Sightseeing in Montecatini Italy

Are you planning on going sightseeing in Montecatini, Italy? There are actually a few different places in Italy with the name Montecatini, so before you plan your sightseeing make sure that you are researching the right Montecatini!

Montecatini Terme is one of the most famous health resorts in Italy and is a lovely town with its own thermal springs and beautiful gardens. It is located in the province of Pistoia in Tuscany and is the most well known Montecatini. Over 2 million tourists visit Montecatini Terme every year.

Montecatini Alto which means "upper Montecatini" is an amazing hilltop village with panoramic views overlooking Montecatini Terme. You can get to Montecatini Alto by a finicular railway.

Finally Montecatini Val di Cecina is a hill town situated about 100km from Pisa and near to Volterra. It was a very prosperous town in the middle ages with lots of copper mines. These have now been turned into a museum. The town is very pleasant for sightseeing with lots of towers, little piazzas and medieval buildings.

Vatican City Sightseeing

One of the most sought after sughtseeing destinations for those on a vacation to Italy is the Vatican City. Most people do not know that this is actually sovereign city-state, which means that it makes its own rules and has its own governing system, independent of the Italian system.

The Vatican City is a state within the city of Rome, surrounded by a wall. It was formed in 1929 under an agreement between the Kingdom of Italy and the Holy See and is the smallest independent state in the whole world with only a little over 100 acres. . The Holy See refers to the central governing system of the Catholic Church headed by the Pope, who is also known as the Bishop of Rome.

The Vatican City itself is home to the official residence of the Pope and is visited by millions of people each year sightseeing in Italy.

To get to the Vatican City you will first visit the famous St. Peter's square. This square is characterized by fabulous Baroque architecture from the 17th century, including symbols of the church motherly embracing its people in its arms.

St. Peter's Basilica is another place that I recommend you visit while sightseeing in the Vatican City because it is also found in St. Peter's square. It is the most distinctive building in the Vatican City and this church's dome can be seen for miles around Rome. St. Peter's Basilica seats 60,000 and is said to be the largest building in the Christian church. It is noted for being the burial site of St. Peter who is said to be the founding father of the Catholic Church by being the first Bishop of Rome. The discovery of his tomb was announced in 1950 after a decade of archeological research.

Catholic tradition says that St. Peter is buried under the altar of this Basilica and that all the Popes since then have also been buried in the Basilica the most recent being Pope John Paul II back in 2005. At the entrance to the Basilica are statues of Christ, St. John the Baptist and 11 of the 12 apostles. You can enter the Basilica for free during your Italian sightseeing vacation, but make sure you are properly dressed with no bare shoulders or knees. If you would like to attend mass you should go to the Basilica on a Sunday.

There are several other places to see here during your Italy vacation. The largest museum in the world is also found in the Vatican City. It has over 1400 rooms and galleries that represent 3000 years of art. The Sistine Chapel is also found here and is known for being the private chapel that the cardinals go to when electing a new Pope.

So what is the best way to see all the sights that the Vatican City has to offer during your Italian sightseeing vacation? There are plenty guided tours that can be taken for half a day or a full day. You can take a guided tour of only the museum or a guided tour which includes all the important places of interest in the Vatican City. This will ensure that you don't miss a thing while sightseeing in the Vatican City.

Sightseeing in Verona Italy

Sightseeing in Verona Italy....

Thinking of visiting Verona for some sightseeing?

Read on to find out more about the beautiful town of Verona.

A Quick Tour Of Italy - Verona
by Levi Reiss

If you are looking for a European tourist destination, consider the Veneto region of northern Italy on the Gulf of Venice. Venice, its best-known city, is one of the world's most popular tourist destinations. Ecellent tourist attractions abound elsewhere in Veneto, and the crowds are much smaller. This article examines the Shakespearean town of Verona, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Read our companion articles on northern Veneto, southern Veneto, and the university city of Padua.

Verona boasts many vestiges from Roman times. Its Roman amphitheatre is the third largest in Italy and its interior is virtually intact. This edifice hosts fairs, theatre, opera and other public events, especially summers. The Roman arch bridge crossing the Adige River was partially destroyed in World War II and rebuilt using original materials.

The Twelfth Century Romanesque Basilica of San Zeno Maggiore sits on a Fourth Century shrine to the city's patron saint, St. Zeno. Its splendid one hundred ten foot bell tower was mentioned in Dante's Divine Comedy. The vaulted crypt contains the tomb of St. Zeno and tombs of several other saints.

