LoveItaly - Italian Specialists get together

Yesterday saw the annual gathering of all the ABTOI (LoveItaly) members for our AGM. As well as mundane matters, like electing this year's Executive team, there were talks from the editor of the Independent on Sunday, Travel Law specialists and a hosted lunch for over 30 travel writers and journalists from the British Guild of Travel Writers. Let's hope we see lots of great coverage about travel to Italy in the newspapers as a result!

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150 Years of Italy!

17th March, is the 150th anniversary of the Unification of Italy: in 1861, after much tribulation, Italy became one country again.

We received this from one of our Italian tour operators and thought it fitting and a fine contribution……!

A great French author wrote that for foreigners, Italy is like a passionate lover, one day you're furious with her, then the next you're falling at her feet, while the other countries are like a wife – you're serene but a little bit bored.  He wasn't wrong. We Italians have always been a mixed blessing in the eyes of foreign visitors. We've made you laugh, we've annoyed you, we've enraptured you, but we've definitely never bored you.

Let's all celebrate this big, wonderful, complicated country together, by reflecting on...

What the world would be like without the Italians...

23 major inventions, from the Unification of Italy up to now (the complete list would be too long...)

• The pantelegraph - the forerunner of the fax (1861, Giovanni Caselli)
• The steam car (1864, Innocenzo Manzetti)
• The telephone (1871, Antonio Meucci)
• The carburetor (1876, Luigi De Cristoforis)
• The filament for electric bulbs (1881, Alessandro Cruto)
• Electric cable (1884, Giuseppe Pirelli)
• The electric engine (1885, Galileo Ferraris)
• Wireless radio and telephony (1895, Guglielmo Marconi)
• The cinema projector (1895, Filoteo Albertini). The machine for filming and projecting moving images was invented one year before that of the Lumière brothers, but due to an oversight it was only patented afterwards
• The hydrofoil (early 20th century, Enrico Forlanini)
• The radar (1922, Guglielmo Marconi; 1936, Ugo Tiberio)
• The motorway (1925) - the first connected Milan to the Lakes
• The helicopter (1930, Corradino D'Ascanio)
• The atomic pile (1942, Enrico Fermi)
• The Vespa (1946, Corradino D'Ascanio) - the first scooter
• The Fiat 600 (1955, Dante Giacosa) - the first runabout economy car
• Lettera 22 (1950, Olivetti) - portable typewriter
• The microchip (1960s, Federico Faggin)
• Nutella (1951, Ferrero) 
• The speed camera (patented in Florence in the 1960s)
• Polypropylene (1960s, Giulio Natta) - the plastic used for common everyday objects
• Programma 101 (1962, Pier Giorgio Perotto) - considered the first real personal computer within everybody's reach 
• Gadis Italia ... (1985, Claudio Scalambrin) – The Tour Operator!
• The Google algorithm (1997, Massimo Marchiori)

20 Nobel Prizes
629 Olympic Medals
4 Football World Cup Titles
215 Ferrari wins in Formula 1
57 Oscars 
and... the icing on the cake...
325 Stars from the Michelin Guide 2011, for 276 Italian restaurants
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'Italian Markets: Rich in Legacy and Lore`

Highly regarded journalist, Sandra Shevey, has experienced the rich diversities of local food markets in many parts of the world. We have asked her to share one of her absolute favourites - the Italian food market. Her passion for this part of the world is more than evident in her descriptive writing.  Buono Appetito!

What originally prompted my visit to the Riviera markets is the proximity of France to Italy and that, based in Menton Garavan, you can virtually walk into Ventimiglia- the first market town on the Italian side of the frontier.

It was exciting to stay at Menton Garavan (the same precinct which Queen Victoria visited during her own stay) as the road in the run up to the frontier has not been enlarged and the cars which approach do so at a perilous pace.  This is the road which Mussolini traversed in consequence of or at the start of some big World War II summit and locals of a certain age still can remember the cortege of cars and the ceremony of that very visit.

Physically only minutes away from the Italian border, the journey, culturally-speaking, takes light years.  The French and the Italian Rivieras are separated by a looming time gap.

Menton panders for tourism.  It is a posh retirement city, becoming less posh every year with more yachts and more residential apartments crowding the place.  The market, scaled down, is expensive and the restaurants, whilst probably still family affairs, generally have a resident chef and/or general manager.

