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Italy |
Useful ideas
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Other opinions
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It's big country, as interesting as expensive. So, most of my visits were brief, until the holidays of 2004, when I took the family to Rome and Vatican, and drove to Sorrento via Naples, from where we visited Capri, Pompeii and the Amalfitan coast.
Back to Rome, we took the ferry at Civitavecchia to Olbia, and spent a week in Sardegna. My first visit to Italy was in 1979, restricted to the Italian Riviera, Milan and the northern lakes. A long weekend took us later to Vicenza and Venice. |
Work took me several times to Rome and Roccantica, but also Florence, Venice, Lake of Garda, and Bolzano.
Dancing took me to the east coast, and, skipping Venice, where I had been three times, we wento to Lignano Sabbiadoro, visiting Udine, Trieste, Grado and... Slovenia (two great weeks).
So, Italy is a country still to be seen, but the world is so big, and time and money so small, that scheduling next visit is not at short sight.
Dancing took me to the east coast, and, skipping Venice, where I had been three times, we wento to Lignano Sabbiadoro, visiting Udine, Trieste, Grado and... Slovenia (two great weeks).
So, Italy is a country still to be seen, but the world is so big, and time and money so small, that scheduling next visit is not at short sight.
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If sunbathing is your purpose, than you have hundreds of better beaches, even in Italy, but, if you want to spend some time in a heavenly and lively place (and can afford it), than this is really for you. Narrow beaches in the slopes plunging in the sea, provide maybe the best natural views of Italy. It's impossible to make bad phots in this coast. The landscape is gorgeous, the sun shines all the time, so this is the right place to win the pleasure of taking photos |
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Amalfitan Coast Capital of "beach tourism" in Italy, this is, really, a very beautiful region. The beaches are small, but the views are great. And also the prices, and that's the problem. Amalfi and its coast are, really, a selected place to selected people. |
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The Church
Dating from the XIX century but several times reconstructed and adapted, the cathedral of St. Andre shows an oriental look, with evidence to the Paradise Cloister built in the XIII century. The kids followed me in, but, to be honest, Fernanda preferred to walk along the streets Genoa and Capuano, because they… you know, so we had to rush. A curious question: People visiting Amalfi do really care about churches? Address: Via Duca Mansone I, |
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Reality vs Imagination
When I decided to travel along the Amalfitan coast, I was expecting to see some of the most beautiful beaches of Italy. Well, "beaches" is not the exact word to describe what I saw. There are a few small banks of sand stretched in the hills, but calling them beaches is... a favor. It's possible to swim, the water seems very calm (I don't imagine the temperature) and the sights are... awesome. If you take your yacht, that's a fabulous destination. I "forgot" mine, and by the road, I only caught a good collection of good views. |
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Just passing by, I decided to stop and have a look. Good idea - the remains are not too much nor very well recovered, but the cathedral is a real "must see". |
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"Santa Maria Assunta" church
This church, dating from the 11th century (with a reconstruction in the 13th), is located in place of an older one from the beginning of Christianism. Though following a Romanesque-Gothic style, all the floor shows a very well preserved mosaic from the 14th century, that, with its 760 m2 is the largest Paleo-christian mosaic in Europe. Address: Piazza Capitolo, 1, Aquileia UD Website: http://www.basilicadiaquileia.it/ |
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Roman tiles
Located inside "Santa Maria Assunta" cathedral, we may see a very large and well preserved mosaic from the 4th century. Covering all the floor, we may go around it and see in detail in a wooden structure conceived to show as much as possible without stepping in it. The wooden ceiling dates from the 16th century, and the wall are covered with frescoes from several periods. The entrance is free... at least it was when I visited it. Address: Piazza Capitolo, 1, Aquileia UD Website: http://www.basilicadiaquileia.it/ |
Forum The wolf of Capitolio
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Excavations are still going on in the area occupied by the forum and some residences. The unhearted elements are not enough to provide a clear idea of the original place. For me, of course, because reading it's easy to find a detailed description of its size and characteristics!
