Posts Tagged ‘guide’

Traveling with Children can be stressful at the best of times and in the most familiar circumstances. Throw your family into a foreign country where they don’t speak the language and your Fun Family Trip can quickly turn into something that would rival the Griswalds’ vacations. This doesn’t mean you should just stay at home, though… traveling, especially to foreign cities, can be an extremely rewarding experience for you and your children. Driver in Italy has compiled a list of tips to help you keep your trip to Italy running smoothly.

1. Do Your Research.
This one is a given for most parents, but it can’t be emphasized enough. Look into the hotels you’re booking and see what kid-friendly amenities they have. Going in the summer? Kids will probably want a pool to cool off in. Did you make sure to book a non-smoking room? Is there enough room in your suite for the kids to stretch out and play in?

2. Remember Your Kids.
While you may be going to Italy for the romance and the art, remember that your kids might not know a Botticelli from a bottle o’ Pepsi. While you shouldn’t avoid the culture, you should definitely make museum visits quick and easy. Check out the museum’s website and plan which paintings you want to see most so that you can get in and out quickly (before the kids’ attention span runs out). Does your daughter idolize Disney princesses? Find a real castle to visit. Does your son love race cars? Head to the Ferrari Museum in Maranello (or one of the other dozen car related attractions in Italy). Are your kids beach bums? Head to the coast and check out some of Italy’s amazing beaches.

3. Keep Them Active.
Take your kids to a piazza and let them run around for a while. Rent bikes and cycle around the city ala Audrey Hepburn. Take them on a short hike in Cinque Terre. The more energy your kids get out during the day, the more restful your sleep will be.

4. Simplify.
Simplify your travel. Traveling the long way with family can seem grueling and tedious. Driver in Italy has vehicles that can transport your whole family, from small a cozy at 3 to multiple generations at 8. By leaving the driving to Driver in Italy, you can enjoy the travel along with your family, rather than having to be the chauffeur yourself. If you’re thinking about taking a trip to Italy with children, Driver in Italy is the way to travel.

Starting today, you’ll notice a new feature on our blog: Ask Roberto. Driver in Italy owner Roberto G. Melaragno has spent his adult life in Italy and would like to share his knowledge of Italian culture, customs, tours of Italy and Italian travel with you. In Roberto’s own words:

I was born in Canada and moved to Italy when I was twelve, where I began to merge my North American upbringing with the beautiful culture and language of Italy.

Over 15 years ago, I started Driver in Italy, with a view to creating the most efficient, professional and personal private driver service in Europe. Meeting people from all over the world, helping them get the service they need and showing them our destinations is our focus, and part of what makes my company special.

Roberto is ready to answer your questions about Italy and beyond! Simply go to the Ask Roberto page and ask away. In addition to responding to each question, Roberto will regularly select a question from the submissions and profile the response in a blog post right here on the Driver in Italy Travel Blog!

Image: Giro d’Italia in Leiden, a Creative Commons Attribution No-Derivative-Works (2.0) image from archeon’s photostream

The Giro D’Italia (or Tour of Italy) is Italy’s answer to the Tour d’France. For three weeks in May or June every year, cyclists and cycling fans from around the world come to Italy (and nearby countries) to watch one of the most exciting cycling events of the year.

The first Giro d’Italia was run in 1909, but while the event may be over a hundred years old, this year marks the 93rd Giro (the race was suspended during both WWI and WWII). The race consists of 21 stages, ranging from just over 5 miles to 159 miles. At the end of each stage, the overall leader is given a pink jersey to wear. At the end of the last stage, the cyclist with the fastest time wins the Giro. There are also special awards given based on mountain times, points and youth classifications.

While the Giro began in Italy, in recent years the stages have branched out across Europe. This year’s Giro began on May 8th in Amsterdam. After spending the first three stages in the Netherlands, the race will move today to Italy, kicking off in Savigliano. The stages will make their way thoughout Italy before ending in Verona on May 30th.

As an annual event, the Giro d’Italia is something that you don’t want to miss on your May tour of Italy. When you’re traveling to Italy, make sure to check the Giro schedule and plan to be in one of the Italian towns that the race passes through. Driver in Italy can put together a special Italy package to take to to one or all of the Giro stages so you don’t miss any of the action

While football (soccer, to Americans) is popular in many European countries, Italians rank up with Brits and Brazilians with their passion for the sport. With good reason, too; Italy has won four World Cup titles (second only to Brazil, with five), including the most recent and 27 various European titles. If you’re thinking of catching a match on your vacation to, here’s a quick guide to Italian football.

(Image: Italy v Ukraine, Koln 30 June – 7, a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share-Alike (2.0) image from charlesfred’s photostream)

The first thing to know when you’re catching up on Italian Football is the difference between the National Team and the Club or League Teams. The Italian National Team is made up of Italian players from all different professional teams and competes in the World Cup and in the major European tournaments. Sort of like Team USA Basketball. When they’re not training for National Team matches, the players are employed by private teams throughout Italy (and other worldwide football teams). These League teams are broken up into different divisions (similar to American College Football where you have Division I, Division II, etc). The top tier of teams is called Serie A and is made up of 20 teams. I’ll let Wikipedia explain how the Serie A season works:

During the course of a season, from August to May, each club played each of the other teams twice; once at home and once away, totaling 38 games for each team by the end of the season. Therefore, in Italian football a true round-robin format is used. In the first half of the season, called the andata, each team played exactly one time against each league opponent, for a total of 19 games. In the second half of the season, called the ritorno, the teams played in exactly the same order that they did in the first half of the season, the only difference being that home and away situations are switched.

Just like catching a game of hockey in Canada or a baseball game in the US, if you’re a sports fan of any kind you want to catch an Italian football game while you’re over on your tour of Italy. Today, we had the pleasure of being the official transport for Italian football team Internazionale as they played the last game in a 3 game series against Roma. While the home team (Roma) lost, we cheer on both teams for a match well played.