Italian Travel

Next month I am off to Italy, so this column is going to be inundated with all things Italian. And since there is so much to say about Italy, and since I am going to be traveling in two of Italy's plum, culture packed regions, look forward to several future articles.

So to get started...first, I am going to a writer's conference for part of the trip, which makes the trip all the better since it's a tax right-off. Then I will spend some time traveling around Tuscany (the conference is near Siena) and then take the train over to Venice. I have been to Italy twice before, but never to Venice, and I am really looking forward to it. Plus I will be there in October, and the weather should be cooler (Tuscany can really bake during the summer-just like Dante's inferno) and the swarms of tourists should be thinned out.

Italy is a popular destination for tourists, there's no doubt about. There's just something about the land, the people (and I'm biased, because some of my relatives originally emigrated from Calabria), the culture and the way of life. The land has a very long and checkered history, rising and falling from greatness, settling into obscurity and then lifting itself up from the ashes once again. This is the land which brought up Leonardo DaVinci, Sophia Loren, Versace, Michaelangelo, Dante, Botticelli, Columbus (yes, he is responsible for the beginning of the genocide of the native Americans, but nevertheless, was a man of untold courage and vision), Marco Polo, Marconi, Julius Caesar, Galileo and Enrico Fermi-the first scientist to split the atom, and Amerigo Vespucci, for whom two continents were named for.

So as a preview to the coming wave of Italy, here are some links:

Slice of Italy This is certainly more than a slice-this site is a triple helping of pasta and then some. This is the place to start your search for all things Italian, whether you are looking for travel information for a trip, just want to peruse photos of Italy to persue your wanderlust appetite, want the address of the Italian consulate in Canada, want to read Italian literature in Italian-it all here. All the links you ever wanted to add to your bookmarks and then some.

Famous Italians This website highlights a mixture of famous Italians and of first generation American of Italian descent. Mixed together with Machiavelli and Garibaldi, pick out bios on Joe DiMaggio, the baseball great, and Geraldine Ferraro, the first woman to be on a presidential ticket.

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