Supported Volunteering

~ Why Choose Supported Volunteering?
by Bruce Haxton

Travelling and volunteering abroad can be a life changing and amazing experience. Volunteering is a brilliant way to broaden your travel experiences and your perspective on the world; you may even come back an entirely different person! A change of place, pace and people can be wonderfully exciting, but it can all seem a little daunting!

A Helping Hand
If you want to go out and explore the world and make a difference too, it can be a little harder than you first thought to leave everything you're used to behind. It can also be tricky arranging all of the details of your own volunteering experience but there is a travel solution waiting in the wings…Projects! Choosing a supported volunteering project will give you a mixture of the best of most volunteering programs. You'll have unique opportunities to be part of schemes that directly benefit the community, plus there'll be tons of support available before you go and the whole time you're there, as well as insights from in country staff. On top of all that, you'll also get flexible time frames; a chance to really become part of a county's culture in a way you simply couldn't on a normal travelling trip.

These types of trip offer plenty of independence too; help and advice are usually available but not mandatory! You can be as independent as you like but will have the incredibly useful resource of in country co-ordinators to help you get to grips with your new surroundings, and to make sure you get everything you possibly can out of your experience!

Cultural Immersion
This kind of travel will give you not only the chance to see the world on your own time scale and back up if you need it, it will also enable you to make a real difference. It's a good idea to check out the credentials of the company you choose to volunteer with first. The most important thing is to make sure the projects they work with are set up by the community for the community. That way not only do you know you're making a positive contribution while you're there, you also know that the work will continue once you've left.

Another cultural bonus is that projects set up by the community will give you a chance to work directly with the locals, so you can see just how much you're helping and get a unique insight into their culture. You can also get a real understanding of the individual needs of the community; from why wildlife conservation is so important in New Zealand to why teaching is so important in India. Living with locals, working for locals and socialising with locals will definitely make you feel like part of the community!

What sorts of projects are there? There are literally hundreds of volunteering choices out there so it seems almost impossible to find the right one! Volunteering itself will always prove a brilliant and fulfilling experience but it's always best to choose something you're passionate to make it feel even more worthwhile! So what inspires you? Is it working with people, nature or wildlife; or all three?! Generally projects fall into four categories;

• Community work

• Nature conservation

• Teaching

• Wildlife Conservation

Each offers a valuable, unique and worthwhile experience; so it's up to you whether you want to work with elephants in Sri Lanka or get involved in community work in Mombasa. Projects will help you step into another life and culture as well as giving you the opportunity to give something back!

Take a look at this volunteering company for a few ideas; http://www.i-to-i.com/

About the Author, Bruce Haxton
I'm totally passionate about travel, it's been my life and work for a good few years! My travel adventures haven't really been about seeing monuments etc but far more about people and getting off the beaten track. I would like to share my many experiences and offer a little advice if I can to fellow travellers or anyone who is just about to set off on a life changing trip!

Article Source: Go Articles...

Cruise Ship Vacations: Do Your Research First

~ Anita Dunham-Potter, the travel columnist for Tripso, posted a story recently called, Noisy Carnival Ship Ruins Family Cruise which recounts a cruise ship voyage that did not live up to the expectations of the family taking it.

The Moscoes boarded the Carnival Valor for a cruise to the Caribbean. Having saved for years, the family chose Carnival because of its reputation for family-friendly cruising.

Now if you’ve read my previous post about taking a slow boat to China (or elsewhere) you can imagine that cruising on the Carnival Valor is about as far removed from the experience of freighter travel as you could possibly get. After all, the Valor has 1,487 staterooms for the high paying clientele on board. In fact the Carnival Valor has a passenger capacity of 2,974, so it’s probably no surprise the Moscoes had problems with the noise level on the ship.

The basis of their complaint is that at approximately 9 p.m. each night, the ship’s entertainers would perform their musical acts in the atrium. Unfortunately for the Moscoes, their stateroom happened to be in close proximity to the ship’s 12-story open atrium.

After numerous complaints both onboard the ship, and after they had returned home, the Moscoes were compensated a total of $900 in onboard credit (while still aboard), and an additional $500 was given to them to be redeemed on a future cruise.

