AS Italy’s students are entering their school and winter is still a few months away, travelers here during the holidays must reserve their hotel and plane bookings now. There are many international airports here in Italy but the most famous one is located in Rome which is the Leonardo da Vinci International Airport. Italy is located in the Italian Peninsula and is part of the European mainland and along this line; foreign visitors here can also cross the landlocked border from France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia.

All of these borders are unguarded as part of the Schengen agreement which was signed in the 1970s. But because of the recent terrorist attacks in the United States in 2001, these borders may be subject to inspection by Customs agents of the respective countries but this is definitely not a difficult situation if the tourist simply has nothing to hide.

So you can either come here by train which has trips daily from France, Croatia, Austria, Switzerland, Germany, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovenia and Spain. The tourists will love to be here especially during winter because the hit destination here as far as foreigners from other parts of the continent is the Alps region. And it is not just the Alps that Italy can offer. There are also numerous mountains in Spain which snows the whole season of winter and it’s definitely nice to spend the holidays here.

So pack up your things and leave now. Oops, I don’t mean literally now because you have to book all your tickets in advance. Major airlines from all over the world converge their planes at the Leonardo da Vinci international airport in Rome as folks come here to celebrate Christmas. After all, the seat of Catholicism is here and it is widely believed that this is the first Christian church. And so there are nine days here to hear Mass prior to Christmas Eve and prior to that, four weeks of preparation which they call Advent.

In the commercial side of things, malls here in Rome and other cities such as Venice and Milan have the Christmas spirit. But that is still two months away though. For now, what Italian kids would love to expect in the coming weeks is Halloween. In Halloween here, they have adopted the Westernized or the Americanized style of tricking or treating. Although this is discouraged by the Church, the younger generation has the sense of freedom to enjoy this experience.

Stroll around the Mediterranean beaches in the middle of autumn and you’ll see a deserted beach just like what you find in the video of All Saints’ Pure Shores. Beaches here tend to get colder in winter to as much as -3 degrees Celsius. Still, if you plan to have a garden wedding here, then don’t let that ruin you. All you need is practicality though as you need layers and layers of clothing to protect you from the cold. So you need a customized wedding dress for that. Mind you, that may be the most beautiful customized bridal gown the world has seen.