Authentic Pesto Sauce - International Day of Italian Cuisine January 17, 2011

Authentic Pesto Sauce from Liguria

Today is the 4th Annual International Day of Italian Cuisine.  To honor the date Genovese pesto was chosen as the official dish of the IDIC 2011, a worldwide celebration of authentic Italian food.

Pesto sauce of Genoa Italy, in the region of Italy is made with 7 ingredients: PDO Genovese basil, garlic, olive oil Riviera Ligure PDO, salt, pine nuts, pecorino and grana padano cheese. Pesto, an oily green sauce beloved by Italian food fans the world over may also soon have its own certification. Italy's Liguria region is seeking a European Union "STG" (Guaranteed Traditional Speciality) mark for pesto meeting strict criteria for genuine, Ligurian ingredients.

The seven ingredients of true pesto are all native to the liguria region.  PDO stands for Protected Designation of Origin, a European certification the Liguria region has already secured for locally produced basil and extra-virgin olive oil.

"With the STG designation we want to protect the seven ingredients of true pesto: PDO Genovese basil, garlic, olive oil Riviera Ligure PDO, salt, pine nuts, pecorino and grana padano cheese," said agricultural councilor Giovanni Barbagallo. "Defending the traditional pesto recipe from imitations is a priority for Liguria."

"We want to unite the name of Liguria with the territory's quality products, like pesto, as a fundamental strategy for tourism development through Ligurian culinary specialties," declared Genoa's tourism councilor Angelo Berlangieri.

The word "pesto" comes from "pestare", or to crush with a pestle and mortar, a reference to the original method for creating the Genovese sauce. Hence pesto is also known as "battuto genovese" or Genovese mince or mash. The pasta condiment was still rare in the days of legendary Genovese explorer Christopher Colombus, but had become well established by the 19th century.

IDIC's Pesto Day is officially sponsored by the Liguria Region, Grana Padano cheese, Genova Pasta and a consortium of olive oil makers, among others.

Over 2,000 participating restaurants in roughly 40 countries will honor real Genovese pesto January 17, and will even see pesto-based Ligurian specialties served on 14 ships of the Italian cruise company Costa Crociere. So get out and visit your local Italian restuarant for authentic pesto. And if you are lucky enough to be cruising with Costa this week, well buon appetito!

For more on authentic Italian food visit WebVisionItaly's Italian Cooking shows, including a video of how to make pesto sauce.

For more about cruises around Italy including Costa cruise itinerary click Italy cruises. To visit Cinque Terre, Genoa and other Ligurian destination click Italian Tourism Italy travel packages for independent Italy travel deals or click Italy tour packages for guided tours of Italy.

Italy Travel Arts Guide - Guide for Italy Cruise Shore Excursions and Italy Tours

The following is a city-by-city guide to some of Italy's art exhibitions happening January, February March Winter and Spring 2011. If you are on an Italy tour, Italy cruise or traveling in Italy you may want to add one of these Italy art exhibits to your Italy travel itinerary or Italy shore excursion.

ALBA - Fondazione Ferrero: Giorgio Morandi, The Essence of Landscape; 70 works; until January 16.

BARLETTA - Palazza Marra: Giuseppe De Nittis, 43 engravings; until January 16.

FLORENCE - Palazzo Vecchio: For The Love of God, Damien Hirst's famous diamond-encrusted skull in only third outing since creation in 2007; until May 1.

- Palazzo Strozzi: 'Bronzino, Painter and Poet at the Medici Court'; 90 works in world's first monographic show; to January 23.

- Palazzo Pitti: Vinum Nostrum. The Art, Science and Myths of Wine in Civilisation; from prehistoric winegrowing to Dionysus cult, Etruscan, Roman use; show features oldest surviving wine container, on loan from Georgia; until April 30.

GENOA - Palazzo Ducale: 'Mediterranean, From Courbet to Monet and Matisse'; 80 mostly Impressionist works including Renoir, Cezanne, Van Gogh, Munch; until May 1.

MILAN - Palazzo Reale: 'Salvador Dali', The Dream Draws Near'; 50 works, until January 30.

- Museo Poldi Pezzoli: Sandro Botticelli, all of his works in Lombardy museums brought together for first time; until February 28.