The lesson here is to do thorough research before you book your cruise. A visit to the Carnival website provides pretty much everything you need to know about their ships before you book with the cruise line.

For example, you can see the Carnival Valor’s deck plans here. While you may not be expert enough to know exactly how these plans translate into the real thing, that is, into a massive steel plated ship of 110,000 tons, with 13 decks and a crew of 1,180, you should be able to get an sense of the layout of the ship, and an idea of just where the potentially noisiest rooms are located.

As Anita writes in her article, “…there is no such thing as a quiet cruise ship. They vibrate, drop anchor, have crew noise, thumping music, but more often than not the worst noise offenders are fellow passengers oblivious to keeping quiet in the vicinity of staterooms.”

If in doubt – ask. Ask your booking agent exactly were the high traffic areas are. Especially areas like atriums, onboard music venues and nightclubs, pool decks, games rooms, service centres and more.

Read Anita’s full article here...

Read more about the Carnival Valor here…

IMAGE: Courtesy of Carnival website…

World’s Strangest Festivals

~ I recently received a bunch of photographs from a friend depicting images from a unique – to say the least – annual Japanese festival.

Yes folks, it is the colloquially named Japanese ‘Pen!s Festival’.

Here is what that wonderful online resource, Wikipedia has to say about the event.

The Kanamara Matsuri (Festival of the Steel Phallus) is an annual Shinto fertility festival held in Kawasaki, Japan in spring. The exact dates vary: the main festivities fall on the first Sunday in April.

The pen!s forms the central theme of the event that is reflected everywhere — in illustrations, candy, carved vegetables, decorations, and a mikoshi parade.

The Kanamara Matsuri is centered around a local pen!s-venerating shrine once popular among prostitutes who wished to pray for protection against sexually transmitted diseases. It is said that there are divine protections also in business prosperity and the clan's prosperity, easy delivery, marriage, and married couple harmony.

There is also a legend of a sharp-toothed demon that hid inside the vag!na of a young girl and castrated two young men on their wedding nights with the young girl before a blacksmith fashioned an iron phallus to break the demon's teeth, leading to the enshrinement of the item.

Today, the festival has become somewhat of a tourist attraction and is used to raise money for HIV research.

Information courtesy of Wikipedia...

NOTE: Sorry to seem like a prude by misspelling the word pen!s, but I don't want to get this blog flagged as offensive, and have the Blogger thought police closing my account!

The King is Dead – Long Live the King!

~ Elvis fans rejoice.

Tickets are now on sale for the 11th annual Tupelo Elvis Festival, which will take place June 5 through 7 with headliners Jason Michael Carroll, Lucero, tribute artists Donny Edwards, Shawn Klush, Victor Trevino and Travis LeDoyt, and youth tribute artists Demi Downing and Nick Gutierrez.

Other activities include the third annual Tupelo Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Competition, the Elvis parade, the Ladybug’s Children’s Activities, the Sunday Gospel Show and free music on Broadway Street.

Oh, and who would dare to miss the Elvis-Look-A-Like Pet Parade? No, really.

“This is one of our most exciting events of the year,” said Linda Johnson, executive director of the Tupelo Convention & Visitors Bureau (she was talking about the Festival in general, not the Elvis-Look-A-Like Pet Parade!).

“Elvis was born and spent much of his early life in Tupelo, and we are so lucky to have that history and be able to celebrate someone who made such a positive impact on so many people,” Linda said.

At the Lyric Theatre in historic downtown Tupelo, 24 tribute artists will compete this year for a chance to win the grand prize of $2,500 cash, represent Tupelo in the Ultimate Elvis® Tribute Artist Qualifying Rounds in Memphis during Elvis Week in 2009, lodging for three nights in Memphis, a commemorative plaque, a guitar from Tupelo Hardware and a feature performer at the 2010 Tupelo Elvis Festival.

Music that influenced Elvis or was changed by his style will be performed on the Fairpark Stage Friday and Saturday. Artists include AllyeriA, Jamie Davis & Soul Gravy, Spunk Monkees, House Rockers, Drew Chapman and the Kevin & Bethany Paige band. The gates open at 4:30 pm Friday, June 5 and Noon Saturday, June 6.