Verona's largest church is the Fifteenth Century Sant'Anastasia whose interior is an excellent example of Gothic architecture. Items of honor include frescoes and hunchback statues dispensing holy water.

The Fourteenth Century Castelvecchio on the banks of the Adige River probably sits on the site of a Roman fortress. Its art museum specializes in Venetian painters and sculptors. Verona's squares include the Roman Herb Square that still maintains its medieval look and some produce stalls. The Gentlemen's Square is Verona's center of activities. Next door is the Scaglieri Palace, once home to the ruling family.

Don't leave Verona without visiting those star-crossed lovers, Romeo and Juliet. The Twelfth Century Casi di Giulietta (Juliet's House) long belonged to the Dal Cappello family and since Cappello sounds like Capulet perhaps... The house at Via Cappello, 23 with its courtyard probably isn't for real, but crowds come to gawk and dream. This could be the place to propose.
Verona's cuisine features typical Po Valley dishes: mixed boiled meats, nervetti (calf's foot and veal shank salad), and risotto, often cooked in Amarone wine. See our companion article I Love

Touring Italy - Verona for a sample menu and more information on regional wines plus an in-depth examination of Verona's tourist attractions. Valpolicella DOC is a world famous, often mediocre wine produced north of Verona. It can be transformed into fine wines including Valpolicella Ripasso and Amarone DOC.

Levi Reiss has authored or co-authored ten books on computers and the Internet, but to be honest, he would rather just drink fine Italian, French, or other wine, accompanied by the right foods. He teaches classes in computers at an Ontario French-language community college. He knows what dieting is, and is glad that for the time being he can eat and drink what he wants, in moderation. His central website is http://www.wineinyourdiet.com/ devoted to the health and nutritional aspects of wine and its place in your weight-loss program. His global wine website is http://www.theworldwidewine.com/. Visit his other websites devoted to Italian wine, Italian travel, and Italian food.

Where to find Good Views in Florence

There are a number of places where you can find unique and stunning views of the city of Florence.

Boboli Gardens - climb to the top of the hill for an amazing vista of the city

Fiesole – set amongst hills only 5 miles from Florence, Fiesole has a wonderful view of Florence. You can get there from Florence in less than 20 minutes by taking the number 5 bus.

The Duomo – climb the 463 steps to the top of the dome for a magnificent view of Florence or take the 414 steps to the top of Giotto’s bell tower.

San Miniato al Monte - this is a lovely little church on a hillside at the south of the city of Florence. Here you'll get fantastic views of Florence and of the Doumo. You can walk here from Florence or get the number 13 bus.

Historical Sightseeing in Italy

Vacation To Italy And Get A Major Dose Of History
by Will Moore

Known for its food, wine, people, culture, music, countryside and even the mafia - Italy happens to be one of the most sought after holiday destinations in the world.

Italy is where culture, history and traditions blend beautifully with modernity and fashion. What is interesting about Italy is that you will never find a single Italian flag, but they are still very particular about their culture and traditions – and of course soccer.

Whether your vacationing to Florence, Rome, Naples, Milan, or Venice your stay will be well worth the flight. Italy boasts several 5 star resort hotels that accommodate to every need you could imagine.

Italians are considered to be one of the best-looking people in the world. They are very proud of their past, their culture and for them it is all about family. Italians are very sociable.
They are friendly and will talk to anyone, what’s most appealing about them is their sense of good humor and wit. In Italy you will hear the various kinds of dialects and accents of Italian, which sound so melodious to the ear.

Italians have an ongoing love affair with food and fashion. The Italian food is famous worldwide and is a gastronomical to all the senses. Fashion is a very important part of the Italian culture, after all Milan is the fashion capital of the world, where haute couture is the word most heard.
Northern Italy is more educated, hectic and fast paced, where as South of Italy is rural and laidback. People in Italy love spending money on their expensive attire, be it clothes, watches, shoes, jewelry or their fast cars.

If you want to be understood in Italy, you will have to rely on your English-Italian dictionary or your gesturing skills, because English is not spoken or understood by many people there.
People in Italy have a gastronomical affair with food. Eating is a passion and an integral part of the culture in Italy. So when you are in Italy, expect to add a few pounds to your frame.

Italian food finds it roots back to different regions and is influenced by various factors. If you are looking for healthy and cheaper food, then you must venture into South Italy.

The world famous and supremely popular Pizza was born in Campania along with tubular pizza and the various tomato based pizza and pasta sauces. Even if you are one of those few people who do not like pizzas, you should try one.

