The Saint

Venice

Venice was a true surprise! I always had the idea that Venice, was just like Rome. But surrounded by water canals, more and too many romantic couples, groups of tourists armed with photo machines – taking snap shots of every fountain and corner and a terrible smell of shit!

I couldn’t be more wrong! Venice is charming, romantic and chic. True – It has also its share of tourists walking around and renting black gondolas and cheap shops selling the most horrendous carnival masks. But all the negative side is forgotten once you enter in the right places.

Forget all restaurants mentioned in guides! The good food is where you least expect. And that is also where you will find the most sophisticated Italian crowed, covered in mink coats, vintage Hermes bags and heavy make-up.

Its pretty easy to feel at home after 24 hours and even more to know all streets corners.











Not to miss:

Hotel Danieli – Dead, dead ,dead but worth the visit for its amazing entrance, marble floors and worked ceilings.

Gretti Palace Hotel – The place to stay. Especially if you are loaded and never bother looking to the right side of the menu!
Like the Danieli, it has amazing antique pieces, marble floors, and worked ceilings. The difference is that here you get a real five star service, a terrace by the Gran Canal and one of the most beautiful bars I have ever seen!

Hotel Baglioni – Maria Callas always stayed there. Think that says it all!

Tratoria de La Madonna – In a dead end street (at least it looked like it!) with horrible tables and white ugly light but with the best seafood one can have. The atmosphere is also the best.

Rome

Rome, as the saying goes, wasn't built in a day, and it's the eternal nature of the Eternal City that gives it its endless appeal. Humans have occupied these hills along the Tiber for millennia, adding monuments built upon and around those that came before them all the while. For the modern-day visitor, there's almost too much to see and do, from exploring the ruins of empire to paying respects at the seat of one of the world's great religions, to shopping and dropping change on the latest designs at big-name stores.

Hotels:
Hotel St. George
Place: Campo dè Fiori
http://www.stgeorgehotel.it/

Hotel de la Minerve
Place: Pantheon
http://www.grandhoteldelaminerve.com/

Grand Hotel Plaza
Place: Piazza di Spagna
http://www.grandhotelplaza.com/

Regina Hotel Baglioni
Place: Via Veneto
http://www.baglionihotels.com/

Aldrovandi Palace
Place: Villa Borghese
http://www.aldrovandi.com/

Hotel Parco dei Principi
Place: Villa Borghese
http://www.parcodeiprincipi.com/

Restaurants:
Antonio al Pantheon
ROMA- Via Dei Pastini, 12 (Pantheon)
Tel.: 06/ 67.90.798

Nino
ROMA- Via Borgognona II (Piazza Spagna)
Tel.: 06/ 67.95.676

La Pergola
Restaurant at Cavalieri Hilton Hotel (Top ten italian restaurants). Top food and view.

Tipical roman restaurant are situated in trastevere. In my opinion the best restaurant is "Il Bolognese" in Piazza del Popolo.

Shopping:
Rome is a delightfully old-fashioned affair. Limited space in medieval streets and among Renaissance palazzi make huge department stores and malls impossible. And Romans' lasting affection for the family-run shop and the quirky boutique means that big national and international chains have had a harder time getting a foothold. Even in the heart of the city, most locals prefer selecting their fruit and vegetables from street markets—such as the picturesque one in Campo de' Fiori, or the magnificent example in Piazza Testaccio—rather than from the minisupermarkets that have appeared in recent years. Big-name fashion designers cluster around the foot of the Spanish Steps, but there are exciting surprises lurking all around the centro storico

"THE" roman

Positano

Be Romantic in Positano or give it up!


The town to love and fall in love...Not that many other options apart from making love and having nice wine.
SLEEP at the one and only Hotel La Sirenuse. Make sure you get a seaview room. Just Perfect!
While you are there get lost in the many little sweet streets and relax at the end of the day in the Hotel Spa. If you get bored at night ask the reception for their movie, "Only you". No, It is not porn!

Lake Como (Cernobbio)

The one and only, Hotel Villa D'este.
www.villadeste.it


CRAZY FOR LAKE COMO
The placid shores of Lake Como, long home to Italy's aristocrats, have been a haven for the likes of Wordsworth and Winston Churchill, J.F.K. and Marlene Dietrich. (Oh, yeah, George Clooney too.) But as Janine di Giovanni discovers, an invasion of the super-rich—from American venture capitalists to Russian billionaires—is sending ripples through Como's exclusive villas.

Milan

Milan the fashion world center.


Restaurants:

Da Giacomo. www.dagiacomoristorante.it
Book your table a week before you go! Great crowd. The spot for top-models and movie actors. The staff is very professional and friendly.

Il Porto. www.ilportoristorante.com
The best seafood and fish restaurant in town. Old fashioned and with a little garden for the smokers.

Girarosto. http://milano.tonight.eu/locale/al_girarrosto
A classical for Italian food lovers. The buffet is a must!

Paper Moon. http://it.viaggi.yahoo.com/p-guida_viaggi-1062525-action-info_turistiche-paper_moon_milano-i
The place to see and be seen in Milan. Georgio Armani and Roberto Cavalli are some of the people you might find having dinner between models.

Becce. www.bicemilano.it/
Chic and international. Elegant crowd and two steps from fashion epi-centre Via Spiga.

La Risacca 6. http://www.larisacca6.it
New money but a bit of showiness and the odd soccer player can be fun! Still cool…

Hotels:

Pricipe de Savoia, Bulgari Hotel, Baglioni and the Grand Hotel et de Milan