Let's start a 100 best things to do in Italy list
 

Okay- I'm going to Italy in March- Let's start a list. J

anyone?

Where does one begin? <BR>1. Emerge from the stazzione in Venice and thrill to your first--and lasting--view of the Grand Canal there before you. <BR>2. Climb the 463 steps to the top of the Florence Duomo and gain a wonderful view of the city.....to say nothing of the bragging rights for having made the climb. <BR>3. Sit on a nearby bench and marvel at Michelangelo's magnificent David in the Accademia in Florence. <BR>4. Gaze in awe and wonder at Michelangelo's incredible Pieta in St. Peter's in the Vatican....and perhaps even feel a teardrop welling up in your eyes. <BR>5. Get lost in the maze of narrow streets and small canals in Venice. <BR>6. Talk to the Italians every chance you get! <BR>7. Eat gellato at every opportunity. <BR>8. Eat pasta at every opportunity! <BR>9. Stroll the streets of Bellagio, Varenna and other small towns on Lake Como. <BR>That's a start! <BR>

Wow Jessyca, what a great idea, as the Paris list will be at its 100 pretty soon I guess. So this is Nr. 10: Have a delicious ice cream at Vivoli's in Florence after a stroll through the Boboli gardens.

Thankyou Ursula! <BR> <BR>10) go to an Italian night club with a handsome Italian man. (went to a club called the Fish Market in Mestere) <BR>11) Attend a Roman catholic mass in Assissi(It took my breath away) <BR>12)Take the chairlift to the top of the mountain on the Isle of Capri. <BR>13)See the Duomo at night! <BR>14)buy a beautiful watercolor painting in Venice and Florence -take them home and frame them. <BR>15)Talk to people you'll never see again! <BR>16)St. Marco's basillica in Venice- light a candle and say a prayer for a loved one.. Look out over Venice from the roof. <BR>17) Lean over Juliet's balcony in Verona <BR> <BR>14) <BR>

Jessyca: Nr. 10 is mine!

18. Wander around Assisi <BR>19. Wander Bassano del Grappa <BR>20. Gondola through Venice, as close to midnight as possible. <BR>21. Visit Villa Balbianello <BR>22. Drive up through the Piemonte, up over the Queyras into France, following the footsteps of Hannibal. <BR>23. Drive the Amalfi coast. <BR>24. See the Last Supper in Milan. <BR>25. Visit Pompeii <BR>

OOps- sorry on the numbers... Ursuala-- I thought maybe you wanted the Italian man and the night club! J

eat a truffle in spoleto <BR>eat at a restaurant in frontone (you won't find it in most guidebooks, but it's incredible) <BR>check out perugia, urbino, assisi, spoleto, gubbio <BR>hang out in the piazza <BR>get a shave in a barbershop <BR>eat the fruit <BR>get a bottle of wine and cheese and have a picnic <BR> <BR>

Jessyca: The Italian man would be fine -especially in a nice restaurant - rather than the nightclub.

I'm being greedy and taking a second turn! <BR>26. Look out the window of your seaside hotel room and see the beyond-belief view of the Positano hillside. <BR>27. Walk down the streets of Rome and marvel at the fact that the city numbers its past in millenia, while we Americas do it merely by centuries. <BR>28. View La Scala Opera House (preferably during an opera, but even without one is memorable).

29)Have a seven course meal at a restaraunt playing accordian music, and look over Florence. <BR>30) Ride a scooter through Sorrento! <BR>31) Listen to Andrea Bocelli while driving through the hills of Naples and Postino. WOW! <BR>32)Take a lake cruise at Lake Como. <BR>33)Stay in the Lake Como area and sit on <BR>your front porch until the wee hours of the morning. <BR>34) Italian men, Italian men, Italian men! <BR>35) Venice as the lights start to dim over the canals.

any chemistry brewing between you and angelo yet? <BR>

Jessyca and Howard: it's not all for you! I haven't been to Italy for a while (besides that I'm Swiss and getting old, i.e. slow). <BR> <BR>37) Go to the Campo in Siena (greatest piazza) and then to the patisserie Nanini (Gianna Nanini family/remember her hit years ago: Bello e impossibile??)

36 Go to tuscany to a villa and take a hands on cooking class form a Italian chef. 37 have a glass of wine on the porch of the Hotel Continental Santa Margherita Ligure 38 sit on a bench eating fresh foccia berad in portifino

you see, I'm getting old - I skipped nr. 36. sorry about that.

Visit Vieste and hike the Gargano hills

Tee hee... is that you Rex?? I wrote Angelo and he hasn't written me back. He MUST not know how cute I am!!!

Since we haven't been yet, but are going this summer, I will list some real touristy things to do <BR>39- see the Colosseum at night. <BR>40-throw our coins in the Trevi Fountain. <BR>41-take the children to an outdoor puppet show in Rome. <BR>42-Take the ferry to Ischia (to see if it will be a good place for my 50th B-Day Vacation) <BR>43- Explore the town of Sperlonga <BR>44-Visit an WW2 cemetary, and think of all those who died in that terrible but necessary war. <BR>45-see all the marvelous sites of Italy through "virgin" yes. <BR>46-sip very balsamic vinegar, (to see if it is as yummy as "they" say) <BR>47-sit on the terrace of our Rome apartment at night, with a glass of something, and look out onto Rome. <BR>48- swim in the waters of the Tyrrhenian Sea , and give thanks I am in Italy for summer vacation, and not Maine (as much as I love Maine) <BR>49-speak italian to italians <BR>50-eat gelato everyday in order to find the *best* flavor. <BR>Hope these aren't too ordinary, but for a newbie to Italy they will be fun. <BR>

They are great.. and I found that some of the simpliest thing there(AKA drinking a cappucino and looking at the Piazza) are the most memorable and wonderful. Have a lovely time!