Pope Pius II had a dream for an ideal city near Rome. More than 500 years ago, he started to make it. This is what it’s become.
Tuscany’s Renaissance landscape
In Renaissance times, this enormous Tuscan landscape was designed so it would be pleasing on the eye. Centuries later, it still has that effect.
Over a Tuscan stove
Tuscan cooking I try first with one hand and then with two. Either way, I can’t seem to roll the dough into the smooth even cylinders I’m aiming for. The more I try, the worse it gets. “Too much pressure”, I’m told by the Italian cook. Tell me about it! I feel like everyone is […]
How to visit Tuscany cheaply
Cheap Tuscany, Italy It’s no surprise that one of the most popular regions of Italy is also one of the most expensive. Between accommodation, food and sites, you can really burn through the euros on a trip to Tuscany. But the good news is that it doesn’t have to be that way – it is […]
The towers of San Gimignano
San Gimignano, Italy San Gimignano is a city of towers. Fourteen in total these days (although at one point there were as many as 72!). Built during the fourteenth century, they were status symbols of the various families. Phallic like, it was all about size. The Italian city of San Gimignano was once one of the […]
The horse race that stops Siena
Palio di Siena horse race, Italy Standing here, you can imagine the thundering of hooves and the roaring of the spectators. The energy must be incredible, thousands of people crammed together in the centre of the square as the horses race around them. Encircled and squashed, there would be nothing to do but shout with […]
History’s biggest scam?
The Leaning Tower of Pisa, Italy Perhaps it’s all a marketing scam, this leaning tower thing. Perhaps it was meant to be built like that! There’s a school of thought that says the slant of the tower in Pisa was no accident. These ‘experts’ claim it may have been because of Pisa’s rivalry with Florence […]
Florence and the museums
The thing about Florence Daydreaming as I walk the streets about Florence, I’m suddenly jolted from my daze by a man crashing into me. The church I’d been looking at is lost from my view as I quickly swing around. Recoiling, I move into a doorway just in time to avoid a second collision with […]
The most beautiful woman in Florence
Venus de’ Medici Once upon a time there was a woman who was the most beautiful in all of Florence. Men and women from all across the lands would travel to the city to see her. Of all the attractions in Florence, she was the one people most wanted to see. Venus de’ Medici was […]