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Italy Travel Guide @ TravelNotes.org Car Hire Cruises Flights Hotels Tours Vacations About Travel Notes™ Destinations Budget Travel Feedback Search Travel Forums Travel Writers Africa Asia Caribbean Europe Middle East North America South America Oceania Italy Italy Travel Guide @ TravelNotes.org Around Italy , Hotels in Italy , Italian Culture , Italian Food , Italian Wine , Italy Vacations , Major Places of Interest in Italy , Map of Italy , Tuscany . Round The World Flights - Free TravelNotes e-mail Flag of Italy Italy is easily remembered by the dumbest of geography students as the country that is shaped like a boot, kicking Sicily further into the Mediterranean Sea. Local Currency Convert your currency into euro . Buy a Map of Italy Countries neighbouring Italy are: France , Switzerland , Austria and Slovenia . National Anthem of Italy. Food Travel Fiction Health Kids Bios Humor Mags Software Gifts Tech Business Other Your Ad Here Travel Notes Mailing List News Headlines World News Directory of newspapers and news sources from around the world. Hotel City Search : Hotels in Italy Find and Book a Hotel in Italy Hotels in Italy by City : Amalfi , Assisi , Bologna , Como , Genoa , Florence , Lucca , Milan , Naples , Palermo , Pisa , Rimini , Rome , Siena , Sorrento , Taormina , Turin , Venice , Verona . Hotels in Italy by Regions : Apulia Coast , Capri , Chiani Regioni , Cinque Terre , Dolomites , Italian Riviera , Lake Garda , Portofino , Riviera dei Fiori , Sicily Coast and Islands , Tuscany . Major Places of Interest in Italy Firenze -- Michaelangelo, whose David is a symbol of Florence, is buried in the city's church of Santa Croce. Uffizi Gallery : Be prepared for long queues to view the works by Giotto, Simone Martini, Piero della Francesca, Fra Angelico, Filippo Lippi, Botticelli, Mantegna, Correggio, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Michelangelo and Caravaggio. German, Dutch and Flemish masters are also well represented with important works by Drer, Rembrandt and Rubens. Milan -- the fashion capital is the second largest Italian city, after Rome , and home to two of Italy's most famous football clubs, Internazionale and AC Milan . Napoli -- There is lot to see around the Gulf of Naples and the distance between the sights can be deceiving, when trying to organise your visit on public transportation. Allow more time than you think you'll need; if you don't want to be disappointed. Capri Web : Collection of photographs and descriptions of tourist itineraries around the Isle of Capri, City of Naples, Isle of Procida and Sorrento Peninsula. Pisa -- You can fly into Pisa, for easy access to Florence. Pisa International Airport : Pisa and Florence International Airport -- Galileo Galilei. Provides real time flight schedules, information about airlines, cargo services, ground transportation, parking, car rental, shops and duty free, restaurants and airport news. Pisa Travel Guide : The Cathedral Square is the heart of Pisa and the immortal symbol of the splendour and the power of the golden age of the Republic of Pisa. Rome -- The capital of Italy and once the nucleus of an Empire. Venezia -- Discover the wonders of Venice. Within Italy are two independent countries : San Marino and the Vatican City . Italian Culture Calcio -- Italian football fixtures and results, with links to the Serie A clubs. Carnival in Venice Fashion in Milan Museums in Italy -- Culture at its best. Italian Food Pasta, Pizza and Parmigiano...... Please, there's a lot more to Italian Food . Italian Wine Fancy tasting the grape in Italy? Then maybe you should try one of the Wine Tours . Tuscany Bed and Breakfast in Florence : Provides rooms and apartments for holiday rentals in the historic centre of Florence, as well as accommodation in typical Tuscany villas located in the Chianti countryside. La Nievolina : Rent a self catering villa in Tuscany; with swimming pool and three hectares of olives. Montecatini Terme is close to Florence, Siena, Chianti, Lucca and Pisa -- an ideal base to discover Tuscany at your leisure. Around Italy The Northern part of Italy is generally more prosperous, and most Italians associate themselves with their particular region. Some of those around Lombardia even want a federal republic of Padania, independent from Rome and the rest of Italy. Welcome to Italy : As stylish as the passagio on a Sunday. Stroll through the site by itinerary, region, or province. (In English, Italian, German, and Japanese). Summer on the beach is very popular in Italy, but most travellers visit the country for the culture. Italy holds one of the major positions in world culture. Their nationals have presented us with masterpieces in architecture, painting, sculpture, literature, and opera. Siena -- The Palio : Continuing in ancient tradition, the contradas compete on horses around the town square of Siena, Italy, every July 2nd and August 16th. Touring Bologna : What to see and do around Bologna. A deep site with plenty of information if you are planning a stay in Bologna. Not all of it is in