Below I gathered all the necessary information for your visit to Italy:

Check list:

- Valid passport or identity card

- Tickets and reservations

- Insurance documents

Climate

Although summer in Italy, from the Alps to Sicily, is quite warm, the winter in Northern and Central Italy can be quite cool; winter in the south, however, is relatively mild. The best weather in the cities is in spring and autumn.

Average summer temperatures range from 18°C to 30°C (64°F to 86°F), the average winter temperature is around 4°C to 16°C (39°F to 61°F).

Credit Cards / Traveler’s Cheques

Traveller’s Cheques and Credit Cards are accepted almost everywhere. You can receive money at Automatic Teller Machines (ATM), if you have an ATM card linked to an international network (Bancomat, Postomat, EC, Cirrus, Plus, Maestro etc.). Mastercard and Visa (with PIN number) may be used to withdraw cash from an ATM machine. Cash from ATM’s only in Euro. You should not forget that the daily amount is limited.

Cash from ATM’s only in Euro / daily amount is limited.

Exchanging money

When exchanging large amounts of money it is usually better to do it in Italy. However, you should also bring cash for the first few days (for the taxi, for purchasing small things, etc.). Avoid to change money in change offices because of high commission rates; the best exchange rates are at the bank.

For a stay of more than 3 months, it may even be useful to open a bank account. Our staff will give you further information on it.

Italian Currency / Euro

The basic unit of Italian currency is the Euro.

When exchanging large amounts of money it is usually better to wait until you arrive in Italy. However, you should also bring cash for the first few days (for the taxi, for purchasing small things, etc.). Avoid changing your money in change offices because of high commission rates; you will receive the best exchange rate at the bank.

Telephone

The country code for Italy is "39":

• ‘Land phone’: The country code must always be followed by the "0" before the area code;
• ‘Mobile phone’: There will never be the "0" before the number.

Traveling by train

There are several night- and Eurocity-day-connections with Italy. People under 26 years may receive special discounts. Reservations for sleeping car or couchettes should be made as early as possible. Siena is connected with Florence and Rome by a public bus or by the train.

Visa

Citizens from the European Union do not need a visa and can enter Italy with an Identification card or Passport. Citizens from other countries should check with the nearest Italian Embassy or Consulate.

World time zones

Italy uses Middle-European-Time (MET):
Rome: ±0; London: -1; New York: -6; Los Angeles: -9; Tokyo: +8.
From the end of March to the end of October the clocks in Italy are turned ahead one hour.

נוער וילדים – הקורס מתוכנן במיוחד לילדים ונוער גילאי 10-18. נלמד את השפה והתרבות האיטלקית בעזרת משחקים, שירים ופעילויות מעניינות שונות באווירה כיפית ומעניינת.

Picture by – http://www.flickr.com/photos/proimos/

איטלקית לעסקים – מטרת הקורס בניית אוצר המילים עסקי ותעסוקתי והבנת השימוש במושגים מעולם העסקים. קורס זה מומלץ למעוניינים לפתח קשרים עסקיים עם איטליה. בקורס נלמד את הבסיס הדרוש להעברת מידע בצורה ייצוגית, הבנת התרבות לפיתוח יחסים עסקיים.

Image by – http://www.flickr.com/photos/pacificit/

Image by – http://www.flickr.com/photos/mgifford/

Italian cuisine is one of the most popular in the world. There are so many Italian recipes that you will find several variations of the same dish. For example lasagna made in the north of Italy is very different from the one made in the south. Famous Italian recipes are for pasta, pizza, seafood, poultry, meat and vegetable dishes. Desserts are also very famous. You will find more seafood dishes coming from the coastal areas of Italy such as Naples, Venice, Genova, etc. Piedmont is famous for his meats (often eaten raw) and truffles. Tuscany is also famous for meat and game as well as cacciucco (seafood stew) from Livorno. We have selected links to many Italian recipes from Italian and worldwide sources.
Regardless of the many variations in Italian recipes, Italians for the most part follow a tradition of recipes that make lunch and dinner the most important meals of the day.

