Immigration to Italy, from Lombardy to Sicily

In the last 10-15 years many foreigners have moved to Italy.

Italy, which had been a country of emigration for years, has become a country of immigration in the last 10-15 years. This was something new for Italy, something this country was not ready for, something that has changed a lot of things in this country and that has made it necessary to open immigration consultants Italy.

In 2010 the regular workers that lived in Italy were about 2 million, this number being doubled in comparison to 2000. In general, in 2010 there were 4 million foreigners living in Italy, which means that 7% of the population was foreign. Since 2000, the number of foreign people in Italy has increased by 13% each year. Only Spain, among the biggest European countries, has had higher percentages. Immigration Italy has stopped a bit in 2008 due to the world crisis that has made the work demand fall.

Most foreigners coming to Italy come from a European country, especially from “new” European countries like Romania. At the top of the chart of the foreign countries with the greatest number of residence permits in Italy we find Morocco, followed by Albany and Romania, while as far as the number of foreign citizens that are resident in Italy is concerned at the top of the chart we find Albany, followed by Morocco and Romania. But while in 2002 most people came from Albany (14%), in 2007 it was from Romania that most people came (23,2%). Many people come also from China, Philippines, Tunisia, Serbia and Montenegro, Senegal, India, Peru and Pakistan.

All the Italian regions are interested by the migration phenomenon, but obviously in some regions there are more foreign people than in other ones. The data gathered in 2009 reveal that in that year most foreign people were concentrated in 3 regions, i.e. Emilia Romagna (10,5%), Umbria (10,4%) and Lombardy (10%). Many people choose relocation Milan, for example. In general, we can say that there are more foreigners in the northern regions than in the South of Italy.

St George’s Day and St John the Baptist’s Day in Ragusa

Spending a holiday in Ragusa also means taking part in the folkloristic events that take place in the city and that are very important for the people who live there.

Every Italian city is devoted to a saint, who is celebrated once in a year in a given day with religious masses, processions and other types of events. The peculiarity of Ragusa is that this beautiful Sicilian city is devoted to two patron saints (St John the Baptist and St George), which means that celebrations are doubled! If you wish to take part in these special and typical events, book Italian vacation packages in Ragusa and enjoy these celebrations!

St George’s Day falls at the end of May, which means that for this year the possibility to take part in this event has gone. However, you might be interested in learning something more about this feast, so that you can plan your Sicilian holidays for next year! First of all, St George is celebrated in a part of the city that is called “Ragusa Ibla”, and the celebrations in honour of St George include a procession to bring the statue of the saint around the streets of the city. The Church of St George is decorated with banners, lights and flowers, and all the devotees are given the chance to worship the statue of the saints, which is positioned in the middle of the church. Also streets are decorated, and celebrations include also music.

If St George’s day has already passed, you still have the chance to take part in St John the Baptist’s Day. The celebrations in honour of St John the Baptist, indeed, traditionally take place on the 29th of August in the upper part of the city. These celebrations are notably solemn: the statue of the saint is displayed on the central altar of the church and carried through the streets, and the day ends with a firework show. Do not miss this event: choose among the many hotels in Ragusa and enjoy these typical celebrations!

The main monuments of Ragusa

In Ragusa there are some monuments and landmarks that are very interesting from a historical and cultural point of view and that you cannot leave out if you visit the city.

If you want to discover an authentic beautiful city, book a Ragusa accommodation and start visiting the buildings and monuments that have made the city well-known all over the world. Ragusa is famous above all for its baroque monuments, and many architecture works of the city and more in general of Val di Noto are now part of the UNESCO World Heritage.

It is also thanks to this richness of interesting historical and artistic features that many tourists decide to plan a tour of Sicily, and not only because of the wonderful landscapes that characterize this region and of the proximity with one of the most beautiful beaches and seas in Italy.

