to braised ribs with white wine, garlic and rosemary (not to mention homemade pasta). Each of us take turns cranking the old Italian pasta machine. Faye pushes us and prods us, espousing her deep-held philosophy of slow, home cooking, that we need to toss out the buillion cubes, make our own stocks and pastas. Right now we all believe that we can. When we aren't having our daily cooking lesson, and eating the results around a very long farm table, we're off on a daily outing, often with a food or wine connection. We've done wine tastings in Montepulciano and Montalcino, cheese tastings in Siena, even tastings of aged balsamic vinegars (amazingly sweet and syrupy--almost drinkable). Tonight we're having dinner at the villa of a local family who have extensive olive groves and produce a top olive oil. There are no crowds here in southern Tuscany, and the weather is perfect and sunny.
 
While most of our day outings from the Faye Hess cooking school near Cortona had a food focus, one did not: a day trip to Deruta in Umbria, to learn how they make their famous ceramics. We toured the Cama family's small factory: one of the brothers was shaping the pottery on a wheel, and mama and papa were painting by steady hand their beautiful, old patterns. While I had always heard that Deruta wasn't a particularly pretty town, the ancient hilltop was beautiful for both its architecture and dozens of shops with ceramics literally pouring out.

Many of you have written us wanting to know how to replicate writer Stanley Stewart's motorcycle drive through Sardinia's North Coast. So we asked him to dish the details. Stewart's article, "Sardinia's Carefree Coast," just appeared in our September issue, but you can find the full story here, as well as a photo gallery online.

To book a motorcycle, contact Central Italy Motorcycle Tours (+39 339 1556988) who have a range of bikes including the the Ducati ST3, a good touring bike, from $916 for five days. A slightly cheaper option would be a Suzuki DL650 at $715 for five days. Bikes can be collected in Rome, Milan or Pisa, allowing you to cross by ferry from Civitavecchia, Livorno, Piombino or Genoa. Owned and run by Francesco Venzi, who speaks excellent English, CIMT also offer a range of group or private tours in Sardinia and elsewhere in Italy that include guides, support vehicles, and accommodation.
 
"Sardinia is a biker's dream," Stewart tells us. "The roads are excellent but curvy enough to make the whole thing good fun, and the Mediterranean on your shoulder is a great companion. Inland you can get some wonderful straight runs though it is difficult to keep your eyes on the road as the mountains begin to loom.
 
"What Francesco doesn't know about touring Sardinia, isn't worth knowing," he continued. "He is not only biker, he is a traveler and an excellent guide and has seen parts of the island only the shepherds know. He supplies bikes but he also points you in the right direction, and his group tours, with support vehicles, are one of the most congenial and sociable ways to tour the island."

[Central Italy Motorcycle Tours]

Photo: Stewart rides a Ducati along the coastline, shot by Dave Yoder for the September 2009 issue of National Geographic Traveler

National Geographic Traveler Art Director Jerry Sealy just returned from a two-week trip to Italy--avoiding the tourist crowds of Venice and Florence in favor of Orvieto, Assisi, Bologna, and Verona.

Since 1913, the charming northern Italian city of Verona has hosted a summer season of world-class opera in the Arena di Verona, the beautifully preserved Roman outdoor amphitheater dating to A.D. 30. Each evening from June through August, hundreds of cast members perform classic works by Puccini, Verdi or Rossini in a setting that New York's Metropolitan Opera would envy.

Even a complete opera neophyte like I am couldn't help but be wowed by the staging, performances--or the ancient aura. Arena productions go back to the days of gladiators. While bloodshed and violence may be a thing of the past, the high drama remains--hearing a diva's passionate aria, or seeing 75 soldiers (in the cast) flanking the steps high above the stage with lit torches. (Oh, and the white horses on stage were a nice touch, too).

For the most authentic Italian experience, skip main floor seating (very red carpet--with prices to match) and purchase a ticket for the unreserved stone steps. (prices begin at 21 euros) Views are spectacular. Be sure to pick up a pizza or antipasti from a nearby trattoria off Piazza Bra', pack some wine (no glass allowed), and buy two-euro seat cushions from one of the many vendors outside the Arena (after three hours on marble steps I was glad I did). You'll be surrounded by a crowd of enthusiastic patrons in clad in capris and cargo pants, but who needs Armani? This is opera for Everyman.

