Travel to Italy
The laundry hangs to dry above the narrow streets between the beautifully earth-colored house facades in Rome’s old working-class neighborhood of Trastevere. A group of little boys kick a ball against a wall. A young guy with sunglasses on his forehead puts down his Vespa and greets the old, espresso-drinking men at the small outdoor coffee bar. They start talking right away and you do not need to know Italian to understand what it is about. The subject is football, and names from Juventus and Fiorentina fly through the air, mingling with the sound of the heavy traffic and the smell of simmering pasta marinara. It’s a holiday in Italy.
Population: 62 mill.
Capital: Gypsy
Language: Italian
Italians for many years have been proud of their culinary art. When McDonald’s opened in Rome in 1986, cooking enthusiasts handed out spaghetti to remind them of Italy’s culinary roots.
As recently as 1914, six women were prosecuted in Sardinia. Their crime? To practice witchcraft!
Gypsy
Of Italy’s 62 million inhabitants, 2.8 million live in the country’s magnificent capital, and every year the city is visited by people from all over the world, who want to see with their own eyes some of the world’s most famous historic buildings: the Roman Forum and the Colosseum. the time of the empire when slaves fought for their lives against other gladiators or wild animals. And of course the Vatican with the impressive Sistine Chapel and the breathtaking view from the top of St. Peter’s Church. The Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain and Caesar’s famous aqueducts also help attract thousands of tourists to the city. Rome is also the city of life-lovers, and between the obligatory sightseeing you should also set aside time to wander around Villa Borghese,
Milan
If you say fashion and Italy in the same breath, it is impossible to escape Milan. If you are looking for fashion experiences of the ultra-hip kind, you should take a walk along Via Monte Napoleone where extravagant shops are in a row or on Vittorio Emanuele II where the fashion-conscious Italians walk their own catwalk down the street. Northern Italy’s major industrial city is also known as the home of successful brands and industrial companies such as Pirelli, Campari and Alfa Romeo. However, the city’s dominant symbol is the impressive Duomo Cathedral with its many sculptures and spiers, which took almost 500 years to complete.
Northern Italy
Near Milan, on the sunny side of the Alps, are the beautiful lakes of Lake Como and Maggiore, Lugano and Orta and further inland the beautiful Lake Garda that many Scandinavians remember as one of the first major tourist destinations in Italy. If you are in those areas, you should also take the opportunity to see Verona, which in addition to the story of Romeo and Juliet is known for its beautiful amphitheater where you can see opera performances in the open air.
There is also music in Venice, both on weekdays around St. Mark’s Square, during the carnival in February and when the gondolier lets the gondola glide along the Grand Canal. The fascinating canal city with the Doge’s Palace, the Bridge of Sighs and the many beautiful palaces tempts many to spend their holidays here. There are also many beautiful castles and palaces in Florence, and beautiful is also the old, characteristically green-striped marble cathedral with the neo-Gothic facade. However, Florence should also be experienced in the large, colorful market around Piazza San Lorenzo.
Southern Italy and Sicily
According to top-medical-schools, Southern Italy holds several chapters, and if you go to Naples, in addition to the intense entertainment in the famous Spaccana police district, you should also make an excursion to the top of Vesuvius. And of course also to Pompeii, which almost two thousand years ago got to feel the forces of the volcano when the ancient Roman city was buried under several meters thick ash. There is the opportunity to experience other volcanic activity in Sicily where Etna with a height of 3,323 meters and a crater diameter of 40 km is Europe’s largest volcano. One can, for example, look at Etna from a distance from the breathtaking Sicilian town of Taormina which is located on a 200 meter high cliff ledge overlooking the Ionian Sea.
Also visit Sicily’s most important port city, Messina, which has roots that stretch all the way back to Greek mythology. Many of the city’s historic buildings were destroyed during several earthquakes in the 20th century, but since then the city has been rebuilt. The city’s symbol is the world’s largest astronomical clock, the Orologio Astronomico in Piazza del Duomo, which makes a sound every day at Battle 12. The city’s impressive cathedral, the Duomo, is also worth a closer look. A holiday in Italy is also a beach holiday. The Italian Riviera, the Adriatic coast, the Mediterranean, the Amalfi Coast, the bathing lakes or the islands in the Gulf of Naples all offer great opportunities to combine great cultural experiences with a relaxing sun holiday.