An Italian meal

A formal meal in Italy is a succession of courses, with no main course, starting with an antipasto, followed by a first course (primo) of either pasta, risotto, or soup; and a second course (secondo) of meat, poultry, or fish, accompanied by one or two vegetable side dishes (contorni). Then there is a salad (insalata), sometimes cheese, and the meal ends with fruit or dessert (dolce) or both.

Antipasto never played an important part in Italian eating. Not long ago it consisted of only a few slices of prosciutto or salame, and these are still the favorites. Antipasto is meant only to whet the appetite, so do not make too much. For most people in Italy the first course is the most important, and pasta is the favorite food. Although most people prefer the simplest treatment - olive oil and garlic with fresh raw tomato and basil or a dressing of butter melted with sage leaves, sprinkled with freshly grated black pepper and parmigiano reggiano – the versatility of pasta is extraordinary.Risotto, gnocchi and other rice dishes are also versatile. Soups can be a meal in themselves or light and delicate.

With so much coast Italy has a wide range of fish and seafood. Until recently fish was considered to be a Friday dish only, and not grand enough to serve to guests, but now it is one of the most popular foods. Meat and poultry dishes are mostly grills, roasts, and stews; there are lovely game dishes, and offal is particularly good. Egg dishes and vegetable dishes can also be served as a second course. Vegetable dishes are an important part of every meal, so make good use of the repertoire. Salad can be a green salad or cooked vegetables dressed with olive oil and lemon juice.
Cheese is served at the end of the meal in northern Italy, especially in Piedmont, but not usually in the south. At home, dessert is generally fruit, sweets being reserved for special and festive occasions. After fruit or dessert, strong black coffee from a high or after dinner roast may be served in small cups, and perhaps followed with brandy or grappa, an amaro (bitter), anise-flavored sambuca or a sweet wine such as vin santo, accompanied by pastries or biscotti with almonds for dunking.

Image by – http://www.flickr.com/photos/trishhhh

La dolce vita

The history of Italian cinema began a few months after the first public presentation by the Lumiere brothers, on December 28th 1895 in Paris; after WWII the Italian cinema will become one of the most influential and prized worldwide. This new art was brought to Italy by the Lumieres during 1896. In March the first movies arrived in Rome, then in Milan, in Naples in April, in June in Livorno and in August in Bergamo, Ravenna and Bologna. In Pisa, the oldest and still operating Italian movie theatre, The Cinema Lumiere, was built in 1899

Below we have listed the most famous and successful actors and directors of the Italian cinema:
Roberto Benigni
Benigni is an Academy Award-winning Italian film and television actor, writer and director probably best known for his 1997 tragicomedy Life Is Beautiful (La vita è bella), filmed in Cortona and Arezzo.
Vittorio De Sica
As one of the world’s most influential filmmakers, and as an actor who starred in some 150 movies, Vittorio De Sica built a remarkable film career that spanned half a century.
Federico Fellini
Federico Fellini was one of the most influential and widely revered Italian film-makers of the 20th century and is considered to be one of the finest film directors of all time.
Sophia Loren
Sophia Loren (Sofia in Italian) is an Academy Award-winning actress, widely considered to be the most popular Italian performer.
Anna Magnani
Born in Rome, Anna Magnani was brought up in poverty by her maternal grandmother in a slum district of the city. She was an Academy Award-winning Italian actress, with stage experience.
Marcello Mastroianni
Marcello Mastroianni once told interviewers that Federico Fellini hired him for La Dolce vita (1960) because he had a "terribly ordinary face".
Alberto Sordi
Albertone was a beloved Italian actor and a film director. He was also the voice of Oliver Hardy in the Italian version of the Laurel & Hardy films.

Image by – http://www.flickr.com/photos/eyeliam/

There are many Italian singers who have gained international fame worldwide.

