I just received this email and had to share it with you all:



This is a great price for flights to Italy. I haven't seen many flights lower than this in a while, and Emirates is a great airline. It was recently awarded Center for Aviation Airline of the Year award for the third time.

It makes me want to go back for a weekend in December to go Christmas shopping!

In case you missed our update about their new route in the June newsletter,  Middle Eastern airline Emirates entered the U.S.-Italy market with a bang, offering nearly twice as many seats per day as the airlines currently servicing the route.

Beginning October 1, it also became the only airline to offer a true luxury flight experience between NYC and Milan. Each of its 777-300s planes has 12 first-class suites and 42 lie-flat business class seats.

Sweetening the pot even further, if the Emirates sale doesn't work for you for some reason, domestic carriers have created interesting offers to try to match their new competition.



Delta has matched Emirates prices (even going a bit lower in some cases) and offered extra frequent flyer miles on this route.

If you've been waiting for the right time to book flights, we won't see a fare face-off like this again for years.

Joyce

This month, I headed to the Veneto, the region surrounding Venice, for the Buy Venice show, an excellent place to find stunning, artisanally-made Italian products.

While I have certainly found many new items for my “Things I Love” column in the newsletter, especially these Le Furlane hand-made slippers sold under the Rialto, I have to tell you about something even better than a new pair of earrings or gourmet food to tuck in your luggage:

Fall in Italy is when food gets serious.

Both in terms of work load—it’s wine harvest time!—and in terms of flavors.

The richest produce that comes out of Italy, from olive oil to truffles to figs to the deep purple grapes that flavor schiacciata, makes its appearance in the fall.

So it’s little surprise that some of the most important food festivals on the Italian calendar fall at the same time.

Image © Italian Concierge

This month, Italians celebrate the biggest holiday of the year: Ferragosto. Literally meaning "august vacation," the August 15 holiday coincides with the Feast of the Assumption, celebrating the Virgin Mary's ascension into heaven, but the religious celebration has taken a backseat to the beach in modern times.

In August, businesses shut down, Italians head to their vacation homes on the coast, and cities empty eerily of residents. You can have Italy's greatest cities to yourself for a "golden day" like the day trip I recently wrote about for Susan van Allen's "Golden Days in Italy" blog.

If you're stuck at home, follow the Italian summer on our Pinterest board or through our summer-focused August newsletter:

• Tis the Season for . . . the Mare!
  To Italians, summer is practically synonymous with the seaside. Many beaches in Italy - usually the sandier, better looking ones - are private beaches or called bagni or stabilamenti. Here's how to navigate them.


• Events this Month: Aman Resort Opens in Venice
  In a 16th-century palazzo in the San Polo quarter, near the Rialto Bridge, the new hotel is composed only of spacious suites with garden or canal views.


• Traveler Tip: Italian Gestures
  When I saw a wonderfully tongue-in-check short documentary on Italian hand gestures in the New York Times last month, I couldn't help but smile. Our quick guide will help you learn these gestures at home.


• Things We Love: In Piazza della Signoria B&B
  Sometimes my favorite things are as simple and stunning as the view from a hotel room window. This luxurious boutique hotel lies right on the corner of Florence's Piazza Signoria, where nearly a century of Florentines have gathered to party, protest, and parade.


• August Recipe: Panzanella
  Tomato, basil, and old bread -- the most basic ingredients find a surprisingly new life in this summer Tuscan peasant dish.

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Image © Italian Concierge

"Follow me."

Two simple words can lead to a fantastic adventure.

Maybe a restaurant recommendation leads to the best meal of your life. A stranger's pointing down the road brings you to small village that you dream of retiring to. Or even a suggestion of visiting a simple hidden courtyard provides much needed respite and rejuvenation on a hot day of too much sight-seeing.

It is a uniquely and wonderfully Italian trait to accompany you wherever you go. Even a shopkeeper you ask for directions to the train station will walk outside and down the corner to make sure that you see which street across the plaza you need to take.

This charming facet of Italian life is found all over, but more prevalent the warmer the weather gets. So this summer, ignore your mother's advice to never go with strangers, and let those simple words guide you to discovery.

Follow me for our favorite picks from around Italy in the July newsletter.

Here's what else you missed:

• Tis the Season for . . . Estati!
  You'd think the l'estate (Italian for "summer") was festive enough already, but most Italian regional capitals take things even further with the official estates, an entire summer of outdoor concerts, films, performances, and festivals


• Events this Month: FDA Lifts Imported Cured Meat Ban
  Culatello, coppa, salame fellino - a variety of previously unimportable meats are now ostensibly allowed into the U.S., but enforcement of the new regulations is very unclear.


• Traveler Tip: Bringing Home Meat and Cheese
  Customs and Border Patrol has coined the phrase "when in doubt, keep it out," further scaring consumers from these items home from abroad. So how do you know what to bring?


• Things We Love: Pecorino di Pienza
  Though always aged in oak barrels for at least 90 days, this sheeps milk pecorino from Pienza comes in many varieties. Read about my favorite.


• July Recipe: Apricot Crostata
  Easy to store, cut, and finish in one go, crostatas combine one of the most important parts of an Italian meal - presentation - with one of Italians' favorite ways to end a meal: fruit!

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