Gubbio, Umbria
September 15, 2008The Umbrian town of Gubbio is worth a visit and I suppose could be done in a daytrip from southern Tuscany. But personally I'd take 10 days in Umbria and hit Gubbio, Perugia, Assisi, Spoleto, Todi and Orvieto – more or less in…
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What to see in Lake Como
September 12, 2008My recommendations for what to see in Lake Como are written below as a daytrip from Milan, but it’s not possible to do all of this in one day. Take the short train ride from Milan to Como (check timetables at www.trenitalia.it) and…
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What to do on Lake Maggiore
September 10, 2008Usually when people refer to “The Italian Lakes”, they mean Lakes Maggiore, Como and Lugano. Sometimes they also mean Lake Garda but that is several hours to the east. The three most famous lake, along with many other small…
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Locanda Dell’Amorosa
September 08, 2008When I travel as a tourist, I usually choose a hotel that is purely functional: comfortable and quiet, so I can get a good night's sleep; and centrally located so I can maximize tourist time. This means that in Italy I…
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Villa del Casale in Piazza Armerina, Sicily
September 05, 2008Mosaics depicting bikini-clad girls exercising? A scantily clad couple very involved in each other? African animals and a boar hunt? A man holding a large bird? Where are the saints, angels and religious motifs? Answer: there aren’t any. If you’ve…
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Two Palladian Villas of the Veneto: Villa Rotunda and Villa Emo
September 04, 2008If you’re spending time in Verona, Lake Garda, or Padova, consider visiting two Palladian Villas of the Veneto region. The Villa Rotunda and the Villa Emo are examples of architecture by Andrea Palladio, widely considered to be the most influential…
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Fields of Sunflowers in Italy: where and when to find them
September 03, 2008If you’d like to plan an itinerary that includes fields of sunflowers in Italy, it’s important to know where and when to find them. We took the photo above just outside the Tuscan town of San Gimignano at the end…
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Hiking in the Dolomites
August 06, 2008I grew up hiking in Canada’s Rocky Mountains, and I must say that hiking in the Dolomites is at least as spectacular and more hiker-friendly: no bears! Dolomites lifts are open in the summertime The reason it’s so easy for…
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The Verona Opera Festival
August 05, 2008So many people beeline from Milan to Venice, but there is a spectacular event en route worth a stop. The Verona Opera Festival goes from the end of June to the end of August every year, and is held under…
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