Spoilt for choice!

The NEW Ciao Italy website is complete. This is what you will see if you visit www.ciaoitaly.com.au:

My job was easy as I just had to write the content and select photos. Sam has designed the website; overcome many challenges in relation to domain transfer and change of hosting provider; spent countless hours solving technical issues and throughout it all, dealt with his mother’s inability to understand anything technical! My heartfelt thanks to my son for being so patient, resourceful, skilled, resolute and enterprising in completing this project.

Perhaps it’s eating the best food in the world, drinking delicious vino and exploring hilltop medieval villages; tracing ancestral heritage; fulfilling a dream of hiking the Dolomites; recapturing memories from your backpacking twenties; or simply the need to return to a country that brings so much joy and inspiration.

You’ve read it in these newsletters or heard me say many times, Italy is a country you can never get enough of.

It is easy to forget that Italy is one of Europe’s newest countries, having only been unified as a nation in 1861. Prior to that, Italy was divided into many city states, some at times independent and glorious, but most for centuries under the domination of Spain, France, Austria or the Papacy.

As you travel through dramatically different landscapes, traces are left of early settlements that flourished here in the past. No matter which region you visit, you are walking on layers of history - Etruscan, Roman, Christian, Barbarian. Italy has 60 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, more than any other country in the world.

In a country with so much diversity, it is surprising to learn that Italy is a small country. The total length is 1,185 kilometres. To put that in perspective, a train from Villa San Giovanni, almost at the bottom of Italy and the gateway to Sicily, takes less than five hours to Rome. The train journey from Rome to Milan is three hours. In around eight hours, you can travel almost the entire length of Italy on a train.

The widest part in the north is less than 500 kilometres. The average width of Italy is 160 kilometres. A train from Genoa, capital of Liguria on the west coast, to Venice on the east coast takes just over four hours.

The Italian Alps separate Italy from the four countries that border it in the north - France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia. The Dolomites are part of the Alps in the north east.

The Apennine Mountains separate west from east and form the spine of Italy, running from the north to the south. Add to the mix several active volcanoes, including Etna, Stromboli and Vesuvius, and you can understand why Italy is one of Europe’s most mountainous countries.

The gentle, rolling hills and rich farmland can be found in Tuscany, Emilia-Romagna and Umbria. Bordered by four seas - Ligurian, Tyrrhenian, Ionian, Adriatic - means villages clinging to cliffs on the west coast and abundant beaches on the east coast.

Apart from the dramatically different landscapes across Italy, culture, food, traditions, festivals and dialects can differ greatly from one region to the next. According to UNESCO, there are 31 dialects spoken across the country. Some are so different that a person from Milan may not understand a word spoken by a person living in Sardinia.

It is the diversity and the size of Italy that allows you to encompass so many different elements into a holiday. Without question, you will relish the food no matter where you travel and be awestruck by the visual beauty of totally different landscapes. As if that’s not enough, it’s so amazing to be able to include ancient medieval villages, Tuscan countryside, seaside villages and tiny hamlets on the northern lakes in a two week holiday with enough time to savour it all.

Or it may be romantic towns, fast flowing rivers, cycling on paths suspended over a lake and rugged, majestic mountains. For the really adventurous, sleep in caves in one of the oldest places on the planet, walk around craters on an active volcano and island hop from small fishing islands to islands that are a walker’s paradise.

Whatever you desire and however you choose to travel, Italy is a country that travel was invented for.

It’s a natural reaction, if travelling a long way, to fit as much as possible in the time you have. However, that can be detrimental if you limit yourself to one or two nights in a destination because invariably there is not enough time to enjoy local experiences.

What I love about Italy, whether Rome or Naples or a tiny village, is the joy of wandering, often without an agenda, and soaking up history, details, daily rituals, engaging with locals - all the magic moments that create the unforgettable memories and often life-changing experiences.

If two weeks is all you have, focus on the north or the south or a region such as Puglia or Sicily and do it well. Of course, if you have a month to travel, you can include the north and south, but be realistic. It’s impossible to see it all.

When people tell me they have already been to Rome, I ask for how long. The answer is invariably 2-3 days, often with an attitude of having ticked that box. I can’t help myself when I respond by saying that you could live in the historic centre of Rome for a year and still not see everything. I love the fact that I have been exploring this city for fifteen years and discover new things every single time I return.

Ci vediamo la prossima settimana.

Deb