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Showing posts with label Italy Travel Guides.travel italy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Italy Travel Guides.travel italy. Show all posts

Thursday, December 30, 2010

Remarkable Rome Attractions

The Capitoline Hill cordonata (centre of pictu...Image via Wikipedia
Author: Robert Toth

If you are still undecided about the city to visit this vacation, why not fly to Rome? The Rome attractions are awesome and entertaining. Infact, you can dive deep into the exciting historic stories of this city.

City Overview
This charming city is home to many historical sites and monuments. A guide will be the right person to help you gather the essence of this city. Anyhow, the monuments and buildings can be clearly seen from far off.

Place which you must visit
- A fine portrayal of Roman engineering is the Colosseum that portrays mythological tales and the stories of olden times.
- Another Roman piece of architecture is the Pantheon that has used the world's largest brick dome.
- Among the rich Rome attractions, there is the Roman Forum which has a wide historic base.
- Basilica Di Santa Maria Maggiore situated at the apex of the Esquiline Hilland has not lost its originality.
- The Piazza Del Campidoglio is that monument which was built in memory of Michaelango way back in 1546.
- The Palazzo Del Quirinale is sited at the highest point of Rome hills and represents the Renaissance Movement.
- Monument Of Vittorio Emanuele Iiwas was erected in the fond memory of United Rome's first king.
- One of the best examples of exquisite Roman art and architecture is EUR District.
- The Vatican City is the certified headquarters of the Pope and symbolises Catholicism.

Thing you must do
- The Italian pizza is one of the most attractive Rome attractions and you get them best at Roscioli.
- The Vatican Museums must be visited on the last Sunday of every month between 8:30 a.m. and 2 p.m.
- Go to the Church and ask God to grant you salvation.
- The water of the fountains must be tasted at least once.
- Tempio di Adriano (Temple of Hadrian) must be toured as it has featured in several Hollywood movies.
- The Pantheon must be visited; it will cost you nothing.
- Walk your way to the Lo Zodiaco, the top most point in the city.
- Spend and party at Micca, the most crowded club in Rome.
- Spend ample time in one of the garden grounds.
- Go for some of the finest local drinks offered by the Etabli aperitif bar anytime after 7.

Shopping and Sports in the city
Some of the prominent shopping areas are Piazza di Spagna, Trastevere, Piazza Navona and Piazza Vittorio. The latest designer wear and accessories are found here. More than half the world's shopaholics are drawn by Fontana di Trevi, which is one of the most attractive Rome attractions. The Roman sports include the wrestling matches, gladiator flights, handball and races.

How to spend nightlife
The Rome nightlife is vibrant and interesting. Very recently, many clubs and bars have opened to meet the needs of the tourists. You can calmly sit and relax under the warm sun or serene moon.

Famous Festivals
The Romans celebrate festivals like Sana a Roma, Donna Sotto le Stelle, cartoon film showings and Roma Jazz festival.


Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/destinations-articles/remarkable-rome-attractions-3802403.html
About the Author

Visit TodayTourism.com to learn more about Rome tourist attractions and find hotels in Rom. Stop by Robert Toth's site where you can find more than 110,000 Cheap Hotels worldwide.
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Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Buying a Business in Italy - Vineyard

Fruits and vegetables, rich in vitamins, potas...Image via Wikipedia


It is the wine lovers' dream. To own a vineyard in Italy and enjoy the fruits of your labours by sitting under a leafy pergola on a warm summer's evening drinking a bottle or two from your very own harvest.

Italian wine is famous all over the world. There are over a million vineyards from north to south and Italy's varied terrain produces a great variety of wine from the sweet sparkling Moscato from Piemonte to the spicy purple Salice Salentino from the bottom of Puglia in the south.

Its population drinks more wine per head than any other country (an average of 59 litres) and it is the world's biggest wine maker, producing 4.7 billion litres of wine in 2008.

Buying a Vineyard in Italy

It is perfectly possible to buy your own vineyard, so the most obvious thing to do is to centre your search either around an area of the country you would like to live in or around an area whose wine you like. The ideal is to combine the two and find a vineyard producing wine you enjoy in an area you and your family would be happy living in.

