La Dolce Vita art and culture in Italy

This article comes from the online journal, the Huffington Post,  always an interesting read on just about any subject, current or otherwise, you could imagine.  In pursuit of “the sweet life”, travel to Italy in terms of art, culture, cuisine, wine, design and beautiful people, will surely fit the bill and satisfy the heart’s desire.  Just a summary of this article follows.  If you want to read the rest and view the beautiful photographs within the article, you’ll have to drop by the Huffington Post.

Culture Zohn: Roman Holiday Meets La Dolce Vita — American Academy Style

“We all have a fantasy about taking off for six months or a year, getting away from the grind in order to have the time to muse and contemplate. We know we would be the better for it, our ideas sharper, our vision about our work clearer. We might even finish the thing we had started and put away in the drawer or begin the thing we had made notes on or sketches for and put away in the drawer, the famous drawer that like the Bocca della verita threatens to suck up whatever lies are put inside its cold, imposing mouth.

Most of us, alas, have not had the chance to do that.

Some very lucky, very talented people do, however. Though there are writers and artists colonies of all stripes, there could be none more achingly beautiful or more intellectually dynamic than the American Academy in Rome. Long a secret of architects and designers who were annointed early on in their careers with fellowships and who come back to occasionally to refuel, the Academy is gradually widening its net, this year including an engineer and a dancer and those of us who can only afford a month or a few months, yet want somehow to stop the world so we can get off.

As far back as 1666 when the French established their Academy in Rome, the city has been serving as a tutorial in all things classical, when the Grand Tour stop in Italy was the Alpha and the Omega of culture; if you walk near the Mussolini-style Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna or the Villa Giulia designed by Vignola, you can see the enormous Academy buildings from many nations in all their faded splendor.

None come close to the splendor of the American Academy, founded in the early twentieth century and its magnificently restored Villa Aurelia.

The fellowships given each year are hotly contested and with good reason; you only have to spend an afternoon or a lunch at the long refectory tables dining on Alice Waters inflected cuisine or spend a hushed moment in one of the multi-storied windowed studios or take a walk in the sublime gardens or grab a Campari or espresso at the Bar to know that you have achieved paradise.”

Read the rest of this story here

Travel companies face rise in compensation claims

Travel News:

A leading British law firm has warned that travel companies will face a significant rise in compensation claims if the financial crisis continues.Britons made more than 400,000 claims for lost luggage last year

Stephen Mason, managing partner of Travlaw, which specialises in travel litigation, said that the company had witnessed a record increase in claims over the winter. He warned that operators can expect an ever bigger rise in new claims this summer, as holidaymakers ensure they get value for money from their breaks during the economic downturn.

These claims can vary from travellers seeking compensation for holidays that fail to live up to brochure descriptions to illnesses or injuries sustained while abroad.

“On the one hand travel companies are facing more claims and on the other they have fewer staff to deal with them,” said managing partner Stephen Mason. “It’s been a pattern in the last few downturns. When times are hard and affording a holiday is pushing the budget, claims are much more likely.”

Insurance claims are also rising. Last year, Britons made more than 560,000 medical claims totalling £383 million – up 58 per cent on 2007. Claims for lost luggage were the second most popular, with nearly 400,000 British travellers seeking around £8 million from their travel insurer – up eight per cent on 2007. Claims for flight cancellations were also up, rising 24 per cent to 240,000 claims.

“Medical claims are still the most costly for the travel insurance industry,” said Perry Wilson, founder of InsureandGo. “Unfortunately the average claim value seems to be rocketing, which highlights just how important it is for people to have adequate travel insurance, particularly when times are tough.”

Source:  The Daily Telegraph, article by Charles Starmer-Smith