Liguria in northern Italty which forms the other half of the Riviera is a working province.  Ventimiglia is a working town with a harbour dominated largely by fishing boats.  This is about to change with consent having been given for a yacht basin but  which, hopefully, will not change the town too dramatically.

Ventimiglia hosts a massive general market on Friday which on Thursday is held in Bordighera and on Saturday in San Remo (where they have the famous music festival).  The general market on Friday merely supplements the daily food market which runs within the remit of the old Mediterranean market hall daily (8am-1pm).  Similarity of architecture with food halls in Menton, Cannes and Nice confirms the Italian legacy via the Dukes of Genoa.  Ventimiglia`s market commenced as an open market selling flowers in 1900.  Fruit and vegetables were added in 1920.  The market was enclosed in 1951.

I enjoyed possibly the best latte I have ever tasted at Bar Canada at the Ventimiglia market.  Locals engage in chat about the Pompeo Mariani Museum garden and olive tree and/or the bridge at Dolceaqua which was painted by Monet; about the unchanged hill villages and old towns of Ventimiglia and Bordighera.  There`s supposed to be an unsurpassingly good pizza restaurant just over the hill in Ventimiglia old town.  Unfortunately my trip was too brief....but next time....    That said, the old market is located in the new town which is funny when you consider what they mean by new dates back to 1900.

Italians love their food, perhaps even more than the French and thus everything sold, including the fish, is local and probably caught and/or picked the same day.  What fun it is to wander around Ventimiglia`s old fish market.  On display are huge swordfish, with swords ejecting from heads.  There are large shrimp and sardines; fresh squid and octopus.  Clams are so fresh they were crawling along the beach that morning.  One kilo costs 8 Euros.  It is hard to get your head around it, but produce at this market is so fresh it remains ridden with dirt or sand or nettles or grass.

This is the first market where I have actually seen green olives which are sold unpickled.  I am offered one to try.  The taste is flat but succulent.  There is fresh Genovese pesto (Liguria is where it originates because basil took root in Liguria) and many local cheeses.  The smells stimulate the senses.  Cured meats and fresh butter are purveyed.  Fresh chestnuts, walnuts (just picked from the forest), guava, and black olives (loose, unpickled) are stuffed into sacks or barrels in a manner reminiscent of the way many of us remember shopping from times past. The days have all but disappeared when you can pinch a pickle from a barrel and walk around the Petticoat Lane market munching it.  As a matter of fact the London Gherkin building if anything is but a symbol of the death of London`s old street markets- street markets which have been incorporated into something else- something much grander? (foodie markets!).

I swear it....I have never seen such beautiful produce anywhere in the world.  Stall after stall showcases tires of fresh farmhouse cheeses; cured meats- Mortadella...slices so large they`d fill for a week...and `Testa Cassetta` (natural cut ham  seasoned with salt, pepper, herbs, spices, pine nuts and wine)  `The best cut`, they tell me.  Porcini (piglet and the ruling class of delicate fungi) mushrooms (with nettles) abound; so too white peaches, coil courgettes (as large as marrows and a specialty of the region) and huge avocados.

OK.  A lunch stop at the pizza counter.  In Liguria you have to say `white` or `red`.  `Red` means pizza without cheese, anchovies or garlic and just with tomatoe sauce.  There are twenty types of pasta all fresh daily: fusilli, ravioli, orecchiette, tortellini, gnocchi and others.  Sauces include olive, mushroom, tomatoe, Belgian, Bolognese, pesto, picante and black sauce.There`  s a wonderful table which flaunts EU health and safety regulations and where mushrooms are displayed loose.  Ooooooooooooh!  The smell- the wonderful deep rich aroma of fields and pine needles and herbs and nettles.  I plump for some huge Porcini mushrooms which I`ll cook up later that night with some pasta.  The mushrooms, like much fruit and veg on sale, is cut open so you can see firsthand  freshness and firmness.

Small farmers dump their produce in the centre aisle of the hall directly onto the tables.  Some of it is not even in boxes and/or crates.

