Italy is the direct product of the greatest civilization in history and led the world into the modern era via the Renaissance. From these notabilities, Italy derives an unequalled history and culture that make it an international hotspot for tourism. It is easy to think of a handful of cities that the discerning traveller must visit. Venice, Milan, Florence, Verona and Rome: each has its own peculiarity and merit a visit. Milan is the economic centre and the capital of fashion and design in the world. Rome is inheritor of the wonders left behind by an ancient civilization.
Vatican Museum
Pont Sisto
In many ways, Italy resembles Spain. Buildings have similar features and are coloured and pieced together in similar ways. But although Spanish architecture is rarely adorned, the Italian equivalents have motifs and ornamentation. This can be traced to Italy’s excessive wealth in the past. Today, much has changed. Although Italy has a manageable deficit, it is losing competitiveness. Its GDP per capita has declined since its joining the Eurozone; it is extremely corrupt (comparable to Greece), and has a failing infrastructure.
Plaza Venezia
Rome is probably the most important tourist destination in the world. On the right side of the Tiber, such must-sees as the Colloseum and Trevi fountain remind visitors of Rome’s plentiful history. It is a city so rich in monuments of grandiose proportion that the principal displays of other cities lumped together would be merely a sideshow in Rome. The scale of the sights cannot be exaggerated for there is no comparison in the modern world. For travelers not yet graced by Rome’s splendours, they cannot imagine the extensiveness. The Trevi fountain is nudged between small corridors that the gargantuan structure creeps up on unsuspecting pedestrians. Hidden by rickety buildings, it can be elusive until found. The Colosseum is magnificent even after centuries of pillaging. Its awe derives directly from the sense of human achievement required to put a 75,000 seater in place two millennia ago. For a comparison, the A.C. Milan game I attended was played in a stadium that housed 80,000. Nearby, a preserved area in city-centre comprises the Roman Forum and the Palatine Hill. Walk over the remains of everyday Roman life.
Colloseum
Roman Forum, Palatine Hill
View from Roman Forum / Palatine Hill
Across the Tiber River sits the smallest country in the world. Inside Vatican city, rests St. Peter’s Basilica, another gargantuan structure that allows for a buffet of praying opportunities. Behind the evangelists and nuns on their knees are foreign-tongued picture snappers. Another must-see is the Vatican museum. In one corridor, an unending line of busts and sculptures so numerous that it looked like cheap inventory at an antique store until you take a closer look. In another, maps of Italy’s states and possessions. At the end of the museum, the Sistine chapel with Michael Angel’s famous fresco awaits. It is camouflaged by the array of similar drawings on the ceiling, but it’s there.
Roma Sparita
12€ Cacio e Pepe
7€ Artichoke
6€ Anchovy Salad
Reservations necessary
Between the tiring gallivants, traditional Italian fare is readily available For cacio e pepe (cheese and pepper), a simple pasta in egg yolk with cheese and pepper, consider Roma Sparita. It is in the old village of Trastevere, where young Italians congregate at night. It has a bustling line of bars and restaurants to fit any mood. For something more adventurous, leave the comfort of touristy Rome and venture to the outskirts where Betto e Mary, from an unnoticeable folk restaurant with an open-fire oven, serve a sextet of ox parts. The food is mediocre but the atmosphere is not. Betto (presumably, that is his name), wearing a sports jacket and track pants, sits down beside guests to construct a suitable menu impromptu. His sons with similar sartorial prowess serve the food.
Betto e Mary
61€ for two
The trip to the outskirts reveals the tattered country we hear from overseas. A metro train takes twenty minutes to come. A bus with 10-minute cycles comes swamped with smelly commuters 30 minutes after the fact. No wall is safe from debasement by graffiti. Cracks can be seen as soon as you leave touristy areas. Sketchiness and fear for safety is the pervasive feeling. Life is difficult for residents. The metro seems to have been built for tourists; it stops at every major attraction but walks to residential areas are lengthy. This is the most backwards city I have visited, including any that I have seen in the “3rd world”. Cell service is often weak or non-existent. Transit directions are not linked to Google Maps. Credit cards are often unaccepted. Luggage storage has lengthy lines because it is low-tech.
Pizzarium
Gelateria Dei Gracchi
I Porchettoni der Pigneto
10€ antipasto
4.5€ pint of beer
2€ per 100g of porchetta
The most impressive food in Rome are the small quick-serve places that put a fresh spin on Italian classics. Gelateria Dei Gracchi is the city’s most acclaimed Gelateria and has no less than five variations on dark chocolate alone. One dubbed as Cuban was flavoured with rum and went well with the almond variety (€2.5). For flawless porchetta, I Porchettoni der Pigneto has a suckling pig in the window and indoor picnic tables to eat from. The owner can only speak Italian, but it isn’t difficult to order when you can just point at the pig. It is a delightful treat to go with perky antipasto (zucchini, eggplant, sun-dried tomatoes) and a pint of beer. Walls are decorated with photographs of the allied bombing of that exact street (1943, Italian Campaign). Best is Pizzarium, run by a bumbling celebrity chef called Bonci, affectionately caricaturized at the front of the store as a big-bellied epicure. His pizzas speak for themselves. The crust is no doubt thin but has volume reminiscent of well-baked bread. The result is an explosion in the mouth where ever taste bud and nerve is touched. The bread is so fluid that it is as if a dry soup were being slurped. The pizzas are topped with first-class, fresh ingredients like prosciutto or buffalo mozzarella. This is quite simply the best pizza I’ve ever had.
HangarBicocca
Spazio Rossana Orlandi
Milan is a bore against Rome. But sights like Duomo and the canal are worth seeing. We particularly enjoyed the Triennale Design Museum, which had an odd mélange of exhibits about Italian Design, Dracula and Sex. Pirelli HangarBicocca, a converted warehouse has seven futuristic leaning towers in a converted factory and is free. Spazio Rossana Orlandi is a beautiful furniture shop with contributions from the artsy fartsy and is free. For lunch, an acclaimed restaurant called Giulio Pane e Ojo, a bit out of the way, serves a two-course meal and wine for 10€ a person. For dinner, some roadside paninis and roasted chestnuts before seeing an AC Milan game.
Giulio Pane e Ojo
10€ lunch
The most important sight in Milan is also the most difficult to come by. Don’t be fooled by the names: three of tripadvisor’s Top 10 in Milan concern the same object. L'Ultima Cena, Chiesa di San Maurizio al Monastero Maggiore and Santa Maria delle Grazie all refer to Da Vinci’s last supper, the romanticized fresco from Renaissance Italy pumped up by Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code. It is many magnitudes more impressive than Mona Lisa at the Louvre because of its size. Advanced booking is essential. I went at 8 AM and found tickets for one person at 11:15 AM. For groups, a week should be sufficient.
Italy is the most important destination for travellers to Europe. Domiciled in Paris, I relinquish that title begrudgingly. Rome is beautiful like Paris, but Rome is more grandiose. But it is also more problematic. The worst of Paris (20th Arr.) is to the Bronx as the slums of Rome are to Washington Heights. The underlying toil of Italians is irrefutable evidence of Italy’s economic malaise and of its being the greatest threat to the continuation of the common currency. Unlike the lively Spanish, Italians seem on average jaded, disgruntled, and unsympathetic. In front of the Duomo, sellers put braided bracelets on you then force you to buy it. At the stadium, hooligans shout racist remarks and unsportsmanlike rants. It seems like the populous has given up. The few who seem to care about politics insist on denigrating Monti, a reformist, and vindicating Berlusconi, who created the current Italy. Italy is a pleasure to visit, but tourism can only take the country so far.