"ITALY" Italy by Phalaenopsis03

My first time in Italy was in June of '99 with the ex. Then in June 2003, the same partner and I docked in Venice as part of a port stop on our Mediterranean cruise. More recently, however, in May of 2008, I returned to Italy (i.e., Florence, Rome, Venice, and other cities) accompanied by my new beau.

Boy, this time around the crowds were overwhelming! From St. Mark's Square in Venice, to the Duomo in Florence, to the Trevi Fountain in Rome, it felt like Disneyland at every turn. And surprisingly, it wasn’t even the height of travel season yet. In '01 and '03, I visited in June both times and the crowds weren’t that bad at all (my old photos reveal that too). Needless to say, the masses were suffocating to me (although I was part of the masses). Otherwise, I totally enjoyed my trip. Just relaxing at an outdoor cafe or restaurant was a treat. I'm not a sit-back and relax type of vacationing gal, so it was a pleasant change to do that, so I appreciated it.

my Bvlgari sunglasses, made in Italy

A couple of observations... Sunglasses - Oh man, Italians certainly do love a nice pair of shades. Shops selling sunglasses abound and they weren’t just selling the cheapy stuff either. Nope, these were designer brands like Gucci, Prada, Chanel, Dior, etc. I guess any real fashion forward Italian would have to be wearing a hip pair of eyewear. Pizzas - their pizzas tasted great (this time for me). I recall that every pizza I had in Italy prior to this trip was disappointing. Of course I’m speaking with an American palate that's used to the Americanized version of pizza, but it would appear that today's Italian pizza has come to resemble the American pizza. Although I’m not entirely sure if that's necessarily a good thing, but ironically, even the current b.f. agrees. His pizza eating experience in Napoli in '69 was similar to mine in '01. However, in '08, we both enjoyed every single slice of authentic Italian pizza we consumed! Deliziosi indeed!

Well, addio per ora i miei amici.

Please note, my Italy pages are composed of the places listed immediately below. I've consolidated my photos from '01, '03, and '08 into the Travelogues at the bottom of this page, but the more popular destinations have their own sites devoted to them and contain links.

1.) Campania: Isola di Capri, Pompeii, Sorrento
2.) Lazio: Rome
3.) Liguria: Portofino
4.) Lombardy: Milan
5.) Tuscany: Florence, Pisa
6.) Umbria: Assisi
7.) Veneto: Burano, Isola di Murano, Venice, Verona
8.) Vatican City

Quick Facts on Italy:

Full country name: Italian Republic
Area: 301,250 sq km (117,487 sq mi)
Population: 57.6 million
Capital city: Rome (pop 3.6 million)
People: Italian
Languages: standard Italian and numerous dialects, German, French, Slovene
Religions: 85% Roman Catholic, 5% Jewish and Protestant
Government: Republic
Prime Minister: Silvio Berlusconi

GDP: US$1.18 trillion
GDP per head: US$20,800
Annual growth: 1.5%
Inflation: 1.8%
Major industries: tourism, engineering, textiles, chemicals, food processing, motor vehicles, clothing & footwear
Major trading partners: EU (esp. Germany, France, UK, Spain, Netherlands), USA
Member of EU: yes
Euro zone participant: yes

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