Italy, part 2

Continuing the tour of Italy.

Tuscany also known as the birthplace of the Renaissance is home to just shy of four million people.  The capital of Tuscany is Florence.  The people in this region speak Italian but they also have their own Tuscan dialect.

Chianti, a full bodied wine, originated in Tuscany from Sangiouese grapes.

Did you know that in Italy, there are no legal drinking age laws?  A person of any age can consume an alcoholic beverage anytime they want.  You only have to be 16 to sell or serve alcohol.

A few famous folks that hailed from the Tuscan region include Leonardo da Vinci (maybe you have heard of him), Giotto (Giotto was said to be quite possibly the greatest artist of all times from Italy), and Giacomo Puccini (his works include famous operas Madame Butterfly, Tosca, and La Boheme). 
Frommer's fast facts.

Venice-One day, I will go to Venice!
Venice is a magical floating city.  This city of water is seated on top of around 118 submerged islands which are separated by 150 canals and linked by 400 bridges.

Odd/interesting facts:
~Famous Venetians include Marco Polo and Casanova.
~In 2010, Venice got the very first woman gondolier in history.
~Venice is sinking at a rate of 1-2 cm each year.
~Shakespeare's famous works; Othello and The Merchant of Venice were inspired by Venice.  Thomas Mann also wrote Death in Venice published in 1912 using Venice as his setting.
~The word ghetto originated in Venice as it is said Venice was the first ghetto in the world.  The word getto in Italian means casting-the ghetto was near a foundry where metal castings were made hence the name ghetto.  Other words that originated specifically from Venetian (Venice) include quarantine, regatta, ciao, gondola, arsenal, and lagoon.

I have to stop here now as this could just go on and on!! I love Italy so what can I say?

Wiki page
Articles from The New York Times
More facts