3 comments about Insight Fleximap Rome.

1. When visiting Rome you will find that the city is a maze of narrow winding streets surrounded by high buildings. It is impossible to see more than one or two blocks in most places. Furthermore the names of the streets are not on signs but carved into stones on the sides of buildings, and not at regular intervals. Turn one or two corners and you will find yourself completly lost.
   Furthermore many of the prime spots are in places that are best accessed on foot. The streets are too narrow for tour busses or cabs. If you plan on seeing Rome you will eventually find youself on foot, and you had better be prepared with a good map.
   This map is well laid out with the streets printed in an easily readable fashion, despite the twists and turns of the streets themselves. It also has the major landmarks and the churches that are open to the public in seperate colors so they are easily found.
   Finally after a week of carrying the map in my back pocket, and several unexpected rain showers, it was still as good as when I first purchased it, do to the lamination. In all this is a durible, well laid out map that is essential to the Roman visitor. Trust me, every street corner had at least one tourist checking their map to figure where they had been, where they were, and how would they get to their destination.



2. Rome is a very good city to walk around in. Most of the sights are within walking distance of each other and you can't walk more than a few blocks without coming across some ancient ruin or historic church. A map like this is a necessity because, as another reviewer noted, Rome is an easy city to get lost in. The streets often wind and curve, and it is easy to lose your bearings.
   
   The Insight Map of Rome provides a very detailed map of a large area of the city within which you will find virtually all of the city's tourist sites. It also includes a map of the Rome subway system which is very easy to use: It is hard to get confused about it as there are just two subway lines.
   
   I used this map on my recent visit to Rome and found it indispensable.



3. I am a travel agent who sells luxury travel, mostly for Americans going
   to foreign countries. I give the Insight Fleximaps to my clients as gifts before they depart the US. If you have a good, old-fashioned ballpoint pen around, you can circle the hotel location on the map as
   "home". My only wish is that the map could be folded a bit smaller or more square. The other nice thing is that some of my clients go to Italy over and over, so they can save this map for future vacations or business trips.

5 comments about That Fine Italian Hand.

1. Also if I am Italian, I don't think that we must undervalue Italian's faults; but this book is a list of stereotypes (altought brilliantly narrated) that don't help to know Italy and the Italians.



2. Paul Hoffman's "That Fine Italian Hand" is perhaps the most mean-spirited, humorless and unrewarding book that I have read in years. I can't imagine why he ever bothered to write a book about a people and a nation that he appears to despise so thoroughly. (Let alone why he chose to live there for so many years.) Save your money and keep it out of the hands of this bitter, bitter man.



3. Most of the reviews have to do with not liking what he has to say about Italians -- they can't really question the accuracy of the information, which is fondamentally sound. Italians or those of Italian descent may not find it a flattering portrait, but it is worth reading just the same. The author has done his homework and most of the data still holds after 10 years...



4. Any American with a genuine interest in Italy and its people should read all the tales of Hofmann on the subject. Begin anywhere, but do not neglect That Fine Italian Hand.

   An expatriot Austrian since the eve of WWII, Hofmann describes l'Italia with the intimacy of 50-odd years living there - combined with the objectivity of one who admits he will never BE an Italian. Far from being over critical, Hofmann is almost heartbreakingly aware of both the many glories of "Italianness" and the equally numerous shortcomings. He finds both to be essentially inseparable and probably indispensable to the very survival of the place and its people.

   Paul Hofmann's work never fails to educate - even while it entertains. History, culture and anthropology in an easy-to-digest ragout.




5. I found this book to be absolutely dreadful. I kept wanting to throw it against the wall, but waiting for it to turn around. It never did. It is a rant about everything "wrong" with Italy. In the very last few pages, he acknowledges that Italians say they would never want to live anywhere else. But does he explore why? No. I even had my sister read it--married to an Italian, and had lived there for years. She had the same reaction. It's not like what he narrates is entirely wrong (though some is); it's just not anywhere near a complete picture. It's as if you started to look at your beautiful beloved to find all the flaws--they're there, but do not constitute the overwhelming experience. The title and introduction seem pasted on. And the anti-South stuff--just awful. This book is going straight to the recycle bin--not donated to the library.

