{"id":1105,"date":"2013-12-24T14:15:59","date_gmt":"2013-12-24T13:15:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/parosparadise.com\/CzechMates\/?p=1105"},"modified":"2014-12-19T16:54:28","modified_gmt":"2014-12-19T14:54:28","slug":"a-bit-of-italy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/parosparadise.com\/CzechMates\/2013\/12\/24\/a-bit-of-italy\/","title":{"rendered":"A Bit of Italy"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of our justifications for our expat lifestyle, especially living in Europe, is that we can easily travel to so many other interesting places. \u00a0Reality, however, has not lived up to our expectations; we have not traveled near as much as we had hoped to. \u00a0(See some of our travels on the\u00a0Environs page<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

Yet this November we did make an excellent journey to visit friends in Umbria, Italy. \u00a0This is definitely one of the benefits of our travelling life; we have made friends from all around the world. \u00a0This couple from California share ownership of a country villa in the hills above one of Italy’s largest lakes, Lake Trasimeno. \u00a0If you want to spend time among Italy’s hill towns we highly recommend their place: \u00a03 bedrooms and a pool from 680 Euro per week–contact me for their contact info.<\/p>\n

\"hill<\/a>We had the advantage of them showing us some of their favourite locations and restaurants<\/span> in the region. \u00a0Italian food as the Italians enjoy it! \u00a0Highlights for us included Cortona and Assisi, two of the popular hill towns but off-season. \u00a0We took two day trips on the train to Florence and left by train to Venice for two nights in an apartment there.<\/p>\n

By the way, it is interesting to note that our flights between Prague and Milan were less than 100 Euro each round trip while our 5 train trips within northern Italy totaled more than 160 Euro for each person. \u00a0They have no Senior discounts.<\/p>\n

\"Florence<\/a>We found it intriguing to compare our familiarity of other European cities with those of Italy. Passing through we were quite impressed with the huge and elegant Milan Central Train Station. \u00a0Florence, too, was impressive in its solid architecture and the high quality of its public art. \u00a0Yet we felt it did not have the charm of Prague. \u00a0The highlight of Florence was being in the presence of the original David by Michelangelo; all the photos and videos we have seen do not convey the power that fills the hall around this statue.<\/p>\n

\"typical<\/a>Venice also weaved a magic spell around us. \u00a0We have traveled extensively and found one big city tends to be like another big city except for its own few unique sites. \u00a0That is not the case in Venice! \u00a0Here its uniqueness as a whole pervades every view and vista. \u00a0Even the delivery men and garbage collectors are charming. \u00a0It was such fun to just wander down any path or over any canal bridge that struck our fancy and not worry about being lost–on an island all paths lead to the sea<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Venice in my mind now rates with Istanbul as a city that I want to return to even though there are many great places in other parts of the world that I have not yet visited. \u00a0I had better get cracking with our travel plans. \u00a0See you later . . .<\/p>\n

HB9UKRV8WEQU<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of our justifications for our expat lifestyle, especially living in Europe, is that we can easily travel to so many other interesting places. \u00a0Reality, however, has not lived up to our expectations; we have not traveled near as much … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[13],"tags":[265,264,267,266,268],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2MK34-hP","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":316,"url":"https:\/\/parosparadise.com\/CzechMates\/2011\/03\/01\/praise-for-prague\/","url_meta":{"origin":1105,"position":0},"title":"Praise for Prague","author":"Michael","date":"March 1, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"We, Karin and Michael, have been travelling over the last three months to USA, Ireland, England and Scotland.\u00a0 All of our family and friends in those countries asked about Prague and why we liked it so much.\u00a0 The long answer would be to refer them to this blog and all\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"architecture\"","block_context":{"text":"architecture","link":"https:\/\/parosparadise.com\/CzechMates\/tag\/architecture\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3864,"url":"https:\/\/parosparadise.com\/CzechMates\/2016\/03\/14\/food-festivals-2016\/","url_meta":{"origin":1105,"position":1},"title":"Food Festivals Promotion 2016","author":"Michael","date":"March 14, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Olena Kagui at the PragueLife website has compiled a list of favourite food festivals and events for 2016. \u00a0The article is a promotional piece that includes links to official sites so I am repeating most of her information here and adding my comments and links.\u00a0 Dim Sum Pop Up: From\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Events"","block_context":{"text":"Events","link":"https:\/\/parosparadise.com\/CzechMates\/category\/events\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":364,"url":"https:\/\/parosparadise.com\/CzechMates\/2011\/09\/24\/re-dedication-of-wilson-station\/","url_meta":{"origin":1105,"position":2},"title":"Re-dedication of Wilson station","author":"Michael","date":"September 24, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"The American Friends of the Czech Republic have worked long and hard, and raised a lot of money, to rebuild (not restore) the Wilson Monument at Prague's central train station.\u00a0 They are celebrating in style between 4 and 7 October including a $250 per plate dedication dinner. We will only\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Events"","block_context":{"text":"Events","link":"https:\/\/parosparadise.com\/CzechMates\/category\/events\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":415,"url":"https:\/\/parosparadise.com\/CzechMates\/2011\/11\/27\/beer-beers-and-more-beers\/","url_meta":{"origin":1105,"position":3},"title":"Beer, Beers, and more Beers","author":"Michael","date":"November 27, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"We had some young friends visiting from England who wanted to try typical Czech food along with a selection of Czech beers.\u00a0 So I consulted my\u00a0favorite\u00a0web site for such matters:\u00a0 Prague Beer Garden\u00a0 We chose Pivovarsky Klub because one of us wanted to try banana beer which they had.\u00a0 We\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Places"","block_context":{"text":"Places","link":"https:\/\/parosparadise.com\/CzechMates\/category\/places\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1178,"url":"https:\/\/parosparadise.com\/CzechMates\/2014\/02\/11\/art-nouveau\/","url_meta":{"origin":1105,"position":4},"title":"Art Nouveau at its Finest","author":"Michael","date":"February 11, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"The dry sounding Museum of Decorative Arts is not the most visited in Prague while the prominent Municipal House is seen by nearly everyone who comes to Prague. 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Many of our\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Events"","block_context":{"text":"Events","link":"https:\/\/parosparadise.com\/CzechMates\/category\/events\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/parosparadise.com\/CzechMates\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/ArtNouveauFurniture-225x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":954,"url":"https:\/\/parosparadise.com\/CzechMates\/2013\/08\/01\/kutna-hora\/","url_meta":{"origin":1105,"position":5},"title":"Kutna Hora","author":"Michael","date":"August 1, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"This town and its suburb, Sedlec, have a mixed reputation. \u00a0Yet we consider it a must go for any visitors that are spending a week or more in Prague. \u00a0Only an hour train ride away it offers all the glory of a former silver mining capital along with the gruesomeness\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Destinations"","block_context":{"text":"Destinations","link":"https:\/\/parosparadise.com\/CzechMates\/category\/destinations\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/parosparadise.com\/CzechMates\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/BoneCrest-224x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/parosparadise.com\/CzechMates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1105"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/parosparadise.com\/CzechMates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/parosparadise.com\/CzechMates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/parosparadise.com\/CzechMates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/parosparadise.com\/CzechMates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1105"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/parosparadise.com\/CzechMates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1105\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2374,"href":"https:\/\/parosparadise.com\/CzechMates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1105\/revisions\/2374"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/parosparadise.com\/CzechMates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1105"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/parosparadise.com\/CzechMates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1105"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/parosparadise.com\/CzechMates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1105"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}