Touring Italy

If you want to see pollution, you go to New Jersey, but if you want to see the world's great art treasures, Italy's your destination. Touring Italy, the latest release from Questar Video, is a fine introduction to a colorful country. Home to 58 million, Italians are fond of food and the family (both personal and mob), and this video tour captures a wide range of the populace in both Northern and Southern Italy. There are some great tidbits thrown in with the gorgeous sights. Tidbit: the post office at Verona still gets thousands of postcards every year addressed simply "Romeo, Verona" or "Juliet, Verona." Sight: the camera takes the requisite ride with a gondolier in Venice, where visitors travel "by foot, by boat, or not at all." (With its plentiful canals, Venice is the one city where you never say "I'll meet you at the bridge," since there are hundreds to choose from.) And, if you're feeling the bite of the omnivorous I.R.S. on your wallet, you might consider relocating to Vatican City; the 400 residents pay no income tax. Viewers will also see the Galleria shopping mall in Milan, the magnificent five-domed cathedral of St. Mark's, the leaning tower of Pisa, the Sistine Chapel, the ruins of Pompeii, the gorgeous sculpture at Florence, and many more sights. As an added bonus, viewers will even see the "Bridge of Sighs," which may well have been the inspiration for the title of the Robin Trower 70s hit of the same name (this was the song that always sounded as if it was recorded at the wrong speed, regardless of whether or not one had ingested illegal substances). An excellent introduction to a visually rich country, Touring Italy is highly recommended. (Available from most distributors.)