There a number of small vineyards for sale all over the country. Owning a small vineyard (from a hectare of vines upwards) usually means that it produces enough for your own consumption and may be the perfect starting point if you are inexperienced.

On the other hand, there are also going concerns for sale with their own winery attached and which produce enough wine to sell.

The 'dream' property for making a living has between 20 and 40 hectares of vineyards. Twenty hectares should produce about 130,000 bottles of wine.

The Vineyard Experience

If your vineyard in Italy is just a hobby, then it doesn't mater too much if you have little or no experience. There will be plenty of locals on hand to teach you and if it all goes wrong, there's always next year.

If you are intending to take on a going concern without experience then you have two options:

Buy a vineyard with its own production team in place or get as much experience as possible beforehand by working on vineyards, going on courses and getting qualifications. Although there are romantic stories on TV about people with no experience managing massive vineyards single handed by learning on the job, these really are the exceptions. It makes far more business sense to take on a vineyard with a manager if you don't know what you are doing.

It may sound romantic, but running is a vineyard is basically an agricultural enterprise and you are basically a farmer. As such you need to speak good Italian to deal with suppliers and distributors as well as the workers looking after the vines and also the taxman.

Organic and Biodynamic Vineyards

One idea should you decide to buy a vineyard is to specialize. You have probably heard of organic wine known as vino biologico made from uve da agricoltura biologica (organic grapes) and, although these are harder to find than normal vineyards, they do come up for sale. The advantage of buying an already established organic set-up is that the time has already been spent eliminating chemicals and pesticides. It takes longer starting from scratch.

But how about taking things a step further and aiming for a biodynamic vineyard? This method of production is based on the philosophy of Rudolph Steiner and involves applying special preparations to the vines as well as handling and processing the wine is a specific way. The guidelines are laid down by the Demeter association and the movement is growing in popularity in Italy. One such vineyard is La Gaia which makes multi award winning wine. Read about its biodynamic approach here.

A Vineyard and Agritourism

An alternative to running a vineyard in order to make a living from the wine is to buy a property with a small working vineyard which then may allow you to offer agritourism holidays. As we have written about in another article you can only offer farm holidays if you are actually a working farmer and a vineyard may allow you to do just that. You will need to get advice from your local chamber of commerce or commercialista (accountant).
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Mothers, Sons and Marriage in Italy

emilia cooking pastaImage by loungerie via Flickr


Mamma mia!: Saint or Sinner?

The Italian mamma embodies all the paradoxes of Italian life. A beacon of self-sacrifice, she always gets her own way. An apparent martyr to her family's needs, she commands the same family without question. She is able to make life both easy and incredibly difficult.

It's no wonder that "Mamma mia" is the most used phrase in the Italian language!

Italian Mothers: The ultimate home-maker.

Far more than in America or the UK, Italian mothers in the twenty-first century tend to be home-makers while their husbands go out to work. A recent survey showed that it's quite acceptable in Italian family traditions for the average young son in Italy to spend around fifteen minutes a day with his father but several hours with his mother.

It's not surprising, then, that he learns to take every cue from her: how to dress, where to go, what to eat, who to see. And such is the attachment formed in childhood that it continues into adult life: one in three married adult sons sees his mother every single day, and seven out of ten unmarried men still live with their mother at the age of thirty-five.

Italian 'mothers' boys': The Growth of the 'Mammoni'.

In other countries that would make them the object of jokes and derision. Not so in Italy. Here, there's nothing strange about men wanting to stay with their mothers for as long as they can - even when they have married - and it's applauded as the right thing to do. The average age for an Italian man to marry is thirty - one of the highest recorded in United Nations statistics.

And that's given rise to a growth of what have become known as 'Mammoni' - men who are still tied to their mother's apron strings.

A recent story in a Roman e-magazine told of an Italian lawyer in his thirties, a prominent and very powerful figure in an intensely male and competitive world. Recently married and with a baby due, he still takes his dirty washing to be done by his mother who also irons his shirts, buys his underpants and gives him food to take home in case his new wife can't cook...

