Italy

From the Leaning Tower of Pisa to the smiling Mona Lisa, Italy has long distinguished itself with its artistry, innovation and style. With scientists such as Galileo Galilei, artists such as Michelangelo and artist-scientists such as Leonardo da Vinci, Italy has made amazing contributions for a country slightly larger than Arizona. Explore Italian history, art, architecture, music, cuisine and more through the direct links on the Times Launch Point Web site, http://www.latimes.

La Taverna di Moranda in Monticchiello, Italy, is our favorite restaurant in the Tuscany and Umbria region. After eating there for the first time, we made a reservation for a second night. When we returned two years later, we stayed nearby just to be near Monticchiello. We had the Florentine steak twice and the lamb twice. Both were amazing. The restaurant is very romantic; it looks like a wine cave. La Taverna di Moranda, 17 Via di Mezzo, Monticchiello; 011-39-0578-755145, http://www.tavernadimoranda.it Julian and Mary Cangelosi Tustin

We spent four nights at this beautiful agriturismo and winery in Umbria. It has lovely guest apartments, a golf course, swimming pool, tennis courts and a restaurant in the middle of the vineyards. Rates are very reasonable for such a wonderful location, near Lake Trasimeno. It is owned by the daughter of Ferruccio Lamborghini, founder of Automobili Lamborghini. Agriturismo Lamborghini & Golf Club, 1 Soderi di Panicarola, Panicale; 011-39-075-835-0029, http://english.lamborghinionline.it . Rates from about $720 to $1,187 in July and August.

CERRETO, Italy - Think of an Italian summer and you think of azure seas, sun-splashed beaches, cool mountains cupping dark lakes and overheated crowds of tourists investigating every museum and ancient church. Things are different in Tuscany as well as in Umbria, where I live, for part of the year. Every local community, no matter how small, puts on its own summer festa, or festival. Some are based on religion: Each village has its own patron saint to celebrate with a day of services and parades followed by a night of feasting, dancing and, of course, fireworks.

Question: We recently received a registered letter from the Commune of Lucca, Italy, notifying us that we were in violation of "circulating inside a pedestrian area" on May 5, 2011. Because we did not contest the violation immediately, it said, we must be considered guilty. We were to send immediately 123.76 euros, about $152. If we delayed more than 60 days, the fine would increase to about $245. We did visit Lucca on May 5, but we never received a ticket or anything else in writing.

'The Turk in Italy' Where: Los Angeles Opera, Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, downtown L.A. When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 2, 5 and 10; 2 p.m. Feb. 27 and March 13 Tickets: $20 to $270 Information: (213) 972-8001 or http://www.laopera.com

CORTINA D' AMPEZZO, Italy - Hiking up a road should be simple, right? It's relatively wide, so you're not apt to step off and tumble down the mountain. It's relatively smooth, so you're not likely to stumble. So why am I stopping for a breather every couple of hundred yards while I just saw a guy pushing a baby buggy down the road and my "baby" is by this time somewhere near the top? Well, there is that little matter of grade - or steepness - and Italy's Dolomites, though not of the dizzying height as the Rockies, do make the grade.

Italians are flocking to see an exhibition in Rome celebrating the 400th anniversary of Caravaggio's death, held in the Scuderie del Quirinale -- the 18th century palace that once housed the papal stables. The exhibit is a stringent choice of just 24 rigidly authenticated works by Michelangelo Merisi, known as Caravaggio, a master of light and dark (chiaroscuro) painting. Caravaggio

THE BEST WAY TO GIGLIO ISLAND, ITALY From LAX, Alitalia offers nonstop service to Rome; Lufthansa, American, British, Delta, U.S. Airways, Swiss, United, Iberia and KLM offer connecting service (change of plane). Restricted roundtrip fares begin at $1,174, including taxes and fees. Drive or take the train to Porto Santo Stefano, where you catch the ferry (www.toremar.it, http://www.maregiglio.it ) to Giglio. Fares from $10. TELEPHONES To call the numbers below from the U.S. dial 011 (the international dialing code)

THE BEST WAY From LAX, connecting service (change of planes) to Naples is offered on Lufthansa and British. Restricted round-trip fares begin at $466, excluding taxes and fees. You then take the hydrofoil or ferry to Capri; prices start about $15, one way. Info: http://www.capri.com/en/ferry-schedule. TELEPHONES To call these numbers from the U.S., dial 011 (international dialing code), 39 (country code for Italy), 081 (the regional code) and the local number. WHERE TO STAY Hotel Punta Tragara, 57 Via Tragara; 837-0844, http://www.hoteltragara.com/eng/hotel.htm . Le Corbusier, one of 20th century's great architects, designed the luxurious villa that is now Hotel Punta Tragara, a stylish boutique hotel with panoramic views of the sea. Perched on a hilltop above the faraglioni , the island's iconic rock formations, Punta Tragara is away from the noise and craziness of central Capri Town.

