I visited Rome about 30 years ago. It was full of ancient buildings like the Colloseum, Pantheon, Basilica di San Clemente, Castel Sant' Angelo, the Vatican city, Villa Borghesethe, Santa Maria Sopra Minerva, Baths of Caracalla (Terme di Caracalla), the catacombs, etc. If you like history, museums, art galleries, etc., I suppose you will like Rome. However, I have no interest in old buildings.

I do enjoy one particular aspect of Rome though. That is, being able to eat at "stalls" on the street and have your pizza served to you direct from the oven. I also enjoyed the calzone, a kind of stuffed pizza where the flat pastry is folded over the toppings. It is rather like the curry puffs we enjoyed in Malaysia.

And I did learn a bit of Italian while I was there. I could count in Italian - uno, due, tre, quattro, cinque, sei, sette, otto, nove, dieci, ..... And to my surprise, the number two (due) is pronounced and spelled practically the same way as two in Malay, which is spelled dua.

However, one thing I was warned about in Rome is pick-pockets and traders who may try to cheat tourists by short-changing them. I was told that sometimes you give a big note to purchase something, and they will give you back the change as if you have given them a smaller note. This I did not experience. But the unpleasant thing that I got was being pick-pocketed while trying to get on a bus in Rome.

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Travel To Italy – Rome And Venice

By Nomadrick Chapo

Where does one begin to start when discussing Italy. Well, if you intend to travel there, Rome and Venice are good places to start.



Rome



Perhaps you’ve heard of it? It goes without saying that Rome has a rather prominent past. Lets see, in Rome you will find…[deep breath]…the Vatican, Coliseum, Pantheon, Piazza Navona, Church of Saint Agnese, Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps and a guy name Allassandro. Just making sure you’re paying attention. Indeed, Rome is filthy with historically significant attractions. It seems you can’t turn around without bumping into something an Emperor built, captured or destroyed. For those willing to risk potential wrath, there are also the new Divinci Code tours, which take you to the locations found in the book.



In all serious, Rome is a city you should visit at least once in your life. No article could ever do it justice, so I’ll just stop here.



Venice



I fondly refer to Venice as the floating city even though it is apparently sinking. If you’ve seen Venice is movies or televisions shows, the depictions are accurate. Piazza San Marco looks exactly the same, birds and all. The Grande Canal is, well, a grand canal with incredible houses lining it and boats putting up down this water way. Built on mudflats in a lagoon, the city doesn’t really have much room to grow. It just seems paralyzed in time.



Once you’ve conquered the tourist attractions, it will be time to get serious about Venice. The best way to do this is stand in front of your hotel or hostel, determine which direction the tourist attractions lie and start walking in the opposite direction. While you may feel like you’re driving the wrong way on a freeway for a few minutes, you’ll eventually start getting into real Venice.



An entirely different side of Venice will appear and you’ll love it. You’ll find little cafes with locals happy to talk to you [and non-tourist prices]. In fact, the Venetians will tend to hold you in high regard since you’re a tourist who is bypassing the tourist areas. This, of course, will logically lead to a whirl of introductions to this nephew, that son of a brother and so on. Next thing you know, you’ll be complaining about Italian politicians and how things used to be better in the past.



While Rome and Venice are excellent travel destinations, you can’t really go wrong in Italy. For the adventurous, set your itinerary with the old map on a wall and dart technique.



About the Author: Rick Chapo is with http://www.nomadjournals.com - makers of travel journals. Writing journals are the perfect travel accessories. Visit http://www.nomadjournaltrips.com to read more travel articles and travelogues.



Source: www.isnare.com

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The Origins of Valentines Day

Every year February 14th is celebrated as a day for love, exchange of gifts, promises of eternal passion, and more. The inspired pen poems inspired by their love and admiration for the women of their dreams while others just go to shops and buy commercially available verses.



Valentines means candy, chocolates, perfume, red hearts, balloons, and more. Have you ever wondered when the celebration first originated? Well in ancient Rome, February heralded the coming to spring a time for rejuvenation, fertility, and growth.



In ancient times, Romans celebrated in February a festival to honor the god of fertility who provided them with progeny and ensured a god crop. In Rome February 15th was celebrated as the feast of Lupercalla and Feb 14th as a holiday in honor of Juno the queen of Roman gods and goddesses. On the eve of Lupercalla a glass jar was filled to the brim with chits on which were penned the names of all eligible girls. Then young men would draw a chit each from the jar and the girl whose name was on the chit would be his partner for the celebration. This was a method by which ancient Romans introduced eligible boys and girls to one another.



Much later in the 3rd century BCE when Emperor Claudius II ruled Rome there lived a priest called Valentine. And when Claudius passed a decree that young men in his empire were not to marry, Valentine defied him and used to consecrate marriages secretly. He was sentenced to death and thrown into prison. While awaiting his execution Valentine penned a letter to his love and signed it "from your Valentine." After his death Valentine became a martyr and saint and was popularly known as St Valentine.



Wonderful legends are woven around Valentine's Day. In Wales young people exchanged as gifts wooden spoons which were hand carved with decorations of hearts and key holes. The decorations conveyed "you hold the key to my heart or you unlock my heart." In other places women were given gifts of clothes and if they accepted the gift then it conveyed that they were wiling to marry the man who has sent the gift.



In 1415, Charles, the Duke of Orleans is known to have penned, from his prison in the tower of London , what were known as "poetical amorous addresses" to his wife in France, he is believed to be one of the earliest creators of valentines.



Just as companies like Hallmark sell cards for Valentines Day in the 15th century people bought little booklets with verse in them, they then made their own valentines using the verse to express their thoughts. For example a valentine could have the hand drawn illustration of a knight and his lady with Cupid the god of love shooting arrows into the knight's heart.

In the US it was after 1723, that popularity of the celebration grew. People imported the "booklets of verse" all the way from England and copied the verses on to gilt edged papers. Then a Ms. Ester Howard in around 1830 decided to be original and create American Valentines that were marketed as Worcester Valentines.



Since then with changing centuries and tastes the celebration has taken on new hues with young men and women, children, as well as older couples creating newer ways to celebrate and declare their undying love.

Author Bio

Paul Wilson is a freelance writer for www.1888PressRelease.com/Lifestyle-0-24.html, the premier website to Submit Free Press Release for any announcements including launching of new product or services, new website, announcing new hires, sponsoring a special event or seminar and more. He also freelances for Love Articles

Article Source: http://www.ArticleGeek.com - Free Website Content

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