Describing in few words all the wonders of the city is not possible, but we can try to list at least the most famous ones, the ones that every tourist must see. Some religious buildings that definitely are worth a visit are the portal of the Church of St George, the Cathedral of St John the Baptist and the Cathedral of St George. The gothic-Catalan portal of the Church of St George is the remaining of the church, which was built in the 12th century and destroyed by an earthquake in 1693. The Cathedral of St John the Baptist is one of the biggest churches of Sicily; following an earthquake in the 17th century it was rebuilt in a baroque style. The Cathedral of St George, an outstanding example of baroque sacred architecture, rises on the top of a high flight of steps, which makes it seem even more imposing. In addition to these buildings, your travel plan must include also some palaces, like Palazzo Zacco, Palazzo Schininà di Sant’Elia and Palazzo Sortino Trono.

These are only a few ideas you can start from to visit Ragusa: book Ragusa hotels and try to discover as many things as possible!

Discovering Sicily: the Irminio river nature reserve

If you like nature, you should visit the Irminio river nature reserve, in Sicily.

To the many wonders that the province of Ragusa in Sicily, Italy includes, belongs also the Irminio river nature reserve. Sicily is well-known all over the world for its art and wonderful sea, and many people, in Italy and abroad as well, choose cities and seaside resorts like Marina di Ragusa to spend their summer holiday or some Italy weekend breaks.

However, apart from the sea, there is much more to discover in Sicily, and if you happen to go to Marina di Ragusa for your summer holidays you cannot miss the chance to visit the wonderful nature reserve of the Irminio River.

The reserve is situated in the territory of Ragusa and Scicli – a village in the province of Ragusa – and it is not far away from Marina di Ragusa. Thus you can sleep in a boutique hotel Ragusa or in Marina di Ragusa and then plan an excursion to the reserve. The reserve was instituted in 1985 and is situated near the mouth of the Irminio river, the longest river in the province of Ragusa. The reserve includes a coastal area on the Mediterranean sea which has both sandy coasts and cliffs overhanging the sea.

Both fauna and flora are very rich and interesting in the reserve: as far as vegetation is concerned, the Maquis shrubland is predominant, and there are many different types of species, like mastic, field eryngo, sea daffodil, salsola, European searocket, ephedra, juniper and many others. Along the river there are also tall trees like poplars, willows and Eucalyptus. On the cliffs you can find agaves, chamaerops and thymus.

As far as animals is concerned, the reserve is a rest area for the migratory birds that fly from Africa to North Europe and vice versa. The commonest species to be found in the reserve are black-winged stilt, kingfisher, coot, little egret, common buzzard, great cormorant, falcon and many more. In addition to birds, in the reserve you can also see foxes, rabbits and coypus.

A visit to this reserve will definitely add something more to your Mediterranean vacations!

Rent a chauffeur

There’s nothing better than having a car to go from one place to the other, when on holiday – most of all if you don’t have to drive it.

Many people like to drive, while for other taking the car is an enormous load; but, apart from this, driving in places and streets you don’t know usually is much more tiring and, moreover, paying attention to the road you cannot admire the landscape you are passing through.

To solve this problem it is sufficient to rent, together with the car, a chauffeur; many rent a car agencies put at your disposal also chauffeurs of the place for chianti tours and many others site in Italy, being them able other than driving you to your destination with no hesitations to ask information or to think of the best way to follow for Italy excursion, also to show you the most interesting and less renowned places, to tell you the life of the city and to suggest you the best places to see the most beautiful, interesting and curious things – and, obviously, also the best places to eat the typical dishes.

Moreover, some agencies that rent car with chauffeur can actually organize tours, even in case you are on a cruise and you wish to take advantage of a stop, that can be of a few hours for a Italy sightseeing tours, to visit the surroundings of the docking city: giving the times of arrival and departure from there, they’ll be able to organize interesting tours with chauffeurs from the place, ready to satisfy every curiosity of yours. The advantage with respect to the tours organized by bus is that the private tours are aimed to satisfy your interests, and the losses of time due to other passengers’ delays or even just to the going up and down from the bus are set to zero: the tour will be made for you and will follow your interests, because you are the sole passengers!

Events at the Seychelles islands

Beaches, sea, sun…but at the Seychelles there’s much more: for instance, parties and events in beach villas or of any kind and all year long, among fun and culture.