English though. Cinque Terre : Eighteen kilometres of sheer rocky coastline in northern Italy, terraced hills and vineyards sloping steeply down to the sea. Five little villages are built into the rocks between the beach and the hills. Emilia Romagna : From the Apennines to the Adriatic Coast. Local Sites in Emilia Romagna (some in Italian only): Bagno di Romagna ; Bologna ; Brisighella ; Cervia ; Ferrara ; Lizzano ; Modena ; Parma ; Piacenza ; Ravenna ; Reggio Emilia ; Rimini Commune ; RiminiTurismo ; Santa Sofia ; Sestola . Getting Around Ravenna : One of the best ways to get around Ravenna is by bicycle. Four locations where you can get one of the yellow tourist bikes for the day. The City of Ravenna : Ravenna boasts many sights in the World Heritage List: The Mausoleum of Galla Placidia , Neonian Baptistry , Sant'Apollinare Nuovo , Arian Baptistry , The Archiepiscopal Chapel , Mausoleum of Theodoric , The Basilica of San Vitale , Sant'Apollinare in Classe . Parma Verdi Country: Giuseppe Verdi was born in Roncole, on the 10th of October, 1813. Parma Tourist Information : From the Parma Municipal Administration Tourist Information and Assistance Offices; not all of it in English. Castles of Parma : Constructed in strategic points throughout the province of Parma, the castles are a wonderful sight. Parmesan Cheese : The world's favourite cheese to top spaghetti comes from Parmigiano-Reggiano; a true aristocrat among cheeses. And doctors claim it's good for you. Italian Tourism : Regional listings for Italian tourist boards; mostly just an address and telephone number. Travel by Train : Italian train timetables can only give you a rough idea, as the long distance trains often run late. Autostrada : How to make motorways interesting? The Italians do fine; with interactive maps, traffic forecasts, and even suggestions of games to play when stuck in a jam. Lago di Garda The Lake Garda region is very popular with Germans. Lake Garda : A whole collection of Lake Garda websites rolled into one Garda World. Alps by Motorbike : Beach's Alpine adventure takes in the mountains of Germany , Austria , Italy, Switzerland and France . You may not hear the cow bells through your helmet, but the scenery is breathtaking. Ville in Italia : Exclusive villa rentals in some of the best areas around Italy -- Amalfi Coast , Tuscany and Umbria , Sicily , Rome , Sardinia and Apulia & Basilicata . Marche Marche Holidays : With beaches, mountains and medieval villages, holidaying in Marche can be planned at anytime of the year; depending on your interests. Italy Vacations Italy Farmhouse Rentals : Not just farmhouses, but villas, castles, cottages, apartments, houses in Tuscany, Umbria or Lazio. The site also offers useful Tourist Information about Italy. Europe Travel Forum : From Albania to Vatican City, Scandinavia to the Mediterranean, Europe is culturally eclectic and full of lavish history. Join us in the travel forums if you have a question about Europe or would like to share your experiences about travelling or living in Europe. The Internet TravelNotes.org Italy Travel Guide Flight Tickets : Save money on Round The World flight tickets. Travel News : Get the inside scoop with the latest travel features and tips. Past Articles . Airlines & Airports : This travel article points you to airlines and the three letter airport codes with links to their websites. Cyber Cafes : The Internet Caf Guide. 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Travel Stories - My European Vacation Home Hostels Tours InfoZone Community Home » Community » Travel Stories » My European Vacation MyAccount | Support Centre | Site Map In the Community... Community Home Travel Diaries Start a new Diary Travel Stories Travel Gurus Message Boards Log In Log in to your account to review past bookings, change your profile, become a travel guru and much more. Email: Password: Forgot your password? Not a member? Sign up here The ULTIMATE backpacker information exchange Travel Stories • Backpackers! Adventure Calling.. • The Shrimp Tax • Sleeping in Pamplona • Chile, the country and Santiag.. • Road to No Man's Land • Run Through the Jungle: • Andorra's Box • Mexico - 48 hours in Puerto Es.. • More Travel Stories Our Price Promise We offer you the best internet rate made available by the hostel. We do not mark up this rate so you can be confident that booking here is as cheap as it gets! close window lowest prices guaranteed Read Our Price Promise We accept the following cards Travel Stories My European Vacation By Denise Cassino I finally finished reading the last page of Micheners novel The Drifters, a story about six young people traveling through Europe in the late sixties. I closed the book and bit my bottom lip. I simply had to find a way to go to Europe. My heart ached with a yearning to see the world. I had been an English major/history minor in college and had studied the continent for years. Now I was determined to see them first hand. I contacted my old college roommate, Ellen, and set a plan I quit my job, borrowed $500 to supplement my savings and flew off to Europe for a six-week