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Archive: January, 2010

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Seeing Art on Your Italy Vacation

Italy is one of the art centers of the world. This is the home of the Renaissance and the world famous greats like Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and Raphael. During your vacation in Italy you will find that art here has strong ties to religion. Several of the greatest painters also painted numerous religious subject matters and were often commissioned by the Church to paint murals.

If you are in the Tuscan city of Florence while on vacation in Italy, you may visit the Leonardo da Vinci Museum in the town called Vinci where he was born. The museum is in a medieval castle called the Conti Guidi Castle. The purpose of the museum is mainly to serve as a biographical memoir of the great artist and to describe his hometown and places of interest. There is also a great library here that holds almost everything that has ever been written about Leonardo da Vinci as a man, as an artist and about his pieces. You can get a guided tour of this museum if you happen to be in Tuscany for your Italy vacation.

If you are in Florence you must also go to the Uffizi Gallery. This place holds the greatest collection of paintings from the Italian renaissance period. Many of the painters from that time lived in Florence. This town has beautiful landscapes and rolling hills and it is no wonder that the great artists were so inspired by living in this region. An Italy vacation in this area will allow you to visit this museum and see famous works of art such as Michelangelo’s “Doni Tondo” Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Annunciation” and Raphael’s “Maddonna of the Goldfinch.” An Italy vacation here will be a true feast for your artistic soul as you will not only get to see the masterpieces of the greats but you will also get to walk the streets that they walked on.

If you are in Milan for your Italy vacation, you may want to visit the church called Santa Maria delle Grazie. This is the church that houses the famous mural painting of Leonardo da Vinci’s called “The Last Supper.” His other famous painting “Mona Lisa” sits in the Louvre Museum in Paris. The Santa Maria delle Grazie church is protected by UNESCO as a world heritage site of outstanding cultural benefit to humanity. It also has some very unique and beautiful architecture designed by Guiniforte Solari in the 1400s. It is said that during World War II one of the bombs dropped by the British and American planes hit this important church but the famous mural was saved because the whole wall had been sand-bagged.

Although it does not feature art in the traditional sense of the word, the Archeological Museum of Naples is one of the greatest museums in the world of its kind and holds some of the most important findings from Pompeii and Herculaneum. You should strongly consider visiting this museum for a guided tour if you are in Naples for your Italy vacation.

categories Vacation

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Attending Sporting Events on Your Italy Vacation

Sports and Italians go together like spaghetti and meatballs! The most popular sports are soccer, rugby and cycling. Winter sports are also very popular during that season. Italians are serious spectators and fierce competitors. During your Italy vacation you may decide to look up which sporting events are going on that you may be able to attend. You will definitely experience Italy culture and the passion that they bring to competition.

With soccer the passion is very understandable because Italy has won the World Cup 4 times and is actually the current title holder after the 2006 World Cup Series. With their 4 total wins they hold the record of being the second most successful team since the championship began and are second only to Brazil. If you are a sports fan you may be interested in seeing a match during your Italy vacation. Select Italy is a company that will allow you to experience this. They can arrange tickets for you to see Series A and Series B games in some of the major cities in Italy. You can request a specific city on their website and they have staff who will confirm pricing and other details with you after they receive your request.

If you would rather see something else while you are in Italy on vacation they can also arrange tickets for you to see anything from auto racing to basketball to tennis. Tickets obtained through this company will be up to 25% higher than their face value as the company adds on fees and processing costs for providing travelers with this great service. Select Italy may be contacted through their website at www.selectitaly.com/sports.php

If you are going to see a soccer match in Italy during your vacation you may be concerned about what you have heard about the dangers and sometimes violence at these events. Italians as you know are very competitive and passionate about their soccer. It is best to make sure that you either wear the colors of the Italian home team or something else that is not in line with the opposing team’s colors. Companies like Select Italy will advise you which colors to wear if you want to support the Italian team and which colors to stay away from depending on which match you want to see. Another thing to remember is that many of these Italian soccer matches have a designated area for their die-hard fans.

If a fight would break out it would be more likely to be between someone who sits in that designated area with someone who supports the opposing team. As a visitor you would probably feel most comfortable sitting in a neutral central location. Select Italy will not insure you or assume any liability for anything that may happen at any of these matches that they help you attend.

If you are interested in seeing sporting events when in Rome for your Italy vacation, you can always find out what is going on at the Flaminio Stadium. It was built for the 1960 Olympic Games in Italy and now has all kinds of sporting events going on from rugby to equestrian. It is very accessible from many hotels in Rome.

categories Vacation

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What is a Travel Nurse

A travel nurse is a licensed nurse who typically works in a hospital for a few months at a time before moving onto a different hospital in a different part of the country.

