Rome Venice Florence

Dana Facaros, Michael Pauls
Cadogan Guides (2005)
ISBN 9781860111822
Reviewed by Olivera Baumgartner-Jackson for Reader Views (12/06)

If you are one of those travelers who like to explore fewer places during your vacation, but get to know them in depth, you will certainly love the guidebook “Rome Venice Florence” by Dana Facaros and Michael Pauls. The authors did a marvelous job presenting those three fine cities, so different from each other in every aspect.

Just make sure that you heed the warning from the introductory section of the book:
“The prima donna dripping splendour, the agate-eyed goddess of the sea and the proud, clear eyed genius… if this is your first visit, we can only envy you. Rome, Venice, and Florence are in a class all their own, as high-water marks in the saga of human potential, as supernovas among the star places of Western civilization. They can be utterly demanding and make you reel and keel over from a glut of art and beauty – there is even a name for it – the ‘Stendhal syndrome’. You have been warned.”

While I totally agree with the aforementioned statement, I also believe that armed with this guidebook you will feel considerably less lost and clueless. To set the stage, the authors wrote the chapters in the part named “Italy in Perspective,: which introduces the many faceted face of Italy through its history, art and architecture, literature, music and cinema. My favorite part is the “Snapshots of Italy,” talking about such important and diverse topics as the Bella Figura, Brick Italy, Marble Italy, Commedia dell’Arte, Pasta and the Pinocchio Complex. Make sure you do not skip those pages – they will make understanding Italy and Italians vastly easier.

Another truly useful chapter is the one on food and drink, which even includes an Italian menu reader. This will make exploration of the fine Italian cuisine more enjoyable for certain.

The ‘Travel’ section covers all of the getting there and around topics, including the entry formalities. This section should be particularly useful for an independent traveler, as should also be the following “Practical A – Z” section, filled with a wealth of information and useful travel tips. The authors even thought of including addresses of the exchange offices which are open on the weekends.

The real delights await you in the following three sections, each of which deals in great detail with Rome, Venice, or Florence. The wealth of the information is amazing and sometimes dazzling, the array of choices staggering and the details remarkable. There are 14 maps included, ranging from a comprehensive map of Italy on the inside front cover to city maps for all three cities along with several detailed maps of places of interest. Useful information in each of the chapters includes such diverse topics as the public transport, shopping, festivals, places to stay and places to eat and much, much more. Comparing the authors’ selections in Venice, a city that I know very well, I was pleasantly surprised to find both several of my long-time favorites and quite a few new places to explore during my next visit.

If this book makes you want to learn more about Italy, there is an excellent “Further Reading” list to be found at the very end of it. Read a few before going to Italy and your visit will be even more fun.

I would highly recommend “Rome Venice Florence” to anybody with serious interest in the Italian way of life, their culture, art and history. It is well written and reads easily. My only regret is that there were no photographs to showcase the beauty of the three magnificent cities described in it. 

Make comment on weblog