Bed and Blessings Italy A Gui

The first comprehensive travel guide to accommodations in convents and monasteries, Bed and Blessings Italy will delight travelers from the first intriguing page to the last. From Rome to Ravello and Sienna to Sicily, Bed and Blessings Italy reveals extraordinary accommodations for budget and savvy travelers alike. Life behind the mysterious monastic walls is a journey into another time, another place -- very much in the real world, yet one step removed. Many of the houses are former palaces and villas, filled with exquisite antiques and religious artwork. All are open to people of any faith, or none at all, whether alone, as a couple or with a family. In the Jubilee year 2000 Italy expects 30 million visitors, more than 8 times the annual amount! Many will stay in convents and monasteries, which hitherto, people have known about mainly through word-of-mouth. Now, Bed and Blessings Italy will offer travelers a real insider's guide to some of Italy's hidden treasures. Bed and Blessings Italy is an imaginative and well-researched guide featuring 131 convents and monasteries in some of Italy's finest areas. Mother-daughter team June and Anne Walsh spent two years researching the places in their book, traversing 13 regions of Italy and visiting more than 300 sites. For each entry, the book gives a description of both the physical place and the atmosphere, as well as address, fax and phone numbers, price, number of rooms, availability of meals, languages spoken, directions, and so on. Plus, there is useful information for traveling in Italy in general -- how to make phone calls, use public transportation, etc. Sample forms are provided in Italian to ease the writing or faxing of requests. In addition, the book is illustrated with more than 50 detailed maps and color photos of some of the picturesque houses.