The breathtaking view of Catania

Last week’s eruption of Mount Etna, in addition to grounding flights at Catania’s Fontanarossa Airport, was another reminder that, square mile for square mile, Italy packs in a heck of lot more variety than most other places. We’re not only talking about “secret” regions, like the misty Langhe, or Apulia and the Cilento, although those certainly factor into the geographical diversity equation. But rather, we refer to those myriad magical moments you can experience in Italy that will leave a lasting and distinctly Italian vacation imprint.

Consider the following scenarios, which are rich in unexpected Mamma Mia!  moments.

Tilting towers in Pisa and Bologna.

The Leaning tower of Pisa

Pisa’s famous white marble tower measures 185 feet tall. Imagine you are traveling with a loved one and you want to prove how much you care: just march him or her straight up to the top and let the swooning begin! You’ll be helped by gravity, because at the top, this medieval masterpiece, designed deliciously (it looks like a stretch wedding cake) by anonymous, leans some 17 feet off the vertical. Mamma mia!

On the subject of Italian architectural marvels, also consider Bologna – It has two leaning towers of its own, not nearly as famous as Pisa’s, but one of which you can still climb. Also in Bologna there are nearly 50 miles of pretty colonnaded arcades, the perfect place to stroll and woo, or conversely, to lose your in-laws if you happen to have them in tow.

Movie magic in Sicily.

Ah, la famiglia. Could there be any of Italy’s 20 regions more richly synonymous with all things familiar, and we do mean all things, than Sicily? The Mediterranean’s largest island is also its most magical – just ask the Greeks, or rather the ancient ones, who settled it long before the Italians did. For nature on a cinematic scale, there’s moody Mount Etna, which looms above Catania, and which can also easily be seen from the traditional Sicilian resort town of Taormina – the view of the volcano from Taormina’s cliffside Greek amphitheater is one of the most visually arresting in the world.

Bar Vitelli

Now, it’s also true that The Godfather etched Sicily into the American consciousness for a whole generation of movie-goers. So imagine, you’re staying in the island, perhaps at a fine hotel in Taormina, and decide to go exploring. You won’t be far at all from scenic hilltop villages like Savoca, home of the Bar Vitelli which figured in, and was made famous by, Al Pacino in the movie. It’s as easy as spumoni to pull up to the bar and have a feisty coffee or crisp lemon granita stuffed into soft brioche, and enjoy the view…mamma mia, you can’t do that in New Jersey.

Seafood surprises in Venice.

The delicious seasfood in Venice

While we can’t take issue with Japan being synonymous with sushi, sea-surrounded Venice is also synonymous with great seafood – a fact which is often obscured by the city’s litany of architectural and artistic treasures. But chances are you’re going to be wandering around Venice on any given day, soaking up the Venetian atmosphere which is so special, and then, mamma mia! Something will stop you in your tracks and no, it’s not another canal. It’s the vision of many tempting cicchetti, little appetizers served in the osterie of Venice. As simple as olives and mini sandwiches, and as sophisticated as crispy deep-fried sardines with white polenta, paired with an ombra, or glass of white wine from the Veneto.

You might even get inspired to learn how to cook up tasty cicchetti of your own.

High-design wineries in Tuscany

Rocca di Frasinello Archi Wine event

So you thought that Tuscany was all gorgeous countryside and idyllic hilltop villas? Well, that is correct, mostly, but this is Italy, after all, a country where nature may have made the most winning design of all, but where Italians are always doing their part to make a strong showing for runner-up (Ferrari, anyone?). Case in point, Tuscany’s “archi-wineries.” These are cutting edge wineries that have turned secret pockets of Tuscany into spectacular settings for wine and design lovers alike. For example Renzo Piano’s stellar cellar for the Rocca di Frassinello winery in the Maremma, south of Siena, features a spire above a glass pavilion studded with three round mirrors that beam the Tuscan sun down to a realm of 2,500 barrels below.

Some of these places are private, however. So before you can go Mamma Mia!, you might want to consider a luxury day trip curated and coordinated by Select Italy. It will include transportation as well as wine tastings and a gourmet lunch. Yum!

Have you had a (non-ABBA) Mamma Mia Moment of your own in Italy recently? Tell us about it!

Book in Advance and Skip the Line...

If you are planning to spend any time at all in Florence during your vacation in Italy, you can’t leave town without taking the time to visit the world famous Uffizi Gallery. Here you will find a collection that includes many of the treasures once owned by the Medici family, but if you want to see all of these treasures, you will need to book your Uffizi tickets in advance.

