Celebrare la vita

The Amalfi Coast - Italy

2009-04-14T00:44:00.000-07:00

Since I was a little girl, I always dreamed to go to Europe and see in person all the amazing places I learned about in my History classes. In 2007 I had the opportunity to spend 5 months in Europe, and since my first day there I had in mind I would have to try to see as much as I could during my stay. And that's what I did. Among all the amazing places I had the chance to travel to, there is one in particular I recommend to anyone who is planning a trip to Europe: The Amalfi Coast - Italy.

Located on the southern side of the Sorrentino Peninsula in the Province of Salermo, this Italian pearl, is a stretch of a mountainous coastline that links Positano to Vietro sul Mare. The towns lying between those to cities on the Amalfi Coast are: Praiano, Furore, Conca de Marini, Amalfi, Atrani, Scala, Ravello Minori, Maiori and Cetara. The towns are all built at a very steep angle in the slopes of the Lattari Mountains, characterized by rocky spurs, overhanging bulwarks and ravines.
Renowned for its rugged terrain, scenic beauty, picturesque towns and diversity, the Amalfi Coast is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.

The coastal road along the Amalfi Coast is famous for its hairpin bends, fantastic views and general scariness. But the drive worth the risks.
The streets zigzag backwards and forwards, many buildings including hotels, are only accessible by steep alleys and stairways.

If you’re a hiking lover there are many trekking options around,
and they are all amazing. And in my opinion the best way to see all the natural and historical beauties of the region.

The public transport along the coast is cheap and fairly efficient, there are buses
along the coast from Salermo to Amalfi, from Amalfi to Sorrento, and from Amalfi to Ravello.
There is an airport if you decide to fly, the Salerno Costa d’Amalfi Airport, located in the area of Pontecagnano Faiano and Bellize, near to Salerno. But I recommend you to rent a car and drive from Rome to the Amalfi Coast, so you can seize the opportunity and visit also another historic famous destination: Pompei and the volcano Vesuviu. They are located on the way between Rome and Sorrento and you can choose to stop on the way to or back from the Amalfi Coast. But remember to reserve one day for each attraction, the historic city of Pompei, and the hike to the summit of the volcano, as you won’t be able to see both in the same day.

For more information about the Amalfi Coast.

THE REPUBLIC OF MALDIVES

2009-03-30T16:31:00.000-07:00

Today I’ll talk about one of the most amazing places I have ever been to: THE MALDIVES.
Hidden in the middle of the Indian Ocean The Republic of Maldives, the smallest Asian country it’s also the country with the lowest highest point in the world, with an average ground level of 1.5 meters above sea level. The twenty-six atolls of Maldives encompass a territory featuring 1,292 islands, of which two hundred and fifty islands are inhabited.

The water warm temperatures throughout the year make the Maldives perfect for water sports like scuba diving and surfing. There are also other options of water sports in Maldives if you are not into surf or diving.
The Maldives is famous for its rare underwater beauty. There you’ll find the highest level of visibility that anyone could expect, sometimes exceeding 50 meters. The marine life is another particularity from this amazing destination, if you’re lucky and dive in the right season you’ll be able to see Manta Rays and Whale Sharks.

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Surf in the Maldives is amazing. The North atoll is the destination for those looking for surfing and the two best options for hotels will be Hudhuranfushi (old Lohifushi) and the Dhonveli , both resorts have perfect breaks just in their private beach. Lohis, the Hudhuranfushi break is a left reef break and Pasta Point is a very constant left point break. Both resorts offer boat trips, 4 a day, to many other famous breaks around as: Jails, Chickens, Cokes, Ninjas among others. The surf season goes from ends of April to beginning of October.
You can scuba dive in Maldives all year round, but the best season for those looking for the best visibility, is from November to May. If you’re seeking to see the Manta Rays, and the Whale Sharks then April, May and June are the months to go, those are also the hottest months in the atolls.
The Maldives has a wet season from May to August, which reduces visibility and may restrict the number of accessible dive sites. If you’re planning to travel during this period a good option are the liveaboards as they can vary their itineraries, covering only the sites enjoying the best dive conditions.
I traveled to Maldives in September/05, as our group wanted to combine surfing and diving. The visibility around the North Atoll, were our hotel was located (we stayed at Hudhuranfushi – by that time the name was Lohifushi) and the visibility was amazing. We had the opportunity to dive with the Manta Rays, and was one of the most spectacular scenes I have ever seen. There was about 10 of them swimming over our heads.

People from Maldives are very friendly and happy and the services are 5 star +.
This was an unforgettable trip, and I recommend to everyone!
For more information about traveling to the Maldives: MALDIVES THE SUNNY SIDE OF LIFE

2009-03-12T19:30:00.000-07:00

This post marks a new beginning for Celebrare la Vita. Even do I’m really concerned about the environmental conservation, and believe each one of us can make a difference in our planet, I’m not knowledgeable enough to keep a daily or weekly blog about this subject. I'll try to keep this blog, after my Social Media class is over, and I figured out that in order to to so, I have to talk about something that would inspire me. Finally after brainstorming trying to find a subject, the obvious came to me: I have to talk about something I know enough to give some useful information and share my experiences with my readers. So I decided I’ll talk about TRAVEL. Why Travel? I’m a Bachelor in Tourism, and have been working in this industry for more then 8 years. I have owned a travel agency in Brazil, I have managed a Work & Travel in the United States in 2006, and as everybody else in the world, I LOVE TO TRAVEL.
I have been fortunate to have the opportunity to live, and travel to many different places, such as Australia, Spain, Italy, Brazil, USA, Maldives, Peru, Ecuador among many other amazing destinations.
Here you will find tips about destinations, planning a trip, getting ready for your trip, airlines, airports and other topics to be considered in the future.
I would like to invite you to engage in the conversation, posting comments, asking questions and suggesting posts!

