ITAL 211 Intermediate Italian I: Travel

Venice: Serene, Decadent and Still Kicking: Sorting through the monuments of magical Venice, Rick drinks in the art of Titian, Bellini, Donatello, and the Doge's Palace. He luxuriates in a venerable cafe on St. Mark's Square, and enjoys calamari with locals in a canal-side pub.
Venice Side-Trips: The Best of Veneto: Pulling on hip boots, Rick settles into the muck of the Venetian lagoon. Back on the mainland, he checks out a chapel restoration in Padova, Palladian-style streets and villas in Vicenza, romance in Verona, and dazzling mosaics in Ravenna.
Milan and Lake Como: In Milan Rick takes a peek at Italy's highest fashion, fanciest delis, grandest cemetery and greatest opera house... and Leonardo's The Last Supper. Then he cruises along Lake Como, settling down in the lakeside village of Varenna, where Italy meets the Alps.
Florence: City of Art: Rick looks into the eyes of Michelangelo's David, learns tricks for touring the Uffizi art gallery, and climbs the amazing cathedral dome that kicked off the Renaissance. Then he chases the sunset on a Vespa, and sleeps serenely in a converted monastery.
Caesar's Rome: Rome welcomes the new millennium spiffed up as never before. Rick tours Rome's ancient sights from the Forum and Colosseum to the glorious Pantheon. Then, after hiking the Appian Way and exploring the catacombs, he tracks down the best gelato in Rome.
Rome: Baroque, After Dark: After a pilgrimage to Michelangelo's Pieta, Rick climbs to the top of St. Peter's Basilica. At the Borghese Gallery, he vies exquisite sculptures by the master of marble, Bernini. Then he takes an after-dark stroll, lacing together Rome's Baroque and bubbly nightspots.
Naples and Pompeii: Naples is Italy in the extreme. Rick prowls backstreet fish markets, dodges fast-moving Vespas, and dines on pizza where it was invented. He climbs to the top of Mount Vesuvius, then wanders through the amazing ruins of Pompeii, the Roman town it destroyed.

Cinque Terre: Italy's Hidden Riviera: In these five idyllic port towns, Rick samples village life: fishing for anchovies at midnight, savoring the best pesto, picking grapes, and strolling the "walkway of love." Rick side-trips to Carrara's quarries, where Michelangelo got his marble.
Siena and Assisi: Italy's Grand Hill Towns: In red-bricked Siena, Rick tours the town's innovative medieval hospital and lavish cathedral. Exploring the Chianti region, Rick sips Brunello di Montalcino--with its makers. In Assisi, he follows the footsteps of St. Francis.
Tuscany's Dolce Vita: The villages and countryside of Tuscany give Rick a healthy dose of the "sweet life" as he hunts for truffles in a forest, nibbles through an artichoke festival, shares a farmhouse feast, and rides a classic convertible through the cypress groves of Mona Lisa's back yard.
Italy's Great Hill Towns: Italy's quintessential charms survive in its classic hill towns. From San Gimignano's medieval towers, to Cortona's charming lanes, to Orvieto's papal intrigue, to Civita di Bagnoregio's cliff-hanging vistas... all sit on lofty stone perches that seem to protect them from the modern world.
Italy's Amalfi Coast: Just south of Naples Rick experiences the breath-taking Amalfi Coastline, the trendy resort of Positano, the limoncello charms of Sorrento, the ancient Greek temples at Paestum, and the iridescent Blue Grotto hidden beneath the enchanting isle of Capri.
The Best of Sicily: After going fishing with El Presidente off Cefalu, Rick lands in rough-and-tumble Palermo. Marveling at the eerie skeletons in a Cappuccin crypt, airy mosaics of Monreale, enchanting ruins of Segesta, and the fiery rim of Mount Etna, he enjoys the best of Sicily.

An in-depth tour of the art, architecture, music, and theatre of Venice. Exploring private palazzos, churches, and winding alleyways, Ackroyd also discovers the truth beneath the artifice, where terminal decay is masked. He interviews preservationists now working to rescue the city from the ravages of time and the sea.

Presents a tour of historic and cultural areas of Italy.