The Essentials of Planning - Italy - page 586

focused on gay men; and the Damron guides (www.damron.com), with separate,
annual books for gay men and lesbians.
FOR STUDENTS
Arm yourself with an International Student Identity Card (ISIC), which offers
substantial savings on rail passes, plane tickets, and entrance fees. It also provides
you with basic health and life insurance and a 24-hour help line. The card is avail-
able for $22 from STA Travel ( % 800/781-4040 in North America; www.sta.com
or www.statravel.com), the biggest student travel agency in the world. If you're no
longer a student but are still under 26, you can get an International Youth Travel
Card (IYTC) for the same price from the same people, which entitles you to some
discounts (but not on museum admissions). Travel CUTS ( % 800/667-2887 or
416/614-2887; www.travelcuts.com) offers similar services for both Canadians
and U.S. residents. Irish students may prefer to turn to USIT ( % 01/602-1600;
www.usitnow.ie), an Ireland-based specialist in student, youth, and independent
travel.
RECOMMENDED READING
Beyond this guidebook, you can increase your enjoyment of Italy immensely by
doing some reading before you arrive. Here are some of my recommendations for
fun, informative reads.
NONFICTION
To learn more about Renaissance-era Florence, pick up a copy of Brunelleschi's
Dome, by Ross King, an entertaining account of the creation of the dome of the
Duomo in Florence in the 15th century. It's a must-read before climbing to the
top. April Blood, by Lauro Martines, is another page-turner about the Pazzi fam-
ily's plot against the Medicis in Florence in 1478. For a straight historical text, try
Harry Hearder's Italy, A Short History.
The first of two wonderful biographical approaches to Italy is Norman Lewis's
Naples '44: An Intelligence Officer in the Italian Labyrinth; one of my all-time
favorites, it's the story of a British soldier getting his first taste of Italian culture
during the chaos of World War II. The second is Pietro's Book by Jenny Bawtree,
the biography of a Tuscan farmer that gives a much better feeling for the hard
countryside life than do the slew of the “Oh, it's so tough to build a vacation
home” books on the market.
A couple older Italy travelogues still have entertainment value as well as valu-
able insights about the country. Mary McCarthy's 1956 The Stones of Florence/
Venice Observed offers such sharp commentary it seems like it was written last
year, not 50 years ago. And Mark Twain's 1878 Innocents Abroad is still a hilar-
ious read, especially the chapters where he torments tour guides, complains inces-
santly, and rewrites history.
For an insight on contemporary Italian culture, try Tobias Jones's 2003 The
Dark Heart of Italy, which skewers Italian politics, the Mafia, and the Red
Brigade, with scathing criticism of Silvio Berlusconi's “might makes right” regime.
A lighter modern tale is told by Joe McGinnis in his book The Miracle of Castel
Di Sangro. An account of a year with a small-town soccer team, it takes you into
the heart of Italian futbol mania.