It is a difficult decision when the chance to travel comes. It is necessary to decide where would be the most interesting, and where would be the most exciting, and also the most affordable.
For high school students, Italy is a good choice to visit, for in sophomore year in World History II, a large portion of the school year is dedicated to learning about history in Italy. After all, Rome is one of the main cities in Italy, and a certain Mr. Cheney puts a great emphasis on knowing that the fall of Rome occurred in 476 CE.
When travelling to Italy, it’s a good idea to know where to go before actually travelling. There are many astounding cities to visit, but they are all quite different from one another. For example, Rome is a city from the Classical Era, while Florence is a city from the Renaissance period, and Pisa and Bologna are more of Medieval cities.
Rome, possibly the most famous city in Italy, is a major tourist location. Therefore, it is not the best choice to visit if the desire to travel is to see the real life. There are street vendors on nearly every corner, and nearly no Romans on the street. The majority of the people there are tourists, eating gelato everywhere and scrutinizing maps to find where to go. It is still a wonderful city to visit in order to see real columns and buildings from the Classical Civilization, and to visit the Musei Vaticani, where many famous paintings and sculptures can be found from famous artists and sculptures such as Michelangelo, Da Vinci, Titian, and Rafael. The Sistine Chapel can be found there as well, which is a necessity to see.
Florence is a city that can make any person think that there is nothing else in the world that can be more impressive. The Duomo, or Dome, is the most famous in the country, and while it looks red and rusty-colored in pictures, it is actually made of green and white marble with a hint of pink.
The Uffizi Gallery is a must-see, and it is possible to take a tour to hear about the history of the paintings with a higher price, or to go alone for a much cheaper price. Either way, it takes the same amount of time in the lines, from one to three hours. It is worth waiting, for several of the most famous paintings in the world are found there, such as Botticelli’s Birth of Venus.
Bologna, one of the top cities of the arts in Europe, is home of the University of Bologna, and a beautiful Piazza, or square, with the city hall and two castles. The main streets have high-end designer stores, and nearly every single building on them are old, beautiful, and decorative. The moment a corner is turned, a side street can be found, with graffiti covering every inch of the walls.
They are not gangster streets, however, for the citizens walking on those streets are still neatly dressed and clean cut, and people still ride bicycles and motorbikes, the most common forms of transportation. Bologna may sound like an unimpressive city at first, as if there is not a lot to do, but it may be best to spend three or four days there to become very familiar with the area and visit every little Piazza there.
Pisa is similar to Bologna, in the way that there is a lot more than what one may expect. The Leaning Tower is actually not as big as it appears, and it is not as big of a tourist location as one may expect. A possible reason for this is that in nearly all of the Italian cities, there is a Duomo accompanied by a tower. Pisa is not an exception to this, for there is a Duomo right next to the Leaning Tower. The only difference with Pisa’s tower is that it was built on clay, so it eventually slanted. Pisa is an excellent city to see the real life of Italians, while doing tourist activities at the same time.
When visiting any city in Italy, a visitor must know where to eat, and to get familiar with the area. After two days of walking around all day in one of the cities, it is not a problem to know every major street by memory.
The osterias are cheaper places to eat, while the trattorias are slightly more expensive. Ristorantes are the most expensive, so it is important to go to whichever places fit the visitor’s budget. However, a visitor must enjoy all of the specialty foods in a city to truly know how Italians enjoy their lives.
Bologna is famous not for bologna, but for tortellini. In all of Italy, deli meats and cheeses are greatly loved, and there are shops for these nearly on every street. They are all small, sometimes family-run shops, with excellent quality foods at prices cheaper than found in the United States.
Coffee and bread are loved in Italy as well, and it is nearly impossible to find salad dressings other than olive oil and vinegar. Italians love olive oil and vinegar.
To finish off, enjoy the gelati in the small shops. Try every flavor, every day.