The reason the Italian pizzas are popular is because of its simplicity and its fresh ingredients. Pizza margherita is the most popular pizza in Italy named after Queen Margherita.
If you are looking for food with Greek influence with figs, honey, aubergine and aromatic spices, then Calabria is the place to go. Sicily will give you mouthwatering, finger-licking desserts like cannoli, sweet cheese, chocolate and cassata pastries. And Italian ice-cream Gelato is oh so popular.

A typical Italian dinner would consist of an appetizer or an antipasto like bruschetta which is a type of herbed and spiced garlic bread; prosciutto which is cured ham and melon.
The primo piatto, which is the first main course, is usually a soup or pasta; the second piatto will have meat, chicken or fish with contorno, which is vegetable. The meal is then ended with dessert, fruits and coffee.

Will is the owner of TravelCheckList. Visit us today or Italy vacation deals and resources for world travelers. An Italian vacation offers something for every type of traveler. Food, scenery, museums, romance, culture, beaches, nightlife and much more can be experienced in Italy.

Wine Sightseeing in Italy

Wine Tourism In Italy
by Margit Holzer

Italy is, with 98 wine routes, by far leading the top list of wine growing countries. Being wine an enormous pleasure for our palates, it becomes always more important, and Italy has set up a real system for its wine tourism by connecting different kinds of institutions and guidelines of its wine routes.

These tours give you the opportunity to customize your day in the wine country according to your taste and budget in all the wine regions of Italy. For the curious type wanting to know a bit of viticulture and the wine making process, or the novice wanting to learn how to taste and appreciate quality wines, there are plenty of opportunities. Most of the wine cellars offer guided tours where they exactly explain everything there is to know about producing wine.

The most famous wine regions in Italy obviously are Tuscany and Piedmont.

In Tuscany there are a lot of medieval little towns like Montepulciano, Montalcino, San Gimignano and of course the Chianti area. The most famous wines are Brunello di Montalcino, Rosso di Montepulciano, Chianti classico just to name some, but there are plenty of other wine producers which have highly qualified wines like Casa alle Vacce – Accanthò.

Besides to see and to get known everything about wine, this area is very, very nice to visit, to relax, spend some romantic moments and to enjoy life. The accommodations in Tuscany are mostly typical for this region. Many country inns (agriturismi) and castles are pleased to welcome you for a fantastic break out of your every days life. To complete your trip to Tuscany, there is a wide variety of typical dishes you can enjoy, obviously accompanied by a delicious glass of wine!

In Piedmont, the most famous wine area is called Langhe. The vineyards of the Barolo DOCG zones are not extensive, but they are the most carefully charted stands of vines anywhere in Italy. The landscape is made of gently rolling hills and the vineyards surrounding pretty villages. Other than the Barolo there is the Barbaresco, the Dolcetto d’Alba and the Grignolino as a good red wine. White wines of the Piedmont are Blangè di Cerretto, Arneis del Roero, Erbaluce di Caluso and Chardonnay Pinot. Piedmont is also world famous for its truffles. There is a huge truffle exhibition every year in Alba where it is possible to taste and buy truffle and every kind of its derivates. It is most interesting to attend this exhibition, but as a good tip: if you (and you really should) go to Alba during these days, book your accommodation many months before as otherwise there is not even on bed left!

But of course there are many other regions in Italy producing great wines like Umbria, Campania, Veneto, Friuli and Sicily.

It is really worth to come to Italy for getting to know more about its wines and food and to taste them while undertaking some trips in the surrounding areas and see plenty of romantic and ancient places which are spread all over the country.

For information and booking of accommodation in Italy click Dream Destination Europe
Feel free to reproduce this article. Please keep the links intact.

Margit Holzer is an international expert for the travel industry. With a degree in Economics and being a multilingual tourism expert, she is now the CEO for http://www.dde-europe.com

Contact her on her mail m.holzer@dde-europe.com for any kind of question regarding traveling, accommodation and tourism above all in Italy.

Sightseeing, Food and Wine in Piedmont, Italy

I Love Italian Wine and Food - The Piedmont Region
By Levi Reiss

Piedmont is located in the northwest of Italy. It borders on France and Switzerland and is surrounded on three sides by the Alps. The name Piedmont means the foot of the mountain. Piedmont is one of the most industrialized regions of Italy. It is considered the best organized region of Italy for wine tourism. Its population is about 4.4 million.