PADUA - Palazzo Zabarella: "From Canova to Modigliani, the Face of the 19th Century"; 100 portraits and sculptures; until February 27.

PASSARIANO (UDINE) - Villa Manin: 'Edvard Munch and the Spirit of the North'; 122 works; until March 6.

REGGIO EMILIA - city centre: 150 huge Italian flags marking 150th anniversary of Italian unity; until June 2.

RIMINI - Castel Sismondo: The Marvellous Years: Impressionism; 100 works from international museums including Monet and Pissarro, Sisley and Degas, Bazille and Renoir, Cezanne and Guillaumin, Morisot and Fantin-Latour, Gauguin and Van Gogh; until March 27.

- same venue: Caravaggio's first religious painting, The Ecstasy of St Francis, back in Italy for first time in 25 years from Wadsworth Museum, Hartford, as well as several contemporaries; until March 27.

ROME - Scuderie del Quirinale: '1861: The Painters of the Risorgimento', war scenes, Garibaldi's Red Shirts, leaders' portraits; to January 16.

- Vittoriano: 'Vincent Van Gogh, Timeless Landscape, Modern City'; 110 masterpieces in first major Rome show in 22 years; until January 30.

- Musei Capitolini: Leonardo da Vinci's Portrait of a Musician (1490), loaned by Milan's Biblioteca Ambrosiana for first time ever; until February 27.

- Museo Fondazione Roma: Rome and the Ancient World, more than 140 paintings, sculptures, other works including loans from Prado, Louvre, Hermitage, Victoria and Albert Museum showing how classical works fired the imagination of 18th-century Rome; until March 6.

- Palazzo Venezia: The Two Empires, The Eagle and the Dragon; more than 400 works on Roman (up to Trajan) and Chinese (Qin and Han) empires, spanning second century BC to fourth century AD; marks Year of Chinese Culture in Italy and is paired with other exhibit at Roman Forum; until February 6.

- Palazzo delle Esposizioni: The City of the Gods, 450 artefacts from ancient Mexican site of Teotihuacan (2nd-century BC to 5th-century AD), once the largest city in pre-Columbian Americas; until February 27.

- Galleria Borghese: Lucas Cranach the Elder, The Other Renaissance; 45 works from major international museums; until February 13.

- Chiostro del Bramante: Greats from the Veneto, 15th- 18th Century; Bellini, Lotto, Titian, Veronese, Tiepolo, Canaletto; 80 works from Accademia Carrara in Bergamo; until January 30.

SAN MARINO - Palazzo Sums: 25 Impressionist works including Monet, Cezanne and Renoir; until March 27, in tandem with Rimini show.

TRIESTE - Castello di Miramare: Giorgio De Chirico, 70 paintings and 20 sketches; until February 27.

TURIN - Palazzo Reale, Palazzo Chiablese, Castello di Racconigi: "Vittorio Emanuele II: The Gentleman King"; new documents, pictures on life of Italy's first post-unification king; until March 13.

VENICE - Palazzo Grimani: Hieronymous Bosch, Vision of the afterlife (1500-1503), Triptych of Saint Liberata (1505) and Triptych of the Hermits (1510); until March 20.

Click Italy tour packages for guided tours of Italy or click Italy travel packages for independent Italy travel deals.  For Mediterranean cruises to Italy ports call and for cruises from Italy click Italy cruises.

Italy Vacations: Arts Guide for your Italy Travel

Italian Tourism Italy vacations should include a visit to a museum oin Italy. Whether you are on a Italy cruise vacation or a Italy tour do make time to visit Italy's fabulous arts on your Italy vacation.



The following is a city-by-city guide to some of Italy's art exhibitions:



ALBA - Fondazione Ferrero: Giorgio Morandi, The Essence of Landscape; 70 works; until January 16.



BARLETTA - Palazza Marra: Giuseppe De Nittis, 43 engravings; until January 16.



FERRARA - Palazzo dei Diamanti: French 18th-century still-life master Jean-Baptiste-Simeon Chardin; 50 loans from major international museums in first-ever Italian show; until January 13.



