"ITALIA - PREGO!" a Italy Travel Page by iandsmith

ITALY - A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE.
I feel obliged to warn people who are expecting a warm and fuzzy everything's-all-right-in-the-garden perspective on their beloved Italy, this may not be the page you will enjoy! I prefer to let people know what to expect, warts and all.
For instance, you will hear at this site about the dog faeces in the streets of Naples; the piles of rubbish thrown casually over cliff faces onto previous already disgusting piles; the inept signposting that will get you lost anywhere once you're off the Austostradas (and sometimes on them even); the Romany beggars and the black hawkers who will appear every day where any crowd might be likely to eventuate; the pollution in northern Italy that makes L.A. look like an unspoilt paradise by comparison; the hustling capital of the world (Naples) where anyone who befriends you wants money; some of the frightening stories about what may happen to you in Sicily (like a motorhome's occupants being gassed and, whilst comatose, having their motorhome rasacked).
Yes, it does have its good points and some of those I will wax lyrical about but, for me, too many things are glossed over by most reports. When on holidays, I like to know what may happen to me as well as what I might see, so the following will endeavour to canvas a broad spectrum of my first five weeks in Italy.
The following is a quote from a man named George Dennis and, as his passion parallels mine to some degree and since he was in part responsible for my going to Sovana, I felt obliged to include it here, in the hope it may inspire others: "We are apt to regard Italy as a country so thoroughly beaten by travellers, that little new can be said about it; still less do we imagine that relics of the olden time can exist in the open air, and remain unknown to the world. Yet the truth is, that vast districts of the Peninsula, especially in the Tuscan, Roman, and Neapolitan States, are to the archaeologist a terra incognita. Every monument on the high-roads is familiar, even to the fireside traveller; but how little is known of the bye-ways! Of the swarms of foreigners who yearly traverse the country between Florence and Rome, not one in a hundred leaves the beaten track to visit objects of antiquity; still fewer make a journey into the intervening districts expressly for such a purpose." Hear, hear.

Just to show I'm not entirely biased here is another shot from Florence, just around the corner from the one above as it turned out. Almost looks like a rival for Pisa in this shot but, that's one of the joys of using wide angle lenses.
One thing to realise is the contrasts that will occur in attitudes as you move from area to area.
For instance, I will never forget my amazement in Bolzano as I glanced at five people waiting to cross the road. There was not a vehicle of any sort to be seen anywhere, yet they waited dutifully for the pedestrian light to change. Having spent the previous month in the southern parts of Italy where crossing the street is a daily life-and-death ritual and pedestrian crossings are repainted about every decade so they're invisible most of the time, I was amazed at the discipline of the ordered life in the Sud Tirol.
These are a few of our favourite things (can I feel a musical coming on?).
Best castle: San Leo, spectacular setting, well preserved, excellent museum.
Best hilltop town: Orvieto; narrow streets, walls all around, fabulous church facade, spectacular setting and an underground tour to boot!
Best piazza: Trento; tough call this one but it has a fountain, castle, duomo, is clean (that eliminates a lot), painted walls and no busloads of tourists.
Best restaurant: My favourite trattoria in Ascoli Piceno - superb.
Most scenic place: Amalfi coast on one side of the coin, Dolomites on the other - your toss.

"Will the last one out please turn off the lights." My second trip constantly reminded me of this humorous line. Everywhere I went or whatever I tried to do it seemed time or fate was against me.
I lost count of how many museums, attractions, tourist offices, ristorantes and, for heavens sakes, even garages, were closed. Some one obviously phoned ahead and let them know I was coming!
Even prior to coming I had purged the pages of VT after reviewing a map of northern Italy, at times to no avail. There was either no information or so little as to be almost useless. Still, when you have come all the way from downunder, you better believe that you are going to give it your best shot. Fortunately, Italy, like no other country I know of, rewards the "off the beaten path" traveller and has so many attractions that it doesn't matter how many are closed there will still be something, somewhere, open.
With some exceptions I didn't think the food was as good this time and, as perhaps a guideline for those who discern as I do, I have made a list here of some highlights and disappointments of my Italian sojourns.
DIDN'T MEET THE HYPE
1. Duomo at Firenze (Florence). After seeing many better examples I was a little disappointed.
2. Civita. It may have been "discovered" but, unlike "conceng"'s assessment, I'm trying to work out what all the fuss was about other than the spectacular setting.
3. Farnese Palace at Caprarola. Admittedlly I got there on a bad day when the gardens were closed and you had to wear a helmet to the toilet (no elaborations please - it was undergoing repair), but the lack of interior fittings was disappointing.
4. San Gimignano. Take away the towers and a host of other towns have more to offer.
5. Rilke's Promenade (Trieste). A lovely and worthwhile walk but, top 10 in the world????
6. Monteriggioni. I came, I saw, I left.

EXCEEDED EXPECTATIONS
1. The basilica at Aquileia. Inside was the western world's largest Roman mosaic, amazing.
2. Trento. One of the cleanest towns in Italy, free multi-language tourist guide on Saturdays and a magnificent piazza and painted town to boot.
3. Sovana, Sorana and Pitigliano. This triumvirate of towns have the finest on-site Etruscan remains. Period.
4. The Dolomites. One of the world's most sensational mountain ranges. I'd go there before Rome and I love history.
5. Orvieto, Rosemarie's and my own favourite hilltop town. Fantastic church facade.
6. San Leo. Best castle in Italy.
7. Ostia Antica. I had no idea there was so much of it.

LIVED UP TO HYPE
1. Duomo at Siena.
2. Spoleto, another great hilltop town.
3. Ascoli Piceno, apart from having the best trattoria in Italy, is wonderful.
4. Malcesine. Delightful lakeside town. I'm going back for more.
5. Naples. You either love it or hate it. We loved it (despite getting ripped off).
6. Amalfi Coast. Yep, it's all true.
7. Cinque Terre. A walker's delight.
8. Vicenza - Palladio is there for all to see.
9. Volterra, superb Etruscan museum, interesting town.
10. Misurina. Not much of it but what there is soooo beautiful.
And a quote from a Mr. Thayer that touched me, "In Tuscany for example, most will only be aware of Florence and Siena — meaning really only the Duomo and the Uffizi in the one, and the Duomo in the other — (oh and Pisa for that blasted tower), but even such phenomenal sights as Fiesole, the cathedral of Arezzo, the Roman theater of Volterra, or indeed the extraordinary Etruscan remains at Sovana that are the subject of this very chapter, might as well be on the back side of the Moon."
I'm totally with him in sentiment, but can't entirely agree with him about Fiesole.