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From Amsterdam to Rome Cruise Post #19 – Rome, Italy: “The City of La Dolce Vita”

Rome, Italy

Bella Roma, Italy

“When I was a boy, I wanted to travel and see the world… but then I found Rome and found my world.”
– Federico Fellini

My final stop Rome– ‘The Eternal City’–

Plaque on the exterior of Federico Fellini’s apartment - Rome, Italy.

Plaque on the exterior of Federico Fellini’s apartment – Rome, Italy.

Whenever you need a very quick high, all you have to do is walk the streets of Rome– with its seemingly crazed, screaming honking- drivers, towering crumbling edifices, iconic fountains and cathedrals and those Spanish Steps that lead to forever.

Turning down a quaint, flower-box filled alleyway into the historic piazza Campo de’ Fiori, I walked toward Federico Fellini’s colorful looking apartment building (and a few doors down, Audrey Hepburn’s old digs.) During my walk, I was beginning to understand a bit of what this ancient city had fed into Fellini’s night- time dreams that later he  brilliantly transformed into his iconic films (i.e. La Dolce Vita, 8 ½ and Roma) When the young Federico moved into his Campo de’ Fiori red splashed building at 18 years of age, it was just the beginning of his wild, lifetime love affair with this dramatic, almost ‘operatic’ city.  Across town, I later stopped by another of my Italian idols’ residence– quietly stepping into the great Anna Magnani’s elegant apartment lobby. As I gazed around, I  saw the doorman walking toward me …I smiled, waved and disappeared. I had done my paparazzi pilgrimage. It was time for some serious historical sight seeing.

From Amsterdam to Rome Cruise Post #18 – Amalfi and Positano, Italy: “The City of the heavenly lemon, muse to both Steinbeck and The Rolling Stones, and home to the most romantic foreign film of the 90’s.”

Karen at Positano Beach - Positano, Italy

Karen at Positano Beach – Positano, Italy

Ah, Amalfi and Positano… When you are in love, this is the place to come.

Natural Rock Enclave - Amalfi Coast, Italy

Natural Rock Enclave – Amalfi Coast, Italy

Lying in the mouth of a deep ravine at the foot of Monte Cerreto and surrounded by dramatic cliffs, is the coastal town of Amalfi. As our little tender whizzed though the Mediterranean waters, it was instantly clear by my goose bumps, why the majestic beauty of Amalfi has magnetized painters and writers throughout the centuries.Two other times I remember having this “perfect sight” experience…(seeing the Taj Mahal looming in front of me as the sun rose-–and suddenly turning a bend on a dirt road and gazing upon the heart stopping ancient city of Petra.)

Houses Sitting Above the Amalfi Beach - Amalfi, Italy

Houses Sitting Above the Amalfi Beach – Amalfi, Italy

Greek sailors from past ages admired the breathtaking landscape, even imagining parts of the coastline as home to mythic creatures. Later, wealthy Roman nobleman built seaside villas along the coast and created some of the first settlements. In the 1920s and 30s, the town was a popular holiday destination for British aristocracy. Now it is a city of artists and wealthy bohemians.

From Amsterdam to Rome Cruise Post #17 – “Palermo, Sicily: The City of the Cosa Nostra, fabulous Pizza & Gelato and the Great Mount Pellegrino.”

Festive Horse & Carraige - Palermo, Sicily

Festive Horse & Carriage – Palermo, Sicily

Palermo is located on the island of Sicily and is the region’s capital city.  It’s history has suffered 13 foreign dominations from which she has taken both the best and the worst. The invasion of so many diverse cultures has made Sicily a fascinating place, quite unlike any other…

Enrico Alfano, one of the first publicly known mobsters in Sicily

Enrico Alfano, one of the first publicly known mobsters in Sicily

Since the mid-19th century, Palermo was known as the hive of Mafioso activity. The genesis of the Mafia began under feudalism, whereby the nobility owned most of the land and enforced law and order through their private armies. In countryside towns that lacked formal law, local elites responded to banditry by recruiting young men into “companies-at-arms” to hunt down thieves and negotiate the return of stolen property, in exchange for a pardon for the thieves and a fee from the victims.  These companies-at-arms were often made up of former bandits and criminals, usually the most skilled and violent of them. While this saved communities the trouble of training their own policemen, it may have made the companies-at-arms more inclined to collude with their former brethren rather than destroy them. On the other side of its much-debated history, my grandmother told me that the mafia actually started out as a benign organization. That it was mainly created to protect the women and children.

From Amsterdam to Rome Cruise Post #16 – “Cagliari, Sardinia: The ‘Green City’ of Un-fouled Beaches, D.H. Lawrence’s ‘White Jerusalem’ and Magical Pink Flamingos.”

Karen in Castello, the old city of Cagliari, Sardinia

Karen in Castello, the old city of Cagliari, Sardinia

On the island of Sardinia, 120-miles west of the mainland of Italy, lies its capital city, Cagliari – an Italian municipality. It is the second largest island in the Mediterranean Sea after Sicily. Although Cagliari has one of the largest ports in the Mediterranean, there is no industry – making it a ‘green city,’ with sprawling, un-fouled beaches, botanical gardens, sixty wildlife preserves and three national parks.

Gates to the entrance into Castello, the old medieval town - Cagliari, Sardinia

Gates to the entrance into Castello, the old medieval town – Cagliari, Sardinia

Cagliari has faced occupation throughout the centuries due to the island’s strategic geography in the Mediterranean. Sardinia and Cagliari came under Roman rule in 238 BC when the Romans defeated the Carthaginians. During the French Revolution, France tried to conquer the city but was defeated by the Sardinians.  After a brief period of autonomous rule, the Allies then heavily bombed the city after the German army took control of it. Once the Germans retreated, the American army then took control of Cagliari and used it as an airbase for the remainder of the war.

Phoenician grinning mask (5th century BCE): National Archaeological Museum - Cagliairi, Sardinia

Phoenician grinning mask (5th century BCE): National Archaeological Museum – Cagliairi, Sardinia