Cheap Italian Souvenirs

If you're going to Italy for a vacation, one of the things that you're planning to do would be to shop for Italian souvenirs. After all, you would want to take home a piece of Italy with you as a reminder for a wonderful vacation that you've had in the country. However, with your shoestring budget, you're worried that you may not be able to buy the things that you want during the trip.

The good news is, there are lots of cheap souvenirs available in Italy that will not cause for you to break the bank. In Venice, Limoncello bottles, sparkling wines, peach puree cocktails, and colorful bracelets as souvenirs. Prices for these souvenirs range from $9 to $20 apiece.

In Florence, there are lots of purses, wallets, and scarves that you can buy as a souvenir. However, if you want something cheaper, you can buy the Small Tacky David, available in most Florence markets. This would only cost you $4.50.

If you are also going to Rome, you would want to check out Coliseum statuettes, Catholic calendars, and keychains that bear the face of the pope. Now, if you want something less expensive, you might want to check out the wooden bead bracelets that feature popes, Catholic saints, and the Virgin Mary. Each bracelet only costs $6. You may also get the terracotta cross for $12 or the mini desk calendar of Pope Benedict XVI for $1.50. If you want to buy something edible, try the Castroni Funghi Rositi or the Oscar '78 Pesto alla Genovese, which are both less than $20.

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10 Key Ingredients Of A Holiday

Are you planning on booking a holiday soon? If so, here are 10 things you'll have to consider.

1. Destination - Deciding what part of the world you want to go on holiday will be your first challenge. You may have a country, city or island in mind, even if you've not decided on a resort.

2. Flights - You'll also need to make sure you can fly there from the airports in your region, so check out flights and flight times before you make a decision.

3. Resort - Now it's a case of choosing which resort you're going to go for. This decision could be based on proximity from your destination's airport, family-friendliness, cleanliness, how lively it is, the beaches, etc.

4. Accommodation - Now it's a case of finding the right hotel, apartment or bed and breakfast house. You may want somewhere close to the beach or resort amenities, somewhere ideal for a couple, or somewhere that has entertainment for children.

5. Board basis - You'll also need to decide whether you want room only, self catering, B&B, half board or all-inclusive, so think about the type of holiday you want and what fits into your budget.

6. Transfers or Hire Car - When you land on holiday, you will need to find a way of getting from the airport to your accommodation. If you're not hiring a car, then booking transfers with your package holiday may be needed.

7. Hotel Parking - At the other end, your departure airport, you may want to leave your car for the duration of your trip, so it's there upon your return.

8. Taxis - Alternatively, you may prefer to have a taxi take you to and from the airport. If so, booking a reliable taxi firm that's willing to do both journeys will be helpful.

9. Clothes - Depending on the type of holiday you want and what the weather is doing in the place where you're heading, you may need to add a few new clothing items to your suitcase.

10. Currency - Lastly, before you depart, you'll need to make sure you have some money exchanged into the relevant currency and possibly some traveller's cheques.

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Santa Monica You're Not That Far

Santa Monica was once a town in itself. It was built as a seaside retreat for Los Angeles residents way back at the turn of the last century. Now however, it has been gobbled up by the ever-growing city limits of LA. However, it still maintains a character of its own, that is much more appealing than its big sister up the coast.

This chic, city-by-the-sea is less try hard than LA. It doesn't have to puff up is feathers to get people's attention; it's natural appeal does it automatically. This is probably why property prices here are some of the highest in the entire world.

So what should you get up to in Santa Monica? The beach is the first port of call. It is long, wide and sandy. The surf is great and the water is surprisingly clean. You simply must rent roller blades and cruise along 'The Strand' to Venice beach. But be warned, you may feel a bit self-conscious as everyone else will be honed, toned and golden. This is where the beautiful people live.

The Ferris wheel and wooden planks of support are just a couple of the instantly recognizable elements on the Santa Monica pier, which houses a fun old-fashioned amusement park. It also has some great restaurants and bars, where you can get hold of some excellent local produce and enjoy it while watching the nightly street dance on the pier from 7.30pm.

The town of Santa Monica doesn't let the States down in terms of its reputation as a great place to go shopping, and the widely-renowned Third Street Mall hosts stores supplying both tourists and locals with all sorts of things, from high fashion to practical surfer gear.

If you are into art, as many of the local residents of Santa Monica are, head over to Bergamot Station Arts Centre. There's over thirty private galleries in this part of the world, not to mention the wonderful (and free) Santa Monica Museum of Art.

It's not just indoors that you'll find art here, though, as the town is famous for hosting little bits and pieces, from sculptures to murals, all over the place. Santa Monica has art installations everywhere, whether it's a finely-crafted piece of sculpture or one of the publicly-recognised spaces for mural painting.

Shopping and Transport In Lagos

The city main airport named Murtala Muhammad International Airport entertains the flights to Lagos from national as well as international destinations. The airport is owned and administered by Nigerian Airports Company Limited. Thousands of passengers pass through the terminals of the airport each year, apart from that there are several projects under consideration to raise the passengers figure by growing the airport infrastructure and facilities. Lagos being a main air transportation center in Nigeria has a number of direct flights to various international destinations executing from its international airport. Furthermore, many international branded airlines like Nigerian International Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Lufthansa, Emirates, British Airways, Kenya Airways, Arik Air, Alitalia, Ethiopian Airlines, Afriqiyah Airways operate from this airport to run several flights to Lagos from all over the globe.

There are several markets all around Lagos for buying paintings, sculptures, day to day commodities, vegetables market, fish market, departmental stores and many more. Several markets are also situated besides the coast. The shoppers will find mass of stalls and mini shops which sell all types of artisan goods, decorative from all over the Nigeria. You will also locate several wood figures, masquerades, beads, brass arts, leather accessories, fabrics; barrels along with African musical instruments crafted by local skilled artists. Thousands of tourists traveling to Nigeria book their cheap flights to Lagos

Furthermore you may also move to the Alaba market on the western side of the city which is well recognized for both foods and spices buying. Foodstuffs and household items is the specialty of these markets and several other items like fashion accessories like beads, spas, footwear, handbags, and cosmetic products are also easily available and lots of buyers buy several products of their need especially those who travel to Nigeria by their cheap flights to Lagos.

Even if it's not enough, you may head to Palms shopping center which is a huge shopping compound with abundant stores, shopping sheds, antique stalls, chops bars, restaurants and so on. Additionally, there are many fine sites for arts and culture shopping with several stalls selling arts and crafts works. The visitors, who spend their holiday in Lagos by cheap flight to Lagos frequently stop at the big shopping complex to shop many of the famous and well known items for which the city is famous.

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