Hospitals like to hire travel nurses and other traveling health professionals for a variety of reasons. Travel nurses can bring a variety of experience and knowledge that a hospital can benefit from. Lots of times, a travel nurse can act as a mentor for other nurses that have just completed their training and are not yet comfortable and/or confident with their new professional status. Medical facility’s that have just opened will often hire the services of a travel nurse until they are up and running smoothly. The new, inexperienced staff will be able to benefit from the travel nurse’s previous work experience. Most travel nurses enjoy the experience of traveling, meeting and working with new co-workers, and hope to gain a well rounded work experience that will serve them when they settle on working full time at a specific medical facility. Many travel nurses claim that the experience allows them to develop a better understanding of their chosen specialty. These same travel nurses also claim that their unique work experiences have helped reintroduce them to patient focused nursing.

Before they start working at a new hospital, a travel nurse has already established an agreement with the hospital. This agreement states what salary the nurse will be making while she is working for the hospital. Before traveling to the new hospital the nurse knows how much of their travel expenses will be paid for. They also know where they will be living while they are working at the medical facility.

Travel nurses generally enjoy a more lucrative salary then they would receive if they worked in a single location. The salary the travel nurse earns is generally based on the location they are working, typically a travel nurse will not earn as much working in a hospital in a rural community as they will earn working in a large inner city hospital. Some nurses prefer travel nursing to nursing in a single medical facility because they enjoy the opportunity to see the world and other cultures. Working in a constantly changing location challenges a travel nurses knowledge and talents. The skills that travel nurse develop on their journeys are skills that they will be able to utilized when they settle on a home base.

Travel nurses find employment through a travel nursing service. This service pairs nurses with medical facilities that are seeking a travel nurse. The travel nursing service typically has a long and happy relationship with hospitals, medical facilities, and medical professionals. The nursing service helps reach agreements between the medical facility’s and the travel nurse. The travel nursing service will also be able to help the travel nurse make sure that they have the proper licensing to work in the state they are about to be going to.

Before a nurse can become a travel nurse there are a few professional criteria that they must complete first.

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Costa Rican Vacation Packages

Most of the tour companies and even the major airlines have packages tourists can look through brochures and pick out a tour package that fits their budget since many run someone back around $1500-2000 for the average 5 to 7 day tours and a little more if you’re doing the full 10-14 day tours.

You can Google up Costa Rican vacations and you’ll pull up countless tour companies that offer everything from student to specialized tours for people with disabilities. There’s a package for everyone and the budgets they wish to spend since some people want to keep it simple and some want it to be elaborate. Most of the tours usually feature tours of ancient ruins of Costa Rican indigenous people.

Always go for tour companies that are experienced and know everything from A to Z about Costa Rica. Inexperienced tour companies are not up to par with issues that many tourists ask questions about such as the full cost of an actual tour and any other information pertinent to you booking or otherwise.

You want to get the most out of your money when booking a vacation package and make sure that what is stated in the literature matches what you see because those who book with companies that don’t have a good reputation should be aware and it’s ideal to check them out through consumer protection websites to see if they’re accused of pricing unfairly or misrepresenting something in their literature about the tour(s) they’re advertising. Many companies even allow tourists to design their own packages by giving them a choice of different things to mix and match and come up with a price that’s satisfactory to the customer’s budget needs.

A good solid package if someone’s on a limited budget between $490-900 for 3-5 days, or if someone’s wanting an elaborate type of tour package of 10-15 days could spring up $3500-5000 depending on what the tourist puts in their package which determines the cost of the trip in total.

Most packages include your airfare, meals, and hotel costs, and all gratuities (tips), but some of them don’t include airfare or meals or hotel costs so it’s important to research this before you put a down payment on the trip. It’s cheaper to do packages because if you had to cover the cost of airfare, meals, and hotel stay separately you would be looking a lot of money.

This is why packages are important to tourists, so they can get more out of their money and not have to spend more than they are wanting to do just to have a vacation that’s relaxing and fun. Investigate all travel companies and agents through word of mouth if you know anyone who’s used them for a vacation tour package and the major airlines have a travel bureau.

That you can look at since many travelers who use the same airline can rely on their carriers information, but the only downside is that they don’t provide extra details such as issues with personal and public security, and knowing how to convert currency. Travelers are advised to consult with the Costa Rican consulate for any information surrounding security and conversion of currency so you’re getting the right and correct information.

categories General

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