Italy - Information.

September 2000 - WORK TRIP: Conference in Acquafredda di Maratea, near Sapri (200 km south of Naples) in southern Italy.

April 2002 - Day trip from Teesside Aiport to Naples (Napoli), Pompeii, Vesuvius - PHOTOS TO COME.

Strange Happenings: Another place where nothing really strange happened.   The best one I can think of is being forced to pay 50,000 lira (£15) for a fifteen minute taxi ride, which only cost 10,700 lira ("Thrree peoplle, surrcharrge, luggaage, surrcharrge, giva mea the monney nowwa."), but that doesn't really count, cause rip offs like that happen everywhere.

Oh, I forgot, the church up next to the statue of Christ on the hilltop above Maratea and the church in Old Maratea itself used electronic candles instead of real ones, when you made an offering (See the 'Maratea Old Town and Statue of Christ' photo for more information).

Travel Advice and Information: Italy is an expensive country, especially the cities.   It is also one of the big homes of fashion and yes, the Italians can really turn on the style.   But what is the truth?

The truth is that even in places like Milan, many Italians will probably do some window shopping around the brand name stores, then nip round the corner to a discount store, to get what they want for a fraction of the price.   This I got from one of the pocket guides, so I'll let you make up your own minds on Italian style.   Everyday clothes?   They can be just as scruffy as you or me.

As for major attractions?   Well, I only briefly passed through Naples on what I would actually class as 'business' (the main reason I was in Italy was not travel or tourism, but a rather tedious conference, deliberately located in a remote area, so that people could not escape to the main tourist attractions).   An attempt to get to Pompeii and Heraculum for the Roman ruins was frustrated by circumstances beyond my control, nothing to do with the irregular activity of the nearby volcano, Vesuvius, but unfortunately work related matters.

So what is there?   You have the classical architecture of cites like Florence in the north, the Roman history of, how shall I say it, Rome with the Coliseum, the Vatican City (which is a country in it's own right) and St. Peter's Square.   For those into culture, there's plenty opportunity to see some opera in the main cities, whilst those into sports can head for the nearest football stadiums, football being a national obsession in Italy.

Beach lovers can find plenty of places dotted all around the Italian coasts, though in some places (i.e. the south), the beaches tend to be very stony.   I got a couple of swims in the sea and the warmth of the water, even in late September, makes this a pleasant experience.   The Italian resorts tend to be a lot quieter than their Spanish and Greek counterparts, expense probably being part of the reason and there are plenty of alternatives to the more popular places like Capri (from Naples, the island looks like a crocodile's head in the water) and Rimini.   As for winter sports, the Italian Alps in the North provide plenty of opportunity for skiing and other activities.

As regards Italian food, hope you like lot's of pasta and pizza.   But apart from that, there's actually a fair variety on the menu for food and wine lovers.

Weather: Mediterranean climate, with mild, wet winters and very warm, but drier summers.   The Alps are colder, with large quantities of snow likely in winter.   The further south you go, the warmer and drier it is likely to be.   In the north, temperatures can vary from around 5°C (below freezing in the Alps) to the upper twenties.   In the south, temperatures vary between the mid-teens to the low thirties, though with the south's proximity to North Africa, temperatures in the summer can be higher.

Travel Companies: Most major companies travel to Italy.

Currency: Euro (Italian Lira prior to 2002).

Beer and Beverages: Italy is not a beer country and people will tend to go for wine.   I haven't any real knowledge of Italian beer, so I'll not make any personal recommendations here for that reason.   Brands I have managed to identify include Menabrea Italia, Moretti and Friulana Peroni.   I ended up drinking some San Miguel (Spanish and a lager) on draught, out of a two litre Stein glass (though they're so clumsy to handle, I only did it twice).

Language: Italian.   Some German is spoken in the parts of the southern Tyrol that are within Italy.

Religion: Roman Catholicism.   Many (but not all) Italians (even the Mafia) show a high degree of loyalty to the Roman Catholic Church - again though, a lot of people don't bother anymore.