2012 holiday season is approaching and it is now the most appropriate moment to plan and book a holiday in ever enchanting Italy!

DISCOVER YOUR ITALY is committed to give customers a great travel experience in Italy. The rich catalogue of EXCLUSIVE ITALY TOURS offers a wide possibility of choice of itineraries, dates of departures, duration and prices.

Travellers should not miss the advantages of our ITALY SMALL GROUP TOURS: guarantee of uniqueness, quality and style in every detail; top quality accommodations, transportations, guides and excursions; first class customer service.

For season 2012 DISCOVER YOUR ITALY is launching the new exciting “Be Your Own Tour Leader” travel formula: be the Tour leader of your own group and travel for free! Travellers who create a group of 8 participants will travel for free. DISCOVER YOUR ITALY will take care of designing the itinerary, managing the reservations and all land operations, the Tour Leader will help monitoring minor details during the tour and ….. enjoy the tour for free!

Matteo Della Grazia, co-founder of DISCOVER YOUR ITALY, commented, “We conduct a variety of tours all over Italy with scheduled departures and variable lengths of stay. Our small groups are 6 to 12 people are a unique characteristic of a new standard of travelling to Italy allowing for a more intimate encounter with the country. We can also design CUSTOMIZED TOURS: personalized itinerary, duration, departure dates for your own group.

Our Italy Tours itineraries are all ORIGINAL AND EXCLUSIVE. They all feature a mix of both ever green destinations such as Rome, Florence, Venice, Tuscany, Pompeii, and out of the beaten track places such as Siena, Assisi, Naples, Perugia, Apulia, 5 Terre, Amalfi Coast, Umbria, Sicily and a well balanced blend of sightseeing, activities and free time. Our mission is to offer you organized tours that are anything but ordinary. We feature the real Italy!”

In 2012 DISCOVER YOUR ITALY is enriching its offer with 2 new LUXURY ITALY TOURS: “THE SPLENDORS OF SICILY” and “MEDIEVAL HILLS & VILLAGES OF UMBRIA”.

“THE SPLENDORS OF SICILY” is an exclusive luxury small group tour crafted to experience one of the most amazing areas of Italy, rich in art, culture, wine and food treasures, breathtaking landscapes, enchanting towns. The tour features all Sicily must-sees and much more: Taormina, Mount Etna, Siracusa, Ragusa, Noto, Piazza Armerina,  Agrigento, Marsala, Erice, Segesta and Palermo.

“MEDIEVAL HILLS & VILLAGES OF UMBRIA”: a very special itinerary through rolling hills, vineyards and olive groves, interrupted by picturesque medieval villages (Deruta, Bevagna, Spello, Montefalco, Norcia). Basilicas (Orvieto), churches and small chapels beautifully decorated with frescos (Assisi). Roman cities, necropolis, historical bridges and ancient aqueducts (Spoleto). Plazas full of life, cheerfulness and colours … From the magnificence of Rome to the refinement of Perugia, through the romantic, beating heart of Italy…

Travellers should take advantage of the new 2012 DISCOVER YOUR ITALY tours, check the itineraries on www.discoveryouritaly.com and book immediately an unforgettable tour in Italy.

FuorItinerario-Discover Your Italy is a professional Tour Operator specialized in offering original and innovative travel packages to Italy. Their goal is to show you the “real Italy” through the eyes of the Italian people rather than those of the typical “tourist.” The agency is specialized in Italian travel and being based in Italy, it is best positioned to provide discerning travelers with the best tailor-made travel opportunities and information about Italy.

Tour operator Discover Your Italy has added to their website enriched contents to provide potential travelers with more information on travel opportunities in Italy. Discover Your Italy now includes a new Discover Italy section with detailed information about holiday opportunities in different areas of Italy. The page is designed to provide information on regions of Italy to visit. The section is also complemented with in depth articles about Italian lifestyle, art and culture for offering additional insights about Italy to anyone planning an unforgettable Italian vacation.

To continue providing the best possible all-encompassing service Discover Your Italy constantly updates their EVENTS section with the best festivities currently going on in Italy that range from art shows to musical concerts to food festivals.

Coming soon: brand new tours to Umbria and Sicily for 2012! Meanwhile anyone interested can look at the Discover Italy section for more background information on the two areas, along with beautiful photos of the places that will be included in the itineraries of the tours.

Take advantage of the online feature START YOUR TRIP REQUEST and describe your dream trip to Italy. A Travel Consultant will promptly contact you with proposals suggestions and ideas even for the most complex trips to Italy in order to purchase exactly what you were looking for.

Please CONTACT DISCOVER YOUR ITALY and just give us your wish list of what you want to see in Italy: we will design your perfect Italy Tour!

