Trompe l’oeil art in Italy: five favorite works
June 07, 2010Trompe l’oeil is a French phrase meaning to trick the eye, so artists have used this technique for centuries to create the illusion of space or depth. I love the fun trompe l’oeil “windows” on the buildings in the seaside town of Camogli,…
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Le Gattare: Caretakers of Italy’s stray cats
May 10, 2010If you’ve been to Rome, you may have noticed the stray cats hanging out in the Colosseum or the Forum. Maybe you even visited the cat sanctuary located in Largo di Torre Argentina (photo above), where cats have called home since…
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Vatican free Sundays: stay far, far away
February 15, 2010Most of the time, my clients take my advice. And one of my standing pieces of advice is to never visit the Vatican on free Sundays. But on one recent occasion, I was designing an itinerary for a…
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Rome off the beaten path: 5 things to see at St. Peter’s and the Vatican
November 16, 2009Nobody goes to Rome without visiting St. Peter’s and the Vatican right? It’s a big attraction that takes the better part of a day to see properly. But if you want to see Rome off the beaten path, take my…
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The Top 3 Ski Resorts Near Rome
October 26, 2009Um, wait – ski resorts near Rome? You knew you could ski in the Alps or the Dolomites. But yes, there are actually 26 ski resorts in the Appennine mountains not far from Rome, and they get plenty of snow…
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Rome’s Coppede’ district: Fairies, Frogs and Spiders
September 21, 2009If you’d like to get off the beaten path while in Rome, head to the Coppede district in Rome. Walk through the arched entrance (photo below) to the Coppedè district of Rome into a world of architectural whimsy. Named after…
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The World’s Most Famous Lie Detector
August 10, 2009Nestled in a church portico in the center of Rome, a tourist could easily walk by the Mouth of Truth, or Bocca della Verita’. You may recognize the face below from the 1953 film Roman Holiday, but if not, here are…
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What’s “The Obvious”?
August 05, 2008The name of this blog is “Italy: Beyond the Obvious“, because in my years of guiding, organizing, and coaching people on trips and travel to Italy, I’ve noticed there are a few things that pretty much nobody wants to miss,…
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