Italy will scrap mandatory quarantine from Sunday for visitors from the European Union, Britain and Israel who test negative for COVID-19, the government said on Friday as it looks to give summer tourism a boost. With vaccine roll-outs picking up pace in the EU, more countries are looking to ease travel curbs and restrictions on the hospitality sector to help it recover from the pandemic. “We have been waiting for this move for a long time and it anticipates a Europe-wide travel pass,” Tourism Minister Massimo Garavaglia. FILE PHOTO: Italian tourists visit the leaning tower of Pisa as it reopens to the public, following the ease of restrictions to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Pisa, Italy, May 1, 2021. REUTERS/Jennifer Lorenzini The EU plans to star...
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Capri's world has always been blue - the color of the water surrounding the Mediterranean island, many of its fishing boats and, most famously, the light in its Blue Grotto. Now, the glamorous tourist destination with magnificent mansions, classy restaurants and world class shopping is hoping to shake off the pandemic blues after a year of on-and-off closures that have depressed the economy. "I can sense a positive spirit, a spirit of recovery," said Paolo Federico, general manager of the five-star Punta Tragara hotel. "Maybe this anxiety will not be part of our baggage anymore." A deserted bathhouse is seen in the island of Capri, a southern Italian island that relies heavily on foreign tourism, despite the loosening of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) restrictions in much of the ...
Read MoreCalling yourself “The Dying Town” may not sound like the best way of attracting visitors, but Civita has learned to make a living out of dying. And it has resisted definitive death for so long that Italy has nominated it and the surrounding area of stark cliffs and valleys known as “badlands” to be a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Centuries ago, the town was much larger and connected by road to other settlements. But landslides, earthquakes, cracks and erosion have reduced its size dramatically and left it sitting spectacularly alone at the top of a spur. When winter clouds are low, Civita looks like a floating castle in the air. On a clear day, the rock on which it rests looks like a slice of a multi-layered cake. Clay from an inland sea a million years ago supports strata o...
Read MoreArchaeologists in Pompeii, the city buried in a volcanic eruption in 79 AD, have made the extraordinary find of a frescoed hot food and drinks shop that served up the ancient equivalent of street food to Roman passersby. Known as a termopolium, Latin for hot drinks counter, the shop was discovered in the archaeological park’s Regio V site, which is not yet open the public, and unveiled on Saturday. Frescoes on an ancient counter discovered during excavations in Pompeii, Italy, are seen in this handout picture released December 26, 2020. Pompeii Archaeological Park/Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism/Luigi Spina/Handout via REUTERS Traces of nearly 2,000-year-old food were found in some of the deep terra cotta jars containing hot food which the shop keeper low...
Read MoreAfter decades of neglect, one of ancient Rome’s most important monuments, the mausoleum of the first emperor Augustus, has been restored and will reopen early next year, city officials announced on Friday. The mausoleum is the largest circular tomb in the world and was constructed in 28 BC near the banks of the river Tiber to house the remains of Augustus and his heirs, including the emperors Tiberius, Caligula and Claudius. A general view of the mausoleum of Rome's emperor Augustus during a preview of the reopening after years of restoration in Rome, Italy, December 18, 2020. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane “This is an historic moment,” Rome Mayor Virginia Raggi told reporters, saying the site would open to tourists on March 1, with entrance free for all until April 21, the day the...
Read MoreRome is banning horse-drawn carriages popular with tourists from the city’s streets, in a move aimed at protecting the animals after years of debate over their well-being, Mayor Virginia Raggi said on Wednesday. “Carriages will no longer be able to circulate in the streets, in the traffic, but only inside the historic parks,” Raggi wrote on Facebook. FILE PHOTO: A horse-drawn carriage is seen in front of Rome's ancient Colosseum downtown Rome, Italy. REUTERS/Stefano Rellandini The open-topped carriages, known as botticelle, are a lucrative business with some tour operators charging over 100 euros ($120) per person for a tour of the city monuments. Animal welfare groups have long complained about the trade, saying horses suffer in the summer heat as they are forced to pull heav...
