Written by on 02 October 2010
It doesn’t have to be just a dream any longer. Italy provides so many ultra romantic options for your dream wedding. And with the right planning or, preferably planner (remember we’re trying to reduce the stress by choosing a destination wedding), the dream can become a reality. Here are some things to think about – answer these questions for you and your fiancée (after all, this is YOUR wedding – your most special day – NOT anyone else’s).
What is your personal style as a couple? Are you formal – like to really dress up in traditional wedding gear? Or are you a little more laid back – would prefer to look fabulous but be comfortable? Do you really enjoy formal dining with fine china and gloved wait staff? Or would something a little more rustic and simple work for you?
What kind of environment would YOU be most comfortable in? Or would help create the most memorable moments for you? Have you always pictured an outdoor wedding either on the water or in the country? Are you prepared for some of the “surprise” elements that may include like wind or heat? Or have you always dreamed of an elegant ballroom, impressive cathedral or rustic country chapel?
What are some of the most important elements of your dream wedding? What will fill your memories? Is it the food? The flowers? The music? People being relaxed, laughing, having a good time? Including everyone you have ever known in your special day? Or being surrounded by your closest friends and family? Is it the setting itself?
After you have answered these questions together, then decide if you want to try to plan and coordinate all the details and travel yourselves from afar. It can be done and there are certainly lots of web sites and other resources to help you. Or, share your dream with a wedding/travel planner who is also a travel agent and let them take care of all the details. This way, you will be sure that you are getting the very best value on all the travel components as well as someone to take care of all the little details. Since an experienced planner will have access to all sorts of travel deals – group rates, accommodations, secrets that will make for a perfect trip, etc. – even though you are paying them typically 10-15% of the overall wedding cost, you will be saving at least that much in higher air fare, accommodations, etc.
Picture yourselves on the enchanted isle of Capri – surrounded by azure blue water. Or exchanging vows in a medieval chapel and dancing the night away in a romantically lit piazza. Or pledging your love with the majestic Alps and serene waters of Lake Como as your backdrop. All the while surrounded by your loved ones who are also having the time of their lives and perhaps their own dream vacation. Now doesn’t that beat the banquet hall or ballroom or town Church or Temple where everyone else you have ever known has had their wedding? And the best part is that it can be more affordable that you think.
Diane has traveled extensively throughout the US and Europe. She has a true passion for the journey and has helped friends & family plan their own unique dream trips. See what Diane can do for you at http://www.italydreamtrips.com and get a FREE DVD as well as access to an Invitation Only Internet Shopping Portal. Or if you wish to book your own travel at http://www.wishfortravel.com. When she isn’t out traveling on her own or helping others live their dream, she can found in her gardens in Eastern Washington with her husband, family and two lucky cats.
Tags: Destination, Dreaming, Italy, Place, Romantic, This, Ultimate, wedding, Youre
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Written by on 26 September 2010
If you are looking for a European tourist destination, consider the Lombardy region of northern Italy. Depending on your interests, this beautiful area might be an ideal vacation spot. You can get classic Italian food, and wash it down with fine local wine. There are even some parts of Lombardy that are relatively undiscovered by tourists. This article presents Lombardy outside of its capital Milan or the beautiful Lake districts, which are described in companion articles in this series.
Over the millennia Lombardy has been in the hands of numerous invaders including the Etruscans and the Gauls, then the Romans, Franks, and Goths, and finally the French, Spaniards, and Austrians. Did we forget the Lombards? These invaders all left their mark, some more and some less. Keep local history in mind as you tour this impressive region.
We begin our tour at Pavia about twenty-five miles (forty kilometers) south of Milan. Then we proceed southeast to Cremona. We continue east to finish this short tour at Mantua near the Veneto border.
Once upon a time little Pavia (population about 70 thousand) was a major rival of nearby Milan (city population about 1.3 million and metropolitan population over 5 million.) Its defeat by the Barbarians in 476 commonly marks the end of the Western Roman Empire. Almost nine hundred years later the internationally known University of Pavia was founded, based on a law and divinity school established by the year 825. Count Alessandro Giuseppe Antonio Anastasio Volta was the most famous individual associated with this university. It was Volta who discovered methane gas and invented the electric battery. Whenever you think about volts and voltage, you should think about Pavia.
Arguably the most famous native of Pavia was Benedetto Cairoli, the 13th and 15th Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Italy. He was somewhat of a hero during Risorgimento (the fight for Italian independence) but had a relatively undistinguished career as Prime Minister with a single exception. Cairoli risked his life and was severely wounded when he successfully protected the unpopular King Umberto I from assassination early in his reign. Now let’s consider Pavia’s sights.