MONTALCINO, Italy - " Scusi ," I said to a well-dressed man in this medieval Tuscan village, where even the gas station was somehow part of the farming landscape. "Can you tell me how to get to Castiglion del Bosco?" "Hmm, yes," he said in English, taking my map, then, " Un momento . " He dialed his cellphone, and I realized he was asking someone for the best route. Not the first or last time we found the Italians to be incredibly helpful. "I can tell you how to get there, but my wine is much better," he said, laughing.

If you go THE BEST WAY TO THE VAL D'ORCIA, ITALY From LAX , Alitalia, Lufthansa, Air France, British, US Airways, United, Swiss, Delta and KLM offer connecting service (change of planes) to Rome. Restricted round-trip fares begin at $767, including all taxes and fees. Lufthansa, Air France, Swiss, KLM, Delta, United and US Airways offer connecting service to Florence. Restricted round-trip fares begin at $822, including all taxes and fees. Both cities are about a two-hour drive to the Val d'Orcia.

Kevin Sacco isn't a celebrity, but on Instagram he is famous for flaunting his wealth, like the time he took a picture of himself bathing in an outdoor Jacuzzi in his penthouse suite overlooking the French Riviera. Or when the 20-year-old son of a real estate mogul in Italy spent 10,000 euros, or nearly $14,000, with friends at La Maison Blanche in Paris for his most recent birthday. "I'm showing off my parties, my bottles, my clubs, my travels, and people love this," said Sacco, who is known as @PrinceOfItaly on Instagram.

Italy's “The Great Beauty”  won the Oscar for foreign Language film Sunday night. Directed by Paolo Sorrentino, “The Great Beauty” follows a writer, Jep Gambardella (Toni Servillo), who finds himself at an emotional crossroads as he looks back over what became of his once-promising life and career after his 65th birthday. The Oscar is the 11th to go to a film from Italy, the last being the 1998 movie “Life Is Beautiful.” Three additional special Oscars went to films from Italy before the establishment of foreign language film as a regular category in 1956.

ITALY Presentation Adrian Kalvinskas of Distant Lands will show you how to see Italy at its best, including finding less crowded corners of the country. When, where: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Distant Lands, 20 S. Raymond Ave., Pasadena. Admission, info: Free. RSVP to (626) 449-3220. INDIA Workshop Hostelling International will conduct a workshop on how to travel to India safely and inexpensively. When, where: 7 p.m. Wednesday at the REI store in Santa Monica, 402 Santa Monica Blvd.

ROME -- Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta on Thursday announced his resignation after surrendering to a leadership challenge from a party colleague who is widely expected to become Italy's youngest-ever prime minister. The challenger, Matteo Renzi, 39, was overwhelmingly backed by the center-left Democratic Party after he demanded that a new government lead Italy out of a “quagmire.” For 10 months, Letta has led a shaky coalition government that has struggled largely without success to push through key reforms.

Prayerful angels carved from oak, grinning terra-cotta cherubs and gold pocket watches with time on their hands. All are stacked on the cobblestones of Arezzo's Piazza Grande. Through the shutters of my hotel window, I watch vendors unload a treasure trove of antiques: gleaming wood dining tables, paintings, pottery, jewelry, copper pots and Murano glass. As dusk throws shadows across the square, I go out to reconnoiter, excited by the thrill of the hunt. Tomorrow, when the fair opens, I will buy a memento of my Tuscan travels — something artful, affordable, Italian.

Prosecco producers from Italy's Veneto region are courting the Chinese market with a slick website --translated into Chinese. It's a smart move to get in early as the Chinese wine market explodes. According to the Consortium for the Protection of Prosecco from Conegliano Valdobbiadene, exports to Asia have increased 78.9% from 2010 to 2012. With this website, they want to nudge sales further in that direction. California producers, however, were earlier in the game. In 2012, Wine Institute (a trade organization of 1,000 California wineries and wine-related businesses)

FLORENCE, Italy -- American student Amanda Knox and her Italian former boyfriend were found guilty on Thursday in the 2007 slaying of her British roommate, Meredith Kercher . It was the third verdict in the case for Knox, 26, and Raffaele Sollecito, 29, who were found guilty in 2009 of killing Kercher. That conviction was overturned two years later on appeal, only to have the decision later overruled. Knox was not in court Thursday when Judge Alessandro Nencini sentenced her to 28-1/2 years in prison, more than the 26 years she received at her first trial.