Address: via Giulia Augusta, 33051 The legend of the creation of Rome by Romulus and Remus fed by a she-wolf is illustrated by the church, atop a column. The statue is a copy of the "official" image, and if I read well, it was erected in 1919 |
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Old houses and oratory A small area by the road, seems to have been a residential quarter. It needs much more reconstruction to give a clear idea of the ensemble. Address: Via Giulia Augusta, 33051 Aquileia UD Website: http://beniculturali.it |
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Mausoleum Candia
Isolated from the other remains this monument is a recent reconstruction (Dec 2010) of a mausoleum from the 1st Century. One simple question: Being a reconstruction, why didn't they "reconstruct" the statue's head? No one knew the man's face? Maybe... Address: 55 via Giulia Augusta, 33051 Aquileia UD But mainly... Santa Maria Assunta, remember... 
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Bozen First the strange sensation of nothing looking like Italian, more like Germany or Switzerland. Then our local friend's explanation of the odd political history of town, and its German roots. Interesting and pleasant place. |
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Assumption of Our Lady This cathedral is the most remarkable monument in Bolzano, combining Romanesque and Gothic styles. Started in the 12Th century the Gothic look was given in the 14th, using reddish and yellow sandstone. Doors, altars, pulpit, frescoes and the architecture itself are reasons to visit with time. |
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Alto Adige
Bolzano is located in the Dolomites, with easy access to the most beautiful places of Alto Adige. The vines with the mountains in the background compose excellent landscapes, here and there enriched by man's addictions. I was there in a professional visit, but what I saw made me wish to go back, with a "tourist eye". I will! |
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Wine Route in South Tirol
Gourmets have an express attraction around Bolzano - the wine route. The vineyards are visible from the highway, but this kind of tourism means... time, exactly what we missed, but, at least, we had time to taste a wine! Website: http://www.weinstrasse.com/en/ |
Capri
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One of the highlights of Italy, the bay of Naples, has Capri as its central attraction. Frequent boats from Sorrento and other harbours allow a visit that may be accomplished in just one day, as we did. Beware of touts and the promotion of the blue cave - only in some days, at some hours, you'll be able to enter. |
The crime
Yes, I confess. It's a crime rushing in such a monumental place, and I did it. But the time was limited, and I promise to return with the time that the town demands.
Yes, I confess. It's a crime rushing in such a monumental place, and I did it. But the time was limited, and I promise to return with the time that the town demands.
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The art
My god! Are they real or reproductions? All that historical art in an open space? Let’s go back with time. we only had time to see one side of Arno River, but we didn't miss Ponte Vecchio, and its sights over the River. 
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Looking around What else could we do in a so short visit to such a splendorous town? Just to run, looking around, and confirming that Florence is a 5 days destination, not a "5 minutes" one, as we had. Address: Throughout the city |
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A quick look
Some seconds of the five minutes we had in Florence were used by Diego, our Italian friend, to explain to us some details of the exterior of the "duomo" and its doors. Interesting, but so quick, that I didn't keep those details. I will go back, one day, I'll explain it then. Promise! Address: Piazza del Duomo Website: http://www.ilgrandemuseodelduomo.it/#cattedrale |
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Ponte Vecchio
Our 5th minute was used to cross Ponte Vecchio. As a matter of fact the more that we saw was... heads. It was not high season, but... It's decided, next visit must be in winter. However, we could see what made it famous - the long line of shops, along its three arches, since 1345. So much time that (it seems), even Hitler refused to destroy it. Website: http://www.visitflorence.com/florence-monuments/ponte-vecchio.html |
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I was in the neighbourhood, spending a week in Lignano Sabbiadoro, and this visit was... mandatory. It was a quick visit, but we used well our short time. |
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Santa Maria della Grazia This interesting church is one of the oldest christian churches in Italy, built part of it in the 5th century and the other in the 6th. The architect who recovered it in 1924 tried to respect both works, showing a church with two different levels. To the right a lower corridor filled with mosaics, remains from the first church, while the main construction comes from the second one. |
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Sainte Euphemia Located in the historic centre, the "Campo dei Patriarchi", this is Grado's main monument. A byzantine church, used as cathedral until the 15th century, it has interesting mosaics, frescoes and silver paintings. |