Buying Your Uffizi Tickets Ahead of Time Will Save You Time

If you have never been to Florence, you are going to find that there is always a long line of people outside of the gallery waiting to buy Uffizi tickets so that they can get in the doors. If you reserve your tickets ahead of time, you can avoid the long lines and simply claim your ticket at the entrance to the museum and be on your merry way.

Maja and the Fontana di Trevi

Let’s meet Maja:

1. Name and What do you do at Select Italy?

Maja Gudelj, Production Department Assistant.

2. What’s your favorite Italian destination?

Rome – for some reason, no matter how many times I go, I still keep on going back.

3. Whom would you go there with?

Friends.

4. Which 3 things should never be missing in one’s luggage when traveling to Italy?

Well, I know I do not need to bring a watch, since time is a descriptive parameter that nobody in Italy takes seriously; other than that a dictionary with some common expressions might be useful, power adapter, and your passport!

5. What Italian food are you addicted to?

Pizza and pasta :)

6. Reveal us a secret about Italy! Food, shop, unique view, restaurant, your favorite T4T…Whatever, we are really curious!

I think a tour of Rome in Vespa is an amazing way to explore the city and I can’t wait to be back to try it myself!

Do you want to ask something directly to Maja? Leave a comment below and she will reply!

Read all the other experts advises and travel tips.

If there is one way to see large sections of Italy in comfort, it has to be by train. You will find that there are a number of both high speed and inter-city trains that crisscross the country on a very frequent basis. The train is one of the most convenient and stress free forms of transportation in Italy and we can help you book your Italy train tickets in advance so that you have them when you arrive in Italy.

Let Us Book Your Italy Train Tickets for You

We are here to help you book all of the Italy train tickets you are going to need while you are on your vacation. We can even help you with seat reservations to make sure that you never have to worry that a particular train you need to ride on is going to be full and not have room for you. We offer the most comprehensive service and competitive ticket prices available.

]]> http://blog.selectitaly.com/how-to/we-can-help-you-with-italy-train-tickets-and-reservations/feed/ 0 http://blog.selectitaly.com/off-the-beaten-path/what%e2%80%99s-in-a-name-origins-of-italian-neighborhoods/ http://blog.selectitaly.com/off-the-beaten-path/what%e2%80%99s-in-a-name-origins-of-italian-neighborhoods/#comments Mon, 20 Feb 2012 08:31:26 +0000 Alison http://blog.selectitaly.com/?p=1554 Before sharing… Read the rest

Contrade of Siena

Before sharing my favorite neighborhoods, here are a few Italian words worth learning:

• Quartieri – Most generic word for “neighborhood;” derived from the division of all Italian cities into quarters.
• Terzieri – Primarily refers to towns divided into thirds; primarily used in the region of Umbria but also in a handful of neighboring regions’ towns.
• Sestieri – Chiefly used  to reference Venice’s  6 neighborhoods + close islands like Giudecca and the Lido.
• Contrade – Only used in Siena (for its 17 districts).
• Rioni – Generally refers to Rome’s 22 districts.

Note 1: these are all given in the plural as they are frequently used in that context

Note 2: these words historically referred to administrative divisions. Now they are used to identify the city and town limits.

Now, that you have mastered these terms, let’s talk names. The name of a neighborhood references more than its location, but also contains the vital cultural information of a area. It can also describe who has held significant power and for how long. Many zones took the name of the largest church (or biggest power source) within their borders. Others took their name from a dominant Medieval artisans’ guild or an Ancient Roman public square. In the event that a city was divided into administrative zones, it could simply have been named for its assigned number. In any case, the name can disclose a historically significant person, place, or event.

Tevere river

The two neighborhood names I love most are Trastevere in Rome and Oltrarno in Florence as they correlate perfectly. Having lived in both cities, specifically in the neighborhood of the Oltrarno (subdivision of San Frediano), I know and love the names and culture of both these areas. The names breakdown as follows:

• Trastevere – From the latin “Trans” meaning across and Tevere (Italian for Tiber River)
• Otrarno - Oltre (Italian for beyond) and Arno (Florence’s river)

Neither name speaks to the activities in these areas: Oltrarno houses a working-class, artisan population that has maintained its crafts for centuries on non-descript (intentionally so) streets that hide a colorful people; Trastevere contains winding narrow Medieval streets in which to lose oneself or discover a boisterous corner of the world in which to drink a glass of local wine. I associate both districts with lovely evenings spent among a healthy mix of Italians, tourists, and ex-pats from all over the world. These places are all the more memorable to me for the historic references of their names.

