When I tossed a coin in the Trevi Fountain in Rome last year, little did I know that I’d be returning to the city so soon! Yes, Italy beckons once again and I am so glad to be escaping the infernal October heat here; can’t wait to experience #AutumnInItaly 🙂
I am on my way to my very first travel blogger conference, in Rimini Italy. The good folks at Travel Blogger Destination Italia (TBDI) sent me an invite way back in July and since then I have been planning another epic trip around il bel paese.
A bit about TBDI
It is already known that bloggers are increasingly becoming an important part of promoting destinations. So it’s no surprise that the prestigious TTG Incontri, the main international B2B fair on tourism in Italy, started the TBD Italia project last year – a format within TTG Incontri that is dedicated to travel bloggers and digital media. In 2014, TBD Italia will connect some 300 bloggers with the B2B operators in the tourism industry. Of these 300 bloggers, 100 have been chosen as TOP Bloggers – including yours truly!
The bloggers have been divided into various clusters – travel, food, culture and fashion. No prizes for guessing that I am in the Food (& Wine) cluster. Apart from meeting tourism operators, I am also looking forward to various workshops on writing, photography and the use of social media. And of course I am eager to meet my fellow travel bloggers, many of whom I have known via social media – it will be great to see them IRL (in real life, duh)!
#AutumnInItaly
The conference lasts for 3 days after which I will be traipsing around Italy. I spent more than 3 weeks in Italy last year, yet I feel that I have just about scratched the surface. So this time, apart from visiting some favourites from last year, I am also exploring some new (to me) regions – Le Marche and Sicily to be precise.I am re-visiting Florence, but this time I am going to getting a local flavour by staying in the Oltrarno area, which is a largely residential part of the city. I have also lined up some interesting (non-touristy) tours, so stay tuned.
I am also heading back to Rome – there’s so much to see and do in the Eternal City that one trip (or five!) is not enough. I’m going on a food tour around Testaccio, the city’s mecca of authentic Roman cuisine. And I’m also going to be cooking Italian food with a nonna!
And of course I’m making another trip to my favourite destination – Venice, just because I have to!
Follow me around on this lovely #AutumnInItaly tour – via Twitter, Facebook & Instagram. I promise it will be a fun, food-filled ride 🙂
A presto!
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