Program 568: Italy 2019; Today's Israel

Tour guides from Rome and Sorrento help listeners plan Italian adventures and let us in on how some things work — or don't work — in Italy. Then journalist Martin Fletcher tells us about living in Israel as well as the political pressures that will prevent a resolution to Israeli-Palestinian tensions from happening anytime soon.

• Nina Bernardo, tour guide from Rome
• Ann Long, tour guide from Sorrento, Italy
• Retired journalist Martin Fletcher, author of "Promised Land," "Walking Israel," "The War Reporter" and other titles published by Thomas Dunne Books-St. Martin's Press

• The special exhibit on Leonardo Da Vinci's scientific breakthroughs at the Scuderie del Quirinale in Rome closes June 30.  
• Milan is hosting an interactive "3-D" Da Vinci exhibit through September 22nd at the Cattedrale della Fabbrica Del Vapore.  
• Non-profit Row Venice offers lessons in navigating a gondola.  
• Levanto is Nina's favorite town on the Italian Riviera, just north of the Cinque Terre villages.
• The Palazzo Doria Pamphilj in Rome is an uncrowded alternative to the Vatican's art collection, and is recommend by Rick and Nina.
• Matera, in Basilicata, is a European Capital of Culture for 2019.
• The latest novel by Martin Fletcher, "Promised Land: A Novel of Israel," takes place during the early years of the modern state of Israel.
• Martin talks further about the background that goes into his novel "Promised Land" on Travel with Rick Steves program #546 from December, 2018. 
• The Yad Vashem World Holocaust Remembrance Center is in Jerusalem. 
• Rick Steves' "The Holy Land: Israelis and Palestinians Today" is a one-hour TV special you can view on demand from our website.