The Italian Chocolate Museum in Norma

Have you ever watched Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory? Have you ever dreamt to live a passion like that?

If your answer is yes you should pay a visit to the gorgeous chocolate museum  built in 1995 in Norma, a small village 80 km south of Rome.

It has been thought and  created by a chocolate factory: Antica Norba. It is a real journey in the world of italian chocolate.

Italian chocolate is famous worldwide and excellent chocolatiers are present everywhere, from North to South. 

The museum will teach you everything about chocolate, from  its history to how it is made with a very well-researched description  and lots of historical details.

An area describes how Mayan Indians worked  cocoa beans in Central America when Columbus arrived there and  the following  advent in European  rich houses. 

The story continues with the narration of the specific phases of cocoa beans cultivation such as harvest, fermentation and drying.

The most beautiful part is reserved to a recreated historic Italian chocolate factory. It will show you directly how it was made years ago without the help of modern technology.

You can’t loose the school of chocolate . There you could prepare your own bar of chocolate. It is particularly suitable for children, but adults can have great fun too. This special part of the museum requires a reservation.

Inside the Museum there is shop, where you can buy the delicious  Italian chocolate produced here.

PLAN A TOUR OF ITALIAN CHOCOLATE MUSEUM

Hours:

Visits are available from  Monday to Saturday from  9.00  till  12.30 in the morning , while in the afternoon from 15.00 till 17.30.

Cost:

€ 4.50  for adults

€ 2.50 for children, students or groups of  20.

It is required a reservation for groups

Location:

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The Museum is located in Norma, via Capo dell’Acqua, 20
Website for further information  http://www.museodelcioccolato.com/ The website is not available in English, but with the help of Google Translate you can have all the information you need.  

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Ötzi - The iceman from italian Alps

In the autumn of 1991 a young couple went for a hike in a beautiful Alpine valley, near the border between Italy an Austria. They made a really great discovery. They found a 5000 years old mummified body . So they decided to call the police and some scientists to free the body and to look at the iceman carefully. Everything was conserved really perfectly. The iceman was called Oetzi.

Nearby the body it was been found an  ax with a wooden handle and a copper blade, a small knife , some arrows, some tools to repair his clothes and to create a fire and a slice of meat, berries and mushrooms  to eat. 

 The Italian authorities decided to build a new, modern museum to place  Otzi: the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology in Bolzano

So if you are planning a Tour of Italian Alpes  don’t miss this excellent fly in Copper Age’s daily life.

The iceman has a central position in the museum. He is the superstar and the best attraction, so  its history is narrated in a real exceptional way with replicas, reconstructions and interactive videos but that’s not all. There are exposed archeological finds from entire South Tyrol from the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic Age till the Carolingian period.

Visits are available in Italian, English, French, German and Russian

PLAN A TOUR OF SOUTH TYROL MUSEUM OF ARCHEOLOGY

Hours:

Visits are available from Tuesday to Sunday from  10.00  till  18.00. It is closed on Monday except in July, August and December.

Cost:

€ 9.00  for adults

Free for 6 years old and younger

There are special terms for students or groups.

It is required a reservation for groups

Location:

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The Museum is located in Bolzano, via Museo, 43

Website for further information  http://www.iceman.it/  The website is available in Italian, English and German 

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Battle of Anzio: The Beachhead Museum

Rome is a real trendy destination in Italy. It is one of the best cities in the world, with lots of  so fashionable things to see. You could visit the Colosseum, the ancient Rome’s amphitheatre, or the Vatican or the Trevi fountain. These are just some among the most famous and I’m sure you are already familiar with them. If you could stay there for a month you certainly couldn’t see all its magnificence. 

But I’m here to show you alternative and still interesting places to visit.

So, if you are based in Rome during a Tour in Italy you could visit the Anzio Beachhead Museum.

Anzio is a town, about 55 km south of Rome where in 1944 Allies landed to save Italy and Europe from Nazism and Fascism .

There several British and American soldiers lost their lives to restore freedom in a really obscure era of Europe’s history.

The Anzio Beachhead Museum has been opened by volunteers  in 1994, on the 50^th anniversary of  the landing. It is located near the centre of the town in a historic building named “Villa Adele”. The easiest way to reach it from Rome is by train.

