It isn’t too late to plan to visit some of the exceptional PRIDE CELEBRATIONS around the world! We are all familiar with Pride Celebrations near our own hometowns, but going from celebration to celebration can last an entire year! While in the United States most of our Celebrations are during the month of June, some cities in the rest of the world celebrate PRIDE during different months!

Some of the more exotic destinations offer Pride Celebrations later in the summer and even what is our winter season. Iceland Gay Pride, held in August, is a great time to experience a beautiful country, with is geysers, volcanoes and geo-thermal pools and have Pride celebrated in a Viking way! Amsterdam’s Pride events are also held in August and afford you the best of both world Pride and the beauty of Holland. Tour packages are offered for these and even more Pride Celebrations.

Some other notable Celebrations later in the year, are Frankfurt, Germany July 16 to 18, Munich, Germany July 23 to 25, Johannesburg, South Africa September 18 to 25 and Bangkok, Thailand November 5 to 7. Of course, we can’t forget or leave out Sydney’s Mardi Gras Pride Celebration, usually held in February and is the largest festival of ANY sorts in the entire country of Australia!

I have the web addresses for these Pride Celebrations as well as many more, so please feel free to contact me at travelman03@hotmail.com for those address or any other questions you might have!

Next month this column will feature the current and future travel trends for the gay, lesbian, transgender and bisexual community! Where to go to see and be seen!

Featured destination: Italy!

What more can be said about a country where being gay dates back to Virgil (70 - 19BC), the famous ancient Roman poet and about the same Country that gave us Leonardo de Vinci (1452 - 1519) and Michelangelo (1475 - 1564) - ITS GAY FRIENDLY!

Italy is a contradiction of cultures, a predominantly Roman Catholic country that does not exactly embrace “homosexuality” but realizes that the two can live side by side. Since the unification of Italy in 1888, there have been no specific laws placed on the books prohibiting homosexuality.

Friendship runs deep in the Italian culture, and 2 men walking down the street arm in arm, does not necessarily mean that they are gay. This can confuse people from outside the Italian culture both Gay and Heterosexual.

As far as important gay cities go, it seems that the Florence and Rome are the most active in the gay Italian Culture. Almost of the larger cities will have gay areas, bars, and restaurants, and yes, of course, cruising areas. Like all of Europe, Italy is the busiest in the summer month. August is a very busy vacation month for the Italians and you might go and find only Americans and Europeans there!

I have many web addresses for Italy and activities in Italy, please feel free to e-mail me with your questions at travelman03@hotmail.com.

Arrivederci!

Gary.