The delicacy of produce is remarkable.  There are types and hybrids you never knew existed.  Baby broccoli abounds as do baby peppers (a specialty of Liguria) which you eat raw but are best when grilled.  Here too are peas in a pod (rare yellow pods).   There is a table laden with fresh tomatoe sauce which a lady farmer makes herself.  Only a few jars are left (she only does 4/5 jars daily)  Still available at 11am are jars of olive oil, pickled olives and pickled mushrooms. Another market gardener sells fresh apples just picked...warm and rosy and still with leaves.  Yum!

So it is with great, great reluctance that I depart this town of culinary delights and make for Bordighera and the general market which swamps the town every Thursday.  It`s only a short distance to Bordighera but I`d advise arriving by train to take advantage of the railway bar where you can buy a glass of house wine for 80p and knock it back whilst tucking into pro bono tapas (Parmesan cheese, ham, crisps and bread).

Bordighera is a real time warp.  It remains within the 1920s orbit and surprising little engagement with the modern world.  The general market which dates back to 1930 runs along the boardwalk and the sea.  There is no yacht marina.  The market boasts about 200 stalls.  The general market starts at 7am and concludes at 1:30pm (sharp).

There is some imitation stuff from China....a few Asian traders selling Asian goods...but most of it is Italian.....silk, cashmere, and leather.  Great stuff at knockdown prices.  Buyers arrive from all over the world.  I chatted to a Danish woman buying two  hand-finished reversible leather handbags- brown on one side, grey on the other.  Cost- 25 Euros.  In London`s Bond Street shops these handbags would be priced at £300.

What a treat to walk along the boardwalk smelling the brine...basking in the sun...browsing...chatting...what a day!

Cashmere scarves single ply were selling for 30 Euros.  Double ply for 55 Euros.  Double ply sweaters retailed for 45 Euros.  Voluminous wool shawls- Italian- all colours- were priced at 20 Euros.  100 percent pure silk head scarves priced at 10 Euros were quickly disappearing whilst cashmere/wool Italian shawls also went quickly.

The day ended with tea at a cafe- one of those for which Bordighera is famed- an interior which dates back to the Twenties, maybe centuries earlier.  Who knows?  I feasted on baciolis  Bordighera (chocolate biscuits filled with chocolate cream)  `Baci` means `kiss` in Italian.

My sojourn around the French and Italian Riviera convinces of one thing: if nothing else there remains in this world places whilst on the map are so remote, so unaffected, so unworldly you feel when there in a sort of dream or fantasy.....a dream from which you really do not want to awaken.

T. S. Eliot used to visit friends at Menton Garavan....friends who lived in a villa on the site of the accommodation where I was staying.  Was this what prompted him to write about human voices awakening us and we drown?  Perhaps!

Sandra Shevey runs English-speaking tours of the Italian and French Riviera street markets.     Contact: sandra_shevey@yahoo.com

Copyright Sandra Shevey 2010 All Rights Reserved

Letting the TRAIN take the strain in ITALY

As airlines grapple with high oil prices, horrendous baggage fees and new government taxes, sending air fares rocketing, it seems that the leisurely, gentle train journey looks set to reap the rewards.

According to industry sources, train travel in and around Europe is on the increase once again, the number of rail passes sold to visitors to Europe jumped by 11.9 percent last year, to 427,000.

It seems that more people than ever are looking to take the train - even Europeans, often unreservedly critical about their own rail systems, bought 6.2 percent more passes to explore their continent by rail last year.

And by far the most popular one-country pass was sold for travel to Italy last year, followed at a distance by Spain and in third place, Austria - France and Germany, with their modern, high-speed rail systems, apparently didn't even get a look in the top three.

This week sees the release of the latest edition of Europe by Rail, a 704-page bible on how best to explore Europe using 50 of the region's best routes published by Thomas Cook http://www.europebyrail.eu/

For more details on Italian Railways (TrenItalia), reservations, interrail, railpasses and more contact :www.internationalrail.com

Springtime Treats :: the undiscovered Sabine Hills and the great Exhibitions in Rome

Fifty kilometres north-east of Rome, following the eastern bank of the Tiber River and the Sabine Hills, lies the territory of Sabina. It is a magical land of castles, little towns connected by winding country roads, elegant restaurants and family run taverne, and breath-taking scenery wherever you go. Europe's oldest olive tree lives in the Sabina too (Canneto di Fara), at 2000 years old it still produces a heavy crop each year, not surprising as Sabina is famous for it's olive oil. Hard to believe it's only an hour from Rome...

