No comments about Insight Guides Rome (Insight Guides. Rome).

5 comments about When in Rome.

1. I read this book on the bus to and from work each day and it really brought me back to the time I lived in Rome. I really enjoyed the sarcastic views and "insider" information about the Vatican. I recommend this book to any Italophile!



2. In her New York Times Book Review, Sandra Mardenfeld tells us that When in Rome is "...an interesting but rarely startling account." She either didn't read it or is on the Curia payroll.



3. Upon the advise of a good tour guide, I purchased this book after visiting and utterly enjoying the Eternal City. Please note that this is certainly not the ultimate guide to the Vatican or to understanding Catholicism. It is merely a collection of the amusing anecdotes of a journalist, who like other journalists has the opportunity to live in another part of the world and then comment about his impressions of adapting or accepting another culture.
   In this instance, Hutchinson moves to Rome with the sole purpose of writing a "what I did on my summer vacation" book on the Vatican. He and his wife and three children, all practising Catholics already feel that affinity to Rome, the Pope and the Vatican that all Catholics innately experience. Here, Hutchinson explores with pure delight his connection with an institution that has lasted through 2000 years of tumultuous change and yet like the rock it was built upon, invariably stays the same.
   Hutchinson's Roman adventures are sprinkled liberally with his slightly irreverant humor and yes, as other reviewers have commented, he does repeat himself. But instead of looking cynically upon these faux pas, think of Hutchinson as the prodigal son (or any other excited tourist with a film projector filled with slides) returning from the unknown and merely so thrilled by what he has seen and experienced, can barely contain himself. Enjoy his exuberance, visit Rome and share in it.
   Although most entertaining for me were Hutchinson's stories about St. Peter's bones, the Borgia popes, and the holy relics, I found the entire book one refreshing breeze of a read that brought back for me the sound of the Vespas in a city that juxtaposes the old with the new in a very stylish and sophisticated way. Recommended reading for AFTER that trip to Rome---to relish all those "Roman" sensations all over again.



4. Hutchinson served his purpose. He provided just enough detail about the stories he picked to keep the lay reader interested, and varied his stories widely enough to provide a wide angle portrait of the Vatican. A humorous and thoughtful look at the place and the institution which has, for better or worse, been the very center of Catholicism and the Catholic conciousness for 2,000 years.



5. There are many light 'travel' books intended to give a personal account of some aspect of the author's experience in a foreign country or city. This book fits into that category with a particular emphasis on the Vatican. Anyone planning a trip to Rome should consider some of the 'traveler' books along with the many excellent travel guides that are available to help you understand the city. The "traveler' books are generally much more interesting to read.
   
   "When in Rome" is a lot of fun. Robert Hutchinson provides great insight into the Vatican and how it works (or at times doesn't!) I am reminded of the question once asked of Pope John XXIII: "How many people actually work in the Vatican?" Answer: "Not Many!"
   
   I have been to Rome many times, but this book was still informative for me and is highly recommended for those planning a first trip to Rome, and even for the experienced traveler.

No comments about Fodor's Rome, 7th Edition (Full-Color Gold Guides).

2 comments about Living Abroad in Italy.

1. My husband and I live part-time in Italy and found a great deal of erroneous information in this book. We buy most books of this sort that are published on the off chance we will learn something new. However, the problems we found in this book make it difficult to trust any of the information it contains.



2. After casually flipping through this book for only ten minutes, I found it loaded with inaccurate assertions about easily verifiable information, leading me sometimes to wonder whether the author has ever even BEEN to Italy, let alone lived there. Naturally this casts doubt on the credibility of the less easily verifiable assertions it contains as well.
   
   It is absolutely false, for example, that you can obtain Italian citizenship simply "if you have an Italian grandfather and you were born after 1947" (66); I myself meet both these criteria, yet am totally ineligible. Anyone can find the correct requirements, which are much more complex, on the website of the Italian Embassy--for free. The alleged requirements for obtaining a student visa ("relatively easily obtained," 67), and for opening a bank account in Italy ("the process is easy," 108), are similarly oversimplistic and misleading.
   
   Perhaps the most absurd is the author's claim about weather in Rome: "The most you'll need to wear in winter is a lightweight jacket" (162). Any unfortunate expats who rely on this misinformation, shivering in Rome in their "lightweight jackets" as the temperatures frequently plummet into the 30's, may ironically find the one good use for this book, as they might wish to burn it in order to keep warm.

2 comments about Marco Polo: A Photographer's Journey.

1. Very facinating. I've always been interested in Marco Polo, as has the author. He really leads you through the journey and makes you wonder at the courage Marco Polo had for his travels.



2. Good photos and details. Purchased as a gift for my wife and she is totally pleased

3 comments about The Grand Canal.

1. This book really shows off the beauty of the Grand Canal with all of it's palaces and other buildings. One really gets the feeling of what life was like back during the height of the Serenissima. The interior shots are stunning. And the information given for each building is fascinating. Even the non-descript houses and buildings get page time... A great book.



2. Venice, the floating or the sinking city depending on perception, more than any other city in the world is a bastion of mystery, intrigue, and incomparable richness in history, architecture, and art. Beloved and written about by some of our greatest minds (Shakespeare, Henry James, Thomas Mann, Harold Brodkey, John Berendt to name but a few) Venice is a city that captures the spirit and heart with the first approach - and that approach includes the vistas from the Grand Canal that serves as the main thoroughfare of the city.
   
   Umberto Franzoi's introductory comments for this journey are warmly informative and seductive, blending history with architecture with the special façades that line the banks and invite the visits to the interiors not open to the public eye. In photographs by Mark Smith of brilliant color each element on both banks of the Canal is addressed, noting the history of the reasons for the special architectural details, the families that either built or now live in each palace and grand home, the gondola dockings, the watermarks that time has etched on the faces.
   
   But then we are graciously taken inside these magnificent buildings with sumptuous photographs of interiors, passageways, court gardens, the art and frescoes - all the details that before this fine book have only been the stuff of dreams (or the occasional movie sets as in 'Wings of the Dove'). These are treasure troves of art and antiques and mystery and beauty.
   
   For everyone who either longs to return or plans for a visit to Serenissima, this book is a must. Highly recommended. Grady Harp, November 05



3. For anyone who has ever traveled down the Grand Canal on the Vapporetto #1 or #82 this will bring back a world of memories. It is beautifully photographed and is very informative. You can go back throuth your photos of Venice and identify and caption may of them. It even helped in locating non existing places like the Palazzo that collapsed in the film Casino Royal (It was superimposed over a recess in the buildings near the Ca DaMosto)
   It is a great reference before and after a trip to Venice, and the photographs of the buildings are better than any you could take on your own. I would have given this book a rating of 5 stars but the text was written by an Italian who could have been a little more fluent in English.

1 comments about Lombardy & the Italian Lakes, 6th (Country & Regional Guides - Cadogan).

1. This book very in depth with historical background to the Italian lakes district and Lombardy region, so vital if you are going to visit the area. Villages, market days, sightseeing, how to get around etc., all covered in this book, I'll be taking it with me to Lombardy!!! Well worth the purchase.

No comments about Best of Florence (Best Of).

No comments about National Geographic Traveler: Sicily (2nd Edition) (National Geographic Traveler).

No comments about Insight Compact Guide Italian Riviera (Insight Compact Guides Italian Riveria).