Italy! Wine Country!

Wine Country! Italy is one of Europe's oldest viticultural regions still offers some pleasant surprises. Italy is also famous for there wine, they have many regions that are called wine country. Sicily has more vineyards than any of the other Italian regions competing with Apulia for the first place award for being the largest producer of wine. It's funny how the Sicilian people are not the leaders in consuming the wine, they consume less wine per capita than any other Italian does. The Sicilian grapes also play a large role in creating dessert wines, which require a higher concentration of grapes and are consumed in smaller quanties. Sicily is renowned for the many outstanding dessert wines, such as the world-famous Marsala. The dessert wines account for about 90% of the total production. The island is also a producer of many other great wines. But if you just happen to be traveling around the island around November 11, that day is dedicated by the catholic church to Saint Martin, look for the signs announcing the local Festa del Vino or "Festival of the Wine". It is believed that on this date the new wine is ready for consumption, hence the saying: Il giorno di San Martino il mosto diventa vino or "On Saint Martin's Day the grape juice becomes wine".

   

Italy!

Rome, Italy. Rome is the number one place to go in Italy, there is so much to see there you couldn't see it all in one day, it would probably take you a few to see it all. I would love to go to Rome, but even I wouldn't care because anywhere in Italy would be worth it to see just not one city. There is so much history in Rome from way back, and Rome will remind you of the past everywhere you go. In Rome there are so many ancient monuments, medieval and Renaissance buildings and fountains, and great museums.  Rome is the capital of modern Italy and boasts many fine restaurants and cafes, good nightlife, and lively streets and squares. Even though Rome is a huge city, the historic center is fairly compact. During the summer there are music and cultural festivals. The Festa di San Giovanni, June 23-24, is an important festival with dancing, music, and food. Around Christmas, there are nativity scenes in many churches and there are religious festivals and processions during the week before Easter as well. The Spanish steps are a good place to go for the Spring Festival in April. I am going to go to Italy no matter what I have to do to be able to go but I will go before I die to be able to say that I've been to Italy, and be able to say "When in Rome do as the Romans do".

Italy!

The history of Gelato. Gelato the Italian ice cream is believed to have been started when Marco Polo brought ice cream back to Italy from China. Just like the pizza the Neapolitans are credited for creating the first true ice cream. When Italy created there version of the flavor full dessert known as Gelato, Italy put their own stamp on ice cream. The difference between gelato and ice cream is that gelato is made with milk but sometimes skim-milk opposed to cream which gives the gelato a much lower milk fat content.

Gelato is a chocoholics favorite dessert because the flavor and the bright colors of it catch the eye automatically. Gelato is a very popular dessert in Italy.