Sabina is an appealingly undiscovered area of Italy, which - although blissfully lost in time - is an exceptionally convenient area to visit with flights into Rome and Perugia from the UK offering convenience for travellers heading to these parts. The area, in the region of Lazio, offers splendid scenery with rolling, olive-clad hills and tiny, medieval hilltop villages. This part of central Italy has preserved its original rural character, and, not withstanding its proximity to Rome, is one of the least populated parts of the country. A wonderful time to visit is in spring when the countryside explodes in a riot of colour with yellow broom and fields of poppies and sunflowers punctuating the green hills, accented by the silver green of the olive trees which produce some of Italy's finest extra virgin olive oils.

Staying in Sabina offers the ardent traveller the best of two worlds; proximity to Rome and the delights of ‘living' in the country. The journey into Rome from Sabina is made simple by a well-established railway network with a frequent train service into Rome city centre. This year, from March to July, the lucky visitor can catch some of The Great Exhibitions that are running at various venues throughout the city of Rome whilst staying in an exceptionally pretty farm steading in Sabina.

Lorenzo Lotto from 2nd March - 12th June 2011. After the major monographic exhibitions devoted to Lorenzo Lotto's work in Venice in 1963 and in Bergamo, Paris and Washington in 1998, Rome is now preparing to host a tight retrospective covering every aspect of the art of this extraordinary painter who lived in Rome. The exhibition will cover the entire life and artistic career of the painter highlighting the poetic qualities of an artist who, though born in the 15th century, managed in a thoroughly original and independent fashion to reconcile the traditional elements of the great painting of his era with certain aspects that already herald the great age of the Baroque.

Nazarenes, Romantics, Realism, Impressionism, Symbolism, Avant-Garde from the Städel Museum of Frankfurt from 1st April to 17th July 2011. This exhibition displays of one the richest and most prestigious collections of European old masters and modern art anywhere, providing an overview of European art history from the Nazarenes to the Romantics, from Realism to Impressionism, and from Symbolism to the Avant-Garde. The exhibition will include masterpieces by Tischbein, Koch, Corot, Monet, Degas, Renoir, Van Gogh, Cezanne, Böcklin and Feuerbach, and then on up to Moreau, Redon, Hodler, Munch, Beckmann, Ernst, Klee and Picasso.

Palazzo Farnese: from the Renaissance collections at the French Embassy from 17th December 2010 to 27th April 2011. On display at Palazzo Farnese are 150 masterpieces of the Renaissance such as paintings, sculpture, drawings, coins, tapestries and ceramics. The exhibition aims to illustrate the building's five hundred years of history from when it was commissioned in the sixteenth century by Cardinal Alessandro Farnese to its use over the last 135 years as the seat of the French embassy in Italy.

TraditionalTuscany.co.uk


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ROUND OF GOLF WITH George Clooney?

Italians are way ahead when it comes to most things including food, fashion and art. But when it comes to sport, they are way ahead passion wise and its hard to rival.

They go mad for football, Formula 1, skiing, cycling and even back in the days, chariot racing. Strangely, when it comes to golf, they have a blind spot.

This manifests itself in the country's courses. Take Menaggio, a little gem by Lake Como in the northern region of Lombardy. It's elegant and stunning and has regular visits by George Clooney who has a villa nearby http://www.menaggio.it/

And how you rate in playing terms is expressed physically in the changing rooms, where three urinals are labelled for handicaps 0-9, 10-24, and 25-zappatori, the last being Italian for agricultural labourer.

The Menaggio clubhouse has more to offer than a great restaurant and view of Lake Como. It also houses a golf library with more than 1,200 volumes.

Unbelievably, this gorgeous course is just Euro 65 on weekdays and Euro 85 at weekends. Here you can also witness Italy's new golfing hero, Matteo Manassero, the youngest player, at 16, to grace the US Masters.

Sr Manassero has his name on the honours board at Golf Club Milano, a quietly plush club outside the city. (Viale Mulini San Girogio 7 Parco di Monza, http://www.golfclubmilano.it/). It welcomes visitors, but doesn't go out of its way to entice them in.

Which is a shame, because it is handsome course, winding through trees which means you play in virtual isolation.

