1. Ecuador - 81
2. Panama - 80
3. Mexico - 79
4. France - 78
5. Italy - 78
6. Uruguay - 77
7. Malta - 76
8. Chile - 76
9. Spain - 75
10. Costa Rica - 75
For the full list check out InternationalLiving.com's website
Wednesday, 1 September 2010
Best country for retirees?
1. Ecuador - 81
2. Panama - 80
3. Mexico - 79
4. France - 78
5. Italy - 78
6. Uruguay - 77
7. Malta - 76
8. Chile - 76
9. Spain - 75
10. Costa Rica - 75
For the full list check out InternationalLiving.com's website
Friday, 27 August 2010
Fashion meets Oil, Italian Style?
This months Italian Vogue features a photo shoot feature where a blackened, oil-slicked model poses on a rocky shore, so..."Who does this make you loathe more, BP or the fashion industry?" - Fast Company
Leave your comments below...
Thursday, 26 August 2010
Unusual Hotels added to the Italian Hoteroll
Their Italian selection currently consists of nine hotels and features amongst others an elegant yacht moored in Venice's lagoon, a colour themed hotel near the shore of Lake Garda and a car free ecological resort reached only by cable car... or on foot!
As they say "some are luxurious, some are not....to suit the budgets of every traveller", so definitely worth checking out. See their Italian selection at their website: Unusual Hotels of the World
Monday, 16 August 2010
First Rate Service
Having experienced at first hand the ups and downs of the international currency markets when buying a property in Italy, we thought it was time to mention our friends at First Rate FX.
They can provide you with a superior rate of exchange for your money, saving you up to 4% on your currency conversion, compared to the UK High Street banks.
So, if you are buying abroad, trading internationally or sending regular payments overseas, First Rate FX can ensure that your currency requirements are handled in the most efficient, secure and cost effective manner
Their services include:
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So, if you are buying abroad, trading internationally or sending regular payments overseas, First Rate FX can ensure that your currency requirements are handled in the most efficient, secure and cost effective manner
Their services include:
- Best rates in the market
- No commission charges (some banks may charge up to 2%)
- No transfer fees (typically banks charge up to £30 per transaction)
- Secure online access with visibility of your currency trade via their unique web portal
- Forward Contracts ? Fix your rate and cut your risk
- UK and International payments sent same day
- No hidden costs - guaranteed!
- All Client funds are sent via SWIFT payment from their secure Client accounts at Barclays, giving you peace of mind that your payment will arrive at its destination swiftly and securely.
Sunday, 15 August 2010
Italy is a dream...
August's Italy quotation:
Wednesday, 11 August 2010
Five Senses
This month I am pleased to welcome Rebecca Winke, from Brigolante as Guest Author. Since 2003, Rebecca has been writing and documenting her experiences as a transplanted American city girl to the Umbrian countryside. Rebecca moved to Italy from Chicago in 1993 and shortly thereafter opened an agriturismo in her husband's renovated family farmhouse at the foot of Mount Subasio near Assisi, Umbria. Today, she spends her time taking care of guests at Brigolante, blogging about the lovely region she now calls home at Rebecca's Ruminations, and wondering about what strange winds blew an urban vegetarian to a pig farm in Umbria.
This is Rebecca's Five Senses
"If there exists a super food (behold, the blueberry), a super Tuscan (no article about Umbria would be complete without at least one mention of her historical rival), and a super taster (They Might Be Giants’ song "John Lee Supertaster" should be on everyone’s iPod) then there must exist a super region. Umbria, despite its limited size, population, and name recognition, is exactly that. Packed into this tiny central Italian region known as Italy’s Green Heart, Umbria can please all five senses—make that all six senses—but still leave you feeling serene rather than overwhelmed.
1. Sight
Umbria’s rolling green hills which become more rugged as they approach the Appennine mountain chain offer some of the most beautiful landscapes in Italy. Take a leisurely drive (or bike, or walk) to the Piano Grande in the Mount Sibilline National Park or through the wine and olive country surrounding Montefalco and Massa Martana in the Martani mountain chain.If you are craving culture, visit Orvieto’s Duomo—one of Italy’s greatest cathedrals—and let the rich mosaics and sculptural details on its stunning triptych facade take your breath away.