sojourn. We were nearing the end of a near perfect trip with only a week or so remaining before I would head for home. We had driven The Romantic Road through Germany, partaken in the revelry of Oktoberfest in Munich, woven our way through the high peaks of the Alps in a VW bus, ridden a Gondola across the Grand Canal in Venice, stared at the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel and even had a brief romance with two American brothers. Ellen had been forced by the powers that ruled her pocketbook to return home two weeks earlier than me, and now I was traveling with an affable Australian girl named Robyn who we had met in Venice and had previously been a solo traveler. Now, the two of us stood on the port side of the huge ship and gazed out from the top deck at the starlit sky above the Port of Barcelona and the Mediterranean Sea. A statue of Cristobal Columbo (Christopher Columbus) peered down at us as we swore to sate our wanderlust ever after and reveled in our high adventure. We were on our way to the Balearic Islands, the island of Ibiza, to be exact, (pronounced Ibitha to the well-traveled tourist) and had secured a cabin on the ship for the nights trip. The ship and cabin were Spartan, and at first light, we disembarked and set foot on terra firma. The island, which had been touted as the happening spot for young people, was tiny and, aside from the ancient fortress and village around a small seaport, was mainly dry, brushy and agricultural. We wandered down the narrow, cobblestone streets amidst the tourists and the locals who were going about the business of daily living, baskets on their shoulders and bicycles laden with goods. The smiling proprietors of small cafes beckoned weary wayfarers like us to partake of their fine wine and vittles Hola, Senoritas! As the day wore on, our backpacks grew heavy and we stopped at a hand-painted sign offering a room. A dark Spanish woman, swarthy and a bit thick through the middle, took us through a door that opened directly off the street and then up a steep staircase. At the top was a small, Spartan foyer with four or five doors presumably leading to guest rooms. She opened a set of flimsy double doors, which didnt quite meet in the middle due to some sort of chopping at the space between them. The gap was now about three quarters of an inch wide and would have revealed to anyone who chose to look, the entire contents and characters within (along with the content of their characters, perhaps). To prevent just such chicanery a faded piece of cloth was hung on the inside of the door - a curtain, as it were. We surveyed the room with a jaded eye having already experienced the drill of expecting more from a room than we ever got during our extended tour of Europe. This one was a bargain at a buck and a half per night and was worth every peseta. The plaster was chipping and the chenille bedspreads were mismatched and worn. The curtains on the door that led to a small balcony overlooking the main street had seen better days, but we paid the small sum and dropped our packs to rest our travel-weary bodies while we sipped some local red wine. As evening approached our tummies rumbled so we changed into our other set of clothing and headed for the nearest restaurant for some more vino and una comida. Robin had discovered an interesting spot in Europe on $5 a day, so we located it and ventured in for dinner. A loaf of hot, homemade bread and a steaming bowl of succulent Paella filled with sumptuous shrimp, clams and rice were placed before us by a smiling Spanish waiter, and we ate with gusto, juice dripping down our chins. Soon after dinner, our explorations led us to an American style discotheque complete with black lights and flashing neon. We worked our way through the crowd looking for a seat and managed to squeeze into a spot near the bar to watch the tourists mingle with the locals. Scantily clad bodies gyrated to the beat of the outdated American tunes that blasted from the rickety jukebox. We Americans tourists stood out in a crowd with our sturdy walking shoes and nondescript clothing. I had packed two pairs of trousers, two sweaters, two tee-shirts, five pair of underpants, three pairs of socks and a down coat. My hair was cut as short as it had ever been for the ease of sink shampoos in cold water. Robyn looked like a Spaniard with thick, dark hair and tawny skin and a Rubenesque figure. Our apparel only seemed to draw attention to us, and we moved uneasily away from the gaze of more than one dark stranger who seemed to be assessing his prey. We mingled as only young twenty-something girls can do meeting an array of people ranging from strange to fascinating and by 2am or so my body begged for sleep. I said goodnight and left Robyn in the company of several young men and wandered back the short distance to the room (okay, maybe I staggered a little) and flopped into the lumpy bed for a deep doze enhanced by the abundance of red wine I had imbibed. Not long after, I was awakened suddenly by Robyns harsh Aussie whisper in my ear. Wake up! Wake up! Someones trying to break into our