Flyaway Friday: Let us fly off to Italy

Do you know that the “new shiny thing” is really a syndrome? I am positive that I might be afflicted by it. I am talking about the feature we started at the beginning of the year called Flyaway Friday. I know it has been a while since we visited France and Finland, so I guess it is time for another trip, don’t you think? 

So pack your bags and get ready to spend your Fridays dreaming about Italy this month.

We will learn about the country, talk about books set in Italy and I am saving the best for the last, have an Italian blogger tell us more about the country and its people. Sounds exciting right? 

So let us start with the basics about Italy, shall we?

Italy is one of the common country in the bucket list for many of us, thanks to all the books and the characters we fell for.

I am sure we know Italy is an European country, somewhere in the Mediterranean region but we need to know a bit more than that before we travel, don’t we?

1.Italy, or Repubblica Italiana, is surrounded by water on three front and shares its land border with a lot of countries viz France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, San Marino, and Vatican City.

2. The eternal city of Rome is one of the oldest city’s of the world and it is about 3000 years old.

3. Rome is the home to the famous Trevi fountain, which is 85 feet in height and 65 feet in width is one of those must see tourist place in Italy. Yes, it is the one where people make a wish by throwing in coins.

4. The major Italian cities you need to know are:  Rome, Venice, Florence, Milan, Naples

5. Did I say almost 80% of Italy is hilly or has a mountainous terrain?

6. It may come as no surprise that the Italians brought many of the cheeses like Mozzarella, Parmesan, Ricotta to the world.

7. The world’s first woman graduate and a Ph.D holder, Elena Lucrezia Cornaro Piscopia was born in Venice, Italy. 

8. The Vatican City and the Republic of San Marino are located with the Italian territory.

9. Europe’s three active volcanoes Etna, Vesuvius, and Stromboli are all in Italy.

10. Many of the leading brands like Lamborghini, Gucci, Prada, Aramani, Ferrari call Italy their home.

11. While Italians have a long life expectancy with one of highest number of centenarians, they also have the lowest birth rate in the western world.

12. Are you even surprised that there are more than 500 types of pasta served in Italy today. But I will let my Italian guest blogger talk more about that.

Want to see some of the books I reviewed set in Italy? Try them here. 

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So do you have any trivia about Italy to share? Do you have any questions to ask to the Italian blogger about Italy? Have you heard of any Italian stereotypes? Comment away!