Is this the archetypal Italian mother stereotype? Perhaps. But it's having a very real effect on Italian marriages.

Italian Mothers and Marriage.

For a shocking three out of ten Italian marriages is now failing specifically because of the unusually close attachment of men to their mothers.

Psychologists conclude that boys in Italy being indulged by their Italian mothers well into adulthood makes them too emotionally immature to deal with the demands of a relationship with another adult woman in the shape of a wife:

"The husband is used to being adored and when he doesn't get that unconditional love from his wife, he goes running back to his mother."

Italian Marriage: Does it have a future?

Perhaps that's why recent United Nations statistics have shown that the marriage rate in Italy is now at its lowest ever ebb: Italy is twenty-third out of twenty-seven countries (the United States being at the top of the table) in terms of how many people per head of population are marrying per year.

Will this trend continue? As with many things Italian, there are regional differences: the south of the county is still a more patriarchal society than the north, the cities are more accepting of women and men having equal rights - and responsibilities - than rural districts.

So does Italian marriage have a future? That will largely depend on the new generation of men in Italy and the ability of the younger generation of women to change a mindset that has existed for generations.

Cath Andrews lives in Italy, was married in Rome and visits the city regularly. A dedicated Italophile, she is currently writing a website about Italian culture. For more detailed information about Italy have a look at Cath's website at: http://www.explore-italian-culture.com.

Have you got an Italian Mamma? Do you think she's wonderful? Would you like to celebrate Mother's Day with a story about her?
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Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Holidays in Sicily Villas

Mount Etna, topped in snowImage via Wikipedia

by John Petersons
There are many different options for villa rentals in Sicily. One of the most popular is the seaside villas. Any property boasting a seaside location should either be on the ocean's edge or within a minute's walk to the water. Much of Sicily's coast line is of the sandy beach variety, but there are also areas speckled with rocky coves for those less inclined to sunbath and more inclined the watch the waves break across the shore. There is a huge variety of waterfront villas. Some are renovated stone farmhouses. Another used to be a frantoio, or olive-oil press. There is even an old castle available. The prices on some of these accommodations can be a bit steep, but since they sleep anywhere from five to fifteen, the cost can be split up between multiple friends or families.

Rental companies often designate some of their villas as family properties. These properties are generally larger, sometimes having sleeping accommodation for twenty people, and come with private pools and grounds. Many of them are located near child-friendly attractions such as Mount Etna and its theme park, Etna Land. On the north coast is Palermo, a town known for its puppet theatre. Regardless of the surrounding attractions, every family villa comes equipped with satellite television and a DVD player.

With its azure seas, craggy cliffs and stunning sunsets, Sicily is a natural location for a honeymoon. There are many smaller, but no less exquisite, Sicily villas available for newlyweds to find the romance they are looking for. These properties may be set on a private beach or amidst the rolling hills of vineyard country. Cleaning service will be weekly, instead of daily, to ensure maximum privacy. In addition to a pool, they will often boast a Jacuzzi.

For those, who wish to experience more of Sicily's city life - the villas in and around the famous town of Taormina are a perfect option. Taormina was made an integral part of the Grand Tour a couple hundred years ago, and since then, luminaries such as Goethe and Steinbeck have made Taormina villas their home away from home. Some of these villas are apartments in the restored historic city center, while others are just a short walk or drive away.

Whether you're looking for a family vacation, honeymoon retreat, or just a relaxing week in the sunshine, Sicily villas can meet all your holiday needs.

Sicily, the largest island in the Mediterranean, is a vacationer"'s dream come true. This island has it all: year-round warm climate, beautiful beaches, charming Old World towns, vineyards, amazing cuisine, and a variety of charming sicily villas available for rental.John Petersons has been contributing to leading magazines for the past 10 years. He's also an accredited researcher on the subject for leading research institutes in the US.

Article Source: http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Holidays-in-Sicily-Villas/712559




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