FLORENCE ART- Palazzo Strozzi: 'Bronzino, Painter and Poet at the Medici Court'; 90 works in world's first monographic show; to January 23.- Palazzo Pitti: Vinum Nostrum. The Art, Science and Myths of Wine in Civilisation; from prehistoric winegrowing to Dionysus cult, Etruscan, Roman use; show features oldest surviving wine container, on loan from Georgia; until April 30.- Bargello: Giovanfrancesco Rustici and Leonardo, first show examining links of 15th-century sculptor with da Vinci, Verrocchio and others; until January 10. For the best deals on Italy travel to Florence visit Italian Tourism for its Florence vacation packages.



FORLI' - Musei Civici di San Domenico: 400 ancient Egyptian artefacts gound by great Egyptologist Ernesto Schiaparelli (1856-1928) including works from Queen Nefertari's tomb; until January 9.



MAMIANO DI TRAVERSETOLO (PARMA ARTS) - Fondazione Magnani Rocca: Renato Guttuso, Passion and Reality, 65 works until December 8. Visit WebVisionItaly Parma video and when ready for a vacation visit Italian Tourism to plan the perfect Italy vacation.



MILAN Travel - Palazzo Reale: 'Salvador Dali', The Dream Draws Near'; 50 works, until January 30.- Museo Poldi Pezzoli: Sandro Botticelli, all of his works in Lombardy museums brought together for first time; until February 28.



PADUA ART - Palazzo Zabarella: "From Canova to Modigliani, the Face of the 19th Century"; 100 portraits and sculptures; until February 27. Looking for vacation to Veneto and Venice then vist Italian Tourism Venice vacation packages or for a Italy cruise click Venice cruise.



PASSARIANO (UDINE) - Villa Manin: 'Edvard Munch and the Spirit of the North'; 122 works; until March 6.


PERUGIA - Galleria Nazionale: 'Theatre of Dreams from Chagall to Fellini', 100 works; until January 9. For more Umbria visit WebVisionItaly Umbria travel channel. Looking for a Umbra vacation check out Italian Tourism Umbria vacation packages.

RIMINI - Castel Sismondo: The Marvelous Years: Impressionism; 100 works from international museums including Monet and Pissarro, Sisley and Degas, Bazille and Renoir, Cezanne and Guillaumin, Morisot and Fantin-Latour, Gauguin and Van Gogh; until March 27.- same venue: Caravaggio's first religious painting, The Ecstasy of St Francis, back in Italy for first time in 25 years from Wadsworh Museum, Hartford, as well as several contemporaries; until March 27.



ROME ARTS - Palazzo Venezia: The Two Empires, The Eagle and the Dragon; more than 400 works on Roman (up to Trajan) and Chinese (Qin and Han) empires, spanning second century BC to fourth century AD; marks Year of Chinese Culture in Italy and is paired with other section at Roman Forum; until January 9.- Palazzo delle Esposizioni: The City of the Gods, 450 artefacts from ancient Mexican site of Teotihuacan (2nd-century BC to 5th-century AD), once the largest city in pre-Columbian Americas; until February 27.- Musei Capitolini: Michelangelo 'Two Wrestlers' loaned from Casa Buonarroti in Florence; until December 5.- Galleria Borghese: Lucas Cranach the Elder, The Other Renaissance; 45 works from major international museums; until February 13.- Chiostro del Bramante: Greats from the Veneto, 15th- 18th Century; Bellini, Lotto, Titian, Veronese, Tiepolo, Canaletto; 80 works from Accademia Carrara in Bergamo; until January 30.- Vittoriano: 'Vincent Van Gogh, Timeless Landscape, Modern City'; 110 masterpieces in first major Rome show in 22 years; until January 30.- Scuderie del Quirinale: '1861: The Painters of the Risorgimento', war scenes, Garibaldi's Red Shirts, leaders' portraits; to January 16.- Curia Iulia, Roman Forum: 'The Two Empires, The Eagle and the Dragon'; 450 works; until January 9.- Museo di Roma (Palazzo Braschi): The Risorgimento in Colour: Patriot Painters; to January 9.

SAN MARINO - Palazzo Sums: 25 Impressionist works including Monet, Cezanne and Renoir; until March 27, in tandem with Rimini show.

SAN SEVERINO MARCHE - Pinacoteca Civica, Palazzo Servanzi Confidati and Chiesa della Misericordia: 'Baroque Marvels', 90 works including Bernini, Guercino, Pomarancio, Orazio Gentileschi, Valentin de Boulogne, Baciccio: until December 12.