Verona's Opera Festival runs through August 30, 2009 and resumes again next June. For ticketing and general information visit www.arena.it. You can reach Verona by rail from Venice or Bologna in one hour or less. One-way tickets cost about 7 euros. www.trenitalia.com

Photo: Jerry Sealy

Want a tour guide that will tell you how to avoid getting pickpocketed? Get a former pickpocket to show you around.

Such is the case in Naples, Italy, thanks to a new public program that is arming ex-cons with travel brochures in an attempt to rehabilitate them into society. The Global Post reports that the job-works program, called "Esco-Dentro," or Exit-Inside, helps newly released convicts re-acclimate themselves to public life through jobs like street cleaning, sanitation, and immigrant assistance positions. But what's most innovative is that they've also given 80 former convicts gigs offering tourists advice on staying safe in the city. The (mostly) men, clad in yellow vests, can now be found escorting tourists attempting to maneuver through dodgy neighborhoods, helping with heavy luggage, and offering suggestions to avoid becoming a target of a petty crime (you really shouldn't be wearing that flashy watch, now should you?). Their services are all free, and tipping is discouraged (let's not even talk about bribes).

With organized crime rampant throughout Naples, proponents of the program say that it gives ex-cons an alternative to falling back into the cycle of crime. In fact, police officers in the city actually recorded some displeasure with the plan, as they felt it threatened their jobs. But they've sorted out their problems and learned that they can help each other, the program's director told the Stars and Stripes. Participants each earn $500 a week, and the trial run will last through this November.

"Naples is beautiful. We want to help change its bad reputation of crime," one former convict, Antonio Solla, told the Stars and Stripes. "And who better to know how criminals work than former criminals?"

[The Global Post, The Stars and Stripes]

Photo: Angelica Marin/The Global Post

Traveler and Photo District News are currently hosting our annual World in Focus Photo Contest, and this year we're letting readers preview the submissions and vote on their favorites. Each week, we're putting a new batch of images up on our website, and here's one of our favorite picks:

I love the camaraderie of this photo, taken by Anthony Delgado, which shows the members of the confraternite in Ispica, Sicily, as they carry the statue of Christ back in to Santa Maria Maggiore with great effort, but a spirit of fun, on Holy Thursday during Easter Week, 2009.

Think your own image brings the world in to focus? Submit your entries now for a chance to win a trip to Tanzania, camera gear, and other prizes.

While most guidebook authors head to a destination for several months and pen some notes, writer Eliot Stein immersed himself in Sardinian culture by living there for nearly three years. His recently published guidebook to Sardinia is not only one of the most authoritative guides to the island, but it also promotes responsible travel from a true insiders' perspective. The following are his recommendations of ways tourists can help preserve Sardinia's unique culture.

Rainer Jenss and his family are currently on an around-the-world journey, and they're blogging about their experiences for us at Intelligent Travel. Keep up with the Jensses by bookmarking their posts, and follow the boys' Global Bros blog at National Geographic Kids.

It might have seemed impractical to give ourselves only two weeks to visit France, Germany, and Italy on this trip, especially since we were on a one-year journey and could theoretically allocate a lot more time for each (or go to fewer of them). But these were places we definitely wanted the boys to see, so we just decided to be well thought-out with where we'd go. Besides, when you compare this to the amount of time a typical American can allot for a vacation, this didn't seem like such a stretch.   

We left France after spending three days in Paris and two in the countryside. Euro Disney was not on our agenda. Instead, we opted for the real-life place that in part inspired Disneyland's Sleeping Beauty castle: the Neuschwanstein Castle, nestled amid the stunning landscape of southwest Bavaria. The traffic was extra light on Easter Sunday, so we got to the German border relatively quickly, but not after having to dish out over 60 euro (about $90) in tolls that covered only about 200 miles of roadway. Then I was forced to break my vow not to use any GPS on this trip, not because I wanted to, but because our rental car had it installed. This proved not to be such a bad thing since the roads around the Alps are tricky and one wrong turn could end you up in a different country. Furthermore, reading a map while trying to negotiate hairpin turns wasn't the best idea.    

After choosing one of several pleasant outdoor restaurants for lunch along the bustling shores of the Bodensee (Lake Constance), we got back in the car and followed our trusty new navigation assistant straight to the castle.  Arriving without any prearranged accommodations (which is inadvisable in the busy summer months), we discovered that the Akzent Hotel Muller right at the base of the castle had a family suite for the same price we'd pay for two modest B&B-type rooms found in town. Even though it's catered specifically for tourists, which is something we generally try to avoid, it was a treat to be within easy walking distance of the castle and not have to spend any time in the car the next day, so we booked it.

