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For this week’s Travel Picks Friday, we wanted to inspire you with Italian Cuisine and chose three scrumptious recipes for you to try out. These fantastic recipes were brought to you by Raleigh from LoveFromItalia, a superb blog about Italy, food, and travel!

New Oil – just pressed – is a treasure that needs the right dish to be paired with to showcase it in all its unctuous velvety goldenness. Whether the oil comes from Northern Italy, Southern Italy, Central Italy, Sicily or Sardinia, it needs to be presented simply, letting the oil shine (no pun intended!).

The Thought: “Tutte le strade conducono a Roma” – every street will take you to Rome – immediately came to mind when I thought of ways to use Olio Nuovo… because, two of my favorite ways are with Roman specialties! read full article

Marostica’s Live Chess Match is held every 2-years on even numbered years. We were there early to video pre-show preparations and for the evenings 2 1/2 hour performance.

Located about an hour and a half from Venice sits the charming hill town of Marostica. The Upper and Lower Castles are joined by a crenellated wall, and the center of town has a giant Chess Board in the main Piazza. This small jewel of a town is not to be missed on your journeys throughout the Veneto Region of Italy. read full article

This week for our Travel Picks Friday column we decided to satisfy music lover’s need of “soul food”. Check out the best record stores in Rome, Italy.

On the first morning of our stay in Umbria, at the Villa Fibbino, Anna made her fresh fig tart as part of our breakfast. It was love at first bite. The freshly baked dough flaked and melted in your mouth as the sweet and hearty figs reminded you that summer was fleeting and that you had to catch it at its peak.

Barbara had the brilliant idea to ask Anna if we could video – from start to finish – how this decadent dessert was prepared. Anna graciously consented, and the following morning we walked down to the fig tree and picked our fresh figs. Once in the kitchen, Anna made the preparation and presentation look so simple that we hope your results will be as spectacular as hers.
Here is the Fresh Fig Tart Recipe from Anna. read full article

It’s Harvest Time in Italy! Autumn is the season to forage the forests for Porcinis and Truffles; to pick and gather the grapes and the olives…from the top to the tip of the boot and on the Islands, the forests and fields are teaming with activity. Hard work, yes! But, the fruits of the harvesting bring boundless pleasure to all. Fresh porcinis, so succulent and earthy add their velvety texture to soups and sautés. The exquisite truffle, magical and sensuous used in honey, oil and compound butters! So lovely shaved over salads and pastas. Just harvested wine grapes are perfect for the traditional Tuscan Grape Cakes and Breads. read full article

Are you a fashion addict and can’t avoid to go for a little shopping when on holidays? If you are planning a trip to Sydney, Qantas Spirit of Australia proposes you a guide for select vintage fashion shopping in Sydney.

Do you remember the last time you went for a city trip on summer? Heat, tiredness, thirst,… You stop at the first bar you find and are forced to buy those tiny and really overpriced bottles of water.

Well, it seems that travelers heading to both Paris and Milan will be able to avoid this. read full article

Ever wondered about another thing that Patagonia is famous for except huge mountains? We can tell you: wine. Uncornered market published this comprehensive guide to everything you can visit (vineyards and production plants) to all the different typologies of wine you can try out in one of the most beautiful areas in Argentina! read full article

As always, on our weekly Travel Picks Friday Column we try to find the best news, stories and travel resources to make your life easier. This week we want to recommend some blogs in particular that we found useful and interesting.

Leaving maps and guidebooks behind, we’ve entered the Internet era and traveling itself has really changed.

Far more conveninent than those big maps or huge guidebooks we were used to brining on vacation, the iPhone, the Blackberry or any other android-compatible smatphones can really make our life easier. read full article

Everybody knows that Pizza is one of the most famous things in Naples, but if you really want to try out the top varieties and quality, you must avoid the tourist places. National Geographic has written an article on Pizza sampling with recommendations to the best places to try out.

If you didn’t know, one of the most popular holidays in Italy is surely the “Ferragosto” on the 15th of August. Originally, in Roman times, it was related to a celebration of the middle of the summer and the end of the hard labour in the fields. Before the Roman Catholic Church came into existence, however, this holiday was celebrated in the Roman Empire to honor the gods and the cycle of fertility and ripening. read full article

The Sofitel chain of hotels has just announced that it will be providing iPads for its guests, instead of supplying daily newspapers. We at think it’s a great initiative, it’s a further step towards complete digitalization of press and information. However this issue does bring some interesting questions to mind: how many years will it take before handwriting completely disappears?

Pet owners may face hard decisions when moving abroad. Are you leaving your little friend with someone you know well or are you taking your pet with you? Matador Network gives you 7 useful tips to travel with your pets.

Italy in the past few weeks has suffered the hottest temperatures in years, and we at the Venere.com HQ found very useful Context Travel’s guide on how to stay cool while while travelling. Make sure to arm yourself with lots of cool drinks

If you have never been, then you need to know in advance that street food in Asia needs to be taken quite seriously, so it’s highly advisable that you read up on where to eat. read full article