TURIN - Palazzo Reale, Palazzo Chiablese, Castello di Racconigi: "Vittorio Emanuele II: The Gentleman King"; new documents, pictures on life of Italy's first post-unification king; until March 13. Visit Turin with an Italian Tourism Italy vacation.

VENICE ARTS - Fondazione Cini: 'The Arts of Giambattista Piranesi - Architect, etcher, antiquarian, vedutista, designer'; 300 original prints plus 33 photos by Gabriele Basilico of Rome sites in 1960s; until November 21. Visit the arts of Venice like the Doge's Palace and the Basilica of St. Marks. Looking to visit Venice click for complete listing of cruises from Venice and click Venice vacation packages for a land-based Venice vacation by Italian Tourism discount Italy vacations.

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$999+ Air and 8-Day Rome, Florence, Venice Italy Travel Deal

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Visit Rome, Florence & Venice 2 nights in each city traveling by Italy rail between cities.

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This 8 day Italy rail package makes it easy to see three of Italy's most captivating cities on one trip. Explore independently or join an assortment of convenient and affordable optional tours such as an evening tour of illuminated Rome, a walking tour of the dazzling renaissance city of Florence, or a romantic gondola serenade along the canals of Venice. Whether it's your first trip to Italy or a return visit to old favorites, this tour offers an ideal opportunity to spend a great vacation in bella Italia while we take care of the details, with flights, hotels, and reserved rail seats all prearranged for you.

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Italy Cruise and Italy Tour Visitors to Florence Will See David Atop Il Duomo

On a Italy tour to Florence or a Italy cruise to Livorno next Friday? If so your Italy cruise and Italy tour will have unique opportunity to see Michelangelo's David standing atop Florence's Santa Maria del Fiore Cathedral. Italy cruise and Italy tour travelers will see a fibreglass Michelangelo’s David copy erected on a pedestal high up by the Duomo's dome for one day as part of Florence 2010 culture week.

If your Italy cruise or Italy tour stops in Florence be sure to look up at the Duomo for a rare Italy tour and Italy cruise Italian tourism event.

Prior to Michelangelo's involvement, Overseers of the people of Office of Works of the Duomo (Operai), had plans to commission a series of twelve large Old Testament sculptures for the buttresses of the cathedral of Santa Maria Del Fiore. Two had been created independently by Donatello and his assistant, D'agostino di Duccio. Italy tour and Italy cruise travelers will find original works on the Duomo in the Operai Museum.

In 1464 Agostino was contracted to create a sculpture of Michelangelo’s David. A block of marble was provided from Carrara, close to the Italy cruise port Livorno, and popular Italy tour destination. Agostino began to shape the legs, feet and the figure. His association with the project ceased with the death of his master Donatello in 1466.

In 1500, an inventory of the cathedral workshops described the piece as "a certain figure of marble called Michelangelo’s David, badly blocked out and supine." Documents showed that the Operai were determined to find an artist who could take this large piece of marble and turn it into a finished work of art. They ordered the block of stone, which they called The Giant, "raised on its feet" so that a master experienced in this kind of work might examine it and express an opinion. Though Leonardo da Vinci and others were consulted, it was young Michelangelo, only twenty-six years old, who convinced the Operai that he deserved the commission.

When the sculpture was nearing completion, a committee of Florentine artists including Leonardo da Vinci and Botticelli met to decide on an appropriate site for Michelangelo’s David. The majority, led by Giuliano da Sangallo and supported by Leonardo and Piero di Cosimo, believed that due to the imperfections in the marble the sculpture should be placed under the roof of the Loggia dei Lanzi on Piazza della Signoria, favorite Italy cruise day tour and Italy tour destination in Florence. A few, supported by Botticelli, believed Michelangelo's David should be situated on or near the cathedral.

Michelangelo’s David was placed in front of the entrance to Italy tour and Italy cruise passenger favorite site the Palazzo Vecchio, also on Piazza della Signoria, replacing Donatello's bronze sculpture of Judith and Holofernes.

Italy cruise travelers to Venice and Italy tours to Venice may take a trip to Padua to visit Donatello's famous bronze horse sculpture.

