To whet the appetite, or eye candy for the soon-to-be-Italian-traveler

Applications for the program continue to come in (newcomers to this site should scroll down to the first entry) and our facebook page will soon have 100 likes!   However, it can be hard thinking of Italy without actually experiencing it for the next several months.  So . . .

Eventually you will want to get yourself a guide book, and I will have something to say about that in the future (although for the curious, here's what I wrote two years ago). In the meantime, one of the best places to get a feel for Italy for the uninitiated as well as to bring back fond memories and get current with the changes in Italy for the seasoned traveler is online.  It is the New York Times travel section.

The Times has its own online travel guide for Italy (and a whole lot of other places) with links to articles and slide shows (highly recommended) that are well worth looking over.  If you want to explore Italy through the Times yourself, you can just go here.

But if you want to cut to the chase, so to speak, here are a few recent items that you may find of interest:

On finding cheap (or even free) things to do, see, and eat in Rome, go here.  The slide show is here.

For a view and an update on Florence, go here.  The slide show is here.

For a similar approach to Siena, go here.  The slide show is here.

And for a spot you probably haven't considered but may well want to pay a visit (it's a favorite of mine), try Ostia Antica.  The article  is here and the slide show is here.  (The slides misidentify the theater as an amphitheater, but what can you do?) Enjoy!