Piedmont was originally settled by the Celts. It was conquered by Hannibal and reconquered by the Ancient Romans. Piedmont was ruled by the French Savoy family for almost five hundred years. It was a center in the fight to unify Italy. Victor Emmanuel II, the king of Piedmont and Sardinia, became the first king of modern Italy in 1861.

Agriculturally Piedmont has it all. For example, meats include beef, kid, lamb, rabbit, and veal. Game includes hare, partridge, pheasant, and venison. Donkey meat stew is a local specialty. Another specialty is grissini, breadsticks that are a yard long. The region makes nine protected varieties of cheese. About the only food that seems to be a bit short is fresh fish, with the exception of trout.

Piedmont’s capital and largest city is Turin, a city of nine hundred thousand that is the capital of the Italian automobile industry and the site of the 2006 Winter Olympics. This city was the first capital of united Italy (from 1861 to 1865) and remains to this day the world capital of vermouth.

Piedmont devotes over one hundred forty thousand acres to grapevines, it ranks 6th among the 20 Italian regions. Its total annual wine production is about ninety million gallons, also giving it a 6th place. About 70% of the wine production is red or rosé (only a bit of rosé), leaving 30% for white. The region produces 44 DOC wines. DOC stands for Denominazione di Origine Controllata, which may be translated as Denomination of Controlled Origin, presumably a high-quality wine and 7 DOCG wines. The G in DOCG stands for Garantita, but there is in fact no guarantee that such wines are truly superior Almost 56% of Piedmont wine carries the DOC or DOCG designation. Piedmont is home to four dozen major and secondary grape varieties, somewhat more red than white varieties.

Widely grown international white grape varieties include Muscat (in particular Moscato Bianco) and Chardonnay. The best known strictly Italian white varieties are Arneis, Cortese, and Erbaluce.

International red grape varieties are not important in Piedmont. It is the center for Nebbiolo, felt by many to be Italy’s noblest red variety, the base of Italy’s world famous Barolo and Barbaresco wines. Other Italian red varieties include Barbera, Brachetto, and Dolcetto, some of which are grown elsewhere.

Before reviewing the Piedmont wine and cheese that we were lucky enough to purchase at a local wine store and a local Italian food store, here are a few suggestions of what to eat with indigenous wines when touring this beautiful region. Start with Cipollata Rossa Monferrina, Spicy Robiola Cheese and Scallion Spread. For the second course try Tasca Ripiena, Veal Stuffed with Salami and Scallions. For dessert indulge yourself with Budino Freddo Gianduja, Decadent Hazelnut-Chocolate Pudding.

OUR WINE REVIEW POLICY While we have communicated with well over a thousand Italian wine producers and merchants to help prepare these articles, our policy is clear. All wines that we taste and review are purchased at the full retail price.

Wine Reviewed Surì Rosso Barbera d’Asti Villa Giada 2004 Andrea-Faccio Viticoltore (Winemaker) DOC 13.5% alcohol about $10.90 plus tax

Unlike the other wines in this series, I purchased this bottle while on vacation in Seattle, Washington. Frankly I thought that I was drinking the cousin of a $40 bottle of wine. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if it were the equal of some $40 bottles. While three other Italian grape red varieties are authorized to a maximum of 15% in the Barbera d’Asti DOC, this particular wine is 100% Barbera.

I found the wine very powerful, perhaps too strong for pasta. Its tastes included tobacco, leather, cherry, and black cherry. An Italian wine site states: "An imposing wine that is always rather severe but richly and exquisitely perfumed and with a flavor that couples strength with finesse.” I agree except that I didn’t find it severe. I also drank it with a marinated, barbecued rib steak. The wine cut through the steak’s grease. Once again the flavors came out well.

Gran Padano is a classic Parmesan-type cheese made for a millennium in northern Italy including the Piedmont region. It is a cylindrical, cooked, semi-fat cheese which matures slowly. It has a grainy consistency and may be sliced or grated. Its taste is fragrant and delicate. I tried this wine with grated Gran Padano cheese on toast with a somewhat spicy Moroccan tomato and pimento based dip.The combination was excellent; I felt that both the wine and cheese flavors were accentuated. The term mouth-filling came to mind.

Levi Reiss has authored or co-authored ten books on computers and the Internet, but to be honest, he would rather just drink fine French or other wine, accompanied by the right foods. He teaches classes in computers at an Ontario French-language community college. Presently his wine websites are http://www.theworldwidewine.com and http://www.theitalianwineconnection.com