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S Marco marina Standing at the mouth of a large lagoon, its is not a surprise the big and safe marina that unfolds close to the centre of town. Easy access, easy parking, easy supplying, but the shallow water in the lagoon only allows boats until 20 meters.(I can't take mine there!) |
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Beach
Grado is mainly a beach, however, staying in Lignano Sabbiadoro, we didn't go there to use the beach, but only to... have a look. It is a wide and calm beach, too calm for us, in mid September, announcing the arrival of low season. Nothing to criticise, but it is not exactly the kind of beach able to invite us to leave Portugal |
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Laguna
The big laguna is a world for itself. We stayed at the other end of its mouth, at Lignano Sabbiadoro, and needed to drive almost 80 km to reach Grado. There are boat trips in the laguna from both sides, but we found no regular boat linking both ends. Strange! I understand that being in Lignano the visit ot Grado is appealing, but the opposite doesn't work, since Lignano is only a beach, without anything to add to Grado. There is a taxi service to three islands, expensive charter boats, so, exploring the laguna is not easy nor cheap. |
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Barbana
In my way to and from Grado, my attention was caught by a distant dome. I had to check what it is. Well, it is a interesting (it seems) "modern" church, built in the 18th century in Romanesque style, to replace an older one, built in the 5th century, and isolated in a island by the growth of the lagoon, since the 11th century.Unless you have you own boat, the only way to visit is to take a ferry in Grado, for a 20 minutes trip. We didn't! |
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I went to Lazise by accident. On my way from Bolzano to Venice, with time, we decided to have a glimpse of Garda Lake, that I knew from readings it was beautiful. The access point was Lazise, and... Wonderful. One day, again with time... more time... and I will have a deeper look. |
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Garda Lake
Peace and quietude. Too repaired and clean to Italy, well preserved, I'm sure that locals do love their home town. And I did too. |
The Cathedral
The roofs
Victor Emmanuel Galery
Sforza Palace
The stadium
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It was not in my plans, but, in the way from Udine I stopped there. It is interesting, with its hexagonal plan inside the walls. |
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The city plan
It's very original and simple, the conception of the city - a large hexagonal square, with six streets starting from it, three of them to the city's doors the other three to the ramparts, connected with concentric streets forming successive hexagons. It's impossible to beat Google Earth, in a photo revealing this structure, but... we have Google Earth, and, being there, we may add some details. |
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The walls
In 1500, preventing Saracen raids, the Venetians sent Leonardo da Vinci to Friuli to study the defence system on the river Isonzo and at Gradisca. The fortified town of Palmanova, built in 1593, is one of the more important and better preserved examples of late Renaissance military architecture. Since then Palma was ruled by the Venetian until being conquered by Napoleon. |
After Napoleon's fall Palmanova was disputed by the Habsburg empire and the Austrian, until its final return to Italy in 1866. The defense system consists in three walls built along the centuries to answer to the successive menaces as the weapons were being improved:By the end of the XVI century, the use of artillery demanding wide, low and strong ramparts justified a first defense circle, surrounded by a moat, with nine arrow-shaped ramparts linked by nine straight walls.
In the 17th century another 9 ramparts were added outside of the moat.
Finally, in 1806, Napoleon ordered the third defense circle, far from the city, to keep artillery as far as possible. It is without surprise that I found that it is UNESCO heritage. Of course!
In the 17th century another 9 ramparts were added outside of the moat.
Finally, in 1806, Napoleon ordered the third defense circle, far from the city, to keep artillery as far as possible. It is without surprise that I found that it is UNESCO heritage. Of course!
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The cathedral Facing the hexagonal large central square, the Cathedral was begun in the beginning of the 17th century and finished in the middle of it. It is a wide space, without any columns, which means that it is easy to see at a single glance the three chapels of the choir, the four side altars, the organ with the chancel and the suspended pulpit. |
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Of course!
With the strong advertising in Lignano Sabbiadoro, and in all the ways around it... With the need to pass there to visit Udine... Could I ever escape this mall? Impossible! We went there, and felt like in Portugal since in Carregado, near Lisbon, there's an outlet named Campera that seems made by the same architect. Or, maybe, the outlets start seeming all alike to me! |
Fortunately we didn't waste much time there - Fernanda is not too interested in outlets, the visit was only a kind of obligation - and, after a fast sausage in a fast restaurant, and a fast general look of the shops' entrance (90 they say!), we had a fast retreat.
