Italy from the Inside

Ferragosto

If you happened to visit Italy during August, you may have noticed that many businesses are closed for the traditional summer vacation and many Italians have already headed to the beach. August is the month when most of the country shuts down, including the big manufacturing industries.

The pinnancle of the summer in Italy is August 15th and is called Ferragosto. This day is also a national holiday celebrated by the Catholic Church. For tourists, Ferragosto can be a good moment to visit the big cities, unusually empty, even if some museums and services may be closed too. Local festivals (called sagre) and bigger events abound all across the country. The Italy for Visitors guide on About.com has compiled a nice list of key events happening this summer.

Podcast #12 – Torino and Piemonte region


Torino (or Turin in English) is the capital of Piemonte, a region in Northern Italy surrounded on three sides by the Alps. Piemonte hosted the 2006 Olympic Winter Games, and is renown for its local specialties such as Alba’s white truffle, prestigious wines such as Barolo and Asti Spumante, the Giandujachocolate, and a whole lot more.

In this podcast interview, Angelo Feltrin of the Piemonte Tourism Office, summarizes some of the key attractions that this area has to offer to foreign visitors.


Listen / Download this episode in MP3 format
(7Mb – 10:02 mins)

The iPhone has arrived


I’ve been playing with my iPhone for over a week now, and I’ve to say that I like it a lot.
I spent some time brainstorming new interesting ways to use this device in preparation for a trip to Italy.
Here are a few ideas that came to my mind:
– Listen to Italian music (get into the Dolce Vita mood)
– Watch an Italian movie converted from a DVD
– Practice your Italian with a language podcast (for your kids there is my daughter Silvia)
– Watch a travel podcast from Rick Steves’ (or one of ours)
– Browse pictures of Italy and dream about your next trip
– Store a photo of your passport (just in case)
– Use the Google mapping feature to study your itinerary (even point to point directions)
– Write some last minute ideas using the note taking feature
– Take our eBook with you (yes, the iPhone can view PDF files)
– Store useful contact information of restaurants, hotels, friends, etc.
– Download some audio guides for the key attractions
– Use it as an alarm clock
– Take some pictures of your trip
– Find out what’s the weather like in Rome
– Calculate the conversion rate from Euros in Dollars
– Make your friends jelous by sending them an email / SMS from the airport
– Use the calendar to plan your days
– Browse the internet to find out about the latest train strike
– or just use it as a phone (careful about those international charges!)

Unlike my video iPod, the iPhone doesn’t work as a backup storage for my digital pictures. Oh well…
Did I forget anything else in my list?