Many of the events of the Seychelles islands are naturally connected with the sea: sailing, regattas, fishing…for example, the Seychelles Sailing Cup, in January, includes competitions and fishing challenges among various kinds of boats, from catamarans to yachts; but there are events of other kinds as well: for example, the Festival of the Arts, between April and May, which is intended to encourage the artistic creativity of the population. The arts admitted in the festival are practically of every kind: painting, drawing, as well as music and dance; among expositions, forums and workshops, visitors and expositors are involved in a varied and lively ambient, where they have the chance to know – or show – different kinds of artistic expressions, traditional or not.

Staying it the artistic field, between May and June there’s the Classical Music Festival, during which the visitors have the chance to listen to the performance of the musical works of some of the greatest composers, like Mozart, Rossini or Tchaikovsky, in a wonderful setting. At the end of May the event not to be missed is the FetAfrik, the Africa National Day: every year the Seychelles celebrate their African and Creole culture with music, dance and food. It’s one of the most beloved events in the Seychelles, thanks to its various activities for everyone, children and elder people, and its liveliness and you can see those events choosing the right period for your Seychelles holidays.

On the religious side, the Feast of the Assumption of Mary, on the 15th August, is an important event for the Christian part of the islands, which is the major one; for the Hindu population of the islands, instead, the Vinayagar Chadurthi is very important: during this event the devotees pray to ask health and prosperity, and the celebration is held at the Hindu temple in Victoria, in September.

Mark-to-market analysis and fair value, from Sicily to the rest of the world

There are various kinds of financial evaluation, chosen depending on the situation and on the convenience referring to exhaustive studies of the specific situation and on the general course of the market.

The evaluations of the financial activities, which can be done by a financial advisor, can be based on the historical cost, that is the take-over cost, on the current cost, that corresponds to the historical cost adapted to the current prices through a pricing index, or in the market prices; the mark-to-market analysis is meant to evaluate financial activities and liabilities according to the market, and it is used to make a realistic appraisal of the current financial situation of the enterprises.

The mark-to-market analysis is strictly related to the fair value: it is intended to make an objective and rational estimation of the price of a good, as well, considering a series of factors like risk, production cost, scarceness. Fair value should correspond to the market price, even though they sometimes happen to be different one from the other, and that the market price must simply be accepted.

The study and the evaluation of prices and contract conditions are determined by a series of variances that depend on numerous factors, and can be done using valuation models; these are works that normally request hours or even days, but new software arrived to help, offering a technical support for the choice of the type of contract that best suites the situation, with programs able to consider all the variances of the case demanding just to fill in the variances with the data related to the specific case. This way, the human errors diminish considerably, just like the time needed for this kind of work, that no is longer measured in hours or days, but in a few clicks, and it is easier to perform works like the real options analysis.

The simplification of the work is one of the objectives of the enterprises in these last years, to be faster and be able to satisfy more requests, increasing both quantity and quality.

Golf courses all over Italy, from Piedmont to Sicily

If you have a passion for golf, Italy has definitely much to offer you.

From the north to the south, in Italy there are about 300 golf courses, which allow the lovers of this sport to organize unforgettable golf camps and to play in beautiful settings. Italian landscapes, everybody knows, are wonderful and famous all over the world also for their variety; hills, mountains and lowland: if you visit all the Italian regions you can find different landscapes, and they are all amazing. Playing on a golf course in Italy thus means also discovering the beauties of the different regions.

Let’s start from the golf courses in Piedmont, for example: if you choose the province of Turin you can enjoy your favorite sport in areas that are characterized by flat land framed by the peaks of the Alps. In this area there are about 18 golf courses, thus you are spoilt for choice! And if you are near Cuneo, you can play golf on hilly land, and admire vineyards and castles.

If you go further south, you get in Tuscany, which is probably one of the best-known Italian regions abroad. Besides breathtaking landscapes and an artistic heritage unique in the world, Tuscany also boasts beautiful golf courses. You can find a golf building in the countryside as well as on Versilia coasts. Trampling the grass of these courses does not only means playing golf, it also means immersing in fabulous landscapes.