Sunday afternoon at the First United Methodist Church of Tupelo, fans can hear gospel music Elvis sang throughout his career. Headliners are Travis LeDoyt, the Foyer Boyz and the Landmarks.

10 things you should—and shouldn’t—do abroad

~ Forbes Traveler dot Com has a fascinating online story detailing some of the many things you should do or not do while travelling abroad.

Here are the opening paragraphs:

"When Iraqi journalist Muntadher al-Zaidi threw his shoes at President Bush during a press conference in December, 2008, news outlets scrambled to explain the incident to American viewers. Al-Zaidi hadn’t intended to hurt the President; he meant to demean him. In Arab countries, the soles of feet are unclean, so you never throw a shoe at a person. For his gesture, al-Zaidi was given three years in prison.

You travelers probably won’t toss a shoe across a crowded room, and not every insult—intended or otherwise—will lead to jail time. But whether you're abroad on business or pleasure, knowing the local etiquette is crucial for every traveler.

Consider the case of Michelle Palmer and Vince Acors. In July, 2008, the British couple were arrested for engaging in romantic activities on Jumeirah beach in Dubai. At first, it's hard to feel sympathy for such loutish behavior, but according to The Times, the Brits were convicted not just for indecency; they were given three months in jail for "having sexual intercourse outside marriage." Even off-the-cuff, seemingly harmless decisions can land foreigners in hot water. In Sudan, British teacher Gillian Gibbons faced 40 lashes for blasphemy in 2007. Her offense? Naming the classroom's teddy bear Mohammed. Gibbons was ultimately pardoned after eight days in custody, but she had to leave the country."

Visit the Forbes Traveler site...
You can read the full article here...
You can see a slideshow of Travel Taboos, Do's and Don'ts here...

10 Multipurpose Travel Essentials

~ Rachel Turner has written an excellent article for Matador Goods which I highly recommend you read if you are travelling.

She lists 10 multipurpose items that should be in everybody's luggage, all of which are compact and lightweight.

Among Rachel's suggestions are: Dental Floss (for cleaning teeth; for use as a clothesline; emergency thread; and as a cheese and bread slicer!); various all in one survival tools like a Swiss Army Knife or Leatherman tool; Safety Pins for use as emergency buttons/clasps, or clothespins; a Poncho for use as a tarpaulin, picnic blanket, bag liner, and of course, to keep the rain off your head.

Women will want to pack a couple of Sarongs since, as Rachel suggests, these can be used as towels, curtains, beach mats or picnic blankets, and even as sheets when staying in hostels.

Rachel also recommends taking a good Shampoo. Ok, no surprises about the shampoo, but Rachel suggests you also use shampoo as a laundry detergent, body soap, and even for dishwashing.

Finally, there is the Credit Card Survival Tool (see image illustrating this entry). I've never heard of, or seen one of these, but as the name suggests, the Credit Card Survival Tool is the size of a credit card, made of stainless steel, cheap, and has 11 different uses including Can opener, Knife edge, Screwdriver, Ruler, 4 position wrench, Butterfly screw wrench, Saw blade, Bottle opener and more.

Now why didn’t I think of that?

South Australian Maritime Museum

~ Welcome to a world of explorers, uncharted waters, seafarers trading across heaving oceans, new migrants in search of a new life, and bold adventurers from many lands.

Step aboard some of the ships that carried them and explore a life-sized ketch that draws you back to the days of sail.

Admire the extensive collection of intricate model sailing ships, steamships and passenger liners.

Immerse yourself in the voyages that brought people to Australian shores as you experience life onboard an 1840s sailing ship. Then step into a third class cabin to feel what life onboard must have been like for thousands of migrants travelling to Australia from Europe and beyond.

You could even discover your own slice of history as you search through a database of migrants to find your own ancestors.

All this and more awaits you at the South Australian Maritime Museum in Port Adelaide.

The Museum is renowned for its innovative approach to maritime history and education. Its three floors of exhibits houses Australia’s oldest nautical collection started in Port Adelaide in 1872. Among the huge collection of iconic treasures is the anchor of the Investigator that carried the explorer Matthew Flinders to Australia. You will also find the largest collection of carved ships’ figureheads in the southern hemisphere.