The museum is not so large, but it is really well planned. It takes you on a trip back to WWII time. In its room you can observe an impressive collection of documents, plans and pictures taken during the landing. Really interesting are the personal histories of the soldiers and the items employed  by troops in their daily life. This, most of all, help you to understand the cruelty of war.  Don’t forget to take a look to the uniforms, flags and ensigns.

During your visit you can watch a brief film about the landing too. 

In Anzio are located two Commonwealth cemeteries with more than 3000 allied soldiers buried there. Don't forget to leave a prayer for them!

PLAN A TOUR OF THE ANZIO BEACHHEAD MUSEUM

Hours:

Visits are available Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays from  10.30  till  12.30 in the morning , while in the afternoon from 16.00 till 18.00.
Cost:

The visit is totally free.  

Location:

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The Museum is located in Anzio, via di Villa Adele. 
Website for further information: http://www.sbarcodianzio.it   The website is available in English.

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Italian Olive Oil: Carli’s Museum in Imperia

Olive oil is considered the oil of Gods. It has been employed  for thousands of years in Mediterranean, and it still continue to be central . It is the basic element of Italian cuisine and  its importance is spreading quickly throughout the world, even in USA.

In Italy there are lots of museums that describe its history, its value to human life and the role it has played in the improvement of Mediterranean civilization. I’d like to describe you one of the most attractive among those Museums. It was officially opened  in 1992in Imperia by the Carli family and it is the result of a family passion for everything to do with olives, in fact they produce olive oil since 1911. 

The Museum, collocated  inside Carli’s factory, displays in 18 rooms utensils from  the past, used by Romans, Phoenicians, Egyptians and Greeks, together with archeological discovers, very old books and valuable documents.  Many items are dated  till 4500 years ago. A very special area, in room 11 is dedicated to the health eating pyramid and the importance of healthy food.  Some time the museum organizes courses to enjoy properly olive oil. It is enough visit in the web site for further information. In front of the Museum there is another building with a lecture theatre, a cafeteria and a shop too.

The Museum is located in Imperia, that is in the western part of the Italian Riviera, near the French border. It is one of the richest olive growing areas of all Italy. Even the city is so beautiful and you could live the seaside atmosphere together with the loveable Italian cuisine. 

PLAN A TOUR OF CARLI’S  MUSEUM IN IMPERIA

Hours:

Visits are available from Monday to Saturday from 9.00  till  12.30 in the morning , while in the afternoon from 15.00 till 18.30.
Cost:

The visit is free.  For groups is requested a reservation

Location:

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The Museum is located in Imperia, via Garessio, 13.
Website for further information:  http://www.museodellolivo.com  The website is available in English, Germen and French.

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Leonardo’s Museum: Discovering da Vinci's inventions

Leonardo Da Vinci can be considered the world’s greatest genius for art and science. He not only created some of the most beautiful paintings of Renaissance, but he had an extraordinary scientific competence too.  His masterpieces are: “Last Supper” conserved in Milan and "La Gioconda" (Mona Lisa) located in Paris. His great mind gave birth to lots of  inventions we use in our lifes, such as the parachute, transmission gear box, centrifugal pump, the submarine, the telescope and much, much more. He studied carefully the anatomy of human body, the flow of water, the flight of birds and the wind. A great Genius like him should be discovered really carefully. I suggest a visit to Leonardo’s museum  (museo Leonardiano) in Vinci, his birthplace, while you are taking a tour in Italy.

Vinci is just 30km far from Florence. It is the typical Tuscan Village, that is a little medieval village, really beautiful, with a wonderful view on the valley all around. Here, in the old castle of the town, you can visit Leonardo’s Museum .

The museum describes  Leonardo’s ability both as inventor and as engineer with a great exhibition of  models reconstructed according to his drawings. The most important pieces exposed are the flying machines, the tanks and the water cannon.

Very attractive are the drawings themselves and  manuscript notes.

Just 4 km Northern from Vinci you can visit the home where Leonardo was born and lived his first years. 

PLAN A  TOUR OF DA VINCI’S  MUSEUM

Hours:

Visits are available daily from 9.30  till  18.00 in winter, while in summer till 19.00

Cost:

€ 7.00  full price

€ 5.00 for groups with more than 15 people  

Free for 6 years old and younger

The visit to his birth house is free.

