Fodor’s Italy: This is packed with information. It includes phone numbers, addresses, bus routes, and even websites. There are suggested tours based on how many days you have in a city, with tips on hotels, sightseeing, restaurants, night life, and shopping. It’s too big to carry around in your pocket or purse, but it’s worth packing (and studying beforehand).
Buon Appetito, Your Holiness was described as a “vivid history of the papacy” that reveals “the culinary secrets of the papal kitchens”. “Vivid” is too strong a word, and “secrets” is an overstatement. It does have recipes.
Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow: Three short comedies in which Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni play three very different couples. The final story features a famous strip tease scene which was re-created thirty years later in Robert Altman’s “Ready to Wear”. (Loren looked just as good, if not better, the second time around.) There is nothing brilliant here, but the comedy is fun, and the stars’ performances are enjoyable.
I haven’t written here for a while, but this does not mean I have given up. I finished the geology class (yes, I got an A). I’ve signed up for Italian 3 in the fall. It is my belief that the only “general ed” class I have left to take is algebra. I am really not looking forward to that. First, I have to take the math placement test, to see if I will even be allowed to take algebra. It’s important to do well on that test, because once you take it, you can’t try again for six months. If the test doesn’t qualify me for algebra, then I’ll probably end up taking an introductory math class first. And I really, really, really don’t want to take two math classes instead of just one.
Rick Steves’ Italy: The Rick Steves’ books were our best guides when we visited Italy last summer. They were entertaining, accurate, and full of useful tips and tricks. In addition to the phrase book, we carried Rome, Florence, and Venice. We often saw other tourists carrying these books, using them to find restaurants, tour museums, and get around town.