Let’s go further south, ending our short Italian golf tour in Sicily. Sicily definitely needs no introduction: you only need to mention it to evoke its clear sea, the color of its countryside, the scents and flavors of this amazing region, and the artistic and archaeological treasures that everybody knows. It is in this extraordinary place that some golf courses have been built: one is in Catania, with Etna looking over it, another one is in the province of Trapani, in the Madonie National Park, and one is on beautiful Pantelleria island. Go and buy all the equipment produced by a good golf manufacturer, and enjoy golf in Italy!

Venice Ghetto, Italian Story and Culture

Venice hosts the most ancient ghetto of Europe, and visiting it can be very useful to learn something more about the history of the lagoon city.

The ghetto, in the quarter Cannaregio, was realised in 1516, when a law issued by the Government of the Republic of Venice sanctioned that all the Jews had to live in a given zone that they were not allowed to leave from dusk till dawn. The term itself “ghetto” comes from a Venetian word, “geto” (melted metal casting), which reminds of the foundry that rose in this zone before the opening of the ghetto.

In the past the Jewish community of Venice was very large, and to give space to all, more floors were added to the buildings of the ghetto (only in this zone of Venice we can find up to seven-storey buildings), and near the “Ghetto Nuovo” also the “Ghetto Vecchio” and the “Ghetto Novissimo” were built near hotel in venice. Here many commercial and social activities took place, but the ghetto was separated from the rest of the city also through some doors that prevented the Jewish from going out in the night. Only with the end of the Republic of Venice the forced segregation of the Jewish community stopped.

Nowadays there are not many Venetian Jewish, but in the ghetto zone there are still many interesting traces of the Jewish culture, like the synagogues, which were called also “Schole” (in the past there were nine synagogues active, now there are five of them), the Holocaust Monument near grand canal venice, created by Lithuanian artist Arbit Blatas, and the Jewish Museum. Founded in 1953, the museum hosts goldsmith and textile handmade products of the 16th-19th centuries and a Sefer Torah (scroll of the law), a parchment manuscript.

Wandering about the ghetto you can have a break in one of the restaurants that offer typical dishes of Jewish Cuisine, i.e. dishes prepared following the rules given by the Bible about food (“Kosher” restaurants or venice hotel booking), or enter a bakery and buy some typical cakes, like the “Amman ears” and the “sweet azime”.

A tour through Palermo’s markets

Thinking about Sicily the first things that occur are hospitality and vivacity; the place that better points out a city’s vivacity is no doubt the market.

In the market you can taste the true city, not the touristic side but the everyday city, the one lived by the people who inhabits it: the merchants shouting, the dialects, the people of the area…having a walk through the market you can catch a glimpse of the city’s soul. And Palermo’s soul is in its narrow streets, in its squares, and in its historical markets: Vucciria, Ballarò and Il Capo.

Choosing to spend your holidays in bed breakfast palermo helps you to feel as if you lived in the city: so you can go out in the morning and reach the market, then go back to the place that, during your holidays, is actually your home and store the things you bought; instead, if you prefer avoiding shopping and cooking at least during your holiday villa sicily, then you can choose a B&B Palermo and Sicily, whose owner will make you feel at home anyway, and will give you useful suggestions and indications to see the best of the city.

Anyway, a walk through the market remains a good idea; Palermo’s Vucciria market offers a wide range of fruits, vegetables and fish; the name is a Sicilian version of “bucceria”, that on its side is an Italian version of the French “boucherie”: butchery. In the Sicilian dialect, though, “vuccirìa” means “confusion”; the term probably came to mean that after having been associated to the market. Ballarò is the most ancient market in the city, hence the most picturesque; it sells food and firstlings coming from the fields in the province, and it’s open all day long, giving the chance to people to buy food ready to eat while they go back home: potatoes croquettes, panelled (fried pancakes made with legumes flour), vegetables, octopus and much more.

At the Il Capo market you’ll find stands of any kind, colours and vivacity; a visit [rent in sicily] at the market, at least, will immerge you in the local colour.