Italy is My Favorite Country to Visit (Perhaps It's Because I Am Italian)

Buon Giorno…Prego…Amore…Mangia…Ciao… Just a few of the phrases you'll hear as you travel in Italy.

Perhaps it's because I am of Italian ethnicity but Italy is my favorite country to visit. Yes, it's (usually) hot, maybe crowded, loud, a bit dusty and I don't really understand the language much, but it's "bellisimo!"

My family is from towns on the Italian Riviera about an hour from Genoa and near the towns of Rapallo and Portofino. In Portofino, my family and I took a glass bottom boat trip to see "Jesus Christ in the Sea." It is a giant white cross - perhaps Jesus Christ was on the cross but I don't recall - lying at the bottom of the ocean. On another day we visited the tiny hillside hamlet of Lorsica, where I watched young ladies balancing wrapped bundles of straw on their heads walking down the street. And, in this very poor community, there is a small but beautiful Catholic Church with magnificent stained glass windows and gold everywhere. Prominent over the altar is a list of contributors to the church building fund. Grandma proudly pointed out her father's name, near the top of the list. This is where my grandmother lived as a little girl; the family lived upstairs and the first floor was a dirt floor where the animals stayed at night.

I remember the excitement of Venice and I never noticed the fading paint along the water line. St. Mark's Square was beautiful and I remember shopping in the nearby shops and visiting the Murano Glass Factory. There wasn't time to take a gondola ride so I must go back.

Rome was spectacular and on my first trip, we took a tour out to the Tivoli Gardens. We went at night and all of the fountains had colored lights and the sights were simply fantastic. It was the highlight of Italy for me on that trip. I returned to Tivoli Gardens again with my parents who had not been there before. They enjoyed it but I was disappointed because the energy crisis had hit and all of the colored lights had been replaced with white lights and to me it was not the magical place it was on my first visit. I enjoyed the Coliseum and back then the iron gates and fences had not yet been built. The Vatican was very impressive and it was in Vatican Square where my uncle was charged $9 for 3 ice cream cones from a street vendor. (This was 1965-ice cream, even in Rome, wasn't that much!!) My grandfather brought the police over and the cost reverted to a nominal charge.

But, I think my favorite part of Italy is "Lago di Como" minutes from the Swiss border and about an hour from Milan. We stayed at the famed, lakeside Villa D'Este, where we climbed wide stairs from its magnificent lobby to our beautiful rooms where I was pleased to find a wood-burning fireplace. But, it was summer so I couldn't light a fire. The estate's park consisted of 25 acres of gardens and was spectacular with a bridge, fountains, stonework and statuary. It's still a wonderful hotel, having been renovated with modern amenities added.

Pick only three or four areas and plan to spend a few days in each. If you see something you like, buy it because you might not find anything like it again. Once in Rome, I was in a workingman's district of neighborhood shops and a store with beautiful leather shoes at great prices. I decided to return with the women in my family the next day. But, we never found that neighborhood although the taxi driver went round and round the area around the Spanish Steps where it was. I learned my lesson!

Have a great time.