In addition to all this, the Maritime Museum’s new and ever changing exhibitions cover every aspect of Australia’s maritime history. From stories of those who lived at sea and on shore, to the dolphins and marine ecosystems that contribute to Australia’s natural heritage.

The exhibitions also provide visitors with a hands-on experience, giving them opportunities to learn through discovery and adventure. The themes and displays cater for all age groups, and provide a unique experience for all the family.

Port Adelaide is home to the most urbanised dolphin pod in the world. The Maritime Museum runs Dolphin Spotting Cruises which provide a fantastic opportunity to see the Port River in the Museum’s heritage vessels.

South Australian Maritime Museum
Location:
126, Lipson Street
Port Adelaide
PH: (08) 8207 6255

Open daily (except Christmas Day)
10am to 5pm

Getting There:
Bus: from city routes 151 or 153
Train: to Port Adelaide station (then sort walk)

House Swapping for Seniors

~ Here is a second article about house swapping courtesy of the Aussie House Swap website. The first entry can be found here...

When you start to examine the sorts of people who take readily to house swapping, it comes as no surprise to see seniors well represented.

Naturally, many of the advantages of house swapping for holidays apply equally to seniors as they do to couples and families with children.

Rather than repeat them here, I'll refer you to our articles discussing these in detail. (House Swaps - the practical way to holiday and House Swapping - homemade for families)

As well as most of these advantages, the special circumstances of seniors give them some extra incentives and benefits when it comes to house swaps.

For example, when seniors take a holiday, they're not only looking at the out of pocket costs — which working couples can eventually recoup from their wages, salaries and overtime — but as retirees, seniors are looking to preserve a finite and probably dwindling retirement nest egg, which they have little or no chance of replenishing to any great extent.

Thus they generally have to watch their reserves pretty carefully, when it comes to fun things like holidays. House swapping is therefore especially attractive, with its "cost-of-travel-only" advantages.

Besides, seniors are less likely to be heading for the theme parks and carnivals than are the younger generation. For them, a house in the country or a cattle station is often just as attractive as a seaside resort or a big-city property (if not more so). This means that they're often available for those swaps which are not as popular with families (whether for reasons of location or season).

I spoke to several senior couples who had exchanged houses through Aussie House Swap. Here are some of the things they pointed to as their reasons for house swapping (and some distinguishing factors, compared to the younger fry):

One couple were especially conscious of the "shrinking nest-egg syndrome," and saving money was high on their list of reasons for swapping. Exploring the country was another of their motivations, so they planned swaps that would allow them to visit preferred locations over a period of months each year.

Having decided to register with Aussie House Swap, another senior couple had a definite preference for swapping with other seniors. They were clearly more comfortable leaving their home in the care of another retired couple, than having families staying in their house.

Senior house swaps are often for longer periods than family swaps. This just makes sense, given that retirees have more available time, and can swap more easily in non-holiday periods than families, whose predominant reason for swapping is to enjoy inexpensive vacations in fun locations.

Factors like these no doubt account for the high percentage of retired people amongst our growing house-swapping base.

Hosting
As well as straight swap overs covering the identical period of time, some people (especially seniors) enjoy "hosting" another couple, then later on being hosted by them in return. This simply means that the owners remain at home, and host their swap partners as guests and visitors for an agreed period. They enjoy each other's company, do some exploring and shopping together, see some of the sights, and perhaps fish or play a round of golf together.

Then at a later date, they reverse the process. The hosts become the visitors, just as the visitors become the hosts in their home and town.

Hosting is a great way to build new friendships, and increase mutual empathy and understanding between people of different backgrounds and from different parts of the country, or even overseas.

How much does it cost?
Aussie House Swap membership is only $65 per year! However, if you do not manage to house swap in your first year we will give you another 12 months membership absolutely free! This is our guarantee to you! For $65 (less than the cost of one nights motel accommodation) you can make as many house swaps as you like within your 12 months.

Article courtesy of Aussie House Swap website. Like our Partner site, Home Away, Aussie House Swap gives you the opportunity to stay in someone else’s home, while they stay in yours.

