Fun Facts!! Rome, Florence, Paris

Italy

Short fun facts about Italy

• At 300 000 sq km (116 000 sq miles) Italy is only marginally bigger than New Zealand.
• There are many dialects of the Italian language spoken throughout Italy. The official Italian language spoken today originates from the Tuscan dialect (of Latin).
• Italian is a Romance language and is related to the other Latin languages: Spanish, French, Portuguese and Romanian.
• Italy manufacture most of the world's top sports cars, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Bugatti, Maserati and Alfa Romeo being some of the most popular.
• Don't try to outrun the police in Lazio (Rome's province) some of the officers drive a Lamborghini.
• The upbeat Italian National Anthem (often played at the Formula 1 and Moto GP due to the past victories of Michael Schumacher, Ferrari and Valentino Rossi) is called "Inno di Mameli" or "Canto degli Italiani" and was written by Goffredo Mameli.
• The "Promessi Sposi" is Italy's literature equivalent of Rome and Juliet.
• Many of Shakespeare's plays were set in Italy, including Romeo and Juliet from Verona.
• Opera is an Italian creation.
• Around 85% of Italians are registered Catholics however less than a third of that are practicing members.
• There are many "Mafia" organizations in Italy. The Mafia (known as "Cosa Nostra") is only one of them and is based in Sicily. Camorra and Ndrangheta are the other bigger organizations.
• Democratic Italy is governed by a President who appoints the Prime Minister (largely a figure-head).
• SPQR stands for "Senatus Populusque Romanus" and means "The senate and the people of Rome". You still see the symbol all over Rome today (especially on drain covers) as it's used by the Rome Municipality.
• The Romans mastered plumbing. They used copper piping and valves - the patents of some are still in use today.
• Rome is known as the "Eternal city" and also "Caput Mundi", coming from Latin and meaning capital of the world.
• Rome is the Capital, the largest city and has a population of roughly 3 million.
• According to legend the brothers Romulus and Remus (the founders of Rome) were raised by a she-wolf in a cave on Palatine Hill.
• Rome's emblem is the she-wolf suckling the two brothers Romulus and Remus.
• Pompeii is the city that was buried after the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79. Many parts of ancient life were eerily preserved. By pouring wax into the cavities in the ash (which once held various furniture and artifacts) scientists have been able to get perfect replicas of ancient Roman furniture.
• Italy has the Guinness record for the country with the most lifts.
• Italy has the lowest birthrate in Europe - a contradiction to the large Italian family culture.
• Italians live very long, the percentage of the retired population is 20% which is a cause for concern as there aren't enough young people to work and contribute to the state pension.
• Italians on average eat around 30 kg (66 pounds) of pasta and drink 60 liters of wine per year .

http://www.romanlife-romeitaly.com/fun-facts-about-italy.html

Paris

Paris is the capital city of France, the largest country of Western Europe with 550 000 km² and with about 60 millions inhabitants in the Whole of France.

The City of Paris has about 2,160,000 people living there and it covers about 41 square miles. The altitude of Paris averages between 90ft and 120ft above sea level.

Some of the attractions of Paris include The Eiffel Tower, Notre-Dame Cathedral, The Arc de Triomphe, The Louvre Museum, The Champs-Elysées, and Musé d'Orsay.

The Eiffel Tower is probably one of the most famous symbols of France and was built for the International Exhibition of Paris of 1889, took 2 years to complete and it was the world's tallest building up until 1930.

The Eiffel Tower has over 2.5 million rivets, 15,000 iron pieces, over 40 tonnes of paint and there are 1652 steps to the top.

The River Seine actually breaks the city into the Rive Droite (Right Bank) north of the river and the Rive Gauche (Left Bank) south of the river.

Paris is a huge tourist destination and every year 13 millions visit Disneyland Paris, 5.5 million visit the Eiffel Tower, about 5 million visit the Louvre museum, and about 3.25 million visit Versailles Palace.

The Tour de France is a race which occurs each summer were more than 100 professional cyclists take part in a 2,000 mile race. The race lasts up to three weeks and the route changes from year to year. Once the Tour de France actually included Ireland.

Tourists may like to know that the average January Temperature is 39F and the Average July Temperature is 69F. The time is 1 hour ahead of GMT (or 6 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time, New York), the Country Dialing Code is 33 and the Paris area code is 1. Electricity in Paris and France is 220 Volts AC, 50 Hz and plugs are round with two-pins.

Paris has over 70 Museums, monuments and cultural tourist stops. Some of the best art in the world is housed in Parisien Museums.

http://www.shanemcdonald.com/laughs/l-facts-about-paris-france.html