LIGHT MODE
DARK MODE
While Florence may be famed for its beautiful and historic walks, circling Medici palaces, meandering through small alleys and stumbling across all sorts of curiosities, it is often easy to ...
Siena has a more insular and less forthcoming atmosphere than Florence – but it’s one you definitely should get to know. If you have little time to spend in the city, use it wisely by wandering the steep and twisting streets, viewing the numerous palazzi, the Duomo, the
Sicily is chalk to Florence’s cheese. If you’ve headed there from the north, sometimes you wonder if you’re still in Italy at all. The differences are hard to pin down – the cliché of a poor, pastoral cousin certainly sells this complex
Isn’t winter a drag? Rest assured though, it’s better here than in my home town Edinburgh, which gets the worst of the eternal dark Scottish winters. At this time of year, Scots must actively seek ways to lift the spirits, and for me the
With just weeks to go until the start of the 2006 Winter Olympic Games, the beautiful baroque city of Turin is bustling with excitement. Flags and banners wave from bridges that cross the lovely Po River. Road and building work have switched into high gear, and as the date of
“I will tell you what our stay is like. Very well, as far as board and lodging is concerned; what disturbs me a bit is the noise. We live in ...
More than 7 million tourists pile into Florence each year, so it stands to reason that this small city suffers from serious overcrowding. Add severe traffic problems and the resulting levels of noise and pollution, and it’s not surprising that many visitors opt for accommodation that is situated
“You live in Pistoia, how quaint” was the response of a friend from Florence when I told him about my place of residence. His reply pretty well sums up the ...
Taormina has long been Sicily’s most favourite resort town. Situated in the northwest of the island, it is perched on a coastal escarpment that looks out onto the Tyrrhenian sea between Messina and Catania. Its ancient narrow streets are full of small specialist shops, cafes, and restaurants,
Whether you are looking for a historic festival, Roman ruins, great wine and seafood, or one of Europe’s top beaches, little known Grado has it all. And the perfect time to go there is the first weekend in July, when, each year since 1237 Grado honours the
1. Monterosso 2. Vernazza 3. Corniglia 4. Manarola 5. Riomaggiore There are those who will testify, cursing certain guidebook writers in the same breath, that not long ago Cinque Terre was a secluded haven known only to Italians and few other Europeans. The five villages, as the tale goes,
There is nowhere quite like Lucca, the charming, quiet Tuscan town which Henry James described in 1909 as ?overflowing with everything that makes for ease, for plenty, for beauty.? It is the perfect antidote to the hustle and bustle of Florence, and given its close proximity, also a perfect day
The sculpture of David by Michelangelo is globally recognized as one of the finest pieces of Renaissance art in existence. Once a metaphor for the invigorated and developing Florentine Republic, youthful, defiant, and brave, Il Gigante ‘The Giant’ as it was known by Renaissance contemporaries, has in modern