room! I jumped up rather unsteadily and approached the door with my heart pounding wildly in my chest. I beat against the door with my fist and hollered, Go away, get out of here! Who knows, in the heat of the moment, I may even have shouted Vamoose! Silence. We looked at one another and reluctantly crawled back into bed leaving the light on, hoping the would-be intruder had vanished into the night. But soon, I awoke to bloodcurdling screams coming from Robyn who sat bolt upright in her bed. I sat up and began screaming too, and saw a dark man turn and flee from the room leaving the two doors wide open and the curtain inside flapping between them. We continued to scream for a few more rounds until an Englishman arrived at our door dressed only in thin, cotton pants. What is the problem? he asked in his clipped British accent while rubbing his eyes. We saw . . . there was . . . someone tried . . . we panted breathlessly as we managed to reveal our plight and cause for such abject terror. He listened patiently and then said, It was probably just some Spaniard trying to rape you. Is that so terrible? We were stunned by his stiff upper lip approach to this whole scenario, but were deeply grateful when he offered to leave his two huge dogs with us for the remainder of the night. Stay, he said and they curled up between the two beds and went to sleep. However, we lay awake, eyes wide, contemplating who, why, when and where, terrified that the stranger would return to rape and pillage. We couldnt wait for morning when we quickly packed our belongings and departed. We ventured warily into the street, scanning each face wondering about the stranger who might recognize and be following us, but whom we would not recognize if we fell over him. We found some good American fellows we had met the night before and told them of our intruder. They quickly offered to share their room until the ship returned two days later, and we slept on the floor of their room, honest! Thoughts ran wildly through our minds as we relived the horrifying experience, but the only viable answer we found was that perhaps the man had followed Robyn from the disco thinking she was alone. When he burst into the room, hit the curtain and was assailed by two screaming banshees, he likely panicked and fled, forgetting his original intent. By the time the ship was ready to depart, we were exhausted and more than ready to say goodbye to the little island that had become little more than a frightening place. As I lay in my berth aboard ship that night chasing sleep, a tiny gnawing pain had begun to grow in the pit of my stomach. When we arrived in Barcelona, chills and fever had replaced the pain, but I persevered. We were anxious to board the overnight train to Paris but soon found ourselves sharing a small sleeping compartment with four other people of mixed race and gender. I was in the middle berth with my head near the door. As passengers entered the compartment, their faces were at my eyelevel, and I could smell their body odor and garlic breath, which only worsened my condition. I rotated from one end of the bed to the other where I could open the window and breathe a bit of fresh air. As the chills shook me, I donned all my clothing from my backpack only to quickly remove them as the fever and sweats returned. By the time we reached Paris, I had a full- blown case of the touristas, otherwise known as amoebic dysentery. Well, I wont go into the sordid details of the last few days of my trip. Lets just say, given the quality and texture of Parisian toilet paper, I was very glad when the morning came for me to board a train to Luxembourg for my flight home. I said goodbye to Robyn, descended the five flights of stairs at the Hotel Cluny on the left bank of the Seine and ventured out to hail a cab. I hailed and waved and shouted, but none stopped. Finally, I returned to the room where Robyn informed me that I must go to a cabstand, but now I had missed my train and, possibly, my flight home. My only choice was a plane. Low on funds, I borrowed the necessary amount for airfare from Robyn. Once aboard the transatlantic flight, I watched with empathy and pity a poor girl lying across three seats, literally green from her trip across the English Channel in a boat. With problems of my own, I dozed and dreamed of all the foods I couldnt wait to indulge in when I got back to the States, dysentery be damned. We played the food game with many of the Americans we met on our trip. Some wanted a grilled beefsteak with French fries; others craved bacon and eggs. I longed for my mothers juicy meatloaf and a crispy baked potato with butter. When my 8-hour flight finally landed, I was met by my mother and step-dad to whom I must have written at least two postcards during my six-week adventure. As we climbed in the car, my mom turned to me and said, I hope youre hungry. Ive got meatloaf and baked potatoes for dinner. I sighed with pleasure and snuggled happily into the back seat, wondering if it was just a fluke or a classic case of mothers intuition. 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