Image for illustration purposes only

Song For The Open Road

~ Day two of my road trip to Sydney unfolded with a beautiful, cold dawn, and the sight of a lone fox loping across an open field as it presumably headed home to its lair.

Breakfast in Ouyen consisted of coffee and bacon and eggs on toast, followed by a delicious vanilla slice from the local bakery. And why not? After all, Ouyen hosts an annual Vanilla Slice Festival, that attracts bakers from far and wide competing to see who can take the prize for making the best slice! Hey, in a tight tourist market, any angle will do if it helps get the visitors in.

Apparently, the former Premier of Victoria, Jeff Kennett stopped in at the local bakery about ten years ago for a coffee and piece of this delightful delicacy. He was so taken with the cake, that he quickly conceived of the idea for the Vanilla Slice Festival, which now takes place every September in this small rural Victorian country town.

And yes, I can thoroughly recommend the local delight.

This is my song for the open road,

The blue sky, and the lighter load.

The heart filled with a joyful song;

The summer breeze pushing us along.

© 2009. Jim Lesses. All Rights Reserved.

Observations
Dry. Everything is so dry.

Murphy’s Swamp? Dry. It probably hasn’t been a ‘swamp’ for years.

Creeks and rivers? Dry. Who knows when they last ran with flowing water? Or for how long. All along the highway, signs just before isolated country towns tell the tale: Stage 3 water restrictions in force. Sometimes the luckier towns, those with a more regular supply of the precious liquid only face Stage 2 or even Stage 1 water restrictions. But it seems that virtually all towns face some level of water restrictions.

Meet The Press
One of my rituals whenever I take a road trip is to purchase local papers in the towns I stop in. I do this to get a snapshot of what issues and concerns are foremost in the minds of the local communities.

Many of these local papers are quite small, often no more than 8-16 pages. The North West Express, at eight pages, is no exception. It even contained an extra two page agricultural supplement, the Mallee Ag. News.

The main front page story (which spilled over to consume the whole of page two), concerned the Mallee Track Health & Community Service 2009 Debutante Ball, at which nine “beautifully dressed young ladies and their partners were presented…”

Another front page story presented a progress report on the forthcoming Wild Dog Mail Trek, which appears to be one of those events designed to test participants to the limit. This event apparently covers a distance of 68 kms, and according to the organizer, Terry Gibson “Walkers… have to be super fit (and a little mad) as there is no vehicle access to rescue them when they get out in the Wyperfeld Wilderness Zone.”

Meanwhile, the Mallee Ag. News supplement offered 'Top Tips To Be Water Savvy', which, given the parlous state of the water situation in the region – already noted above – seemed to be very timely.

Distance from Ouyen to Sydney – 1100 Kms.

Make a Note of That: The lovely new public convenience behind the old court house in the main street, also includes free showers. Just the thing for the weary (and smelly) road warrior looking to freshen up after a long day on the road.

IMAGE: Here Comes The Sun, by Jim Lesses

On The Road Again

~ As I wrote in an earlier post, I love nothing more than to be on the open road, the highway stretching off to the far horizon, and naught to distract me but my own thoughts, songs, dreams, and fantasies.

Having now arrived in Sydney after a two and a half day drive, I am feeling somewhat tired, but relaxed and happy to be here. What follows are some of my observations from the road.

I left Adelaide at 1pm on Easter Monday. My intention was to drive to Ouyen, in Victoria, and spend the night there, probably at the local pub, or in a local motel I have stayed at before. In the end, I didn’t quite make to Ouyen. I pulled into a lay by just after dark, and decided to sleep in the back of the wagon.

I’m glad now that I did.

As night fell, the stars came out, and what an incredible sight they made.

There’s a whole galaxy out there, people!

For the first time in years, I was able to see beyond the first ‘layer’ of prominent stars to the galaxy – or galaxies – beyond.

In the city it is easy to spot the Big Dipper or the Southern Cross, but tonight the Southern Cross in particular, was much harder to spot, because it was hidden in amongst billions of other stars that make up the Milky Way. And what a light show the night sky was putting on for me. Every few minutes or so shooting stars went streaking overhead like fireworks on New Years Eve.