Basilica of Santa Croce: Frescos Up Close

The Basilica of Santa Croce, in Florence, is one of the most beautiful and renowned churches in all of Italy. Built in 1385 the Basilica shows gothic architecture at it’s best and is a great sight from the outside. Inside it offers breathtaking Frescos by Agnolo Gaddi, which are truly unique to this church. The main Frescos are in the Cappella Castellani. The Frescos have a narrative cycle, which visually tells stories of St. Anthony, St. John and St. Nicola. The church is keeping its label of “under restoration” until May of 2012, and oddly enough that is the reason why you should visit the church! Scaffolds are up around the church and guided tours on the scaffolds are being offered to give visitors a better view of Gaddi’s masterpieces. This truly unique opportunity allows visitors to see the Frescos up close and be to explore all of the intricacies. This is a limited offer and an offer that one should not miss out on because these are truly some of the best works of religious art in the whole world, to see them up close is truly a breathtaking sight.

The scaffolds will be open for tours until May of 2012.

For a video on this opportunity, click here.

Couscous Festival-San Vito lo Capo

In San Vito lo Capo, on the Northwestern tip of Sicily, there a couscous festival takes place each September. The festival is solely dedicated to couscous and includes weeklong celebrations in which some of the best couscous in the world is eaten, a truly unique and worthwhile experience. The couscous that is showcased is typical of this part of Sicily with an obvious Arab and North African influence of course but still with it’s own dishes inspired by other Sicilian foods. Also at night free concerts take place under the magnificent night sky. At the festival there will be true cross-cultural experiences due to the amount of people that come from all over the world. You will also be able to experience the lovely San Vito lo Capo and it’s splendid beaches during a truly beautiful time of year.

This year the event will take place starting on SEPTEMBER 20 until SEPTEMBER 25.

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Matriciana or Amatriciana, that is the question. A principal dish of the Roman kitchen, it occupies one of the top positions among Italian culinary specialties. But among the “scholars” on the subject there is some disagreement about the plate’s true origin.

Bucatini alla Matriciana is one of the oldest dishes of the Italian tradition (possibly dating back to the Roman Empire), and it appears that it’s even on the waiting list for certification as a typical product of Italy—along the lines of the Neapolitan Pizza and Abbacchio (Roman-style lamb). Or, perhaps better, just like Guanciale (salt-cured pork jowl that is not smoked and is sweeter and more tender than pancetta) and Pecorino Romano (sheep’s milk cheese; the Romano variety is saltier and firmer than Pecorino Sardo and Pecorino Toscano), two of the main ingredients of this famous recipe.

The origin of this renowned pasta, however, is the stuff of legends, and the very name is still the subject of numerous discussions and interpretations.

The players on each side of the debate (Matriciana vs. Amatriciana) advance theories that call into play obscure Latin terms, special herbs, particular customs, and ancient cooking vessels—but the fact remains that the true origin is unknown.

The most famous debate on the subject pits the supporters of Roman Matriciana origin against the supporters of Amatriciana origin, named for the town of Amatrice. Oddly enough, Amatrice was once located in the province of Aquila in the region of Abruzzo, but is today located in the province of Rieti in Lazio (the region of central Italy where Rome is located).

It is said, in fact, that shepherds from the area bordering Abruzzo grazed their flocks in the Roman countryside and devised the recipe by combining the only ingredients they had on hand—namely pecorino cheese, pasta, and guanciale. When winter came, the shepherds made their way to Rome to take refuge from the harsh mountain climate, and subsequently introduced the dish. The Romans then adopted the recipe and added the tomato.

Tradition also has it that there was no love lost between the Romans and the Amatricians, a fact that greatly contributed to an ongoing dispute rather than to a peaceful and definitive explanation.

In reality, there is a considerable difference between the two recipes—the Matriciana includes both tomatoes and onions, while the Amatriciana has neither. It should also be noted that the Amatriciana was originally prepared with spaghetti, while the “Romanization” of the dish saw the pasta replaced with bucatini, a type of long hollow pasta whose very form has made it notoriously “dangerous” to suck into one’s mouth.

Nevertheless, suffice it to say that the inhabitants of the small mountain town of Amatrice still argue energetically that the Amatriciana gave birth to the more sophisticated version prepared in the capital, and thus have erected a sign at the entrance to the town that commemorates it as the “City of Spaghetti.” To further validate its claim, the town celebrates the Festival of Spaghetti all’Amatriciana every year at the end of August. In recent years, revelers at the festival have consumed an average of 3000 pounds of spaghetti and tomatoes, 1100 pounds of guanciale, and 800 pounds of pecorino cheese.

This year marked the event’s 42nd incarnation. For the occasion, and in an unusual move, the Italian Post Office issued a stamp dedicated to the Amatriciana Festival—perhaps with an eye toward settling the dispute once and for all?

But the chefs in Rome aren’t yet ready to concede the point and still proudly lay claim to the origin of the dish, arguing that Matriciana was born in a Roman restaurant called, in fact, The Matriciano. And not to be outdone by their rivals, Rome and its neighboring towns hold yearly festivals of their own at which the Bucatini alla Matriciana is the first dish on the menu.

