Travel Globally » Italy

Pisa: inclination to travel

travel globally — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 11:57:14 +0000

The Leaning Tower of Pisa is omnipresent: from official posters of Italy to photo albums of travellers around the world who are captured (for eternity) trying to push the tower. Apart from its famous tower, Pisa has a lot of other attractions for you: historic churches and buildings or lovely bridges across the Arno River. The Leaning Tower is a bell tower which originally was built vertically but soon after its construction it began to lean due to a poor foundation and substrate. The tower served as a place where Galilei was experimenting his theories to demonstrate that speed is independent of the mass of objects and then during the WW2 the tower was used by the Germans as an observation post.

Remember to add to your Tuscan travel itinerary also Piazza del Duomo (or Piazza dei Miracoli – “Square of Miracles”), the Knight’s Square where you can admire vasari designed Palazzo della Carovana. Culture vultures should see the church Santo Stefano dei Cavalieri which houses works of arts signed by Vasari, Donatello or Ligozzi.

The church of St. Francis has works by Empoli or Gaddi. To admire some gothic architecture visit the church of Santa maria della Spina. Science fans should visit the Palazzo Reale where Galileo Galilei showed the Duke of Tuscany the planets he had discovered.

After such a tour end your day with a nice dinner in a fine Italian restaurant or an osteria.

Don’t miss out Venice

travel globally — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 20:43:20 +0000

Venice (Italy) is a must-see and everyone should have a chance to enjoy the beautiful Venice at least once in their lifetime. Their waterways here are just amazing and unique and there are lots of great attractions here that should be checked out on your every trip such as the Rialto Bridge which is a landmark in Venice that is strongly recommended to all tourists to see. The Basilica di San Marco is another well-known tourist attraction of Venice.

Though there are several major tourist attractions in Venice that are very popular, there are many lesser known attractions that you should not miss as well. Don’t just pop to one spot and pop on another without looking around and check out other areas around Venice so you won’t miss out on those little things that make Venice what it is.

You should explore these less popular attractions at your own time and you don’t even need to have a list of things to do. Just walk around and enjoy. But, if you want to have a list of not so popular attractions then you can first go to the Murano Island where you will find several stores that sell different types of glassware. Also, there is this museum where Pietro Longhi’s paintings are displayed and it’s the Museo della Fondazione Querini Stampalia.

Explore Venice without missing out on every inch of the place. There’s so much to see and do in this romantic city that you wouldn’t even have imagined.

Sunny Sicily and Palermo

Sunny Sicily and Palermo

travel globally — Tue, 19 May 2009 17:12:50 +0000

Sicily is an island tucked away in the southern part of Italy and its capital – Palermo – features remarkable historic sites as well as beautiful beaches. It’s one of best places in Italy for a vacation.

Getting to Palermo is no problem. The international airport receives daily flights from different airlines from major cities in Europe. From the airport, you can take a shuttle bus that departs every half hour that will take you to the city center. From that point on, you could walk or rent a bike as the city is relatively small. Cars are not recommended because of the small roads.

There are two reasons why you should visit Palermo – the churches and the beach. The beautiful Cathedral is undoubtedly their most prized structure. The architecture inside and out is simply astounding. The Catacombe dei Cappuccini is also an interesting place to visit as it features mummified skeletons. Although scary for some, it offers a remarkable look at the traditional mummification process.

A little bit outside the city but still part of Palermo is Monreale. This is probably one of the best scenic places in Italy as it offers a view of central Palermo as well as the coastline. They also have a cathedral with very interesting mosaic that tells of the history of the church and Palermo.

The beach in Palermo is found in their suburb in Modello. The golden sanded beach offers a relaxing view of the sea. On the shore, you’ll find a good number of hotels and clubs. Modello is regarded as the center for nightlife in Palermo because of these clubs.

With a lively beach as well as historic structures, it’s not hard to understand why tourists frequently visit Sicily and stay in Palermo.

The palatal attractions of Naples

travel globally — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 16:48:21 +0000

Do you ever wonder where pizza was actually invented? Yes, it was in Italy but do you know which part of Italy was pizza first created? It was in Naples. Their restaurants here still continue to serve the finest Italian pizza and other cuisines but of course that’s not the only reason why people travel to Naples.

Naples is the 3rd largest city of Italy and it’s naturally abundant. Aside from its natural resources and beauty, you will also find some Baroque and Renaissance churches along its crumbling blocks.

If you want to explore the Pompeii, Amalfi Coast as well as Herculaneum, then Naples is the destination you have in mind. Tourists come here to visit the preserved Pompeii and the well-preserved Herculaneum that was destroyed completely by Mount Vesuvius eruption.

When you go to Naples, you would have lots of sightseeing places to go to so make sure you come prepared. You will surely have long days here as you have lots of places to visit. There are archeological sights and expeditions along Vesuvius. Make sure you come here around autumn or spring. Summer can be really hot in Naples and it’s not the time to travel.

In Naples you can find the weirdest collection of items as well as the cheapest and most expensive ones. The markets here can get noisy but that’s because of the many buyers and vendors willing to make bargains with each other.

Italian waterways to be restored to their former glory

travel globally — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 16:50:51 +0000

Italy is to spend a billion euros to restore its traditional waterways. This was caused by the surge of interest in the traditional waterways in Milan. As some of Milan’s canals are restored, interest in these waterways increased considerably that the price of the properties within the area increased. On the side of tourism, more and more tourists are clamouring for more waterways as they know that the country used to have a vast and highly efficient canal system. Unfortunately, the canals was slowly discarded during the 30s. Faster and more efficient means of transportation were introduced during that time. Dams and irrigations were even introduced in some canals which have prevented boats from passing through.

The project will be under the care of Navigli Lombardi Company. When the project of cleaning up of the canals is finished, it is expected that boats will be able to travel for more than 500 kilometers on these canals. The waterways will practically link Milan and Switzerland. For the dams and irrigations, controlled locks will be installed to enable the tourist boats to pass through.

The canals in Italy were first built during the 12th century. These were designed and built by monks. However, the canals were vastly improved, particularly in Milan by the famed artist Leonardo Da Vinci. Through his design, the canal in Milan was able to end up in the sea. In the past some of the routes of the canal was used to transport marbles for churches wherein the boats were pulled by horses.