Michelangelo's interpretation of the biblical figure was unveiled in Piazza della Signoria in 1504, seat of Florence civic government where Italy tour and Italy cruise travelers go to enter the Uffizi Gallery. To conserve Michelangelo’s David for Italy tour and Italy cruise passengers forever David was moved to the famous museum Galleria dell'Accademia where it is a must-see for Italy cruise travelers who day trip to Florence and Italy tours stream by daily to see.

Michelangelo’s David came to be seen as an emblem of the city republic's pride, its ability, despite its small size, to defend itself against giants like Rome, other cities on the Italian peninsula, and the Medici family. The eyes of Michelangelo’s David, with a warning glare, were turned towards Rome. Michelangelo’s David also represents the Renaissance ideal of manhood.

Msgr Timothy Verdon, American director of Florence's Diocesan Office for Fine Art and Cultural Heritage, argues today that faith, not politics, was at the forefront of the young Michelangelo's mind while he was chiselling the marble for three years, thus giving Italy tour and Italy cruise passengers the chance to see Michelangelo’s David on top of il Duomo.

''The special political situation of Florence in 1504 led to Michelangelo’s David being valued in a civic sense, transforming the biblical figure into a symbol of the republican freedom that at the time was under threat on many sides,'' Verdon wrote in an article in the weekly Toscana Oggi, available for Italy tour and Italy cruise information. ''But for Michelangelo, David was a religious figure both in the conceptual stage and for almost all of its creation - the shepherd-king who wanted to build the temple in Jerusalem that was physically constructed by his son Solomon; Jesus's ancestor''.

In 1873, after 469 years, the David was taken out of the elements and put in the Galleria dell'Accademia. A copy was erected to replace it in Piazza della Signoria - where many italy cruise and Itay tour travelers take it for the real thing. The new fibreglass copy will tour several Florence sites after its stint at the Duomo.

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And when you are ready for an Italy tour visit Italian Tourism for Italy travel packages including air and hotel italy tours, or click to see Italy cruise, Rome cruise and Venice cruise Italy cruise listings.

Italy Travel: Italy Guide to Art Exhibitions

The following is a Italy travel city-by-city guide to some of Italy's art exhibitions:

ALBA - Fondazione Ferrero: Giorgio Morandi, The Essence of Landscape; 70 works; until January 16.

FERRARA - Palazzo dei Diamanti: French 18th-century still-life master Jean-Baptiste-Simeon Chardin; 50 loans from major international museums in first-ever Italian show; until January 13.

FLORENCE ART - Palazzo Strozzi: 'Bronzino, Painter and Poet at the Medici Court'; 90 works in world's first monographic show; to January 23.

- Palazzo Pitti: Vinum Nostrum. The Art, Science and Myths of Wine in Civilisation; from prehistoric winegrowing to Dionysus cult, Etruscan, Roman use; show features oldest surviving wine container, on loan from Georgia; until April 30.

- Accademia and Horne Museum: Virtues of Love, 40 Florentine Renaissance paintings celebrating wedded bliss, from Italian and foreign museums; until November 1.

- Bargello: Giovanfrancesco Rustici and Leonardo, first show examining links of 15th-century sculptor with da Vinci, Verrocchio and others; until January 10.

FORLI' - Musei Civici di San Domenico: 400 ancient Egyptian artefacts gound by great Egyptologist Ernesto Schiaparelli (1856-1928) including works from Queen Nefertari's tomb; until January 9.

MAMIANO DI TRAVERSETOLO (PARMA ART) - Fondazione Magnani Rocca: Renato Guttuso, Passion and Reality, 65 works until December 8.

MILAN - Palazzo Reale: 'Salvador Dali', The Dream Draws Near'; 50 works, until January 30.

- FNAC: 12 unseen photos of Michael Jackson by French photographer Arno Bani; until 25.

PADUA ART - Palazzo Zabarella: "From Canova to Modigliani, the Face of the 19th Century"; 100 portraits and sculptures; until February 27.

PASSARIANO (UDINE) - Villa Manin: 'Edvard Munch and the Spirit of the North'; 122 works; until March 6.

PERUGIA - Galleria Nazionale: 'Theatre of Dreams from Chagall to Fellini', 100 works; until January 9.

RIMINI - Castel Sismondo: The Marvelous Years: Impressionism; 100 works from international museums including Monet and Pissarro, Sisley and Degas, Bazille and Renoir, Cezanne and Guillaumin, Morisot and Fantin-Latour, Gauguin and Van Gogh; until March 27.