My revenge - The visit of the city. I won, this time
Website: http://www.palmanovaoutlet.it/
My revenge - The visit of the city. I won, this time
Website: http://www.palmanovaoutlet.it/
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Porvedore
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We were fully prepared to what we were going to see, as anybody who loves history or reads about his destinations will be. However, seeing for ourselves is something no text or film can replace. And it occurred me one doubt: should they recover the beauty of the town, to show us the quality of Roman architecture and town planning, or leave it dusty and burnt to remember the tragedy? |
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Apollo Temple Yes, Horácio, I also read in our guide that this was Apollo's temple, and yes, I know that the sundial atop that Ionic column still works, but... do you mind stepping out of the picture? Website: http://www.pompeiisites.org/Sezione.jsp |
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Auditorium
I was somewhat disappointed with the visit of the great theatre: All Pompeii references mention the good condition of the remains found during the site's recuperation. Having seen many Roman and Greek theatres, I was expecting something closer to its original. It is not. Original damaging, pieces collecting for museums, time erosion and vandalism, led it to a ruin like many other. OK, it's interesting, but not what I expected. |
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Easy crossing There are lots of interesting details to see in Pompeii: One of them is the ingenious solution used to cross the roads, in rainy days. Looking at the sizes of those rocks, we have to ask: Did the Italian drivers change their behavior later, or crashes happened at all times in those roads? |
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The bodies
One of the most impressive sights were the petrified bodies in exhibiting. Reading the guide, Horacio claimed that they were original. It would be too much violent so I told him they were scaled reproductions. He didn't insist and I relaxed. But not very sure. True or imitation, the figures hit the goal - to remember the human dimension of the drama. Address: Via Villa dei Misteri, 2, Pompei, Naples, Italy Directions: Several locations throughout Pompeii Website: http://www.rome.net/pompeii |
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The site
An UE partnership drove us to Roccantica, a small town not far from Rome. Standing atop of the hill, it seems stopped in time. I think that life must be difficult there, but they do struggle, and believe in tourism. The landscape and the preservation of town will surely help |
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Roccantica
Ninety per cent of the tourist share an image of each visited country, that only in a small part coincides with reality. To know the real country and people, you have to step outside of the common circuits, and... get lost (I love to loose myself when travelling with time, to Fernanda's despair). Not far from Rome, Roccantica is small town perched in a hill, with a magnificent look, and you will not being wasting your time, if you make a brief stop. I was not lost! I went there expressly and twice. |
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The town
I must confess that if it wasn't working needs, I would never visit Roccantica, nor even knowing it existence. But, since I was there, I had a look. It is something nice, out of the beaten paths and roads, deserving a detour. The village has only six hundred and some inhabitants, and its site is beautifully preserved. They bet in tourism and are proud of their medieval festival, that I never saw, but, with the friendships we made, maybe I will, one day. I saw the hundreds of traditional costumes to use in the festival, and heard that they are already more than the whole population. So… Go there, and volunteer. |
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San Valentino Church Located in the main square, this church from the 12th century was transformed in a war memorial, with a big Romanesque tower. We couldn't enter it. |
Rome
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I've been in Rome for several times, and I keep thinking that no visit to Italy is completed without several days in Rome. It deserves its own and large page, that will take time to build. However... it is growing. |
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I must confess that I came somewhat disappointed from Sardegna. Good weather, many (good) beaches, beautiful landscape, but... I missed something - life, history, shopping, are topics where I expected something better. Anyway, I can't blame anyone for my insufficient information, and it was a very good week in the beach, the main objective. |
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At the southernmost end of Naples bay, Sorrento closes one of the biggest natural beauties of Italy. The beaches... well, we can't have everything. But the sights... |
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Drive around Driving around Sorrento is a nice experience. One of two reasonable beaches, are not reason enough to take you out of the road, however, you must stop here, there and everywhere, because, any place you stop, you risk to have awesome sights. So, keep on driving and stopping! |
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Beaches The coast is really beautiful, but if you are thinking about beaches... you'd better search somewhere else. There are a few spots, with some centimeters of sand, you'll see people diving from the rocks or the piers, but conventional beaches is something to forget here. |
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The coast
No! Those who know the meaning of beach should spare the word in Sorrento. Of course there is sea, sand, and sun, but for that, you have thousands of better places. The strong point of Sorrento is the glamour, the life, the ambiance... |
Udine
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I never planned to visit Udine, and, even being not far (in Lignano Sabbiadoro) I was not expecting to go there, until the day when a few Portuguese friends suggested it as na alternative to beach in a rainy day.
We went there, and the visit was rather interesting. A good surprise. |
Trieste
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Trieste was a quick but interesting stop in my trip returning from Slovenia to Lignano Sabbiadoro. The marks of the political changes in the area are well noticed in the city. |
Venice
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I've been in Venice four times, and I hope I will keep on going. Everybody knows the wonder of the city, but there is always something new that we didn't notice in our previous visits. So many tips to keep posting in my Venice page... You're invited! |