Discovering Southern Sicily with The Guardian

I came across an interesting article on The Guardian website about Southern Sicily by Lisa Allardice. Here is the opening paragraph...

"Excuse me," says Gioacchino Sortino – who looks every sharp-suited inch the Sicilian businessman – reaching for his mobile. "It's my mama, she worries about me." And Gioacchino is worried about us. Wild, beautiful, unpredictable – and a little bit scary, Sicily has lived up to its tempestuous reputation by staging the most spectacular electrical storm

Great intro! Lisa travelled with ABTOI member SoloSicily, if you would like to read some more here is the link to the article Southern Sicily

Italian restaurants keep their 3-star Michelin ratings

Whoops of delight across Italy as no less than six Italian restaurants have retained their top-three star rating in the 2011 Michelin Italy guide. The six are (in no particular order...)

• Sorriso di Soriso near Novara
• Le Calandre at Sarmeola di Rubano near Padua
• Dal Pescatore at Canneto sull'Olglio near Mantua
• Florence's Enoteca Pinchiorro
• Da Vitorio in Brusaporto
• Heinz Beck's La Pergola at the Rome Hilton

If that weren't enough there are a further 32 restaurants awarded two Michelin stars and a further 233 with a single star. So how does that compare to old blighty I hear you ask, well in 2010 the UK had a total of 4 (yes, FOUR) 3-star Michelin restaurants - this was cause for major celebration at the time -  and a total of 140 restaurants with any kind of star rating. You can read more about the sterling efforts of the Italian chefs here;
ITALIAN RESTAURANTS KEEP THEIR THREE-STAR MICHELIN RATINGS

Superfast pizza delivery service

Italy is renowned for many things, not least fabulous food and high performance cars. Alberto Valotta, an Italian restaurant owner in Hemel Hempstead has come up with the genius idea of combining both by offering a pizza delivery service in a 552bhp Lamborghini Gallardo. This, surely unique, service is sadly only available to the residents of Hemel Hempstead and even then for one night only - Friday 26th November. 


Alberto's supercar service mark's his restaurant's 12th birthday, not only will your dinner arrive in style you will also receive a 10% discount on your order (now you can't say fairer than that!). After Friday the Lamborghini can be requested by customers, but with regret, Alberto says there will be "an additional modest surcharge of £700 per delivery".  

"Tuscany still the most popular holiday region in Italy!"

The results of the most recent survey of ABTOI members has revealed that Tuscany continues to be the leading holiday region to Italy for UK travellers. 55% of UK operators named Tuscany as the top area for bookings between July and September this year.  


Read more at Opodo Travel News


Find out more about Tuscany - visit LoveItaly.co.uk

Naples, a city misunderstood

A city which has been greatly misunderstood during the years and my dedication to Naples is because it was the city and still is, the one that strikes me the most. Naples like Venice is unique and incomparable.  Arriving in Naples is like eating ice cream for the very first time. Naples is a living city, it moves, it breathes, it feels and eats and drinks and sings….

Everything in Naples is on a grand scale, the piazzas, the monuments and the churches and there are more than 30 churches in this city and more than 200 shrines.  Here grandeur coexists with the cobbled alleyways, washing put out to dry dripping from the rusty balconies, women lowering buckets from the top floor windows and getting them filled with groceries or letters from the Postino who is called Salvatore, where the children play at being Maradona in Piazza del Plebiscito or where the goal posts are the doors of the magnificent Duomo where San Gennaro’s (Naples Patron Saint) remains are kept.  Naples is fascinating as it has no order and in this chaos there is an identity which has manifested itself into a philosophy, which is the Neapolitan’s way of life, getting on with it!

Read on here
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Weddings Tips for An Italian Summer Wedding

Every time we speak to our wedding clients there is always this desire to have everything outside, the ceremony, the reception everything which is a great idea and of course an Italian wedding in the open air is lovely.... but with everything in life there are also many negatives to think about. of course my role is to not put a dampner on things but to help couples so that you are aware and can think about things. So here are my top 20 tips if you are intent on having a Summer wedding. italiansummerwedding

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A Wedding in Venice

Is there any place like this in the entire world, that is the question I keep on asking. Venice is just incredible, everything about it is sheer perfection but of course if you do not like water then this is not really the place for you.

Interested... Read on

www.weddingsmadeinitaly.co.uk/links.asp


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Green travel - train is the answer!

Why not travel by rail the next time you are planning to go to Italy? Rail travel is possible, greener, more affordable and less stressful...

No check in, no check out, no need to take your shoes off (unless you travel in a comfortable sleeper from Paris overnight of course!), no queue, no small seats and problems to stretch your legs - basically a different way for getting from A to B, and a civilised way!


Contact International Rail on sales@internationalrail.com and ask us about it!

Enrico
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