This famous cafe, in which you may find yourself rubbing shoulders with the odd Italian senator or two, is to be found in front of the Italian Senate building, which in turn is pretty close to Piazza Navona and the historic Pantheon.

Most people who visit Rome end up in one or both of these places, so you can add to the Roman holiday atmosphere by popping in for a coffee. Next time find myself in the Eternal City, I certainly shall head for this place, being as I am, a lover of Italian coffee.

The coffee they produce and which is consumed on the premises is also available for export throughout the world. And orders can be made via an email from the cafe’s rather crude website. Still, the website is not the point - it’s the coffee they come for. In a funny kind of way the 50’s style website adds to the charm of the place and its reputation for producing what is possibly the best coffee in Italy.

For those of you desperate for Italian coffee, but lucky enough to be in the USA, Sant’Eustachio’s famous coffee can be ordered directly from the appropriately named ‘Gustiamo.com‘ site.

This coffee is by no means cheap, but then the best things in life never are.

UPDATE

By the way, a real Roman has already written about this place in his ‘Best Espresso in the World‘ post. To get the genuine Roman low down on this place, pop over and have a read. Incidentally, Man of Roma thinks that the best Italian coffee in the universe is to be found in Naples!

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However, what the ingenious Italians have been doing is bringing these toys back from the US. Then they have been hacking and cracking the things so they can be used on Italy’s mobile phone networks.  I see the things everywhere. My other half wants one too, and guess what? Yes, she knows someone who heads Stateside quite often. Joe, could you do me a favour??!!

The in-crowd has certainly decided that the iPhone is in. Big time!

On the other hand, those who regard the iPhone as being a bit too trivial (or heavy), and who wish to give the impression that they are switched-on fully connected professionals, go for the mobile phone/always on email manager made by Blackberry.

Blackberry’s are all over the place too. Just the thing for ensuring that you get those all important Hotmail messages as soon as they are written.

I have no doubt at all that there will be a few Italians who have the best of both worlds - an iPhone and a Blackberry.

Funny thing is, that although many here love to have the latest and greatest, all singing (ringing!!) and dancing mobile phone, most people only actually use these fully featured multi-function devices for simply making phone calls.

Enter the techno-fashion victims.

Italy - Armani, Versace, Dolce e Gabbana, Blackberry and iPhone.

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If you are looking for somewhere to stay, and you are thinking about heading for Italy’s famously fabulous Amalfi coastline, then Gaetano Salvo, Blog from Italy’s researcher, has a suggestion for you.

How about the Grande Hotel Tritone down in Praiano?

An Idyllic Location

This 60 room hotel enjoys the most marvellous location, as you can see from the photo. It is literally perched right on a coastal cliff top in true Amalfitanian tradition, and the view from the rooms which all overlook the Med must be glorious.

This well located family run four star hotel has all the usual facilities including a pool for lounging by, and maybe dipping into during those hot and lazy Italian summer evenings.

As already mentioned, all rooms have a sea view, but if you go for one of the ’superior’ quality rooms, or, pamper yourself in a suite, you will get your very own terrace with a view of the Med.

By the Sea and Boat Trips

Should you wish to dip your toes in the sea, you can either walk down the steps to the sea front or there are two lifts which will take you right down to the hotel’s ‘beach’.

No, it’s not really a beach in the traditional sense, rather it is more of a sort of platform on which you can sunbathe, eat, drink, or just laze away a few hours in front of the sea under the sun. Possibly not perfect for small children, but ideal for those who like a bit of a swim and who would like to test the warm clear Mediterranean waters. Children could use the second swimming pool which is located here. This pool stays open until 7pm.

Those feeling suitably lazy after a hard day’s relaxing on the sea front would probably opt for the lift to take them back up to their rooms, I’ve no doubt. I would!

Day trips by boat to Capri (well worth a visit - I’ve been, and I loved it!) are possible and the boat will pick you up directly from the beach area. Very convenient.

Weddings, and Honeymoons - First and Second, or Both!

Perhaps soaking up the seaside sun is not your only reason for selecting such a delectable location as this. In fact, the Grande Hotel Tritone would also make a great place for a honeymoon, or why not tie the knot right on the spot? For just this purpose the hotel has its very own chapel. By no means an everyday chapel, this is a structure which has been created from a natural cave. Not a bad way to make that memorable day even more memorable. The chapel seats 80 people, incidentally.

Those second honeymooners might also like to renew their vows in this charming location. Or how about getting married there, and then returning for your second honeymoon? That would give you both something to look forward to!

Terraces, oh Terraces!

However, one of the best features of this hotel are the terraced areas. There really is nothing nicer than dining while looking out over the sea, as I well know. Once you’ve done this, you’ll really feel on holiday.

Oh, and don’t worry, this hotel has an extensive selection of wines to choose from.

The Lemon Garden

For those wishing to go for a little wander after dinner, there is the Lemon Garden, which certainly looks lovely in the pictures.

