Twitter, Social Media Networking and Connecting With My Italian Roots.

The power and reach of technology is so amazing today that connecting with someone half a world away is just a key touch away. (literally) Blogging, Twittering, Facebook, Skype, I mean the possibilities are endless when using social media tools to find or connect with any topic, person, or just to have plain old conversations. If you're like me and like to talk to your Italian family overseas then you're already aware how social media tools can make your connection fast, easy and cheap.

Personally, I am an avid Twitter (er). I have a live feed on the bottom right hand side of IAG. So at any given time of the day, you can find my latest Twitter updates moment to moment. For those of you who don't know Twitter, its a social media tool that allows you to write a brief status or message whether its to say hello to your friends, talk about where you are or about to do, or to share an article or information with your immediate audience.

You can connect with anyone from anywhere in the world. Its simply amazing. In doing my usual Twittering, I was lucky enough to connect with a young journalist from Reggio Calabria, Italy, who runs a great information site about Reggio Calabria. He along with other journalists, cover everything from international and local news, politics, technology, life and all things Italian.

The site is called, Libera Reggio, if you're from Reggio Calabria, and read Italian, stop in on their site its really quite informative and gears toward a savvy demographic. So, in connecting with my new Calabrian friend, I think he was amazed at the fact at how I cherish my heritage and Calabrian roots by which he determined through reading my posts and viewing pics I have posted here on Italian American Girl. Its obvious isn't it?

After making this awesome connection and finding a new Calabrian friend, I think I will have to coordinate a TweetUp in Reggio Calabria this summer. Technology is amazing. Check out this great article from Libera Reggio right here, of course with a mention about meeting me, Italian American Girl.

http://tinyurl.com/c5x47x

You can find me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ItalAmerGirl

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Great Deals & Places-Booking Your Vacation To Italy.

I recently booked my family's vacation for this summer. Now, let me tell you that this is the season to book your tickets. Never in all the years that I've been booking tickets have I seen such a great difference in pricing. If you travel in peak times of course, you will pay peak prices which are usually July, and August to Italy. But, if you start pricing now you can play with the dates you want to travel and you will most definitely find a good rate to a major city in Italy. Get the inside scoop on what's happening in the travel world and rates to Italy, check out Why Go Italy, a great site with every possible travel topic and scenario you may need for your Italian excursion.

Now, if you're interested in doing villas there are so many amazing places you can visit but let me be partial here for a moment and say anything South of Rome is beautiful. I have two amazing locations for you, one is in the Campagnia region and its a villa stay that includes a gastronomical journey of amazing food and scenery. This particular villa and cuisine experience is called Cilento Experience. Here you can stay at a top of the line restored villa in a quaint village with authentic surroundings and people. The Cilento Experience is located in the Campagnia region of Italy, which is breathtaking. Check their site for rates, dates and pictures. Its beautiful.

Moving along further South is of course Reggio Calabria. If you want more of a Southern villa style stay then another authentic and modernisitic stay is located in Gioia Tauro, Reggio Calabria, called Villa Villetta Vittoria. The actual villa is centered in a small beach town where you can either ride a bike or walk to the near by beach. The experience of being entrenched in a small town scenery is indescribable, a once in a life time experience. Check their site for photos of the villa and recent press and testimonials from past guests.

You can also back track on many of my posts where I list other Agri-touristic villas and hotels across the country of Italy. Plan now, rates will of course go up very soon!

http://www.italylogue.com/

http://cilentoexperience.com/

http://www.villettamimmavittoria.com/ Tweet

Pirates Of the Caribbean..?? Italian Sailors Hunting Pirates This Holiday.

You've all heard of these infamous pirates off the coast of Somalia that hijack major vessels and have tried even cruise ships. Some of these pirates with these busted up boats are actually succeeding at over taking larger vessels on the open seas. A more recent incident was the cruise ship outrunning the pirates on their run down boats. Some incidents included gun fire. Whats amazing to me is how these pirates, who you some times even see shoeless and so unprepared are just able to hijack these massive ships.

Using the word, 'pirate' is not a just term you associate with Jack Sparrow from the movies, there seem to be now the modern pirates who think they're Jack Sparrow. Unbelievable. So, in an effort to stop these want to be hijackers, the Italian military is now out on the open seas hunting pirates for the holiday. In an international effort with other countries, the goal is to stop the pirates and keep the open waters safe. I say, go to the root of the problem in Somalia. I think these men wouldn't be looking to hijack major vessels if they had some stability in their own country or money. Isn't it always about money?