Again, in the city you see only the biggest, brightest shooting stars, but out in the open air, far from street lights, and house and building lights, even the smallest, briefest asteroids were made visible.

Then there is the constant ‘traffic’ passing overhead in the night sky. Planes mostly, en route for Sydney and Melbourne and beyond. But then there are the other objects crisscrossing beneath the heavens. Satellites of course, though how many of those are out there presumably only NASA knows. The space station is out there too, somewhere, and who knows what else!

The air was filled with the songs of crickets, while way off in the distance a lone dog was barking a warning – but to who or what?

Maybe it was the fox I saw at 6am the next morning, crossing a vast open field, heading home to its den following a night foraging for supper. At least, the rooster crowing in the new day, had survived another night of Mr. Fox’s midnight ramblings.

As I watched and waited for the sun to come up, I couldn’t help thinking that I would have missed all of this if I had checked into a hotel for the night.

It’s not enough to know that all of this is still out there – even if we city dwellers rarely see it. Sometimes you just have to get out of your comfort zone and experience it first hand for yourself.

Life is not a dress rehearsal for something more exciting, interesting or fulfilling, folks.

This is it. This is as good as it gets.

So get out there and make the most of it.

IMAGE: Country Morning, by Jim Lesses

Sydney, Here I Come

~ Well, it’s one thing to sit around writing about travel, but it is another thing completely, to actually tear oneself away from the comforts of home, family and the internet – and hit the road.

So finally, six months after returning from the USA and Europe, I’m on the move again, if only for a few weeks.

I'm about to leave Adelaide for Sydney, and I can’t wait to see the highway stretching away before me. In preparation, my station wagon has been serviced and tuned; it now sports four brand new tyres, all perfectly balanced and aligned; my travel mattress is in the back; I’ve renewed my membership with the RAA, the local emergency automobile association; and my gear is safely stowed, stored and securely in place.

I’m one of those people who love to drive, and I’m also the type of person who doesn’t need lots of distractions on the journey. I don’t take any music with me. No iPod; no MP3 player; no CDs, and certainly no music cassettes (remember those). I like nothing more than to travel with my own thoughts, songs, dreams, and fantasies.

Somewhere on the seat next to me, within easy reach, will be my mini-cassette recorder – waiting for those moments when my Muse taps me on the shoulder, and brings me a new song or poem or inspirational thought. Also close by will be several pens and a notebook, for those moments when I just have to pull over and start writing those thoughts down.

I’m in no particular rush to get to Sydney. This is a good thing. It means I can take the ‘road less travelled’ and explore towns and sights along the way. It means I don’t have to push myself or the car to the limit, thereby putting both of us in danger.

To paraphrase T. S. Eliot: "It’s the journey – not the arrival – that matters.”

Not that I don’t want to be in Sydney. It is a city I have only visited on business, never for pleasure. I have never spent more than a couple of days trying to take in the sights and sounds, the smells and tastes, and the hustle and bustle of Australia’s biggest metropolis.

This time around I am travelling purely for pleasure, and I will have up to three weeks to explore Sydney, and I’m sure I will love it. I’m also sure I will come away with hours of video footage and hundreds of photographs.

However, these are just mementos. The way I look at it – it is much more important to experience a city, rather than merely try and record it. Sometimes you can spend so much time trying to capture a photograph of a beautiful sunset – that you don’t actually spend anytime simply sitting on the beach experiencing the natural beauty of that very same event.

After all, while a photograph of a glorious sunset may indeed by a beautiful thing. It can never capture the sound of the surf; the gulls wheeling and shrieking overhead; the smell of the salt on the air; the wind in your hair; or the joyous laughter of a young child building castles in the sand.

So my primary focus will be to enjoy and experience Sydney, and my secondary focus will be to film, photograph and write about it.

I’ll be back in a few days with my first report. In the meantime – whatever you are doing, have fun – I know I will be.

Image: courtesy of Richard Seaman...

How to Live Like a Local in Italy

~ How To Experience Local Family Life On Your Trip In Italy
by Margaret Cowan

Today on vacations in Italy, travelers want to experience real, local life in a meaningful ways with families, to visit their homes, share pieces of their lives, learn new things and even make new friends.

