A short history lesson:

The process of the unification of Italy is known as the Italian Risorgimento. Back in 1860 in Italy there 4 states namely the Austrians in Venetia, the Papal States, the new expanded Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia, and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. In April 1860, separate insurrections began in Messina and Palermo in Sicily, both of which demonstrated a history of opposing Neapolitan rule. On May 6, 1860, Garibaldi and his cadre of about a thousand Italian “red shirts” volunteers (called I Mille), steamed from Quarto near Genoa, and after a stop in Talamone on May 11 landed near Marsala on the west coast of Sicily to “liberate” southern Italy and Sicily from the centuries old rule of the Bourbon kings from Spain.  Near Salemi, Garibaldi’s army attracted scattered bands of rebels, and the combined forces defeated the opposing army at Calatafimi on May 13. Within three days, the invading force had swelled to 4,000 men. On May 14, Garibaldi proclaimed himself dictator of Sicily, in the name of Victor Emmanuel II of Italy. In less than a month, and against all odds, they had seized Palermo. The defeat of the 20,000-strong Bourbon army in Palermo sent a shiver up the spine of Italy and through the Bourbon monarchy in Naples, setting the stage for the unification of Italy and ultimately leading to the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy (March 17, 1861) in Turin, Piedmonte.

The 150 year celebrations started this May 6th and will conclude next year 2011 with 150 years of the Kingdom of Italy. Even Ferrari has created a special logo which appears as from today on the F10s of Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso: the three stripes of the Italian flag placed over the dates 1861>2011 are the symbol of the inter-ministerial committee to celebrate the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of Italian Unity.

The head of State, President Giorgio Napolitano, was on the defensive when he travelled to Genoa this week to honour the Thousand. “To celebrate the unity of Italy is not a waste of time or money,” he declared. He urged Italians to show “a stronger sense of Italy and of being Italian”, following the leader of the The Northern League, Umberto Bossi’s comments calling the celebrations “useless things.” The party’s newspaper demanded rhetorically, “The unity of Italy – what’s there to celebrate?” and described the birth of the unitary state as “contrary to nature and history.”

The celebrations will follow the route of Garibaldi. Here in Sicily of particular interest was the THE GARIBALDI TALL SHIPS REGATTA 2010 from Genoa to Trapani.

In Salemi, Napolitano will be visiting on Tuesday 11th May to open the new town hall and new mafia museum which is planned to attract new mafia tourism to Salemi the town of the 1 euro house regeneration project.

BEckham is on transfer from LA Galaxy in his second season in the italian premiership. Milan beating CHievo 1-0 are now 1 point behind the leaders. After his return to Manchester last week this is probably the start of a sad end to David’s football career…well at least he can rest and enjoy the italian lakes in his house in Italy….auguri.

After a successful return to Italian football, Beckam stated on italian TV interviews that he is happy to be back in Milan and looking forward to a Milan visit to Old Trafford this season. Victoria’s absense was noted but i’m sure she will be here for Milan fashion week 24 Feb – 3 Mar 2010.

David Beckham enjoyed a winning return to the AC Milan side as they outclassed Genoa 5-2 at the San Siro.

Watched by England coach Fabio Capello, Beckham impressed on the right side of a three-man attack in his first game since beginning a second loan spell.

After Ronaldinho had an early penalty saved, Genoa went ahead on 25 minutes but Milan were 2-1 up at half-time.

Leonardo’s side ran riot in the second half to keep the gap between them and leaders Inter Milan at eight points.

It could hardly have gone better for 34-year-old Beckham, who is spending a second spell at Milan from LA Galaxy in a bid to prove to Capello that he is worth a place in England’s squad for the World Cup.

He almost set up a goal inside five minutes, whipping in a cross from the right for Marco Borriello, who forced a superb save from Genoa keeper Marco Amelia.

And it was a trademark sweeping pass from Beckham which led to Milan’s second penalty of the game, allowing Ronaldinho to make up for his earlier weak effort with an emphatic spot-kick to make it 1-1.

www.Ryanair.com have suspended Italian domestic internal flights in Italy as from 23^rd January 2010 due to ENAC lowering the identity requirements for travellers. (click to see Ryanair press release). Some say it is Ryanair taking advantage to cut flights during the low season and in a loss period others agree further to recent international terrorism alerts. Its not clear the date when their Italian domestic flight service will start again so in the short term so what are your alternatives ??

Update 7/01/10: Ryanair italian domestic flights restored

Goto http://www.skyscanner.net/flights/it/it/cheapest-flights-to-italy-from-italy.html

And there is a list of Italian airports, click your departure airport and there appears a list of potential direct destinations with the associated airline.

Or else see below info about the airlines operating in Italian domestic flights.

OF course there is Alitalia now partnering with AirOne goto www.alitalia.com

www.blu-express.com

Mainly from/to Rome(Roma)  connecting Turin (Torino) / Nice (Nizza) France/ Genoa (Genova) / Palermo / Catania / Lamezia Terme / Brindisi / Istanbul (Turkey).