Location:

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The Museum is located in Vinci, near Florence

Website for further information:  www.museoleonardiano.it   The website will be soon available in English

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Ferrari Museum in Maranello

More than 70 years ago a race-car driver, Enzo Ferrari, decided to build his own sport car. He made such a great job, mixing together perfectly technology and handicraft that he created an authentic myth, more than a simple sport car. Today this myth is totally preserved  in “Galleria Ferrari”, the Ferrari Museum opened  in 1990 in Maranello, near Bologna  Every man in the world knows its logo, the prancing horse (Cavallino Rampante), and  it has become a world’s status symbol. If you are scheduling  a Tour in Italy and you care not a lot about antiquities you should visit this real interesting place.

The museum is located in the small town of Maranello, near Ferrrari’s factory.

Maranello is a really nice small town. It can be considered  the world motoring Mecca that attracts every year thousands of visitors but at the same time it is a nice place where you can spend some of your time and it has many cute little restaurants where you can consume the typical Italian cuisine. 

The Museum features some of the most significant cars ever built by Ferrari, the history of its great drivers and the trophies won in more than 60 years of history by the famous Italian sport car factory.

Here are present a great number of racing and sport cars from first years since nowadays. A special treatment is dedicated to the Formule1 history, especially Schumacher’s era

Don’t miss even  the exceptional engines built by Ferrari and the technological solutions adopted in the past years.

Some of the Galleria is dedicated to the man who created this Legend, and his life is narrated accurately.

The Museum is constantly improved thanks to the loans of customers and collectors.

It is available a beautiful shop too. There you can buy nice gifts signed Ferrari, and beautiful photo books. 

PLAN A TOUR TO FERRARI MUSEUM IN MARANELLO

Hours:

Visits are available daily from 9.30  till  18.00

Cost:

€ 13.00  full price

€ 09.00 for families

€11.00 for children and over 65  

Location:

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The Museum is located in Maranello, near Ferrari’s factory.

The Address is:  Via Dino Ferrari 43, 41053 Maranello (MO) Italy

Website for further information:  http://www.ferrari.com/   The website is available even in English , and you can buy tickets online

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San Siro Stadium Tour

Soccer or football is the Italian national pastime, as baseball in US. Every kid is able to kick a ball as it should be, trying to emulate super stars of SerieA.

If you are a huge sport fan, not necessarily a soccer fan, and you are planning a Tour in Italy you can’t miss a Tour of  Italian soccer’s Cathedral: San Siro Stadium in Milan.

San Siro is the home of A.C. Milan and Inter Milan. Here they play their home games. The greatest players ran on this field during memorable matches.

This stadium has seen lots of successes and trophies, and millions and millions of fans have been moved to tears after a great win or an awful loss.

Its structure is breathtaking and it has come through considerable changes to reach the splendor you see today. 

It has been inaugurated  in 1926 and strongly modernized twice. The first time in 1955, while  the second time just before Italian FIFA World Cup in 1990. Its real name is “Stadio Giuseppe Meazza “ in honor of a great Italian champion, winner of  two World Cup in 1934 and in 1938.

It’s one of the best stadium of all Europe together with Camp Nou of Barcelona and Old Trafford located in Manchester. It has a great capacity, more than 85.000 seats. If compared with other similar Stadiums of Italy it’s certainly the best of all.   

An absolute must is the guided tour of the Stadium. It is a very remarkable experience. Once inside the Stadium don’t miss the magnificent Museum of AC Milan and Inter, the first Italian Museum ever built inside a Stadium. You’ll walk through the history of the two home teams, the classic jerseys and dozens of cups and trophies won in more than a century of great successes, plus hundreds of memorabilia.  

PLAN A TOUR OF SAN SIRO STADIUM IN MILAN


Hours:

Visits are available daily from 10 to 5 pm from Gate 14.

Cost:

€ 12.50  if you decide to visit both the Museum and the Stadium

€ 11.00 for copious groups with more than 20 people  

€5.00 if you decide to visit only the Museum

Free for 6 years old and younger 

Location:

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The Stadium is located about 5 km from the center City, in a easy to reach western area of Milan.

The Address is:  Via Piccolomini 5, 20151 Milan

Website for further information :  http://www.sansirotour.com/index.html. The website is available even in English and Spanish 

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