Read MoreGermany has issued travel warnings for popular ski regions in Austria, Italy and Switzerland, scrambling to contain the spread of the coronavirus as new infection numbers rose above 10,000 a day for the first time. While infection rates in Germany are lower than in much of Europe, they have been accelerating, and the daily number of confirmed cases last rose by 11,287 to 392,049. Germany’s death toll stands at 9,905. Tourists skiing in Swiss Alps during normal times. FILE PHOTO “The situation has become very serious overall,” Lothar Wieler, head of the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases, said. “We still have a chance to slow the spread of the pandemic,” he said. But he said people must stick to the rules and that Germany must prepare for an uncontrolled spread...
Read MoreHow do we travel during and after the ongoing COVID-19 outbreaks? The answer to this question not only affects our holiday plans as well as daily lives, but also the recovery process of the severely pressured leisure, tourism, and travel industries. Answer is never going to be easy, but one thing for sure is that in the months or probably more to come, long haul leisure will be least preferred. It means, domestic tourism is going to grow, people are more likely to stay close to homes, or at least in their country. Governments have realised this thing as well. They are sure overseas tourists are not going to come in that numbers. Crossing borders will be an uphill task as entries are restricted and banned depending on case load of COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, governments want everyone to tr...
Read Moreलोग कहते हैं कि धरती पर जन्नत सरीखी यह जगह उस इंसान ने खोज निकाली जो एक तरह से नर्क की यातना से गुजर रहा था। प्रचलित कहानियों के अनुसार इटनी में मिलान का रहने वाला एक संपन्न व्यापारी अल्बर्टो बेसोजी 12वीं सदी में किसी व्यापारिक काम के सिलसिले में जब मैजियारे झील में अपनी नाव पर था तो एक भयंकर तूफान में फंस गया। उस भयंकर मुसीबत के समय में उसने एलेक्जेंड्रिया की संत कैथरीन से मदद की गुहार लगाई जिनकी वह आराधना करता था। उस समय उसे झील के किनारे चट्टानों के भीतर एक गुफा में शरण मिल गई। उसने बदले में अपना जीवन उसी गुफा में आराधना करते हुए बिताने का फैसला किया। उसने 1195 में वहां एक छोटी सी चर्च का निर्माण किया। वहीं चैपल में उसे बाद में दफनाया भी गया। अब यह चैपल वहां 13वीं से 17वीं सदी के बीच स्थानीय लोगों और विभिन्न धार्मिक समुदायों द्वारा बनाई गई खूबसूरत इमारतों का हिस्सा है जो अ...
Read Moreधरती के भी खेल बड़े निराले हैं। हम मिस्र में हजारों साल पहले बने इंसानों के बनाए पिरामिडों की बातें करते हैं और दूसरी तरफ कुदरत है कि किसी जगह पर एक खेल की तरह पिरामिड बनाती है और गिरा देती है और फिर बना डालती है। हम यहां बात कर रहे हैं इटली के साउथ टिरोल इलाके में प्रकृति के एक अजीब करिश्मे की। ये पिरामिड भी मिट्टी व पत्थर के ही बनते हैं, बस फर्क इतना है कि न उनका कोई पक्का नाप-जोख होता है और न ही उनके भीतर कुछ रखने या किसी को हजारों सालों तक लंबी नींद में सुलाने की कोई व्यवस्था होती है। इन्हें हम पिरामिड कहते हैं तो इनके आकार के लिए जो नीचे से बड़ा और ऊपर जाते-जाते नुकीला हो जाता है। कहा जाता है कि ये असामान्य ढांचे उस मिट्टी से बनने शुरू हुए जो पिछले हिम युग के बाद ग्लेशियरों के पिघल जाने से पीछे रह गई थी। जब मौसम शुष्क होता है तो यह मिट्टी चट्टान जैसी सख्त हो जाती है, लेकिन जैसे ही...
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