ITALY SPECIALIST

ROME 2014

I have been fortunate to travel to Italy.  We used Milan as a home base and used the fast and easy train system to travel around this beautiful country.

Starting in Milan. Milan, is a metropolis in Italy's northern Lombardy region. Milan is considered one of the world's fashion and design capitals of the world. It is home to the national stock exchange.  Milan is also well known for it's restaurants and shops. The Gothic Duomo di Milano cathedral and the Santa Maria delle Grazie convent, housing Leonardo da Vinci’s mural “The Last Supper,” testify to centuries of art and culture that can be found here.

Taking a day trip to Venice. Venice, the capital of northern Italy’s Veneto region, is built on more than 100 small islands in a lagoon in the Adriatic Sea. It has no roads, just canals – including the Grand Canal thoroughfare – lined with Renaissance and Gothic palaces. The central square, Piazza San Marco, contains St. Mark’s Basilica, which is tiled with Byzantine mosaics, and the Campanile bell tower offering views of the city’s red roofs.

Another day trip brought us to Florence. Florence is the capital of Italy’s Tuscany region, and is home to many masterpieces of Renaissance art and architecture. One of its most iconic sights is the Duomo, a cathedral with a terracotta-tiled dome engineered by Brunelleschi and a bell tower by Giotto. The Galleria dell'Accademia displays Michelangelo’s “David” sculpture. The Uffizi Gallery exhibits Botticelli’s “The Birth of Venus” and da Vinci’s “Annunciation.”

Last, we were able to spend a couple of days in Rome, which happened to be my favorite. With over two millennia under its belt, Rome is a monumental cornerstone of Western civilization. It was the birthplace of the Roman Empire, which once spanned three continents and became a melting pot for trade, culture, and knowledge. Its societal structures, political strategies, and cultural norms laid the foundations for future European civilizations, shaping their developmental paths.Here you will find Vatican City, enveloped by Rome’s borders, and is the smallest independent state in the world.  Rome stands as a beacon of history, religion, art, civilization and is rich in cuisine - a treasure trove of a destination not to be missed.