Sprawled between the Alps and the river Po’s plains, Lombardy (Lombardia) has one of Italy’s most varied landscapes. Industrious cities, medieval hill towns and lakeside resorts are inter-spersed with powdered slopes, lemon groves, crop fields, vineyards and rice paddies. But one element defines this diverse region: style. Lombardy’s capital, Milan, is the country’s fashion and finance powerhouse, and is its second-largest metropolis after Rome. The empires of Armani, Prada, Gucci and dozens of others reside in Milan’s ‘Golden Quad’, while cutting-edge homewares and furniture designers such as Kartell and Alessi also call Milan home.Sparkling lakes are strung along the north of the region like a necklace and are the real jewels. Wedding-cake villas set in tiered gardens adorn elegant towns and intimate villages along the shores. Yet despite the lakes’ beauty, many areas retain an authenticity untainted by tourism. South of the main chain of lakes, history-steeped cities include medieval Bergamo; Roman Brescia; the age-old violin-making centre of Cremona; and the Renaissance city of Mantua, on the banks of the river Mincio, which has been widened to create more lakes.Fresh lake fish grace Lombardy’s tables, along with risotto and polenta from the plains; Alpine butter, cream and cheese; and celebrated wines such as dry Valtellina reds and fizzy Franciacorta, produced using the same double-fermentation method as Champagne.The catch? Lombardy’s style comes at a price. Its industry and agriculture make it one of he most affluent regions in Italy, and hence one of the most expensive. Still, there are ways o keep the costs down – and this region rewards you when you splash out.
Straddling the central Apennines, Abruzzo and Molise offer some of Italy’s least-explored countryside. And it’s this wild landscape of stark peaks, silent valleys and dark forests that’ the real reason to visit. In few other regions can you find such solitude. But that’s not to say that tourism has bypassed the area. It hasn’t. The Parco Nazionale d’Abruzzo, Lazio e Molise attracts two million visitors annually, while further east the heavily developed Adriatic resorts swell with sun seekers every August. Inland, however, the pace is slower and the infrastructure less obtrusive. Abruzzo and Molise boast three national parks encompassing 3350 sq km of mountainou terrain. Here a small number of wolves and bears roam free, and although you’re unlikely to meet one, it adds an edge to know that you might. A vast outdoor playground, the park are a mecca for outdoor enthusiasts with wonderful hiking, skiing and mountain-biking. Traditionally poor and neglected, neither region is as culturally rich as its more illustrious neighbours, but there are gems to be found. The Romanesque Basilica di Santa Maria di Collemaggio in L’Aquila and the Byzantine frescoes of the Abbazia di San Vincenzo Volturno, northwest of Isernia, are both striking examples of artistic expression. Isolation has also ensured the survival of age-old customs such as Cocullo’s bizarre snake-charmers’ procession and the manic bull-race in Ururi. In Scanno, you can still see elderly women wearing traditional costumes. The two regions (known collectively as the Abruzzi until they were divided in 1963) are among Italy’s most earthquake-prone. Most recently, a quake in 2002 killed 29 people in the small town of San Giuliano di Puglia.
The history of Italian art is in many ways also the history of Western art. A browse through any text on the subject brings up the names of seminal movements and periods including classical, Renaissance, mannerist, baroque, futurist and Metaphysical – all of which were forged in Italy by a pantheon of artists including Giotto, Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, Bernini, Botticelli and Caravaggio. The country itself is one huge art gallery, full of museums and churches housing a treasure trove of art that is unmatched anywhere in the world. There’s no way the visitor can see it all, but one thing’s for sure: no trip around the country can be complete without a fair few gallery, church and museum stops along the way.
Aviation is the fastest growing contributor to climate change. Yet it’s not exclusively bad; mile for mile, the amount of carbon dioxide emitted for one person driving a car is about as much as that for one per passenger on a plane. However, the problem with flying is not only the carbon (and other greenhouse gases, such as water vapour) emitted, but at high altitude these have a greater effect on climate change.Most forms of transport emit carbon dioxide to some degree and carbon offset schemes enable you to calculate your emissions so that you can invest in renewable energy schemes and reforestation projects that will reduce the emission of an equivalent amount of carbon dioxide. Some schemes focus just on emissions caused by flights, while others help you work out emissions from specific train, car and ferry journeys to enable you to offset your
journeys whatever mode of transport used.
The immediate response is ‘any time’! On a more serious note, the bestperiod is April to June. The weather then is sunny without being stifling, the countryside bursts with spring flowers, and the flood of summer tourism,largely dictated by school holidays, has yet to crash over the peninsula. Most Italians hit the road in July and August, so those two months – in which prices soar, tempers flare and the country broils – are best avoided. The vision of Italy as the land of eternal Mediterranean sunshine is a trifle distorted. In the Alps, winters are long and severe. First snowfalls usually occur in November and freak falls in June are not unusual. The ski season is high season in the Alps. Those mountains shield Lombardy from the extremes of the northern European winter, but cloud and rain are common – Milan comes close to being Italy’s London.Florence’s position, nestled in a valley surrounded by hills, creates ovenlike
conditions in summer. Rome experiences hot summers and mild winters.That tendency continues in the south: in Sicily and Sardinia you can expect very mild winters and long hot summers (a dip in the sea is possible from Easter to October).Italy’s calendar of religious, local and national festivals, along with cultural events, is busy year-round but bulges with possibility from Easter to September; see p24 for more information.
Wykop