Nat Geo Music is currently airing their Earth Day Concert LIVE from the Piazza del Popolo in Rome. Ben Harper is playing now! Check it out here. After the show, tune in HERE for the online premiere of an all-new Geo Session featuring Ben Harper & Relentless7.

Every trip should have a soundtrack, so we've asked CJ Fahey with Nat Geo Music to select artists from their catalog whose songs will inspire you to get going.


If you happen to be in Italy this Wednesday, April 22nd, we've got plans for you: Thousands of people will convene on Rome's famous Piazza del Popolo for a free concert Nat Geo Music is hosting for Earth Day. The featured artist is Ben Harper & Relentless7, and we're also excited to present a band we just signed to the newly-created Nat Geo Music record label: Bibi Tanga & The Selenites. We're even keeping in theme with the day: to offset the carbon footprint of the concert, we'll be planting a thousand trees in a park in Rome as well as acres of trees in Costa Rica.
 
But this is the travel blog, so let me set the scene at Piazza del Popolo. The best way to appreciate the piazza is from above. At the piazza's east end you'll see a terraced path lined with trees that climbs to an overlook in the Villa Borghese gardens called Pincio. From there, Piazza del Popolo and all of Rome, most notably the dome of St. Peter's, spreads before you in a view that's like love at first sight.
 
I lived in Rome for three years and fell in love with the city many times, but most often from someplace high. Whether it's the view of the Garden of Oranges from the Aventine Hill or the front of the Fontana dell' Acqua Paola from the Janiculum Hill (which is actually not one of the original seven hills of Rome), everyone who's lucky enough to explore the views of Rome has a favorite. If you've been to the Eternal City, I'm curious to hear your favorite view, or any experience you had that made you fall in love.
 
Of course, this Wednesday's Earth Day concert will not be the time to catch the view from above the Piazza del Popolo. We hope the piazza is packed with people who love music, but also people who, like us, care about the planet and want to show their support for environmental awareness and action. But if you can't make it to Rome in time, watch the concert live online from 2-6p.m. EST at www.natgeomusic.net. Or at least go plant a tree!

[Nat Geo Music Earth Day Concert in Rome]

The earthquake that hit L'Aquila, Italy has inflicted devastating damage to multiple sites of the city's artistic history. L'Aquila, the medieval capital of the Abruzzo region just northeast of Rome, was at the epicenter of the 6.3 magnitude earthquake early Monday morning. The death toll has reached over 90, and Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has estimated 1,500 have been injured.

The full extent of the earthquake's damage has yet to be assessed, but Giuseppe Proietti, Secretary General of the Italian Culture Ministry commented to the news agency ANSA that the quake's toll has been "huge." Much of the city's treasured Romanesque, Gothic, and Renaissance architecture is now gone.

The city's largest Romanesque church, the Santa Maria di Collemaggio, cracked at the transept and part of the nave has collapsed. The 13th-century basilica was the coronation site of Pope Celestine V in 1294. Other collapsed structures are the cupola of the 17th-century Anime Sante church and the bell tower of San Bernardino da Siena. In addition, it has been reported that the Porta Napoli, built in 1548 to honor Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, is gone.

Concern has turned to the National Museum of Abruzzo. A reported collapse on the third floor of this 16th-century castle has prevented anyone from entering the building to evaluate damage to the museum's civic and religious works, which date back to the 17th and 18th centuries.

In addition to the deaths, tens of thousands have been left homeless. The National Italian American Foundation has set up a special Abruzzo relief fund to aid the victims of the earthquake. Although the Italian Red Cross has not yet asked for international assistance, the US International Response Fund will be taking donations.

--Giovanna Palatucci

We recently got a letter from reader Clay Shannon, of Oconomowoc, Wisconsin asking about the location of a photo in our Jan/Feb issue. But we'll let him ask in his own words:

There are two things I hate: 1) A photo of a beautiful, but undisclosed, location, and 2) A wet toilet seat.

When I see a striking photo, I want to know where it was taken. Case in point: page 12 of the Jan/Feb issue ("Smart Traveler"). I like to guess the location and then see if I'm right, but if the location is not attributed, how can I ever know? In this case, my guess is Nova Scotia.

Close Clay, but not quite. The photo was taken near Noli, Italy along the famous Via Aurelia (aka the Strada Statale 1) which was originally constructed in 291 A.D. Hopefully, we've solved the first of your problems.