Pavia is home to many other churches worth seeing. The Lombard-Romanesque San Michele Maggiore Church was constructed on the site of a preexisting Lombard church. Initially destroyed a few years after the turn of the first millennium it was rebuilt during the Twelfth Century. The Basilica of San Pietro in Ciel d’Oro (St. Peter in Golden Sky) actually originated in the beginning of the Seventh Century. Its name refers to gold leaf mosaics that formerly decorated parts of the ceiling. This basilica was featured in Bocaccio’s Decameron. You may also want to see the Thirteenth Century brick Santa Maria del Carmine Church and the Renaissance Santa Maria di Canepanova Church.
Head about five miles (eight kilometers) north of town to see Pavia’s number one attraction, the Fifteenth Century Certosa di Pavia (Charterhouse of Pavia) monastery. This complex, which took over a century to build, is considered an excellent expression of Gothic and Renaissance architecture. It includes a great collection of paintings and stained glass windows. The church was meant to house the tombs of its owners, the noble Visconti family but only one family member is actually buried there. His tomb took over sixty years to build. Nearby is the tomb of another Duke and his wife Beatrice d’Este, a real Renaissance woman and a beauty as well, who died in childbirth at age 22. You may have heard of her sister-in-law, Lucrezia Borgia.
The city of Cremona, population about seventy thousand, was first settled well over two thousand years ago. The famous Roman poet Virgil went to school there and owned a family farm in the vicinity. Another name is indelibly linked to this city, that of Antonio Stradivari, the world’s greatest violinmaker. His masterpieces are simply the world’s best-known and most expensive stringed instruments. As they say about yachts, if you have to ask the price, you can’t afford it. It’s not sour grapes, but frankly what would I do with a Stradivari violin, or mandolin? Perhaps trade it for vintage wine and Champagne.
The violin as we know it was invented in Cremona around 1564 by Andrea Amati who died more than sixty years before Stradivari was born. The Guarneri family created world famous violins here and elsewhere in Italy. Today more than 50 violinmakers hang their hat in Cremona. The Piazza Roma square near Stradivari’s house and workshop contains his tombstone and grave. The city includes the Scuola Internazionale di Liuteria (International School of Violin Making) and the Museo Stradivariano (Stradivarius Museum)
Our next and final stop is the city of Mantua whose population is slightly under fifty thousand. Mantua may have been founded about four thousand years ago. The great Roman poet Virgil was born in a nearby village. In the Twelfth Century Mantua adopted a novel means of protection against invasion, by constructing four artificial lakes surrounding the city. Three of them exist to this day; the fourth dried up during the Eighteenth Century. If you remember your Shakespeare, Romeo fled to Mantua after killing Juliet’s cousin in a swordfight. Talk about a family feud.
Mantua’s Palazzo Ducale was built between the Fourteenth and Seventeenth Centuries and boasts some 500 rooms. Its centerpiece is the Camera degli Sposi (The Wedding Chamber) room that took Andrea Mantegna about seven years to paint. When you see it, you’ll know why. Since you’re only allowed ten minutes to admire this marvelous, unique room you should familiarize yourself with the painting before your allotted time slot. Don’t forget to look up, the ceiling is beautiful.
Finish your tour at the suburban Palazzo Te built in the Sixteenth Century. Unlike many other historic Italian buildings this one was completed in only ten years. In fact its shell went up in eighteen months. In spite of its speedy construction it is considered one of the greatest Renaissance palaces. Don’t forget to tour the Camera di Amore e Psiche (Cupid and Psyche’s Room) showing a wedding with quite interesting and unusual guests and the Camera dei Giganti (Room of the Titans) in which Jupiter expels the Titans from Mount Olympus. The walls are peppered with Seventeenth Century graffiti. Please don’t add your own.
What about food? Of Italy’s twenty regions Lombardy trails only Emilia-Romagna in food production. A lot of the food is of foreign origin, not surprising given the frequency with which Lombardy fell under outside domination. But there are also local specialties. For example, Cremona is known for Mostarda, mustard flavored candied fruits that accompany Bollito Misto, mixed boiled meats. A local version of this treat calls for calf’s head, veal tongue, and pig’s foot among others. Cremona also claims to have invented ravioli.
Let’s suggest a sample menu, one of many. Start with Zuppa alla Pavese (Soup with Bread, Butter, Eggs, and grated Parmesan Cheese). Then try Bollito Misto (Mixed Boiled Meats). For dessert indulge yourself with Colombe Pasquale (dove shaped Easter Bread with Candied Fruit). Increase your dining pleasure by including local wines with your meal.
