Francesco's Italy: Top to Toe

I have just finished watching Francesco's series "Italy - Top to Toe" and I just felt I had to comment on it! It was an absolute joy from start to finish and has made me want to get on the next plane to Italy! I've visited Italy many times but not all of the places shown in the series. Francesco was a marvellous host - so enthusiastic, so charming, so Italian in fact! The Italian Tourist Board should offer him a job immediately as I'm sure after watching this, the number of visitors to Italy will increase! I especially enjoyed the last episode as it contained so much - tragedy, breathtaking scenery, joy, laughter and that wonderful surprise family reunion to end with! I hope that this series is repeated and even more that Francesco will be doing another series very soon. I have given it 10 out of 10 and would have given it 11 but for the fact that the series was far too short...Italy is worth more than 4 episodes surely!!

Having visited some of the Italian cities in the North, on different occasions with family, best friend and alone, this series involed some of the best of those lovely memories perfectly and showed me so much more that I wish I had been able to see as well as lots of informative culture and history - I do hope to go again and it will make it so much more special.

Presented by an Italian it mentions many of the best bits, and a few less good bits of history, but the sunny and characteristicly friendly approach just like a holiday allows you to temporarily forget modern struggles and enjoy the best of Italian kindness and culture.

Italy "From Tip to Toe" is the best travel program that I have ever seen. We regularly watch Samantha Brown, Rick Steves, and even Globe Trekker, however, Francesco outdoes them all.

Last summer my family and I began an Italian journey similar to Francesco's. We began in Milan, then Venice, then we traveled all the way to Sicily. It was wonderful to relive the places we visited, and to see so many that we had never visited nor knew existed. I think that is one reason we like this series so much, he visits places that are not on the regular tourist pathway as well as the well known places. We will buy this video when it is offered.

We are planning our "once in a lifetime" trip to Italy this fall and downloaded this series to gain some insight. Well, in a nutshell, we are seriously reconsidering going.

These comments are only from watching the first of four episodes. I doubt we'll be watching the rest.

Francesco claims over and over how Italy created all kinds of wonderful things, such as how English estates are modelled after a house built in the 15th century for a cardinal at the Vatican. My first though was what is a god worshipping cardinal doing building an estate fit for a king, but that's another story for another day.

Then he's onto how this or that painter created modern painting in the western world. I'm sorry, but Picasso was not influenced by any of the junk that's displayed in this series.

All art was invented in Italy according to Francesco.

Then we get FIAT. He claims that the old FIAT factory was where modern automobile manufacturing came from. Apparently he has not heard of the Model T and that the FIAT factory was a complete copy of how things were being done by Ford. To even discuss the disgrace that is FIAT, the worst car company in the world, should give you an idea of how low this program sinks.

Then there is the religion. The entire show is drenched in catholic nonsense. There's churches, nuns, paintings of Jesus, statues of Jesus, and one that's even underwater!

He drives his POS Alfa convertible into the town centre of several cities and every one of them looks exactly the same. It's like I could visit the Bellagio in Vegas and feel that I'd seen it all.

The segment with Giorgio Armani is a joke. Armani couldn't wait to be rid of this buffoon.

Overall, this is the worst representation of Italy we've ever seen and we are seriously reconsidering visiting.

Absolute drivel.