5 comments about Made in Italy: A Shopper's Guide to the Best of Italian Tradition (Made in Italy).

1. If you are going to Italy and are interested in things specific to the region and made there, this book is a great resource for planning your trip and also a great companion through the actual adventure.
   
   The photos are great. The text is informative. Plus, some things you may not have thought of on your own are covered and suggested.
   
   Having just returned from a driving trip through Italy, I can say the book was definitely valuable although you need to supplement with your own research as to practicalities (such as how to get to places and actually find the shops within the cities).
   
   Also, some of the cities actually publish listings/maps of the shops. So, for example, it is possible to obtain a map of the ceramics shops of Faenza from the city's tourist office.
   
   We had some difficulties in trying to find some of the addresses, and some of the recommendations are a matter of taste, but these are details. I wish there were more books of this sort. A great resource!



2. I was dissapointed that leather shopping is not covered. That is one item I really associate with Italy and the author simply states that there are many nice shop. I rarely buy items such as pottery or glasss as shipping or carring it home is costly.This book would be great if these are your favorites.(pottery and glass) I did E-mail the author about leather shopping in Florence but no reply .



3. At last a different slant for the lover of all things Italian in Italy. Well researched and very readable. A great "homework" book for anyone wishing to bring home a little of authentic Italy on their next trip.



4. This book could make you give up shopping. Pottery, cheese, glass...not one good tip on the outlets. The cover is beautiful.



5. I found this book is out of date and should include more of the recent changes in the past 5 years. Italy is so popular that everyone is flying there more often than anywhere else in the world.

5 comments about Dreaming Venice.

1. The most beautiful little book on Venice I have seen...
   The pictures are exquisitely taken. The composition of the pictures,
   perfect and the gold and rose colours of the city are gorgeous.
   
   If you want to see Venice as it perhaps once was, and perhaps in some
   areas still is, then this is the book to get.
   
   The first sentence in the book sums it up... 'Venice is a place
   in which you never know where dream ends and history begins'.
   
   The book is magical. Definately a book to pick up again and again.



2. The photographs in this book are beautiful and really give the reader a good feeling for Venice. However, the size of the book (something that I did not notice before purchasing) is only 6" x 6". Becuase of this small size, the photographs are not given their true justice. This book would be so much more effective if in coffee table size.



3. I have a few coffee table books on Venice, and none of them hold a candle to the photography in this book, which I originally bought in Venice last time I was there. there is a large hardcover version out there as well, but it may not be available on amazon. The pictures are LUSCIOUS -- if you are a lover of Venice, buy this book.



4. This lovely book combines photos and text, in Italian and English, to remind all lovers of this historic, artistic and romantic place of their enchanted time there. It is a fitting tribute to La Serenissima, by people who know and lover her.



5. I was just in Venice from November 8, 2007 to November 14, 2007, and it was very cold weather, bone-chilling and damp at night, but the city made you forget the cold with its beauty and uniqueness. It is a magical city of dreams, unreal and ethereal. While there I bought this little book with its wonderful evocative color photographs that make the city come to vivid life. These are stunning memorable shots of the city like no other. Venice shrouded in rare snow storms, with flood waters in San Marco Square, scenes at night along the canals, the Bridge of Sighs, the Bacino, water pageants, gondolas, the Rialto Bridge, reflections of the sinking houses on the canals, the Grand Canal, colonnades, baroque churches with great art, quiet secret gardens, cloisters and gardens, the stone wells that are everywhere, the lion symbols, the Doge's Palace. Two glorious churches among a hundred are Santi Giovanni e Paolo and La Basilica della Salute (the dome presently covered in scaffolding).
   Venice is a dying city, but its glories live in your memory forever in these pictures: the library in San Marco Piazza, , the marble statuary, the palazzos, the campos, seagulls, the feast days and Regatta Storica, the celebration of oared boats, Carnevale with its scary costumes and masks, magical sunsets, the city at night, and magnificent fireworks displays. The camera of Frenando Bertuzzi has caught in his lens the shimmering city where life is more fantastic and glorious than in any other city in the world.
   Nine Lives Too Many
   The Daemon in Our Dreams
   The Rice Queen Spy
   Clawed Back from the Dead

2 comments about the Food and Wine Lover's Companion to Tuscany.