2. Hearing
This region hosts one of Europe’s premier jazz festivals in the provincial capital of Perugia every July. For ten days the city is filled with strains from some of the biggest names in music—Keith Jarrett, Pat Methany, Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock--and free concerts and impromptu jam sessions entertain scores of music lovers from all over the world. Umbria Jazz is bookended by two other fabulous music festivals—Festival dei Due Mondi in Spoleto and Trasimeno Blues in the towns surrounding Lake Trasimeno—which offer world-class classical and blues.
3. Taste
Ah, food...here the region is literally your smorgasbord! It’s tough to get a bad meal in Umbria, where a long agricultural tradition has meant that the Umbrians take good food very seriously. Even the humble porchetta—whole roasted pig, boned and stuffed with garlic, rosemary, and fennel, and thickly sliced with crackling to make a hearty sandwich—sold during the weekly markets from the back of a truck is a gastronomic epiphany. If you have an insistent sweet tooth, October’s Eurochocolate festival in Perugia will do the trick. You can sample the wares from chocolatiers from all over the world, take courses to make your own chocolates, and commune with thousands of other worshippers of this elixir of the gods!
4. Smell
As long as we’re on the subject of food, let’s not forget the mighty truffle. Its bouquet is so strong that just a light grating is enough saturate over a plate of pasta with its unique earthy flavor. If you leave a truffle overnight wrapped in a cloth with a couple of eggs, in the morning you can have yourself a frittata al tartufo without actually adding the tuber! For the more refined palate, don’t overlook Umbria’s famous Sagrantino wine. Sniff the dry to pick out red fruits, plum, and spice or the sweet (passito) for hints of raisin and blueberry. Almost as delicious to smell as to taste (but not quite...go ahead and imbibe!).
5. Touch
Umbria is a region of many artisans and traditional crafts, first among them textiles and weaving. Visit her cashmere factories, many of which have discount outlet, to see some of the finest quality knits in the world (most of these are destined for the top fashion designers in Milan). Or stop by one of my favorite arteliers in the region, Brozzetti weaving workshop in Perugia, where you can watch jacquard hand woven on looms from the 18th century and feel with your own hands the exquisite craftmanship behind this dying art.
6. Soul
Many come to Umbria as pilgrims to visit her numerous churches and santuaries: Saint Francis, Saint Claire, Saint Rita, Saint Benedict, Saint Bernardino, and Saint Valentine all hail from these green hills. Even if you are not a believer, the quiet haven of the more humble devotional sites are often the perfect place to pause for a moment of reflection. I love the hut preserved in the church in Rivotorto-- Francis’ first settlement with his followers—which has none of the pomp and riches of the Basilica on the hill above in Assisi, but all of the humility and poverty which was what il Poverello espoused. I am always moved by the quaint Madonna dei Bagni sanctuary near Deruta, where generations of locals have given thanks to the Madonna for her intervention by commissioning votive majolica tiles for the walls of the church. This simple faith is somehow evocative of the region and its people...both of whom I have fallen in love with over the years."
The photos in this article were used with kind permission by Letizia Mattiacci; you can see more at her inn's website at www.incampagna.com
Drop by Rebecca's blog at Brigolante, or catch Rebecca on Twitter.
Thanks Rebecca!
This is Rebecca's Five Senses
"If there exists a super food (behold, the blueberry), a super Tuscan (no article about Umbria would be complete without at least one mention of her historical rival), and a super taster (They Might Be Giants’ song "John Lee Supertaster" should be on everyone’s iPod) then there must exist a super region. Umbria, despite its limited size, population, and name recognition, is exactly that. Packed into this tiny central Italian region known as Italy’s Green Heart, Umbria can please all five senses—make that all six senses—but still leave you feeling serene rather than overwhelmed.