Even as the debate rages on, new variations on the official recipe continue to flourish: there are those who suggest the addition of vinegar, those who use garlic instead of onions, others who substitute red wine for the white wine, and still others who add a dash of cream and ginger—perhaps one day they’ll also propose a Matriciana with parmesan instead of pecorino?

Despite all the creativity the dish inspires, there is still just one real recipe for Bucatini alla Matriciana: onions, tomatoes, white wine, pecorino romano, perfectly cubed and barely browned guanciale (not bacon!), and bucatini.

We must also remember that some historians of Italian cuisine call Bucatini alla Matriciana the “whistling dish” because if you suck the sauce-covered bucatini into your mouth with too much enthusiasm, the hole in the pasta emits a distinct whistle—not very elegant, but definitely entertaining.

Whether you whistle or no, keep an eye on your ties, shirts, and blouses because bucatini is unforgiving!

The Recipe

BUCATINI alla MATRICIANA

INGREDIENTS (SERVES 4):

1 lb. (500 g) bucatini pasta

2 lbs. (1 kg) peeled ripe tomatoes, seeded and chopped

¾ lb. (300 g) guanciale or pancetta, diced into 1/2-inch cubes*

2 cups pecorino cheese, freshly grated

1 hot pepper, whole or seeded and shredded

extra virgin olive oil

PREPARATION:

Heat some oil in a skillet and add the diced guanciale. Stir and cook until lightly browned. Add half of the hot pepper and let cook with the meat for a few minutes. Add the tomatoes and cook on medium heat, stirring occasionally. Let the sauce simmer until it reaches a creamy, homogenous consistency. In a large pot, bring the pasta water to a boil, add salt, and cook the pasta. Drain the pasta when it is still slightly al dente. Take the sauce off the fire and turn the pasta directly into the skillet. Add the grated pecorino and stir it all together. Pour onto a serving plate and serve immediately.

*Guanciale is salt-cured pork jowl and is the traditional meat used in amatriciana sauce. If you cannot find it, pancetta can be used instead. Bacon does not make a good substitute because it is smoked and contains sugar.

“Sagre” in Umbria

Each summer the region of Umbria has various food festivals in different parts of the region known as Sagre.  A Sagra is a traditional local festival with gastronomic stands, entertainment and music. Every week throughout the summer there are multiple Sagre going on and each has a different food theme to it. The themes include Truffle, medieval foods (foods without potatoes or tomatoes), fish, beer and many more.

The Following is a list of some of this season’s remaining Sagre.

July 8-17: Truffle Sagra in Ripa

July 8-10 & 15-17: Trout Sagra in Scheggino

July 14-25: Beer Sagra in Schiavo

July 15-24: Chili Pepper Sagra in Pila

July 21-31: Wild Boar Sagra in Migliano

July 28-August 7: Sheep Sagra in Porano

July 29-August 7: Goose Sagra in Bettona

July 30-August 8: Polenta and Sausage Sagra in Carbonesca

August 5-15: Ice Cream Sagra in Massa Martana

August 12-21: Mushroom Sagra in Pianello

August 18-28: Bilberry and Fruits of the Forest Sagra in Papiano

August 26-September 4: Asparagus Festival in Colombella

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON ITALIAN CUISINE AND CULTURE CLICK HERE.

Nerone exhibition at the Coliseum

One of the most renowned, maligned, most talked about and most mysterious protagonists in ancient Roman history, Emperor Nerone, will have a show dedicated to him in Rome’s coliseum during the summer of 2011. Nerone is best known for having been the “crazy” Emperor that “set Rome on fire.” Thousands died because of this deed and it is said that Nerone took advantage of this so he could build his famed residence: Domus Aurea. However modern historians who say he may not have been the mastermind behind the great Roman fire have put this into debate.

The exhibition analyzes Nerone’s life and shows there was much more to it than just that July night when the city went up in flames. Wonderful sketches and primary documents of his life are included which give us a true insight into the life of one of the most controversial leaders of the Roman Empire. There are letters, journal entries and models of his residences which are truly amazing sights.

In this show a man of many faces, that of the “people’s Emperor,” which he was known for up until he became known as a villain for the great Roman fire, gives us a wonderful insight into Roman history while within the most spectacular Roman ruin, the Coliseum.

A show that is definitely worth seeing, it runs until September 18, 2011.

For more information on Rome’s fascinating attractions and sights click here.

Festival Puccini

For the past 57 years Torre del Lago (LU) has hosted the Puccini festival. The festival is a tribute to the great Italian composer Giacomo Puccini who resided in Torre del Lago for over thirty years. The event takes place in an outdoor theater that sits about 3000 people. The operas performed are exclusively those written by Puccini. They include some of his most renowned pieces such as la Boheme, Turandot and Madama Butterfly.

The Program for this summer season is as follows.

La Boheme – July: 22,30 August: 12,20,27

Madama Butterfly – August: 6,11,18

Turandot – July: 23,29 August: 7,13,26