- same venue: Caravaggio's first religious painting, The Ecstasy of St Francis, back in Italy for first time in 25 years from Wadsworh Museum, Hartford, as well as several contemporaries; until March 27.

ROME ART - Galleria Borghese: Luca Cranach the Elder, The Other Renaissance; 45 works from major international museums; until February 13.

- Chiostro del Bramante: Greats from the Veneto, 15th- 18th Century; Bellini, Lotto, Titian, Veronese, Tiepolo, Canaletto; 80 works from Accademia Carrara in Bergamo; until January 30.

- Vittoriano: 'Vincent Van Gogh, Timeless Landscape, Modern City'; 110 masterpieces in first major Rome show in 22 years; until January 30.

- Scuderie del Quirinale: '1861: The Painters of the Risorgimento', war scenes, Garibaldi's Red Shirts, leaders' portraits; to January 16.

- Curia Iulia, Roman Forum: 'The Two Empires, The Eagle and the Dragon'; 450 works on Roman and Chinese empires; marks Year of Chinese Culture in Italy; until January 9.

- Palazzo Barberini: permanent exhibition of ancient art back on show after long restoration; also at Galleria Corsini, Villa Farnesina Chigi and Orto Botanico.

- Museo di Roma (Palazzo Braschi): The Risorgimento in Colour: Patriot Painters; to January 9.

- Vittoriano: Fausto Coppi, Il Campionissimo'; bikes, shirts, helmets, fan letters, reports and footage of legendary cyclist on 50th anniversary of death; until October 31.

SAN MARINO - Palazzo Sums: 25 Impressionist works including Monet, Cezanne and Renoir; until March 27, in tandem with Rimini show.

SAN SEVERINO MARCHE - Pinacoteca Civica, Palazzo Servanzi Confidati and Chiesa della Misericordia: 'Baroque Marvels', 90 works including Bernini, Guercino, Pomarancio, Orazio Gentileschi, Valentin de Boulogne, Baciccio: until December 12.

SIENA - Santa Maria della Scala: Life of Michelangelo; letters, poetry, working sketches; until November 14.

TIVOLI - Villa Adriana: Show charting rise and fall of Hadrian's Villa; dozens of artefacts returned from collections around the world; until November 1.

TRENTO - Buoncastiglio Castle; The Adventure of Glass: From the Renaissance to the 20th Century between Venice and Distant Worlds; brings together over 700 masterpieces celebrating glass production on the Venetian island of Murano; until November 7.

TURIN - Palazzo Reale, Palazzo Chiablese, Castello di Racconigi: "Vittorio Emanuele II: The Gentleman King"; new documents, pictures on life of Italy's first post-unification king; until March 13.

UDINE - Castello: Giambattista Tiepolo, 20 engravings and 30 other works; until October 31.

VENICE ART - Fondazione Cini: 'The Arts of Giambattista Piranesi - Architect, etcher, antiquarian, vedutista, designer'; 300 original prints plus 33 photos by Gabriele Basilico of Rome sites in 1960s; until November 21.

Italy Travel: Colosseum opens Gladiator Pits

Italy Travel: Rome: The Colosseum has added to its allure by opening the undergrounds pits where gladiators and wild beasts waited before being winched from darkness into the light of the killing ground.

As well as revealing the bowels of the one-time blood-and-guts arena, the famed monument has also reopened its 33m-high third story, closed since the 1970s, affording a breathtaking view of Rome.

The two new attractions aim to boost visitor numbers at the site, which is already Italy's single most-visited monument at some 19,000 people a day.

Fans of ancient bloodletting are allowed in in groups of 25, strictly by reservation, to see its underground world.

According to Colosseum site director Rossella Rea, the gladiatorial areas are all the more fascinating because "they were completely buried in the 5th century AD and have been perfectly conserved".

"They never suffered the depredation which the surface parts of the monument were victims to," she said.

The so-called 'hypogeum' (literally, 'under ground') has been restored in a multi-million-euro project that has also installed new, muted lighting effects.

Rea said the hope was to have recaptured "some of the atmosphere" of the breathless moments before the games commenced, when the armored or naked fighters and the wild animals were hauled up through 80 trap-doors.

