ITALY Steals the Show for Romance, Culture and Food

Flights comparison website Skyscanner.net has revealed the results of its Travel Awards 2010 as voted by more than 600 travellers and it seems the love affair with France is over as Italy snatches many of the top awards.

When it comes to love and the most romantic holiday, Rome, Venice and Lake Como has clearly outshone its neighbour in the awards, winning the title of ‘Most Romantic Country’ by far with 33% of the votes compared to just 19% from its closest competitor. 

Culture vultures also favoured Italy as it received the award for Best Destination for Culture. Italy also ran away with the award for Best Cuisine. And received ‘runner up’ for the Most Beautiful Country.

Yara Paoli, Skyscanner Italian country expert commented:

“Italy is a very popular destination for British tourists and it’s great to see Italy being recognised for what it can offer; excellent cuisine, romantic cities and a host of great cultural attractions.”
For your perfect Italian holidays, find an ABTOI member who can help plan and book your trip.
http://www.loveitaly.co.uk/

ITALY: Essential Tourist News You Should Know!

If you are thinking of visiting one of the great Italian cities this year, there are plenty of developing/renovation projects that may help you decide which city will be your choice for 2011.  Here are some helpful tips.

One of the most visited sites in Italy, the Colosseum, is being cleaned from top to toe as well as given permanent lighting for spectacular night time visits. The ambitious project could also open up new areas which were previously closed to visitors.

Great news that the Vatican Museum is running a very smooth online reservation system  http://mv.vatican.va/  Now you can even visit at night from April to October from 7 – 11 p.m. And after a long renovation, you can finally see the museum's Etruscan Rooms.

And not just at the Vatican Museum are visiting hours getting longer.  This year, it's getting even easier to buy Ferragamo shoes (and anything else) on Rome's fashionable Via Condotti.  No longer are shops closed for a long lunch break -  many are now staying open throughout the day — generally 10 a.m. to 7 p.m!

In Florence, the streets around the Duomo have recently been pedestrianized which is fabulous news. However, beware:  The Uffizi Gallery, famous for its fabulous Renaissance art, is undergoing a renovation, scheduled for completion this summer. Until then, its Tribune Room (with Venus de' Medici) will be closed. When it reopens, you'll view the precious marble statue of Venus through glass panels.

Again, more late opening with the Leaning Tower of Pisa opening late on summer evenings, making it possible to tour the landmark and survey the Field of Miracles from above after dark. The system for making reservations and sorting out the huge crowds that come to see and climb the tipsy tower is working well:  http://www.opapisa.it/

Venice has a new museum: The Punta della Dogana, housed in the former Customs House at the end of the Grand Canal in the Dorsoduro neighborhood. It features cutting-edge 21st-century art in spacious rooms. This isn't Picasso and Matisse, or even Pollock and Warhol — those guys are ancient history. But if you're into the likes of Jeff Koons, Cy Twombly, Rachel Whiteread, and a host of newer artists, the museum is as impressively contemporary as Venice is Old World. The displays change completely about every year, drawn from the museum's large collection. In fact, the art is spread over two locations — the triangular Customs House and Palazzo Grassi.

The Dogana traghetto, (or ferry gondola), is back, shuttling passengers across the mouth of the Grand Canal, between Harry's Bar (near St. Mark's Square) and the new Punta della Dogana art museum.

Venice's new People Mover monorail, a shuttle train fixed to a circular cable, opened in 2010 and carries passengers from the parking lot at Tronchetto to Piazzale Roma. It departs every few minutes, makes the half-mile trip in three minutes, is completely automated (no crew on board), and drops you a block from the Calatrava Bridge on Piazzale Roma, where the town center is an enchanting walk away.

For help to book the perfect fabulous Italian getaway, check all ABTOI members http://www.loveitaly.co.uk/

ANGELINA'S LOVE AFFAIR

Although the long awaited film ‘The Tourist' hasn't quite hit the mark (according to the latest reviews), it seems Angelina Jolie started a love affair of her own off screen.

The Hollywood superstar often sneaked out at night with her husband Brad Pitt during her stay in Venice whilst filming.  The couple chose to relocate to the Italian city with their six children whilst Jolie shot the film.

Visiting the wonderful Museums, following the cobbled streets to find hidden gems for Sunday breakfast or late night feasts, and hopping onto the ‘Vaporetto' boats as they sailed along the canals could not have been more romantic for the glamorous couple.

As for the actual romantic caper ‘The Tourist', based on the 2005 French thriller "Anthony Zimmer", it clearly sought to evoke the feel of early Hitchcock films but according to review, failed to hit the mark.

Sure, Jolie is as stunning as ever playing Elise, a mysterious, wealthy Englishwoman who obviously has an agenda behind those beguiling eyes, and Johnny Depp is quite the charmer as Frank, an ordinary community college math teacher from the U.S. captivated by her beauty after a chance encounter.

And of course, Venice, where the film is predominantly set, is picture-postcard perfect, but for the most part, that's where the enchantment and the tension in this thriller ends.

Despite the lack of "oomph" in the plot, however, the scenery remains breathtaking, Venice is almost as beautiful as the porcelain good looks of Angelina Jolie and the charisma of Johnny Depp. If nothing else, the film will certainly make you consider a holiday in Venice.

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Venice Under Water

It was only a few months ago that I was ambling across Piazza San Marco watching the pigeons being chased by smart Italian waiters in starched white aprons.  You can imagine the shock when I saw the recent pictures of Venice under water!
Apparently, it was the deepest flood in 22 years, reaching a depth of 1.56m (5ft, 1 in.), the fourth highest flood level in recent history.  Although this flood was severe enough for the mayor to ask tourists to temporarily stay home, Venetian floods are fairly routine and residents usually take it all in their stride.                                                            

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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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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