San Gimigiano
In winter-time a tourist in Italy is almost a rare sight! Yes it is quite cold, but one can have Palladio’s masterpieces, the canals of Venice, and the Uffizi without the massive crowds. Tourists who have traveled in spring and summer and even in fall, know how rare this is. In fall the Italians travel and things can be quite busy. Jim and I split up for a time in the Uffizi one winter day, and each of us marveled at walking through room after room of masterpieces with not a person in sight. I was greeted like a c-list celebrity by American college students in the Duomo who were studying abroad and were thrilled because, “Oh my God! It’s an American mom!”
I guess they were feeling a little homesick in late January and mom was looking better than when they left! 🙂
I love Italy in the winter. It is my favorite time. The people are warm, the food hot and delicious, and less tourists and queues, have made me a convert. It is like being in Italy, not being in Italy with 200,000 other tourists crammed into four blocks! I also prefer the cold to the heat of the summer. All of the buildings are covered with cloaks of frost. If all of this isn’t enough to convince you, everything is less expensive in Italia in the winter time. Accommodations, even in pricey Venice, are much less expensive.
We will be back in Italy in the spring and I am bracing for the crowds.
Take a peek at beautiful Italia in the winter-time:
The genius of Palladio. One can book inside tours of Palladio’s masterpieces in the winter-time more easily. Getting inside is a major treat. There were Pallazos for sale along the Brenta that you can see if your thinking of a move! 🙂 I sure was, but it’s quite a major undertaking and expense to take on a palazzo. I am content to visit.
The Duomo Florence
You’ve convinced me…
Oh good….I hope you go if you can bear leaving sunny NZ!
Great post 🙂 Nice photos and advice! I’ll keep this in mind for whenever I happen to go that way.
Hope you get to go soon and post photos on your blog! 🙂
Reblogged this on bearspawprint.
Thank you so much! You and your blog rock!
Will have to think of a winter trip……maybe! (You know how I feel about cold) Cold is less than
65deg and cloudy. Great pics, Cindy.
Paul
I could be your travel agent??? Let’s see, there’s French Polynesia, the Carribbean, ooooh, how about the Cook Islands? The Greek Islands are warm and lovely in spring……
Beautiful color tones. Nice place.
It is beautiful. Even with my old crumby camera!
Reblogged this on The ObamaCrat.Com™ and commented:
“I love Italy in the winter. It is my favorite time. ”
Mine as well. Sicily in off season is even better. Thank you Ms. Cindy for this trip down memory lane.
Thank you for your excellent blog & your ongoing support! You rock~
We both rock. Love your photos….so good to escape from my politicial blog to your peaceful blog. 😉
I told you so……You r a prince! 🙂
What a delicious Italian treat you have posted. Thank you.
Thank you for appreciating it!
The first photo looks like a painting, and the last, the painting is just magnificent. I love the layers and how the people seem to be leaning out over the balconies.
I had a week in Italy – while hubby worked I walked around a small tourist town. During a heat wave. Winter might be a good time to go if we can ever make it back that way again. 🙂
Oh I hope you do! The art and architecture are mind-expanding…..the small towns are awesome as well. Thanks for visiting & cheers to you~
Beautiful pics, Cindy. We were there in October, and the weather was absolutely perfect. I don’t think I would choose a cold weather vacation.
Yes. I know most people won’t like the cold, but I even went to Antarctica and would like to go again, so cold empty Italy is nirvana for me. Octobor weather is ideal. Cheers & thanks for stopping by!
Thanks for the tour Cindy. We were in Italy in the fall of 1983. Had a great time viewing history.
Awesome place and glad you were there. It is more crowded now than it was in 83!
Cindy, so beautiful!! Love The Duomo!
I can’t get enough of the cathedrals……
Beautiful pictures. I lived in Naples, Italy for 2 years and I loved it. The people were warm and hospitable, the food was out of this world, and at that time they were still using their own currency, lira so a lot of things were fairly affordable. I hope to go back one day on vacation, but I would not choose to go during the Summer because just about everywhere is crowded. Winter is better, you are right.
I agree with you and I envy you living there for two years. The food is hard to describle, fresh produce picked ripe daily, home-made everything….just delightful!
Oh, tell me about it. The food was so, so delicious. My landlord who lived on the 3rd floor actually invited me to have lunch with him and the meal he prepared was so good that I was chocking on the pasta because I was eating too fast:)
What a gorgeous opening shot!!!
Thank you. It would be hard though, to take a bad shot of San Gimigiano!
Just beautiful, Cindy! You sure do know how to travel. Have a feast with view and food… have a marvelous time! 😀 Fae.
Great travel and great food works for me all the time:) Thank you my dear Fae~
Oh Cindy – you and Italy belong together like sunshine and love!!! Have a wonderful time.