• Among those we have listed the following artists and a links to an official website
• Eros Ramazzotti
  One of Italy’s most popular pop singers gives a preview of some songs on his new album Stile Libero (Freestyle) which debuts October 26.    http://www.erosramazzotti.it
• Eros Ramazzotti
  Pages from the diary of Eros on his label’s official site.    http://www.bmricordi.it/eros/diario2-2.htm
• Eros Ramazzotti
  More about the Italian pop star.    http://www.ramazzotti.com
• Ligabue
  The official site dedicated to Ligabue, one of Italy’s most popular pop singers, guide to his tour, "Sulla Mia Strada" celebrating ten years of his career. Those who wish to chat online before his concerts can go to http://radio.iol.it http://www.ligabue.com
• Match Music
  The site offers videos of Italian pop music stars.    http://www.matchmusic.it
• Mina
  The legendary Italian music pop star who has not made a public appearance in years but still sells millions of copies of her records opened her official site in November, 2000 with the help of her son Missimiliano Pani. The site, called a "work in progress," has 2600 pages including a list of 800 songs she recorded in 250 disks with extensive descriptions. There are videos from the 184 TV shows in which Mina participated illustrated with 120 photographs. Add 57 articles published about her and a section called fashion which details her makeup, hairstyles, and fashions in 40 years of her career and Mina fans should have a surfeit.   http://www.minamazzini.com

Image by – http://www.flickr.com/photos/xslim/

One of the most fascinating things about Italy is its cultural and artistic heritage.

There are many Italian artists who over the years have filled the streets of Italy with picturesque arts and breathtaking sculptures.

Among them we have listed the following artists:

• Umberto Boccioni was a Futurist theoretician, painter, and sculptor
• Sandro Botticelli was perhaps the most humanistic of the Renaissance painters
• Il Bronzino is most famous for his portraits, delicately formal in style, coldly clear
• Michelangelo Buonarroti was painter, sculptor, architect, engineer and poet
• Giovanni Canaletto became successful as a painter and engraver of Venice scenes
• Michelangelo Caravaggio was a revolutionary naturalist painter from Lombardy
• Leonardo Da Vinci is the epitome of the Renaissance man
• Giorgio De Chirico was a well-regarded pre-Symbolist and influenced by surrealism
• Orazio & Artemisia Gentileschi works were influenced by Caravaggio and Bronzino
• Alberto Giacometti was a Surrealist sculptor known for his elongated forms
• Giorgio Giorgione died at 34 but his work influenced Titian and many more artists
• Giotto Di Bondone is the father of modern painting and one of the greatest artists
• Fra Filippo Lippi was a Renaissance prototype of the rebellious romantic artist
• Bernardino Luini was a North Italian painter from Leonardo circle
• Marino Marini’s works are noble, rhythmic, and strikingly dynamic
• Masaccio remains one of the most important figures in the history of Western art
• Amedeo Modigliani’s elegant, sinuous, linear style is easily recognized
• Raphael was the last of the three greatest painters of the Renaissance
• Dante Rossetti is famous for painting dangerously seductive and beautiful women
• Giovanni Tiepolo is principally known for his fresco work, particularly his ceilings
• Tintoretto was one of the greatest painters of the Venetian school
• Paolo Uccello tried to apply a scientific method to depict objects in 3D

Image by – http://www.flickr.com/photos/timwilson/

קורס מתקדמים – הקורס מומלץ ליחידים וקבוצות המעוניינים לקחת שיעורים אינטנסיביים ומעמיקים. בקורס נלמד דקדוק בצורה מעמיקה, נחזק את כישורי הדיבור, קרוא וכתוב. מיועד לבעלי רקע קודם בשפה לשיפור היכולות. במהלך השיעורים נראה קטעים מסרטים, נשמע חדשות ונדבר על נושאי אקטואליה פנאי ובידור.