See destinations map at

http://www.blu-express.com/cgi-bin/airkiosk/I7/191003?100104104535.87.1.167.17.18618+/blueexpress/I7/IT/static/destinazioni.html

www.meridiana.it

http://www.easyjet.com

Manily connecting Rome and Milan Malpensa with southern Italy.

http://w3.volawindjet.it/

Use Forli as their main base connecting Italy and mainly connect Sicily with mainland Italy.

http://www.airalps.com/index.html

Connect Rome with Bolzano and Parma.

http://www.blueairweb.com/

see destinations at http://www.blueairweb.com/Destinazioni/Mappa-Destinazioni

Only Italian domestic flight is Naples (Napoli) to Milan

www.italiweb.it

destinations at http://www.italiweb.it/destinazioni.aspx?lang=it

www.airvalle.com connecting Turin (torino) with Naples (Napoli) and Pescara.

http://www.airvallee.com/destinazioni.htm

sicily beach

Sicily weather 31/12/09. Yesterday a heat wave hit Sicily. Winds coming from Africa locally known as the scirocco raised temperatures to 25’C. Arriving from England i was happy to take off my scarf, coat and gloves. People were seen on the beach sunbathing in Mondello, Palermo and for tonight’s New Year’s Eve celebrations in Sicily locals are planning their last 2009 and first swim of the new year 2010 with several parties on the beach. Makes a fresh change to all that snow and ice in northern Europe !! Happy New Year !!! Now you know why people buy a holiday property in Sicily.

Tuesday, December. 8, is the Feast of Immaculate Conception, a national holiday her in Italy and for many Italians it triggers the festive period. All Catholics are expected to attend Mass today. Many towns have a procession carry the statue of Mary to the church.

When national holidays fall on a Tuesday or Thursday many Italians take the intervening day as a holiday to make a long weekend. Interstingly in italy this is called “doing the bridge” or as said in Italian fare il ponte.

When you are on holiday in Italy, please be aware of Italian national holidays as basically all business &shops close.

Read more about the Immaculate Conception

Any queries call the italian helpline on 800.022.000 or visit the website www.decoder.comunicazioni.it to check when your comune switches to digital in your italian property in Rome.

Italy broadband property internet access ? How fast?  Is it available ? One of the key issues following a recent survey with Italian property investors looking to buy a house in Italy. Broadband in Italy ?

As a new property owner in Italy i have recently had to study the whole Italian broadband market to ensure the best value internet service in Italy. So I thought I would share my investigations with you. If when you read this article some of the offers discussed have expired then please feel to contact the author for latest offers or any further queries regarding how to get broadband in Italy in your Italian property.

Broadband as the average user knows it in Italy is generally referred to as ADSL older generations use the terminology banda larga. That’s been able to access the internet down your phone line or via cable.

There are many other Italian broadband services like satellite access (try tooway)  and public wi-fi networks (you’ll need your passport) in Italy but here we discuss standard broadband in your Italian property.

If you buy a house in Italy you will probably find that it already has a landline phone, though many Italian properties in rural areas don’t even have that. Check for the phone socket when viewing a property and if there isn’t one check the neighbour’s properties. Some rural areas don’t even have the phone network. The phone network is the principal means of having broadband in the type of properties foreigners buy in Italy. No phone line don’t worry it is quiet easy to apply for a new phone line, though check the costs involved with your future service provider. In most cities there is also cable so if you buy a property in the city you can also consider cable internet.

Most Italian service providers now offer various packages of telecommunications solutions :

• Voice only (voce)
• Broadband only (adsl)
• Voice and Broadband/ (voce e ADSL)
• Voice, Broadband and TV.

Italian TV is another subject to discuss as most of Italy is now phasing out analogue and going digital.

Here we discuss Voice and Broadband packages as it is the most common solution you will need for your Italian property.

Small print:

• Some of the packages come with a wifi modem some you have to rent their modems.
• Most packages offer an introductory reduced rate for so many months.
• All packages suffer an early contract closure of circa 50 euros should you cancel the contract before the first 12 months.
• If you have no phone line then some of the packages charge a new line fee. In addition some of the packages charge a new connection/contract fee.
• Most providers offer multi voice bolt on solutions, which depend on how much you wish to pay for your voice calls. Here we evaluate the cheapest monthly option, which may not be your cheapest option depending on your voice usage.

What do I need to order Italian broadband online?

Personal details, it helps if you have an Italian tax code codice fiscale, though not impossible without you can use your international passport number.

Most of the service providers have a link on their website where you should enter your Italian house address and postcode and your existing landline number to see if they offer their service in your Italian region (that’s assuming the house doesn’t already have broadband). If your house doesn’t have an existing phone line then you should use your nearest neighbour’s home number.

How do I pay ?

Your monthly invoice will be delivered in the post and you can pay it by cheque, in the post office until you go on line set up an account and pay by debit/credit card.

Contrary to the rest of the world, you will struggle to activate your contract exclusively on line with debit/credit card, we are in Italy, accept that the first bill is delivered by post, it makes life easier.

Who are the principal Italian broadband service providers?

• Alice/TIM http://www.alice.it/telefonare/alice_casa_internet.html
• Infostrada/Wind (cable only) http://www.infostrada.it/it/privati/index.phtml
• Fastweb (need fastweb network else extra costs) http://www.fastweb.it/offerte/?WT.mc_id=fastwebmenu1
• Tiscali http://www.tiscali.it/
• Tele2 (better offers if you have access to Tele2 network) http://www.tele2.it/

Follows a table with the service provider, packages offered and prices (in euro).

Calculations are based on the first 12 months of the contract.

Prices rounded up to nearest euro.

There are more packages on the different service providers websites, here we have analysed the principal packages. Where the same service provider offers different rates for what appears the same service (voice & adsl) the monthly price differences are based on your voice package requirements and the ADSL speed.

Should you need any further help or if the below offers have finished when you read this article please feel free to contact the author. (All prices in Euro.)

If you can not see all the table below then view this report in pdf form here Italy Broadband.

Official website on broadband access:
http://www.osservatoriobandalarga.it/

The Anti-Digital Divide Association is mapping the broadband access situation in Italy
http://www.antidigitaldivide.org

Author : David Moss of MIPC : Moss Italian Property Consultants

Article : Broadband Italy