Arno river

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We Can Help You Get Your Vatican Tickets

If you do not want to waste hours of your day standing in line waiting for Vatican tickets, there are two ways to avoid this. You can get up at the crack of dawn and attempt to be one of the first people in line or you can do it the smart way and let us arrange for your tickets ahead of time. This way you can stay in bed longer, enjoy your continental breakfast and then go straight in when you are ready without waiting in long lines.

Colorful parrot in the Opificio delle Pietre Dure

Pietre dure, or polychrome hardstone inlay, is a very special artistic phenomenon that is inextricably linked to the city of Florence. This technique uses highly polished colored stones that are cut and fitted to create images, and then assembled together so precisely that the contact between each section is practically invisible — it’s almost like putting together a jigsaw puzzle. A very expensive jigsaw puzzle, to be sure, since semi-precious stones like coral, garnet, jasper, lapis lazuli and amethyst are arranged in compositions to look like paintings; the natural grain of the stones and marble is exploited to create amazingly naturalistic effects. 

The Florentine Renaissance painter Domenico Ghirlandaio dubbed this medium pittura per l’eternità’ (“painting for eternity”) and a century later, in 1588, the Medici Grand Duke Ferdinando I of Tuscany founded a workshop for the purpose of developing it and other decorative art forms. The ducal workshop, renamed the Opificio delle Pietre Dure and turned into a museum and restoration laboratory, still exists today and it is the first place you should go to learn more about the fascinating technique of pietre dure (Via degli Alfani 78r, Florence, tel. 055-218709; closed weekdays after 2 pm & on Sunday).

The evocative power of hard stones inlaid into delicate floral panels or shining out from ovals of opalescent alabaster is absolutely bewitching. If a visit to this museum gives you the itch to buy, it’s only a short walk to Le Pietre nell’Arte (Via Ricasoli 59r, Florence, tel. 055-212587; closed Sunday) where Renzo Scarpelli, his son Leonardo and their four collaborators create Florentine mosaics using traditional methods passed down from the Renaissance. You can purchase a wall plaque, medallion or cameo here, or even commission a unique masterpiece based on custom drawings of their own design.

Medici coat-of-arms in pietre dure

“Painting for eternity” takes on a whole new meaning in The Chapel of the Princes, the grandiose and pompous mausoleum attached to the Medici family church of San Lorenzo! This tomb chapel was erected between 1604 and 1640 to celebrate the absolute power of the ruling Medici dynasty. The octagonal room is almost entirely encrusted with semi-precious stone and marble inlay executed by the extremely skilled workers employed at the Opificio delle Pietre Dure. An internal coating of lapis lazuli was meant to cover the vast dome, but even the Medici didn’t have enough money to procure the costly stones and, in the early 19th century, it was finally painted in fresco.

Realistic seashells adorn a lapis lazuli tabletop

Tabletops in pietre dure were particularly prized in past centuries, and my favorite place to see historical examples is the Galleria Palatina at the Pitti Palace. Dozens of tables furnish the ornate rooms of this palace where the juxtaposition of an oil painting by Caravaggio or Raphael hanging above an intricate tabletop in hardstone inlay points up the similarities between the two arts. Directly across the piazza is Pitti Mosaici (Piazza de’ Pitti 23r, Florence, tel. 055-282127; open daily) where those with a Medici-sized bank account can buy a stunning tabletop that resembles those in the Pitti Palace itself.

Smaller decorative objects are sold at Pitti Mosaici’s shop on the way to the Ponte Vecchio (Via Guiccardini 60r, tel. 055-210718) while on the bridge itself is U. Gherardi (Ponte Vecchio 8r, Florence, tel. 055-211809; closed Sunday), a jeweler who has been selling fine coral jewelry since 1935. It is crafted from coral fished from all the world’s seas, and beautiful cameos, cultured pearls and lapis lazuli jewelry are available as well. A final address to recommend is Studio Musivo Lastrucci (Via dei Macci 9, Florence, tel. 055-241653; closed Sunday). Here, only a stone’s throw from Piazza Santa Croce, Bruno Lastrucci and his son, Iacopo, turn semi-precious stones into beautiful “hard paintings” using techniques and tools developed in the 16th century. One of their museum-quality pieces would make a very special and long-lasting souvenir of Florence (and one that can be passed on to future generations with pride!).