Four ways to get to know locals are cooking with families in their homes, taking a course and renting a room in a local home, staying at a farm B & B, and dining with families in their homes through Home Food.

1. Take a cooking class or cooking school tour with a family in their home kitchen
Here's an example of a delicious cooking school in Bologna, Italy's gastronomic capital.
For your cooking week you live in an independent apartment in the medieval centre, next door to your host family's home, so you live like a local and have local friends nearby.

With the mother and daughter, both excellent home cooks, you cook full menu dinners hands on for about three hours in three lessons in their kitchen. Then you gather around the dining table to eat your creations with the father, sons and your two cooking teachers, sharing laughter and good conversation. You soon feel part of the family!

Your cooking teacher tours you around Bologna's food market, telling you about local food treasures like parmesan cheese and buying ingredients for your lesson. Your week also includes a Bologna city tour and a day trip to Florence or Venice where a local guide shows you the sights. You can also enjoy a one day experience with market visit, cooking class and lunch.

2. Take a course and ask for home stay accommodation
In 1996 I took a month long Italian language course in Rome and asked the language school to get me a room with a family where nobody spoke English. They matched me up with Lucia, a 45 year old high school art teacher, architect and single mother of two kids, aged 8 and 16 in their apartment near the Vatican.

At first Lucia was surprised to see a woman her age arrive, not the usual 22 year old student. We discovered we had a lot in common, had many long conversations in her kitchen and became friends. For 12 years, I've visited Lucia, shared many meals around tables with her friends and taken trips to Naples and her country home in Le Marche with them.

Take a course, stay with a local family in your favourite Italian city! You never know what lovely surprises may come out of the experience!

3. Stay on at a farm B & B or apartment where the owners live on the property
If you're renting a car to explore the Italian countryside, stay in agriturismos (farm B&Bs or apartments). Many agriturismo owners make wine and olive oil. You may want to help pick grapes or olives at harvest time!

To make sure you meet the owners, confirm they live on the property so you'll get to know them. For example, in southern Tuscany about nine km south of Montalcino, Agriturismo Podere La Fonte offers two small suites in the country with marvellous views of Val d'Orcia. The organic property full of exotic plants and trees, birds and a chemical free swimming pool, has many olive trees. Owner Alberto makes olive oil the traditional way using the big granite wheel.

Friendly, joyful Alberto and his wife make your breakfast and can make dinner for you. Alberto is a fantastic cook and gives cooking lessons too.

4. Eat traditional dishes with families in homes all over Italy through Home Food
Imagine yourself arriving at 8:30 p.m. at a family's home in Venice. The mother, Mercedes, whom you don't know, welcomes you warmly to share a dinner of traditional Venetian dishes she's just cooked for you. You join her and up to five food loving tourists you may not know around her table through the Home Food organization.

You savour dry cod with polenta (a dish from the 1500s), risotto with radicchio from Treviso, sardines with saor (fried onions, wine, vinegar, pine nuts, raisins) that fishermen in the 14th century made, vegetables in oil and pincia, a soft cake of bread soaked in milk with raisins and apple.

As you eat and drink local wines, you learn about Venetian culinary traditions and history and get to know a local family as well as fellow food lovers.

Home Food started in Bologna in 2004 and spread to 14 regions in Italy. Its mission is to preserve traditional recipes and food traditions handed down from mothers to daughters and to share these dishes and local food culture with food lovers.

About 100 women throughout Italy, all excellent home cooks with a wealth of food knowledge, enthusiastically open their homes for scheduled dinners for small groups. Visit the Home Food website to know more and register for dinners.

Have fun cooking, speaking Italian, picking grapes or olives and dining with Italian families at their homes! You'll experience genuine Italian life as an insider friend and soon feel Italian!

About the Author
Since 1995 Margaret Cowan has owned a tour company, Mama Margaret & Friends Cooking Adventures in Italy. For a free report on finding the right Italy cooking school tour for you, see Italy Cooking Schools.
Thanks to Margaret, and Go Articles for the use of this entry...

My Big Fat Greek Wedding

~ My attention was drawn to an article in the Adelaide Advertiser published on February 17. It detailed the enormous costs associated with getting married in Australia in 2008. I believe the original source for the data published in the paper came from an online poll conducted by Bride to Be last year.