“Italy, and the spring and first love all together should suffice to make the gloomiest person happy.”
Bertrand Russell
God I love the quotations you pick. Wonderful!
The colours are so different, much softer and very beautiful in the winter.
Yes there is a haze in the air because it is cold, there is frost on the vineyards making delicate ice scultures, everything is crystalized, people really talk with you because there are no crowds. I love Italy in the winter time~
when friends ask me when is the best time to travel to Italy, I always say, avoid summer time, it’s full of tourists!!!! you can have it all for yourself off-season. Great shots!
Thank you & so true! Wonder when your heading back to Croatia~
we will be in Croatia for Easter time, to do some more work and fill the pool for our first guests. Then again a few days in June, then again 3 whole weeks in August!! bring on summer!!
Sounds idyllic~
I love it there! We went to that area for our honeymoon. 🙂
Perfect spot for a romantic honeymoon. We went to France which was perfect too!
Oh lovely. I sent you the comment on my phone and it let me. I will try to do comments on your posts through the laptop and see if I’m allowed to again. 🙂
After all these beautiful photos and your vivid descriptions of Italy in winter, I am a convert. I love Italy but the heat of summer there simply wears me out. Thanks for a new perspective. 🙂
You can bundle up and feel like a European without all the tourists. I love it!
NIce pictures. Thanks as always for your visits to my site.
Visa Versa!
I’ve spent a lot of time in Central and Northern Italy. Your first image takes me back to the streets of small towns including S.G. But my favorites are cities are Florence and Siena as well as the lake regions in the north (e.g., Lago D’Orta). But I prefer the warmer weather.
Oh yes Lago Maggiore, small towns like Ferrara, Italy is wonderful~
These are gorgeous shots Cindy – really like the structures in your photographs, but are lighting seals the deal for me.
So kind. Thank you!
My Italian landlord would love this post! Beautiful bright photos 🙂 If I show him this maybe he will bring more Italian food for my dinner!! They are very generous like that and it’s nice to have a little bit of Italy in the diet especially when it’s freezing cold winter lol and he is very proud of his country 🙂
Hope this works 🙂 I would certainly be proud if I were Italian and I would be so happy to eat their food regularly!!
We traveled via tour thru Italy in the fall of 2008. Since it was our first time, I’d have no comparison for crowds but we didn’t mind it. Via escorted tour, everything is pre-booked and pre-arranged so we never waited in line for a thing, we just show up. Even Eiffel in Paris
Sounds wonderful! It is also fun to go on your own, maybe for a second time??? 🙂
Stunning architecture! 🙂
That is the genius of Palladio!
Absolutely. I spent 1 afternoon in Venice in the early summer, and it was more than enough–too hot, too crowded, too full of other Americans. A friend is visiting there now and I’m jealous. I’m sure his experience will be completely different. Ken
Yes. It is probably how Italy was 30 years ago when you visit in the winter-time. And the food is, well, incredible, healthy, unprocessed, with little fat. Whats not to love?
what so amazing photos, Cindy I just love the way you look at these subjects. Thank you for sharing and thank you for visiting my blog.
You are very kind and your comments are most appreciated~
Beautiful photos Cindy
Mil grazi & thank you for visiting and commenting!
Gorgeous photos! They bring back so many nice memories of Italy. Would love to go back again soon, and yes I love winter there too. 🙂
In winter it seems like the real Italy and the country radiates such warmth that you don’t mind the cold. Thank you for appreciating this & cheers to you. I’m still smiling over your tv tray comments~
And your reply cheered me too! Thank you.
Absolutely Beautiful!
Thank you for visiting my blog today. I appreciate the time you took to stop by. May your day be filled with joy and peace.
BE ENCOURAGED! BE BLESSED!
Thank you! Some mistake put your comment in my spam box. I am so glad I found it!! Cheers to you!
Fantastic trip! I especially loved the American Mom line!! I have teenagers, and it is nice to remember that one day they will be happy to see me again!
Oh you just cracked me up big time!! Trust me they will!! It’s great to send them abroad for a year in college, they come back very much appreciating mom. My kids did. Too funny, the high school years are awful for everyone, even the kids, that’s one reason why they have an attitude. This too shall pass…..still chuckling! Cheers to you~
That first pic is gorgeous. Were you hanging out of a helicopter or something?
Thats hilarious!! Yes hanging by my knees too!! Actually there are 7 towers (used to be more) and this was from one you could climb up. Hope SD is treating you well. Too bad it’s raining….Love following your progress. Cheers to you~
Thank you for the photos! What a beautiful journey.
Thank you for you appreciation & your kind comment! Cheers~
Fntastic Pictures. Specially the first.
Mil grazi. I greatly appreciate your kindness~