1. SightUmbria’s rolling green hills which become more rugged as they approach the Appennine mountain chain offer some of the most beautiful landscapes in Italy. Take a leisurely drive (or bike, or walk) to the Piano Grande in the Mount Sibilline National Park or through the wine and olive country surrounding Montefalco and Massa Martana in the Martani mountain chain.If you are craving culture, visit Orvieto’s Duomo—one of Italy’s greatest cathedrals—and let the rich mosaics and sculptural details on its stunning triptych facade take your breath away.
2. Hearing
This region hosts one of Europe’s premier jazz festivals in the provincial capital of Perugia every July. For ten days the city is filled with strains from some of the biggest names in music—Keith Jarrett, Pat Methany, Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock--and free concerts and impromptu jam sessions entertain scores of music lovers from all over the world. Umbria Jazz is bookended by two other fabulous music festivals—Festival dei Due Mondi in Spoleto and Trasimeno Blues in the towns surrounding Lake Trasimeno—which offer world-class classical and blues.
3. Taste
Ah, food...here the region is literally your smorgasbord! It’s tough to get a bad meal in Umbria, where a long agricultural tradition has meant that the Umbrians take good food very seriously. Even the humble porchetta—whole roasted pig, boned and stuffed with garlic, rosemary, and fennel, and thickly sliced with crackling to make a hearty sandwich—sold during the weekly markets from the back of a truck is a gastronomic epiphany. If you have an insistent sweet tooth, October’s Eurochocolate festival in Perugia will do the trick. You can sample the wares from chocolatiers from all over the world, take courses to make your own chocolates, and commune with thousands of other worshippers of this elixir of the gods!
4. Smell
As long as we’re on the subject of food, let’s not forget the mighty truffle. Its bouquet is so strong that just a light grating is enough saturate over a plate of pasta with its unique earthy flavor. If you leave a truffle overnight wrapped in a cloth with a couple of eggs, in the morning you can have yourself a frittata al tartufo without actually adding the tuber! For the more refined palate, don’t overlook Umbria’s famous Sagrantino wine. Sniff the dry to pick out red fruits, plum, and spice or the sweet (passito) for hints of raisin and blueberry. Almost as delicious to smell as to taste (but not quite...go ahead and imbibe!).
Umbria is a region of many artisans and traditional crafts, first among them textiles and weaving. Visit her cashmere factories, many of which have discount outlet, to see some of the finest quality knits in the world (most of these are destined for the top fashion designers in Milan). Or stop by one of my favorite arteliers in the region, Brozzetti weaving workshop in Perugia, where you can watch jacquard hand woven on looms from the 18th century and feel with your own hands the exquisite craftmanship behind this dying art.
6. Soul
Many come to Umbria as pilgrims to visit her numerous churches and santuaries: Saint Francis, Saint Claire, Saint Rita, Saint Benedict, Saint Bernardino, and Saint Valentine all hail from these green hills. Even if you are not a believer, the quiet haven of the more humble devotional sites are often the perfect place to pause for a moment of reflection. I love the hut preserved in the church in Rivotorto-- Francis’ first settlement with his followers—which has none of the pomp and riches of the Basilica on the hill above in Assisi, but all of the humility and poverty which was what il Poverello espoused. I am always moved by the quaint Madonna dei Bagni sanctuary near Deruta, where generations of locals have given thanks to the Madonna for her intervention by commissioning votive majolica tiles for the walls of the church. This simple faith is somehow evocative of the region and its people...both of whom I have fallen in love with over the years."
The photos in this article were used with kind permission by Letizia Mattiacci; you can see more at her inn's website at www.incampagna.com
Thanks Rebecca!
Monday, 9 August 2010
Caffè Al Bicerin
Turin's oldest and smallest café is located in Turin's atmospheric Quadrilatero Romano area. Al Bicerin has barely changed since it opened in 1763. Frequented by Cavour, Dumas and Puccini, this establishment soon became very popular with artisans and the aristocracy.Here you will find the original home of the Bicerin, an exquisite hot drink, with three layers, one espresso, one chocolate and one fresh cream in secret amounts, served in a tall glass so you can admire the fusion of colours.
A truly Torinese ritual and not be missed on any account.
Where: Piazza della Consolata 5, 10122 Torino
When: Open 08:30 to 19:30, closed Wednesdays
Why: It just has to be tasted...
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