Italy from the Inside

How much is your time worth? The Venice water taxi

As you can learn from our eBook Italy from the Inside there are many possibilities to reach Venice from the airport: you can either take the bus to Piazzale Venezia, or to Mestre train station and then take a 10 minute train ride to Venice train station. These two options are definitely the cheapest ones, but they surely don’t make you save in terms of time.

So, you may prefer to spend €15 per person and catch the public boat from the airport to the city, which, in my opinion, offers a more interesting experience for tourists. However, there’s one more option that sometimes is not taken into consideration, I think mainly for its cost, and that’s the water taxi.

The privately ran water taxi company charges €100 for a ride, which may sounds like a lot of money if you consider yourself a budget traveler. However, this price is for rides for up to 5 people which, by doing some math, translates into €20 per person. Not too bad if you consider that you don’t have to share the ride with anyone else and that you are going to be dropped to your destination (or to the closest vicinity). Besides, isn’t it better to add a great memory to your life rather than to have 50 more bucks in the bank? Well, at least this is my new philosophy…

The Under30 Pass for La Scala: a new Culture Initiative

The Teatro alla Scala of Milan – more commonly called La Scala – is universally known, even by those people who have never been there.

The so-called “Temple of Opera”, is located in Piazza della Scala, in the city center just behind the Gallery and the Duomo. The structure was built in 1778 by the Empress Maria Theresa of Austria, after a fire had destroyed the Royal Ducal Theatre.

What does La Scala offer during its Theater Season? Opera, ballet and classical music concerts. A repertoire that mostly attracts people of a certain age who have a deep interest in this kind of performances and can also afford the prices of the tickets. This represents the typical reality of our time, which is characterized by such a varied music offer that classical music often remains isolated. You can hear about La Scala mainly for the traditional contestations happening during the première – approximately in the first week of December – rather than for its cultural offer.

For this very reason the initiative, supported by Milan Municipality, whose aim is to bring younger audiences to the theatre is remarkable. In Lascalaunder30.org website we can read:

“Between you and your search for strong feelings there are no obstacles anymore. Discover LaScalaUNDER30, the project dedicated to young audiences under 30. With the Under30 Pass you will be always up to date on news concerning La Scala. You will also become a member of our Community and will get access to many exclusive offers. It will be like being part of the theatre itself, by visiting it, watching the performances and approaching the artists…”

This is an intelligent way to approach the younger audiences by communicating that La Scala is not a museum but a place for cultural production: from the games on its website to the fascinating opportunity of freely watching the previews.

The Under30 pass – obviously for those people who are under 30, thirty-year-old persons included – costs just 10 Euros and give you many exclusive advantages, including promotions and visits to the Theatre, to the Theatre Museum and to Ansaldo Workshops. It also offers the opportunity of watching five ensemble opera and ballet rehearsals and a 50% price reduction on the entrance for the Theatre Museum. You will also obtain the Scala Shop Card for free. This is undoubtedly a worthwhile initiative and represents an important step towards a more affordable city. We hope that it will have a great success.

(This guest post has been contributed by Ileana Ongar of Viaggionelmondo.net)

The fair of San Nicolo’

December is a magical time in Italy, the Christmas spirit is everywhere and people are immersed in a world of colorful lights and jolly sounds.

Every 6th of December, Trieste celebrates San Nicolo’ (Saint Nicholas, who had a reputation for secret gift-giving) with a popular fair, which becomes the city’s main attraction for several days and attracts vendors from all over Italy.

The fair takes place in the famous Viale XX Settembre, a long pedestrian avenue with many shops, gelaterie and cinemas that has been one of the main social points since forever.

The fair is the delight of the adults who can buy food specialties (like succulent olives from Sicily, torrone candy or goat cheese from Tuscany) and unusual gadgets to give as a present for Christmas, and the joy of the kids who can get candy and toys.

It is almost impossible not to meet an old friend or schoolmate while walking by the booths, and this makes the whole experience even “merrier”.