Susan Van Allen’s love for Italy stems from her maternal grandparents, who emigrated from Southern Italy. She was born in Newark, New Jersey, and grew up on the Jersey shore amidst wonderful food and drama. When she first stepped off the train into Roma Termini in 1976, she got hooked on Italian travel. Since then she’s explored the country up and down the boot–visiting relatives, immersing herself in the country’s masterpieces and culture, taking language and cooking classes, and going on boating, biking, and hiking adventures. She’s written about Italian travel for many media outlets including Dream of Italy and she’s the author of 100 Places in Italy Every Woman Should Go. When she’s not in Italy, she is based in Los Angeles, where she lives with her husband and makes scrumptious lasagnas.
If you would like to participate by reading the chat and hopefully asking and answering questions, here are some tips:
- Be sure to use the hashtag #italychat within your Tweet so everyone can see your question, answer, contribution, etc.
- Whether or not you have a free Twitter account, you can follow #italychat LIVE here OR here or you can come back to these links later to read the chat in full.
- @dreamofitaly will tweet out all questions using “Q” and a number-
Sample tweet from @dreamofitaly: “Q1: What is your favorite town on the Amalfi Coast? #italychat” - Our special guest @100placesitaly will tweet her answer using same number –
Sample tweet from @100placesitaly: “A1: My favorite is the town of Amalfi #italychat” - Anyone else on Twitter including YOU can answer the question too using A+number as this is all about sharing great experiences and Italy travel information.
Sample tweet from YOU: “A1: Ravello has to be the best town on the AC #italychat” - If you want to ask Susan or the crowd a question, start your tweet with @dreamofitaly followed by the question and I will put it in the queue and give it a number (example – “Q6”) and tweet it out when ready.
Sample tweet from YOU: “@dreamofitaly Is it safe for women to travel alone in Italy? #italychat”