16 Dec 2013

Posted at 00:00h in Italian itineraries

Stresa is located in the middle of Lake Maggiore, and enjoys a unique panoramic position, opposite the Borromean Islands.Stresa church tower

From the mid-19th century, when the first British tourists arrived, to the early 20th century, Stresa has been adding to the elegant appearance that still distinguishes it nowadays, with its Liberty hotels and villas, notably Villa Pallavicino and Villa Vignolo.

Today Stresa is a much sought-after holiday destination and an important venue for cultural events such as the “Stresa and Lake Maggiore Musical Weeks”, set up in 1961 by Italo Trentinaglia de Daverio, a noble Venetian lawyer, whose father was a composer, a musical event organizer, the theater director  of La Scala in Milan and La Fenice in Venice. The Trentinaglia family owned a villa in Stresa where used to gather together musicians and writers, and where Italo Trentinaglia had first the idea of setting up a musical event.

04 Dec 2013

Posted at 00:00h in Italian itineraries

Italy has a robust transport and communication sector that includes all the main means of transportation used all over the world. With sea ports and an elaborateTravelling through Tuscany by car road and rail network, Italy boasts of a well-developed railways system, modern roads, standard airports and sea-ports. In this post, the main focus is on railway and road networks in this European nation. Away from the port cities, there is no better way of touring the Italian cities other than by train.

The railways network in Italy is so diverse that it links almost every important city or town. It is true to state that all the cities of Italy are intertwined in the railroad network. A major benefit of traveling by train in Italy is the shorter times you can take depending on the kind of train you take and the destinations in question. A major train in the country that many use is the 186 mph Frecciarossa train that links Naples through Rome and into Florence before going all the way to Milan in only four hours. At 186mph, you cannot beat these speeds by road.

01 Apr 2011

Posted at 00:00h in Italian itineraries

Città della Pieve is a small village in Umbria, in the province of Perugia. It is very near the border between Umbria, Tuscany and Lazio, and surrounded by some of the most beautiful places of these three regions: the Tuscan cities of Montepulciano and Cetona, Lake Trasimeno in Umbria, Lake Bolsena and the city of Viterbo in Lazio.Città della Pieve

Città della Pieve is a medieval village, ringed by fourteenth century walls, featuring beautiful exposed brickwork. It is said to have the narrowest alleyway in Italy, Via Baciadonne, and is famous for being the birthplace of Pietro Vannucci, called Il Perugino, considered to be the highest exponent of Umbrian art in the XV century.