1. Carla Capaldo has updated her book originally published in 1998, giving readers a "New, Updated Version" with over forty new entries. That's an average of ten a year, which seems a bit light to my mind.
   Her book-- regardless of the edition-- is a mix of restaurant recommendations, leads to wineries and enoteca, cheese shops, and also fattoria (farms) that offer such goods as olive oil, honey, etc. All well and good, but unless you are travelling all around Tuscany, over 95% of this book will be of little use.
   That said, much of its value will be as armchair reading-- and here too, I have some problems, particularly with her organization. As might be expected, the entries are organized geographically-- but by a system that most readers will find baffling. For instance, San Gimignano appears in the section on Siena (it is in Siena Province) while its neighbor fifteen miles away, Volterra, appears in the same section with Pisa, many miles to the north. But many of the villages in the province of Florence, such as Panzano, Radda, and Greve have their own section-- Chianti Classico.
   If it stopped there, one might eventually be able to discern what is where, but alas, the Index also compounds the confusion by listing entries alphabetically and then by offering, so we have Beekeepers, Bakeries, Candymakers, Chocolate Makers, Pastries, Biscuits, and Cakes, and Pastry Makers and Shops. Pity the person who is trying to recall where he/she had a nice pastry and coffee, followed by a gelato and perhaps a candy for the child!
   Another cavil-- in the '98 edition, one entry includes this sentence: "By the time you visit,...may have completed their extension: the 'little shop' will be enlarged to add a tasting room 'for friends." That same sentence, verbatim, is also in the 2002 edition. Granted, renovations can take a little while in Italy, but I strongly suspect that the author simply neglected to revisit the shop in question, and revise her book accordingly!

   If you are ONLY going to Tuscany, then this book may be of some use. If your travel plans include other regions of Italy (and they should), Faith Heller Willinger's "Eating in Italy" is far superior (though older) and there are several superior guides for serious enophiles.




2. I wrote this book, and would like prospective buyers to know that hundreds of people have written to me to say how much they have used and appreciated it when travelling to Tuscany. I'm glad, as it took three full years to write the first edition, and another 8 months to revise it, living on the road all around Tuscany as I did the research. Revising doesn't mean rewriting every entry: it means checking to see how things are after 2 years. If things have remained unchanged, I don't need to rewrite the entry from scratch. I also added 80 new places - my publishers wouldn't allow more - and removed others that had either closed or become less interesting.
   The focus of my work is to write about the artisan food and wine makers that Italy is so rich in -- about their lives and products -- and to help travellers to find them. Necessarily many of these dedicated and hard-working people live in out-of-the-way places. That makes finding them more difficult, but makes the visiting more interesting, as it takes us to all corners of this wonderful region.
   The Food and Wine Lover's Companion to Tuscany was shortlisted for Food Book of the Year in the UK. I have recently also published The Food and Wine Guide to Naples and Campania, fruit of three more years living and working in this fascinating southern region. I hope you will enjoy them!
   Carla Capalbo

1 comments about Tuscany, 4th (Country & Regional Guides - Cadogan).

1. Part of the outstanding "Cadogan Guides" series, the newly updated and revised fourth edition of Tuscany, by travel experts Dana Facaros and Michael Pauls is a completely "user friendly" guide to enjoying all that the land and people of Tuscany have to offer. Vividly capturing the pure Italian beauty and grace of the land, Tuscany offers a wealth of information for the visitor ranging from particular itineraries for wine-tasting, nature lovers, and art enthusiast. Perfect for travelers on a budget, replete with maps for towns, cities, and roads, a superb reference for sampling local food and drink, offering invaluable suggestions for enjoying the history, art and culture of the region, enhanced with photography, Tuscany is very strongly recommended for anyone visiting to Tuscany for its comprehensive, easy-to-use, portable from ideal for travelers and vacationers.

