Italy, part 1

We are now in Italy, I wish!  At any rate, I am there in my dreams floating down the Venice canal in a

gondola.  I decided to break Italy up into parts because there is just too much good stuff to miss any of it.  


Italy is known as the Italian Republic.  Rome (The Eternal City) is the capital city, and Italy is home to over 61 million people according to the 2012 census records.  Italy is a peninsula.  Italian is the official language.  The longest river is the Po River.  The highest elevation is Mont Blanc at 15,770 feet.

Giorgio Napolitano is the current president.  He has been in office since 2006, he is the longest-serving president in Italy's history, and the only president ever re-elected.  I guess he knows what he is doing.

Fun facts about Italy:
~Pizza was invented in Naples around 1860.
~Italy is slightly larger than Arizona.
~The thermometer is an Italian invention.
~The Italians also get credit for pianos, ice cream cones, typewriter, opera, violin, cello, cologne, eyeglasses, the expresso machine
~In Guiness book of world records, Italy is recorded for having the most elevators.
~Italy has hosted the Olympics three times.
~The telephone was also created in Italy by inventor Meucci. He and Alexander Graham Bell were rival     inventors.  Bell was given the patent right due to a filing technicality.  Click here to read more.
~The oldest olive tree in Umbria is reportedly over 1700 years old.
~Parma is where parmesan cheese originated.

Ferrari!

~And who could forget the Italian cars? Alfa Romeo, Maserati, Lamborghini, and Ferrari!

The Bluebird (uccello azzurro) is the official bird of Italy.  








A few famous Italians:

Colosseum

~Christopher Columbus
~Marco Polo
~John Cabot
~Amerigo Vespucci
~Vivaldi
~Rossini
~Verdi
~Mussolini
~Julius Caesar
~Dante Alighieri
~Leonardo da Vinci
~Michleangelo
~Galileo Galilei
~The Medici Family
~The Donetella Family
~Pavarotti
~Versace
~Sophia Loren
~Mario Andretti
~Madonna
~Frank Sinatra
~Al Capone

more complete list of famous Italians
factmonster.comhttp://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0107658.html

Part 2 coming soon!  Ciao! Salve! Arrivederci! for now.