The “City of Water”; “City of Masks”; “City of Bridges”; “The Floating City”; “City of Canals”; “City of Romance” all describe one city: Venice, a city sited on a group of 118 small islands separated by canals and linked by bridges. A city built up from mudflats, using closely placed wooden piles, still intact after centuries of submersion. Continue reading
We had one main reason to go to Milan: the Formula 1 Grand Prix. We booked tickets before we even left for Europe and scheduled our whole route through Italy (which doubled back through Milan) so we could be there on the day of the race. Tickets were 85 EUR each for general admission, and of course, not within our daily budget, but there are some things worth splurging for and we deemed this as one. Continue reading
For such a small and relatively unknown Italian city, Modena has many things to be proud of. It is a city full of traditions famous world-wide from opera to engines to cuisine, although often not attributed to the city of Modena. The hometown of Enzo Ferrari, Modena, is where balsamic vinegar originated with production documented as early as 1046. It was a family tradition, making balsamic vinegar in the attic of your house – enough to use yourself and give as small gifts at Christmas to those families who didn’t have the tradition. Continue reading
When I think of Italy, I am really thinking about wine and Italian food and maybe art, as an afterthought. I had three goals in Florence – find a good ‘vino sfuso’ (bulk wine) place, get a loaded panini and go to the Uffizi gallery. Continue reading
The founding of Rome is dated back to around 753 BC – the Colosseum was completed in 80 AD, almost 2000 years ago – and thus, it’s not a secret that many of Rome’s ancient and aging monuments are in desperate need of restoration. It appears that many high-end Italian fashion brands have stepped up to make that restoration possible. All at once. To name a couple, Fendi, one of the biggest names in Italian fashion, has donated approximately 2.10 million Euros to restore the 18th century Trevi Fountain in order to preserve this precious heritage; the first of five fountains they have pledged to restore. And Tod’s shoes founder Diego della Valle donated approximately 25 million Euros to help restore the Colosseum from its aging and deteriorating state. In addition, Renzo Russo, founder of clothing company Diesel, is providing $6.7 million to restore and clean the oldest bridge spanning Venice’s Grand Canal, the Rialto.
That’s right, you read it: in the Swiss Alps, cows’ wear bells. Not a small dinky bell, very large, very noisy solid bell dangles around their necks. Supposedly, there are even ongoing discussions involving animal cruelty and these bells, but that’s not the topic of this post. The sound of the bell is pleasant at first but after about an hour of sitting on top of a mountain in what should be a peaceful and silent area, the constant noise from the bells becomes something else. Continue reading
There is no shortage of clean drinking water in Zurich; there are over 1,200 fountains that tap into the never-ending source of pristine groundwater. We were at the lake one afternoon and mentioned to the group we were going to buy a bottle of water. They quickly corrected us that there was a fountain not far and we could get free water. One girl accompanied us and when I saw her cup water with her hands from a fountain which a young girl was stomping and splashing away in, I almost choked. It looked like a regular fountain back home which re-circulates the water meaning we would be drinking some pretty nasty water. Feeling it would be rude we took one or two sips before excusing ourselves stating we really weren’t that thirsty (we were). Back home, we googled it and learned that Zurich has an excess of ground water, therefore, the fountains do no re-circulate water. In Switzerland, if there is a fountain or tap which you can’t drink from, there has to be a very obvious no-drinking sign. Continue reading
The city of love and home to the Eiffel Tower. We checked into our ‘apart-hotel’ in the late afternoon and didn’t realize we had a great view of the Eiffel Tower until our second night lying in bed. It lit up at 9:00 PM and every hour for a few minutes, the lights would sparkle and dance causing all those below to ooh and awe; including us one evening. That same evening we witnessed a proposal on the grass beneath the Tower – she said yes! Continue reading