No comments about Cicedrone Walking in the Dolomites: 28 Multi-Day Routes (Cicerone Guide).

4 comments about Take Your Kids to Europe, 7th: How to Travel Safely (and Sanely) in Europe with Your Children (Take Your Kids to Europe).

1. The payoff for reading Cynthia Harriman's "Take Your Kids to Europe" carefully is tremendous. We have a five-week trip to Europe coming up and our copy if already getting dog-eared from overreading. This guidebook is different and better. Most "what to do with the kids overseas" books are filled with things you already instinctively knew - i.e. your kid will like Legoland and here is how to get there and the hours it's open. Harriman's guide acknowledges there is more to a successful family trip than just picking the right things to see, and she uses the reactions of her own actual kids to back up her suggestions. For example, she is a master of managing family dynamics on a trip. Here are a few of her suggestions:
   
   1) Everybody wants to do something different, and nobody likes to compromise. It's just about impossible to agree, so Harriman suggests a "leader of the day" system - each member of the family gets a day or part of a day to pick what the "team" will do, where it will eat. Everybody gets to do some of their favorites eventually. This takes some self-discipline on the part of the parents - if the kids want to spend the morning by the pool, you'll have to agree - but you'll get to see that church you want to see in the afternoon.
   
   2) You are looking for family togetherness but in fact that much togetherness can be stressful. For example, your teenager is all about independence. Go ahead and let said teenager hang out alone in the hotel room for an afternoon if that's what she needs. You and your spouse will argue about giving directions; Harriman encourages you to loosen up and learn about each other.
   
   3) Harriman has a lot of good suggestions about how to make a lengthy trip affordable, and gives good suggestions for budgeting in advance.
   
   In additional to general advice, Harriman shows excellent good sense in sections on what attractions to see - she's frank about things the kids were underwhelmed by (most chateaus just aren't as interesting as you'd think to a 9-year-old), and points out things that are actually more fun than they would sound on paper. So rather than 50 kid-oriented attractions in a country (like other books), all presented with equal breathless interest, she might have 20 - 15 her kids really liked (and why), and 5 they didn't like.
   
   Harriman does not recommend many specific hotels and restaurants (there are other sources for those), so you may find you supplement this book with others. But you can't do without this one - I really love it.



2. This book has great ideas on dealing with budgets, luggage, etc. I especially like that they were keen on the idea of an 'extended' stay in Europe e.g., several weeks, and provided some sound examples of how it really doesn't cost much more to do that if you're willing to be flexible with accomodations & meals.
   
   I lived in Europe for several pre-teen and teenage years, and we travelled widely. At the time I was always amazed at the number of people who take these "8 countries in 2 weeks" style tour packages -- the pace is so hectic there's no time to enjoy or experience the places, and they are wholly unsuitable for children.
   
   The book is also good at pointing out attractions that would appeal to kids, which is helpful since most guidebooks focus on the 'serious' sites that kids would find less appealing.



3. We live in London, and travel every chance we have. This book provides great ideas for structuring trips and helping children enjoy the sights and experiences. It's a good companion for families planning European vacations. I am very glad to have this information and always review it before we travel.



4. This book is indeed a godsend for parents. Although it's geared to Western Europe, over half the book focuses on universal tips that would also be helpful in Turkey or Transylvania, such as how to get kids to try different foods or appreciate museums. I loved this book, and found the author's advice invaluable when I took my two daughters to Europe.

No comments about Italian Riviera & Piedmont, 5th (Cadogan Guides Italian Riviera).

2 comments about Streetwise Italy Map - Laminated, Pocket Size Country Road Map of Italy - with integrated major city distance chart.

1. This is just a fold out map of Italy. It only displays the major highways of the entire country.



2. If you are drving the main roads of Italy, this handy map folds up and opens up and keeps its handy laminated shape. If you are looking for small villages, this will not work.