Italy
Entertainment
Venetian Carnival
Carnival, or Carnival, has been celebrated for centuries throughout Italy. The word may well derive from carne vale - 'farewell to meat' - which would explain the function of the celebration: an opportunity to indulge and use up such treats before the start of Lent (like an extended Pancake Day).
Teatro Alla Scala Opera House
The most famous opera house in the world, La Scala was built by Giuseppe Piermarini between 1776 and 1778. The opera house stands upon the ruins of the old church of Santa Maria della Scala, its namesake. Circled by greenery in Piazza Scala, a monument to Leonardo da Vinci provides the perfect backdrop for La Scala’s neoclassical architecture.
Historic Sites
Cirus Maxiumus
Little is left of the Circus Maximus in Rome. Marble seats and palatial boxes used to stream up the sides of the valley. At one time crowds of over a quarter million Romans would gather to witness the largest sporting events in Western Civilization, but now nearly all that remains is a lonely dirt track on a grassy field. The Roman Circus Maximus overlooked a variety of sporting events and religions processions - but the most famous of these were the wildly popular chariot races.
Uffizi Gallery
Rome is the capital of modern Italy. Rome is full of history everywhere you look. It has many ancient monuments, interesting medieval churches, beautiful fountains, museums, and Renaissance palaces. Modern Rome is a bustling and lively city and has some excellent restaurants and nightlife. The Vatican and St. Peter's are also found in Rome
Modern Cities
Pisa
Pisa is one of those cities that every traveler who sets foot in Italy must see at one point or another. The city’s famous leaning tower is one of the most recognized symbols of Italy, so it makes sense that it’s so high on most visitors’ to-do lists. The only trouble is that for most people, Pisa is little more than a two-hour lunch break en route from one city to another, where you dump your bags at the train station and head straight for the tower, climb to the top, take your photos, and leave. Consequently, the area right around the tower can be incredibly crowded, and the shops and cafes that line the beautiful piazza are usually really overpriced. But if you dig beneath the surface a bit, you’ll find that Pisa is actually a pretty average Italian town.
St. Mark’s Basilica
St. Mark's basilica majestically symbolizes the lagoon and enshrines the city's history. Possession of the saint's relics enabled the Republic to establish its authority, from 828 onward, over Grado and Aquileia. In 1063, under Doge Domenico Contarini, it was decided to rebuild the church on the same Greek cross plan as the previous one. In 1096 it was finished, but the decorative work continued until the beginning of the 19th century. The model had been furnished by the Church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople (536-46); five domes covering the crossing and each of the arms, supported by large piers linked by arches. The light was thus directed towards the centre of the basilica, leaving the side aisles in comparative shadow."
Restaurants
Ristoran Te La
Da Felfina
The Restaurant Al Tonno di Corsa
The restaurant "A Fenestella", situated on Marechiaro, at the end of Posillipo's hill, starts up as small restaurant at the beginning of the last century; as regards its own name's origin, it's due to a "fenesta" (that is to say "a window") at which one Carolina used to appear. The same woman whom Salvatore Di Giacomo made famous in his passage "A Marechiaro".
Food
A Fenestella
The Restaurant Al Tonno di Corsa has a very typical kitchen based on fishes specialities.
It has a very nice location in the historical center of Carloforte and it has 80 seats, 40 inside and 40 outside on very panoramic terraces.
Ancient Cities
The Colosseum
The correct name is the Flavian ampitheatre, after the dynasty of emperors who oversaw its construction. The nickname Colosseum, or Coliseum, derives either from a colossal statue of the emperor Nero that once stood nearby which, according to the ancient historian Suetonius, was over 35 metres high (120 ft); or from the colossal dimensions of the building itself. The Colosseum stands below the slopes of the Oppian hill in a marshy valley encircled by the Coelian, Esquiline and Palatine hills.
Palatine Hill
The Palatine Hill (Latin: Palatium) is the centermost of the seven hills of Rome and is one of the most ancient parts of the city of Rome in Italy. It is some 70 metres high and looks down on one side upon the Forum Romanum and on the other side upon the Circus Maximus