Here are a few Australian dollar figures for you to think about if you are contemplating taking that fateful step.

• The average cost of getting married in Australia is $50,000
• One couple reported spending more than $62,000 on their wedding!
• The average cost of wedding receptions is almost $10,500 (approx: $110.00 per head)…
• …which means the average number of guests is around a 100
• Even wedding cakes cost a small fortune these days – an average of $387.00

All of this got me thinking about the four weddings I attended last year during my stay on the Greek island of Ikaria.

The first wedding I went to had upwards of a 1000 guests!

No, that number is not a typo – it is correct, although not precise. The exact number of guest is unknown, because although the couple getting married issue invitations to family and friends in the traditional manner, the invited guests are not expected to RSVP their intentions to attend. Both families concerned just assume that everyone invited will be there, and that if they don’t, others will make up the numbers!

By the way, at one of the other weddings I attended they were expecting 1200-1300 hundred guests! The numbers fell well short of that (again around a 1000 or so), because there were two other weddings taking place on the island at the same time, and many families would have received invitations to at least two, if not all three events.

Here is a seven minute video I put together of the wedding and the party that followed. I call it a party, because essentially that’s what it is – a huge party celebrating the marriage of the bride and groom, and the ‘marriage’ of two island families. The first couple of minutes set the scene, but once the ‘reception’ starts, the party really begins.



One could write a book about island weddings, but I have to keep this as short as practicable, so let me highlight some of the logistics of the wedding you see in the film.

The church where the marriage took place was tiny, as are most island churches. Since it was barely big enough to hold the families of the bride and groom, most people who attended the wedding itself, hung around outside chatting, and waited for the ceremony to end.

The assembled throng then walked several hundred yards to the village centre where the reception was taking place. Seated on benches, ranged along trestle tables, the wedding guests waited to be served the tradition wedding meal – a dish of rice and goat meat. There were salads and lots of mezes (Greek finger food), and plenty of red wine sourced from the island itself or from local islands.

I know what you’re thinking: How on earth do you feed a thousand people?

Well, apart from the paid ‘professionals’ working on the day, the musicians; the Wedding Rice cooks; and the photographers, virtually all other work is carried out on a voluntary basis by extended family, friends, and acquaintances of the bride and groom.

The video shows some of these people serving guests. The huge two person serving tray you see (at around the six minute mark), holds upwards of 30 plates of food, and helps distribute meals quickly and efficiently.

Since the wedding will go right through to the early morning hours (and in many cases through until late morning), the volunteers serving the meals don’t have to worry about missing out on all the fun. Once everyone has been fed, a process that might take a several hours, they still have 10-12 hours of partying ahead of them.

There are no dull speeches; no embarrassing roasting of the bride and groom; no official toasting, even. Just lots of food, wine, music, and good fellowship. Oh, and hours of constant dancing.

You will also notice that children are everywhere. Asking parents to leave their children at home would be as unthinkable as having a wedding without dancing. Greek island weddings are huge community events which involve pretty much everyone - and that includes children.

At some point convenient to the newly weds, they will each take a glass of wine and circulate among the guests clinking glasses with as many of them as they can; all the while accepting the good wishes the guests bestow upon them for a long and happy marriage (you catch a glimpse of that at the two minute mark in the film).

I can’t tell you what the typical budget for a Greek island wedding might be, but I’m sure it is a fraction of the cost of Australian weddings. Since they are held in the open air, there are no hall hire fees, no waiters to pay, no extravagantly decorated tables and chairs, no stretch limos, and no wedding planner.

The main meal, as I said, consists of rice and meat (cooked in huge cauldrons). It probably required no more than 80-100 kilograms of rice to feed everyone present, and a good quantity of meat. Rice is cheap, and while the meat is less so, you can be sure that every guest was fed for far less than the average Australian price of $110 per person.

The contrast between a typical Australian wedding and a Greek island wedding could not be more pronounced. I haven’t attended weddings in other parts of Greece or on other islands, so I don’t know how they compare with those that take place on Ikaria, but Ikarian weddings are monumental events that are a wonder to behold, and a joy to be part of.