Conservation tip of the day:
Measure and Reduce Your Carbon Footprint
To effectively reduce your contribution to greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, use an online emissions calculator. For example, EPA has one. This online tool estimates your emissions and identifies opportunities to reduce them – often saving money at the same time. It does not, however, take into account the additional emissions associated with the food, goods and services you consume or use. These indirect, or embedded, emissions are a large portion of your overall carbon footprint. (World Wild Life)

2009-02-24T12:33:00.000-08:00

Hi everryone,

It's been a long time since my last post ... I wasn't feeling motivated to write the last couple weeks, sorry. But this week all the excitemet about the blog came back as I found a very interesting topic to talk about: "We'll plant a Tree" marketing campaigns.

I first notice this type of eco-friendly marketing strategy a couple weeks while serching travel agencys for my husbands next surf trip ( he's crazy about surf and just came back from a surf trip in Moroccos last sunday) one of the travel agencies I checked is advertising they will be plant a tree for every surf package sold. I must tell you if they weren't based in Brazil I would definitely choose them.

I just loved the initiative and started searching about it and was very happy to find out that many companies here in the USA are doing the same.

Do to you think this is an amazing campaign? I think so! Every time I have to throw away a pack I think about the huge waste of material and how much this waste cost to our envirnment. So for me a company that is tying tree planting to their sales will influence my final decision and earn my loyalty. Why should I choose a product or service from a company that doesn't care about the environment and it's impact on it when I can choose one that does?

So to support the companies joining the "We'll plant a tree " initiative I'll promote a few them here:

TRINITY OAKS VINEYARD will plant a tree for every bottle of wine sold:

MOGUFIT will plant a tree every time someone downloads "A REAL TREE" app.

THINKHOST will plant a tree for each hosting client.

And here goes the conservation tip of the day (of course it had to be related to saving paper right !!!!)

PAY BILLS ONLINE: By some estimates, if all households in the U.S paid their bills online and received electronic statements isntead of paper, we'd save 18.5 million trees every year, 2.2 billion tons of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, and 1.7 billion pounds of solid waste.

http://www.50waystohelp.com

EARTH HOUR 2009

2009-02-05T12:30:00.000-08:00

Earth Hour Started in Sydney, Austrli on 03/30/07 when over 2.2 million homes and business turned off their light for one hour starting a revolutionary movement to attract the world's attention to Global Warming. And what started as one city taking the stand has grown to become one of the world's biggest climate change initiatives. In March of 2008, Earth Hour went global. According to WWF over 50 million people, 400 cities across 35 countries and thousands of business around the world turned off their lights for one hour to show their concerns about global warming.

Only two years after Sydney'sinitial effort to slow down the effects of climate change the EARTH HOUR has become a global sustainability movement and on March 28, 09 the goal is to reach one billion people and more then 1000 cities across 45 countries. The Golden Gate in San Francisco, the Colosseum in Roma, the Coca Cola bilboard in Times Square, the Redeemer Christ in Rio de Janeiro, Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge in Sydney are some of the Global Landmarks that will have thier lights going off to support Earth Hour and help the globall efforts to show that its possible for each one of us to take action on global warming.

I would like to invite all of you to stand up and get involved in this amazing act turning your lights off on March 28 and also inviting your friends and family to do the same and prove that if each one of us take small actions, together we can make the difference.

For more info about the Earth Hour 2009 and how you can help: http://www.earthhour.org/about

To begin with ...

2009-01-28T21:09:00.000-08:00

I just started an Extension Program at UCSD and the first project assignment for my “Marketing Via New Media” class is to create this blog. It will be my first one and I hope to keep it going after my class is over. It took me a few days to figure out what I would be writing about, I thought about many things: sports, travel and life in Cardiff by the Sea were the top tree subjects in my mind. Finally yesterday morning I decided what I would like to talk and share information about: ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION.

As I believe is our responsibility to maintain the planet for future generations, my idea is to promote discussions on relevant environmental issues, raise awareness for good projects, promote best practices, etc…

In addition, I would like to post information about simple things each one of us can do to make a difference in this world and invite everyone to also post relevant information so we can share experiences and help our planet.

Finally here goes my conservation tip of the day:

GO VEGETARIAN ONCE A WEEK -  One less meat-based meal a week helps the planet and your diet. For example: It requires 2,500 gallons of water to produce one pound of beef. You will also also save some trees. For each hamburger that originated from animals raised on rainforest land, approximately 55 square feet of forest have been destroyed. For more tips and detailed information on the tip above please visit: http://www.50waystohelp.com/

To think about it:

ACCORDING WITH WWF ALMOST A QUARTER OF THE WORLD’S MAMMALS FACE A HIGH RISK OF EXTINCTION WITHIN 30 YEARS.