Aside from being an attractive place to holiday, the Grande Hotel Tritone looks to be a place that encourages you to explore and discover its hidden, but charming nooks and crannies.

Internet

For the Internet addicts among you, wifi is available throughout the hotel, although a fee is payable.

Conference Room in a Cave

The hotel also has a very interesting 100 seat conference room which is in a ‘grotto’ or cave. So I was told when I spoke to the pleasant Carmen Galgiano, who deals with booking of this facility (+393358042210 - mobile phone).  Wonderful. It would make an interesting venue for one of those European management get togethers, one imagines.

Explore the Area - and Pompei!

Of course, should you actually tire of the hotel, then there is the small matter of exploring the rest of the Amalfi coastline. Positano is a mere 4km distant, for example. Even Pompei, which is a must visit place, is only 45kms away. Taxis (and water taxis!) and buses are available, so non-drivers can get by.

Having access to a car while staying in the area will make your life easier, and your stay more rewarding.

Book it!

Booking is possible on-line, and there is a .pdf brochure which can be downloaded too. However, the brochure is about 95% in Italian! If you visit the hotel’s website, and find everything in Italian - just click on the little Union Jack, and things will become English again.

The Opinions of Others

Any things worth watching out for? Well, this hotel receives generally very good reviews on the various internet sites I’ve visited, although some past guests have found the staff to be a little off hand at times. And others have said that the food in the restaurant is not always fabulous. Both of these criticisms are most probably down to the guests’ characters and a possible lack of familiarity with the cuisine in that area.

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Why bother showing ads? Simple: income. However, what I want to do with potential advertising income is use it to help me devote more time to running the 5 or so sites I have set up.

The more income I can generate, the more time I can devote to this blogging thing. Why? Well, first I like it a lot, and second, it sort of fulfils an ambition of mine, which is to become a full time writer. Writers, like everyone else, need to eat, support families, and pay bills - hence the ads.

I’d also like to take people on to help me out and build my little network into something useful. Obviously, if I want people to work with me, I’m going to have to give them something in return. Again, the adverts should help me move down this road.

Shortly I shall start running some ads for an Italo-English real estate company. These ads won’t produce any income initially, but I hope they produce results for the advertiser, for this blog and the other sites I’d love to spend more time developing.

I do hope you, my valued readers, and great bunch of people don’t hate me too much for going commercial, and I hope this post explains my motivation a little.

As always, thanks for reading and commenting. It is great to hear from so many people, and to have made quite a number of on and off line friends.

Cheers!

Alex Roe - the man behind Blog from Italy.

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He told me that the post had generated quite a bit of local buzz, and that many of those who had seen the post had been spreading the word to relatives resident in the UK and Germany.

This was good to hear, and I do hope, in some way, it leads to some more positive recognition for Mr Alberico and his teams’ sterling efforts.

Indeed these efforts appear to be bearing fruit in that the Centro Sportivo Meridionale is attracting many local professionals, often doctors, who wish to use the centre to host continuing professional development courses. This is great news and will help to grow the facility.

Mr Alberico also showed me a few photos of last years sports summer camp for children, and aside from the numbers, what struck me was the beauty of the location which is immersed in greenery.

Oh and Mr Alberico asked me if I’d hold English language courses for the centre! Well, it’s quite a way from Milan, but I am quite tempted!

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The festival runs for the whole week from the 22 to the 29 June, 2008.

In the event that you can’t manage to spend a whole week there, the best day is probably the final Sunday on which the processions are held.

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Now why should this present an opportunity for Italy? Well, Italy is very well placed geographically to receive bright young things from north Africa, which is an area, unlike central and southern Africa, alas, which appears to be moving ahead, silently, but quickly.

In some respects, north Africa could be compared to India - which is another area which is on the up and up.

If Italy played its cards right, it could set up plenty of facilities to satisfy the craving for education the youngsters from these areas appear to have.

Not only this, but Italy could end up with some bright new talent too.

As Man of Roma pointed out in his ‘The Southern Shores of the Mediterranean‘ post, Italians are more closely related to those on the other side of the Med than perhaps many would like to admit. Which means that those on the other side of the Med can be made to feel quite at home here.

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I’ve been exchanging the odd email with Rajab, and I complimented him on his English, but he disagrees. Indeed, this is how he disagreed:

My written English is good? Heck no, I think it sucks! But thanks anyway, I’m gung-ho about languages

Now, I don’t know about you, but I think that for someone who says he does not know English, the above response was absolutely excellent.

It’s grammatically accurate, colloquial, and, there is even a nice little idiom thrown in for good measure.

Maybe I should point out that he is studying French, Arabic, and English at university. He must be making good progress.

I would be interested to hear what his spoken English is like, but, in today’s email oriented world, being able to write well in a language or two is a very useful skill to have.

Rajab appears to have a bright future ahead of him. Hope he’s on Linked-In.

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