If you have questions for, issues with, or feedback for Traveler magazine, please email us at Travel_Talk@ngs.org.

Costumed contessas catch up at Caffé Florian

Carnevale, Venice's ancient festival, suspension of social norms, and celebration of the gradual passage from winter to spring, kicks of this Friday, February 13, and runs through Tuesday, February 24th. This year's theme, Sensation: Six Senses for Six Districts, strives to showcase each of the lagoon city's unique neighborhoods with a variety of activities in each including food events, theater performances, and best mask contests for kids.

To get a handle on what Carnevale is all about, I've chatted with Traveler Senior Editor Sheila Buckmaster, who's been to Venice to revel in Carnevale six times, and is returning once again to celebrate. Sheila tells me Venice during Carnevale is her favorite travel experience. The atmosphere is elegant, not sleazy or raucous. Venice, a World Heritage site, serves as the perfect backdrop for the ornate costumes and masks.

And Sheila doesn't just visit Venice to see how everyone else is dressing, she participates in the festivities herself as ... Charlie Chaplin. She tells me she and Charlie share a birthday. She dons a black suit, white shirt, tie, cane, and iconic mustache and wanders the day away through Venice's narrow passageways and over its bridges.

As Charlie Chaplin was a silent film star, so too is Sheila silent during her peregrinations of Venice. She tells me people stop her and wonder aloud if Charlie's a man or a woman, Italian, German, British, French, or American. She uses pantomime and a handy notebook to communicate when need be. She admits to making the gondoliers chuckle as they glide by, she perched on a bridge, mimicking their rowing motions with her cane.

This week, Venice battled the highest floodwaters it's faced in more than two decades, and the fourth-highest levels in contemporary history. Our friends over at National Geographic have a gripping photo gallery of life continuing in Venice, despite swelling seas and Mayor Massimo Cacciari's request to tourists and residents to stay indoors.

Waters began to subside early Tuesday, after topping 61 inches the day before. But the coast is hardly clear for these Adriatic islands, as experts say global warming is to blame. While flooding is a regular occurrence in Venetian life (I went there two years ago and was surprised by the elevated walkways installed every afternoon at St. Mark's Square), the severity of such flooding is rapidly increasing.

Help may be on the way in the form of the controversial Moses project, a $5.4 billion plan that would involve retractable metal gates being installed on the seafloor, which is expected to be completed in 2014. Moses would be activated if flood levels rose more to more than 43 inches, which can happen multiple times a year in Venice. But environmental groups are pushing instead for carbon emission cuts as a solution, arguing that such a quick fix will do nothing to protect the famed floating city in the long-term future.

Photo via JoshNoland's Flicker

Over the next several weeks we'll be showcasing the best of the holiday season in cities around the world. Today we're taking you to Rome, and we've asked local experts for the essential ways to enjoy the winter's best. Christmas season in Italy is traditionally celebrated Dec. 24-Jan. 6, or Christmas Eve through the Epiphany. Visitors and locals alike come together to celebrate the holidays and the New Year, and we encourage you to share your own favorites with us as well.


Nicola Oddis, Chief Concierge
InterContinental De La Ville Roma

• Discover the Nativity in over 600 churches in Rome.

• Try Cafe della Pace for a peaceful setting with Christmas lights and decorations and newspapers in all languages.

• Shop along Via Condotti, the best known shopping street in the city.
  

• Walk through the Galleria Borghese, a 17th-century villa with beautiful frescoes set in the greenery of Villa Borghese Park.

• Do like Wagner and Goethe and have a cappucino at Antico Caffè Greco, Rome's the oldest cafe, which opened in 1760. 
  

Want a way to explore Rome that's part Harry Potter, part Da Vinci Code? Then check out the new scavenger hunt cum guidebook, called The Ruyi. The interactive game will have you wandering through the streets on a quest for answers to cryptic clues. Confused? Intrigued? the London Times has the details:

The book is part of The Ruyi, an ingenious game that aims to take you on a tour of the backstreets of select European cities while telling you a little of the history and the myths they contain. All you need is a map, a mobile phone and the book, which you buy online. In it there's a number--you send a text message to that number and receive your first instruction in return, telling you which of the 60 stories in the book you should read once you reach your first destination, followed by a question, which tells you where to go.

The point, it seems, is to give you an experience a bit more interactive than what you'll find in a typical guidebook.