The only indication of the outside world is from the famous Monza racetrack, and when I say indication, I mean screaming banshee madness at 100 decibels as superbikes streak past.

Other than that, it's peaceful – the silence broken only by groans of golfers as another putt slides by on the fast, tricky greens.

Designed in the 1920s by English architects Peter Gannon and Cecil Blandford, the course now has 27 holes. A weekday ticket costs between Euro 72 and 84 and lunch in the clubhouse restaurant probably the same.

Heading north towards Como, you hit another venerable course, Villa D'este, built in 1926. Circolo Golf Villa D'Este, Via per Cantu 13, 22030 Montorfano. http://www.golfvilladeste.com/

A par 69 (5,727m) overlooking Lake Montorfano, Villa D'Este has hosted several Italian Opens.

The front nine may seem short, but it opens up and the 18th is a fitting end. The food is pretty good too. Green fees on weekdays are Euro 100 with weekends at Euro 120.

Also recommended is Golf Club Bergamo, which costs Euro 55 for weekdays and Euro 77  for weekends. Golf Club Bergamo L'Albenza, Via Longoni 12, 24030 Almenno S.Bartolomeo, http://www.golfbergamo.it/

For more information on golf holidays in Italy, http://www.loveitaly.co.uk/golf.asp

What else is there to discover in Chianti aside from fine wine?

When you first plan to rent a holiday villa in Italy, you are probably dreaming of days soaking up the warm Tuscan sun and nights sipping on a glass of locally-produced Chianti Classico.

But there is much more to this stunning region of Italy than its fine wines - and you may find that your relaxing break is even better than you may have imagined!

While vineyards and wineries make up an important part of the local culture and you'll no doubt want to spend plenty of time exploring them, you may also wish to examine the other delights Tuscany has to offer.

Chianti is renowned as one of Tuscany's most beautiful areas, with postcard-perfect landscapes that have inspired artists and photographers for many years. The lovely landscapes here are made up of gentle, rolling hills, fragrant olive groves and countryside homes made from stones - keep your camera at the ready to capture the beauty as you pass through this stunning region.

For a close-up look at Italy's exciting past, why not stop at the Basilica of Santa Croce, the world's largest Franciscan church? Located in Florence, this is where some of Italy's most illustrious citizens are buried, including Galileo, Michelangelo, Machiavelli and Rossini, in a part of the building known as the Temple of the Italian Glories.

You may also wish to pay a visit to the former market town of Greve, which dates back to the Middle Ages. The municipality is most well-known for its unique triangular piazza and is a brilliant place to learn more about the history, art and culture of the Chianti area thanks to its fascinating architecture, museums and galleries.

Nearby, you'll also find several well-preserved castles - many of which are still inhabited as elegant residences today. Originally designed with defence in mind, some of these structures are now famous estates.

No matter where you choose to visit during your time in Italy, when you rent a villa in Tuscany, you are sure to have a brilliant time exploring all the area has to offer. Start planning your stay in Chianti today!




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At Easter, dance with Sicilian Devils in Prizzi

Sicily Easter celebrations and processions are among the most famous and suggestive all over the world. Besides popular “I Misteri” processions in Trapani, attracting numerous visitors and tourists every year, even more symbolic are Easter events and celebrations held in Prizzi, a lovely hill town South of Palermo. Here, the traditional “Abballu de li Diavuli” (Dance of the Devils) is a singular dance performed on Easter Sunday by villagers wearing large and terrifying iron masks, red tunics and goatskins, who rampage through the village in a traditional struggle between good and evil. Led by Death himself dressed in yellow and bearing a crossbow, the Devils drag you from the crowd, force you to dance in the street, and finally bring you to a bar where they pour wine down your throat. They surrender only when Jesus and Mary statues finally meet and everybody celebrates drinking and eating at local bars. Don't you think this is way more enthralling then going on Easter egg hunts?   

soloSicily Easter Savings Offer: save up to 300€ on price listed with every NEW booking, where villa & car rental are booked before 28 February 2011. Offer is applicable for departures between 9th April & 6th May 2011, subject to a minimum of 2 passengers and 7 nights stay from Saturday to Saturday. To find out more about our offer, click here

soloSicily - Villas in Sicily to rent
www.solosicily.com
Tel UK: 0044 (0)20 7193 0158
Tel IT: 0039 091 687 0639

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