10 good reasons to rent an apartment in Rome, Florence, Sorrento and Positano in Italy
Travellers always speculate on the "fatal spell" of Rome, Florence, Venice, Sorrento, which attract people from all over the world. Is it just because "all roads lead to Rome", i.e. because of the attraction of perhaps the most classical civilisation, like that of the ancient Roman world, or of Renaissance? There are many more reasons to rent an apartment in Italy and enjoy our noble Country.
- In Italy (Rome, Florence, Venice, Sorrento, Naples) you find more than half of the works of art (monuments and masterpieces) and sights of the entire world. They are also extremely varied, as they are expression of various historical eras, covering nearly 2,800 years. They are also the result of different societies and political realities. Half of this legacy can be found in Rome and Florence.
- The Italian civilisation was the first to stress the importance of cities. No other country in the world has so many towns, so different, so rich in art and history, and so beautiful.
- The Italian culture has its foundations not only in a very important and fruitful religion, but also in a great secular (non religious) humanistic culture, parallel and competing with the religious.
- Italy is extremely varied geographically. You really find every environment: countless beautiful towns (not only Rome, Florence and Venice, but also Siena, Orvieto, Assisi, Naples, Palermo, Arezzo, Lucca, Positano just to mention a few), unspoilt green hills with medieval towns and inspiring churches (Umbria), magnificent and varied seaside regions (Italian Riviera in Liguria, the Amalfi coast, Sorrento Coast, Sicily, Sardinia, a total of 7000 km of coast), a beautiful and varied countryside which inspired Renassainance painters. There are many, different and famous mountains with stunning views and skiing resorts (the Alps, the Dolomites, the Apennines). There are thriving plains (the Po plain), unexplored uplands (Calabria), fertile marine swamps (in Tuscany and in the Po delta), many impressive active volcanoes (Vesuvius and Etna), a myriad of varied islands, some very large and with a totally different environment (Sicily and Sardinia).
- Also Italians are unbelievably varied. There are 20 Regions, with different history, with different regional idioms called "dialects" (actually they are authentic languages dying out), with different urban layouts and different landscapes. Their populations have different cuisines, different patron saints, and contrasting political orientations. The 20 regions actually form practically three different countries: North, Centre and South, each claiming supremacy over something, and actually having remarkably different societies and economies. Moreover, you find they are also Regions with completely different languages: Alto Adige where half of the inhabitants speak German, valleys in the Alps where people speak Ladin (an original language, not to be confused with Latin), uplands in Calabria were Greek Albanian is widely spoken (as they fled from the Turks in the XVI century), the Bergamo province with its Bergamasco (a sort of Germanic language), and Valle d'Aosta where French is the most spoken language.
- Cuisine and cooking are national passions, and are tasteful, healthy, extraordinarily imaginative and varied. As mentioned in the restaurant page, there is no "Italian cuisine", but rather a galaxy of regional cuisines, each contributing to the rightful fame of the broader national one. You will not have to go to some fancy and expensive Italian restaurant to sample the countless dishes. You will find restaurants of all sorts everywhere, and you will discover that the most economic are also extremely good. Italians will be happy then to explain to you all the nuances of this Mediterranean, natural cuisine.
- Since its very origin, the civilisations appeared in Italy (the Greek, the Etruscan, the Latin, the Byzantine, and naturally the Italian), have given an unprecedented importance to style, harmony with nature, good taste, and beauty. In no other country they is such a popular and widespread heritage. Since ancient times Italians have been harbingers of style, fashion and art. Ferrari is not only the fastest car, but also the most beautiful. Italian, a melodious language, is also the language of music ("presto", "piano", "forte", "allegro" etc.).
- Italians are accommodating, savvy and sensible. Yet, if you are educated and you like to explore countries in depth, you will understand why European scholars consider Italy the most complex, intricate - and intriguing - European country. Forget the silly stereotypes! You will be struck finding out the historical reasons of the countless achievements or aspects of the Italian civilisation. It is a form of pleasure knowing more about the Renaissance society, about Leonardo's and Michelangelo's lives and contrasts, about the well organised society of ancient Rome and of the Church, about the fascinating history of the Maritime Republics (Venice, Genoa, Pisa, Amalfi), about the contrasts between the Church and the Central Empire in the Middle Age, and about the interaction between the ideas of the middle class, the working class, and the Church in the last centuries. You will be surprised to know that Italians define themselves "People of Poets, Saints and Explorers". So you see, the reality is different from the silly stereotypes viewing Italians as Latin lovers, mafiosi and provincial. In everyday life, you will frequently meet very educated and erudite people.
- The weather is usually good and sunny most of the year. In most places the air is clean and balsamic.
- Although the historical centres ("centri storici") of Rome, Florence, Venice and Naples are the largest in the world, and although the one of the countless Italian towns have an outstanding personality, also the other quarters and the surroundings are equally interesting.
You will understand why this land of expressive, vibrant and imaginative people has given pasta and pizza, Verdi and Pavarotti, Raphael, Leonardo and Michelangelo, Dante and Machiavelli, Catholicism with its saints and martyrs, but also Fellini, Mastroianni and Sophia Loren, an outstanding sense of style and "Dolce Vita" (Sweet Life), and countless other charms - among which one should include the Italian women....
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