Read the full story here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/16/world/africa/16pirate.html?bl&ex=1229662800&en=2e515ecfd65bac73&ei=5087%0A Tweet

Christmas Vacation In Italy.

Some people have planned ahead and are able to travel this holiday season, if you're looking to do something different and experience a trip of a lifetime then Christmas in Italy just might be the remedy for you. Celebrating Christmas in Italy is like nothing you will ever experience here in the states. Christmas is Christmas, its not about buying tons of gifts or being pissed off that your in laws are coming over, its really about the religion of Christmas.

Often times, we get so caught up here in America with the phony hoopla of Christmas that we forget the true meaning of our faith. In Italy, there is a real sense of faith and just a rawness to the experience that you won't be able to ever duplicate, its amazing. So, if you're in the market to have a true, spiritual, real and authentic holiday, then packing your bags and heading out to Italy will be the best money you ever spent.

If you're thinking about planning a last minute trip..I suggest you get your ticket ASAP, seats have sold out on a lot of airlines due to the demand and lesser flights. My suggestion would be fly into Rome, you know that saying.."All roads lead to Rome," its true. From Rome, you can go anywhere and its accessible to all the major sights and authentic surrounding towns. I found a great site that was created by a woman in the travel industry, who lived in Rome for years. The site is complete with everything from where to stay to where to eat. Its incredibly detailed.

Check it out:
http://www.initaly.com/regions/xmas/xmas.htm Tweet

ALITALIA WINTER AIRFARE SALE.

FYI- If you're shopping ticket prices to Italy, the best time to buy is now for the Spring or upcoming months. Alitalia is offering a great winter sale with roundtrip tickets to major Italian cities for reasonable prices. Alitalia was under extreme pressure in the past couple of months with their airline sale and was bought by a group of investors. The airline is set to operate as scheduled and maybe even better starting this December.

Go to:

http://www.alitalia.com/US_EN/special_offers/italywinterdeals_offer.asp?WT.ac=ITA_419X121_041108

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Booking Your Ticket to Italy- When and How.

Around this time of year and in the early Spring I always book tickets for my parents to go back to Italy. There is an actual science to booking your tickets and finding the right deals. If you're traveling to Italy or planning a trip to Italy for the summer, you really have to start looking for a ticket in the Spring time, the earlier you book the better. The secret to booking the ticket is calling your carrier on a Tuesday, for some reason the pricing is lower on this day. Then when you book, you should always book your actual travel dates from Tuesdays to Tuesdays. Leaving on weekends will jack up your costs significantly.

If you're looking to travel during the holiday season, its really quite impossible not to get hammered on airline prices but the best thing to do is book as far in advance as possible as in September or October. Right now you can still get away with finding something at a reasonable price. For me, booking tickets to Italy is really second nature and I've become the travel expert in doing this for so many years. From NJ, our airline preferences are usually Continental and Alitalia. We always take Continental to Italy, then connect with Alitalia to get to Calabria. Now, if you're going to rent a car in a location like Reggio Calabria, lucky for you there are a few choices.

Last time I was in Italy, I had a travel agent actually confirm the car rental, now I could have done this myself but to ensure the car I requested (automatic, because I'm not too savvy with the manual) was there and with no problems. So, when I landed in Reggio Calabria, like I always do..I was also pleasantly surprised to see the many positive changes in the airport. (for those of you who know what I'm talking about.) Anyhow, renting a car is fairly easy, its not cheap to say the least but you have to do your homework on pricing. I would consult with an travel agent, they basically get paid from their own end of booking, so you can ask them to arrange and confirm your rental. But if you don't do that you can just land in the airport of your choice in Italy and just walk over to the rental car windows. Oh and now when you book your tickets with your carrier they do ask if you need a rental car, so you can also book it this way. Be sure to remember that most cars in Italy are manual (stick shift) so you have to ask for an automatic and it does cost more.

The great thing about Italy, is that most Italians are very fluent in English so they are truly helpful. So, if you're looking to get to Italy for Christmas, you better book it this week. Seats are almost sold out, I know this because I just priced it..:( If you have any travel or booking questions, you can email me. There is so much information to share on this topic and I really could be writing for days. Good Luck!

http://www.alitaliausa.com/
http://www.continental.com/

or go to yahoo travel and get comparison prices first . Tweet