The visit starts from the Porta Libitinaria, named after the goddess of the dead Libitina, through which the gladiators marched in and from which their corpses were taken out.

A broad corridor then leads to the hypogeum proper with its various rooms, some once used for storing the stage props and scenographical effects that enhanced the central combat. Roberto Cecchi, Rome's special archeological commissioner, said he hoped the boost to ticket sales would act as a "driving force" for the rest of the Forum, where he announced the opening, in December, of two other long-awaited sites, the Temple of Venus and the House of the Vestal Virgins.

The next step for the Colosseum itself is to attract private sponsors to fund a 23-million-euro scheme to clean and restore the entire time-ravaged site.

Rome Mayor Gianni Alemanno, who has admitted that the Colosseum is "a daily worry" to him, hopes to announce the names of the firms before Christmas.

Efforts to muster funding for the clean-up and restoration have quickened since a chunk of masonry fell off an interior wall on May 9, the latest in a trail of bits the 2,000-year-old monument has shed over the years. The Colosseum or Flavian Amphitheatre (its proper name) is perhaps the most attractive archeological venue in the world with some four million visitors a year.

Construction on the city's iconic monument started between 70 and 72 AD under the Emperor Vespasian.

It was completed in 80 AD by his son Titus, who financed the project from the booty his armies seized in the war against the Jews in 66-70 AD.

Titus inaugurated it with 100 days of games including the recreation of a sea battle between Romans and Greeks.

First Italy vacation? Choose a Rome vacation package

Lots of first time travelers to Italy ask. "Where should we go?"

In my view, start with Rome, but never in August. The heat is stifling in August and all the Romans are on vacation.

April, May, September, and October are absolutely glorious months to visit Rome. August, go to the seacoast!

As per Rome, where to begin? The history, the architecture, the culture; you will never be short of options in this wonderful city. Medieval, Baroque, and Renaissance landmarks fill the capital city of Rome, and the Vatican is right down the street. It's impossible to do it justice in a mere blog, and when one travels to Italy no matter where you visit you can't go wrong, but Rome is a great place to start.

Click to browse Rome vacation packages, and visit WebVisionItaly's Rome vacations video channel to see more about Rome.

For more about Italian culture, visit WebVisionItaly's Italy videos.

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Italian Cooking Show: Authentic Italian Recipes from the Amalfi Coast

WebVisionItaly.com Italian Cooking Show travels to the region of Campania and the Amalfi Coast to bring you Spaghetti sciue sciue an authentic Italian cooking recipe from the Amalfi Coast.

Spaghetti sciue sciue is made from a few simple ingredients making it an easy pasta recipe to prepare quickly when the family is savoring a delicious authentic pasta recipe.

Ingredients for Spaghetti Sciue Sciue:

• Olive Oil (extra virgin preferred)
• Garlic Cloves
• Cherry Tomatoes
• Salt & Pepper
• Spaghetti

To see how to cook this authentic Amalfi Coast pasta recipe click Spaghetti Sciue Sciue Italian Cooking Show on WebVisionItaly.com.

Buon appetito!

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Escape to Italy's Amalfi Coast for a vacation filled with stunning scenery, great wine and gourmet cuisine at 60% less than the price of similar packages.

Depart November-January on Wednesdays to obtain the deal. The $799 per person package includes:

1) Roundtrip airfare to Naples from New York City or Newark; Boston +$30
2) Six nights at the Hotel Gardenia in Sorrento, located along the Corsa Italia, Sorrento's main street
3) Weeklong car rental with manual transmission (automatic available)

Finish off this vacation with an upgrade on the final two nights to the four-star Villa Franca Hotel in Positano for only $99 more per person. This luxurious and sought-after hotel offers breathtaking views overlooking the Mediterranean Sea.

The Amalfi Coast is a stretch of coastline on the southern side of the Sorrentine Peninsula between Naples and Salerno. It is renowned for its rugged terrain, scenic beauty, picturesque towns and rich history. The famed towns of Positano, Pompeii and Capri are located 8 to 17 miles from the Hotel Gardenia.

Note: A seven-night version of this Amalfi Coast vacation package including an extra night in Sorrento is also available at discounted rates.

Book by Oct. 8 to reserve your discounted Italy tour and save over $1000.