FinalAnna

Italy for dummies ~Guide to Italy~

Welcome to Italy, this is Cassandra, Anna, Katlyn, Jenna, and Alyssa. We will be your tour guides. We will be showing you around. First we will start with climate, then food, then we will go to tradition, sports, and then tourism.

Rome is the capital of Italy. Many ancient temples from Rome are still standing. When ancient Rome expanded their empire, they encountered mountains, deserts, swamps, forests, and many other terrains.

Italy is in Europe near the Mediterranean Sea. Italy’s main borders are Austria, France, Slovenia, and Switzerland.

Italy has 301,230 SQ. KL. of area. 7,210 SQ. KL. is water and 294,020 SQ. KL. is land.

Italy has 3 volcanoes, Stromboli, Etna, and Vesuvius. The longest river in Italy is the Po River, which is 390 miles long. The Lothian Sea, Ligurian Sea, Tyrrhenian Sea and the Adriatic Sea all border Italy. Sicily and Sardine are 98% of Italy’s islands.

In northern Italy there are tall mountains and broad plains.

They grow grain and live stock. In southern Italy there are high plateaus and steep cliffs. They grow apricots, cherries, lemons, peaches, vegetables, and wine grapes. In 79 A.D. mount. Vesuvius erupted and destroyed the ancient city of Pompeii.

Time for food, yum yum. Some of the favorite foods in Italy are pizza, ice cream, cheese and fruit. In Italy meal times are very important to families because it is when they sit down and talk about how their day went. They play games with coco balls to see who can get it in the basket the first, it is called Bocce.

Tomatoes are the first most important crop and corn is the second most important crop. The central and northern parts of Italy produce apples, cherries, peaches, and pears. The most eaten fruit is the tomato; 6 million tons are sold each year.

People say that eating is the biggest part of Italy; if you are not hungry an Italian person may tell you to eat something to make you hungry. Coffee is the most favorite drink in Italy. The only seasons that they make feasts are spring and summer.

Italy is known for its pasta and meat balls. The tomato didn’t become a common ingredient until the 18th century.

2 years ago strawberries and asparagus were not served year round, but now they are because people kept asking for them. Some people say, “the fresher the ingredients the better the food.�

The usual festivals are 40 days before Easter. The 6 weeks before Easter is the time for the Viareggio carnival. People wear costumes and watch on the streets. Venice is especially famous for its annual festival held 3 days before Ash.

The legend of Bethlehem is said to be a place where everything can happen at night. She gives presents to the children of Italy. Sant Urnaila was the biggest feast in Roman Empire. In Italy cheppo is burned and toasted in wine, and the kids take a present from Earn during Christmas time.

Children hang stockings on the feast of epiphany on Jan. 6th. They celebrate the 3 kings instead of Santa. Children dress as Sheppard’s with sandals, leggings, and cross thongs.

The leggeta storeca, held each September along the Grand Canal in Venice, it dates back 7 centuries. They have a little place where they set up the birth of Jesus where everyone can see. Kids set out their shoes to get filled with candy.

Soccer is Italy’s national sport. Boy’s most popular sport is soccer, girls most popular sports are volleyball and basketball. Every Sunday in Italy the stadiums are packed with fans to watch soccer. Italians are very interested in soccer players that are highly paid.

Italians enjoy cycling, skiing, car racing, tennis, gulf, volleyball, fencing, horse racing, hunting, hiking, and fishing. Soccer fans play a weekly betting game, topit, which pays large sums of money to lucky winners. Topit is a lottery run by the state, which uses part of the money to build new sports arenas for the public.

There are many licensed hunters, but there is little game.

Conservations support laws that limit or prohibit hunting.

The 2nd favorite sport in Italy is basketball (they have an NBA team). Cycling means history in Italy. Coppi and Bartali are legends in cycling. It has been 30 years since a legend has won a cup victory in tennis. The last legend to win a cup in Italy was Adriano Panetta.

Italy has their own sport called water polo. Water polo is played in a rectangular pool, each team has 7 players, 1 player is a goal keeper, 3 players are defense and 3 players are forwards. As you see Italians play many sports and are very good at them too! Italy’s sports team has won the most prestigious world cups, 4 times, in 1934, 1982, and 2006, respectively, wow!

More than 2 million foreign tourists visit Italy every year.

More tourists visit Italy during the Easter season than any other time of the year. The most popular attraction in Italy is Rome. Venice attracts so many tourists that occasionally they outnumber the cities 80,000 residents.

Venice was founded more than 1,500 years ago. Venice is linked by a series of over 150 canals, 400 bridges, and many ancient pavements. The Grand Canal is often referred as “the most beautiful street in the city.� Venice is without a doubt one of the most beautiful and popular cities in the world.

About 50 million people visit Italy each year. Tuscany attracts just over 1.1 million visitors each year. The leaning tower of Pisa is one of the most unusual tourist attractions.

Tourists can visit beautiful mountain peeks and lakes.

In Rome you can see sights on foot or on a double-decker bus. In Italy you can go to school to learn how to become a gladiator. At nighttime you can go on a ghost and mystery walk through the heart of Rome. In Tuscany and in Umbria you can experience a unique food tour.