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UNA Hotel & Resort Logo

Italy is home to some of the most ravishing, historic and downright unique hotel properties, square mile per square mile, than perhaps any other country in the world. So in a place where hotel names like Hassler, Cipriani and Feltrinelli loom large in the constellation of legendary hospitality, it might almost seem sacrilegious to spend even an ounce of your vacation time in a chain hotel. But we’re going to let you in on a little secret – there’s a 100 percent Italian hotel chain that is not only a good “runner up” lodging choice, but that has hotels you could actually want to make a part of your itinerary. We’re talking about UNA Hotels & Resorts.

UNA Hotels are generally four-star properties and very capably combine all modern conveniences with charming touches that convey a sense of place of Italy as a country proud of its varied geographic heritage but also with a foot decidedly in the direction of the future. Comfortable and contemporary wherever they are, here are just seven of many things that we like about UNA:

UNA Napoli Hotel

• Great locations: UNA Hotels tend to have great city center locations. The UNA Napoli is about equidistant from the hectic train station and the fabulous Naples National Archaeological Museum. The UNA Catania is set in a renovated palazzo in the heart of Via Etnea, the city’s main commercial thoroughfare, and there are views of the volcano from the rooftop bar. In Rome, the UNA places you at a mere 15-minute walk to the Colosseum.

• Friendly staff: Every UNA we’ve had the pleasure of checking into has been staffed by friendly and knowledgeable locals. Always helpful and always present, whether it’s 3PM or 3AM. We like that.

• TVs that are both modern and that you can figure out without having a PhD in Remote Control Studies.

UNA Palace, Catania

• Great bathrooms. Always.

• Best value-for-money room service in Italy. One tired night in Catania, we ordered a simple plate of pasta with grilled swordfish, and didn’t expect much. What we got was a deftly prepared, nicely presented meal that could hold its own against the best trattorias in Palermo, Rome or New York. Served swiftly and without a trace of pretension.

• Thoughtful touches like a coffee service for early check-outs. Recently we had to leave an UNA at 6AM for an early flight from Catania to Rome. The restaurant wasn’t open, and our supply of Pocket Coffee was temporarily depleted. But alas, there was table set up in the lobby with hot coffee, tea and muffins. A small detail, but highly appreciated on a cold dark morning. And come to think of it, there are five-star luxury resorts that don’t think to do this.

• Unexpected flourishes like a Renaissance floral motif the UNA Florence, or dark wood headboards at the UNA Catania shaped like vaulted monastery ceilings. Or, at the new 100-room UNA Bari City Resort, an architectural style that echoes that of Apulian towns. It’s lively and refreshing to experience this.

There are UNA Hotels in great locations throughout Italy — in Venice (in Cannaregio), Milan (just a few steps from the Duomo and in other locations), Versilia, Modena, Lodi, Florence (in the San Frediano district), Bologna (opposite the train station), Bergamo, Syracuse, Brescia and Benevento. Stylish, accessible, convenient: Consider making Italy’s secret hotel chain a link in your trip for your first or last night in Italy, or even for other, longer stretches during your journey.

Philip, our lovely accountant

Let’s meet Philip:

1. Name and What do you do at Select Italy?

Philip Kinsella – Coordinator of Accounting Services.

2. What’s your favorite Italian destination?

If you want a break from the busy sightseeing centers of Rome and Florence, then Umbria is the place for its incredible rolling landscapes and colorful sun soaked hill towns.   Orvieto, Assisi and the surrounding countryside are great places to start your exploration.

3. Whom would you go there with?

I’ve been to Umbria by myself and with my wife, but some day, I would like to take my parents to see the amazing patchwork landscapes, ancient hill towns and enjoy the culinary feasts of the region.

4. Which 3 things should you never be missing in your luggage when traveling to Italy?

A cork screw, reusable food utensils (be sure to check them in with your luggage!) and sketch pad. You should always be ready for a picnic if you are wandering in a hill town or taking a day hike in the country.

5. What Italian food are you addicted to?

Where do I begin?  In the Autumn months, I really enjoy Arancini, Tuscan soups and hearty artisan breads with olive oil.

6. Reveal to us a secret about Italy! Food, shop, unique view, restaurant, your favorite T4T…Whatever, we are really curious!

One of my favorite dessert wines is Vin Santo, traditional in Tuscany.  The first time I tried Vin Santo was with my wife at a small family trattoria in Siena, near Il Campo, where the owner insisted we stay for a dessert wine.  It was a memorable night of laughter, music, food and drink.

Have you tried yourself any of the fantastic tips that Philip shared in chat?  Leave a comment and let us know!

Read all the other experts advises and travel tips.