We conclude with a quick look at Lombardy wine. Lombardy ranks 11th among the 20 Italian regions for both acreage devoted to wine grapes and for total annual wine production. The region produces about 62% red and rose and 38% white wine, but there is little rose. There are 15 DOC wines. DOC stands for Denominazione di Origine Controllata, which may be translated as Denomination of Controlled Origin, presumably a high-quality wine. The G in DOCG stands for Garantita, but there is absolutely no guarantee that such wines are truly superior. Over 47% of Lombardy wine carries the DOC or DOCG designation. There are three DOCG wines: the sparkling Franciacorta said to compete with French Champagne and priced accordingly, the red Sforzato di Valtellina, and the red Valtellina Superiore.
Lambrusco Mantovano DOC is a red or rose dry or sweet fizzy wine produced southeast of Mantua from local grapes. The San Colombano al Lambro DOC is red or white still or fizzy wine made from a variety of local grapes found about halfway between Milan and Cremona. By far the area’s best-known wine is the Oltrepo Pavese DOC grown south of Pavia, across the Po River, hence its name. This wine, the favorite of Milan, is made in several styles from multiple grape varieties.
Levi Reiss has authored alone or with a co-author ten computer and Internet books, but to tell the truth, he would really rather just drink fine French, German, or other wine, accompanied by the right foods. He knows what dieting is, and is glad that for the time being he can eat and drink what he wants, in moderation. He teaches classes in computers at an Ontario French-language community college. Visit his new wine, diet, health, and nutrition website www.wineinyourdiet.com and his global wine website www.theworldwidewine.com.
Tags: Italy, Lombardy, Love, Small, Touring, Town
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Written by on 26 September 2010
A city between seaside tourism and sports, we are in Cesenatico on the Adriatic coast of Italy, town famous for being a destination for many tourists who love the sea but also because birthplace of great champion Marco Pantani and the famous race Nove Colli.
Italy propose a lot of sport hotel: from trekking hotels, to swim hotels but above all cycling hotels.
The sport lovers can choose between a lot of holiday opportunities because Italian geography is suitable for sport and nature vacations. The sport hotel are above all cycling hotels, the cycling tradition of Italy, in fact, is ancient and the cycling tourism was born to answer to the great number of cyclists that want to live a special vacation, between sport and relax.
The Adriatic Coast is suitable for cyclists, above all in Cesenatico that and has a long history begins with the sporting event that represents the city: The “Nove Colli” Race.
The race organized by Fausto Coppi Association was one of the first race in which run the young Marco Pantani in fact the cycling event was then renamed Nove Colli Marco Pantani. The stages of the race are studied for all kind of cyclists: from easier to from easier to more difficult.
The cycling in Cesenatico on the Adriatic Coast, is the most diffused tourism and the hotels in the area were structured in time to accommodate those who loves making healthy sport.
The cycling lovers found in this city a fertile ground for their training:
- Inland routes and routes between the peaks and plains
- Maps of routes
- Cycling guide
- Hotel for cyclists equipped with bicycle storage, expert guides, food for athletes
- Stay packages tailor made for sportsmen
- Energetic food for the training
- Cycling Amateurs and Elite races
The cycling passion meet the typical gastronomy of Romagna and inland walks of Cesenatico, between nature, history and tradition to live a really impressive scenario.
The cycling routes in Cesenatico are particularly suitable for those who love mountain bike: there are many itineraries ideal for those who want to enjoy a ride on a ground not perfect but very fascinating. A lot of MTB races complete the program.
Cesenatico and its hotel for cyclists for years welcome athletes from all over Europe and beyond, precisely because the hills that overlook the sea are the ideal background for lovers of sport immersed in nature.
The active holiday, the term used by industry experts, is spokesman of a new philosophy: relaxation and sport can reconcile on vacation.
The tourist facilities that embrace this type of tourism are turning to the Italians but especially tourists of the Alps accustomed to cycling, arriving in Italy precisely because the geography of our territory is well-suited to the lovers of bike courses knows how to fanatics of mountain bikes.
The Adriatic Coast and Cesenatico were equipped for sports and vacation in Riviera is not only just sea and fun but also training and healthy diet.
Cesenatico Bike, is the site for cylcing lovers: special cycling tour of Italy and holiday packages: Cycling holidays in Italy.
Tags: holiday, Italy, NATURE..., SPORT, SPORTIVE, VERY
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