If you’ve ever had a Baci* chocolate - those little chocolate hazelnut treats that come in silver and blue foil and have cute sayings in four languages on a little “fortune” inside - you’ve had chocolate from Perugia. That mouthful of delight, however, is only the beginning of Perugia’s place in the world of chocolate.
Every year, Perugia (the capital of Umbria) hosts a chocolate festival in October called Eurochocolate. For 2007, it runs from October 13-21. This video from a prior chocolate festival might make you want to change your vacation plans and hop on a plane to Umbria this fall:
1 comment
When the husband and I were listening to and reading about the song which won the Sanremo Song Festival this year, “Ti regalerò una rosa,” the husband did a bit more investigating and found the song which won Sanremo’s young songwriter’s competition. Like “Ti regalerò una rosa,” “Pensa” by Fabrizio Moro is a song raising social awareness, but it’s a song with a political side, too. It’s about the Italian Mafia and the people who have stood up against them (and died doing so) over the years. The lyrics are below, and again, thanks to the husband and Alessandro for their translation efforts.
The video for this song is attached below the lyrics - it’s Moro’s performance from Sanremo. Worth noting is the lyric in the fourth line of the second verse - “cosa nostra” literally means “our thing,” but it’s also a term used to describe the Italian Mafia. I like Moro’s play on the term here.
5 comments
The Italian government isn’t ready to accept this as truth yet, but apparently the Taliban has said they’ve released Italian reporter Daniele Mastrogiacomo to a third party today.
“We have seen reports that he has been handed over to a third party of tribal chiefs. That is not a liberation,” the government spokesman told Reuters.
“He has probably been handed over to people who have the task of verifying whether certain conditions have been met and whether to free him or not,” the spokesman added.
“The Taliban’s demands need to be fully met and we are still not there, and that makes …
1 comment
The Italian reporter kidnapped in Afghanistan has been seen on video, appealing to the Italian government to work for his release. The videotape, apparently recorded on March 12, has Daniele Mastrogiacomo saying, “Today is March 12, it is 8 am in Afghanistan. I would like to say that I am well and launch this appeal to the government: free me. Two Afghan colleagues and I illegally entered their territory and so I appeal to the Italian government and Premier Romano Prodi to attempt anything possible to secure our release.” Mastrogiacomo did …
No Comments
As the government in Italy debates a bill that would grant rights to non-married co-habitating couples, the Vatican is getting more and more vocal in its opposition. And while I’m sure the Vatican doesn’t want to be seen as supporting heterosexual couples living in “sin,” the real sticking point seems to be the implication that the bill would also grant rights to gay couples. Prime Minister Romano Prodi approved the proposals in early February, the bill was approved in early March by Italy’s cabinet, but faces an uphill battle in parliament.
A few news stories about this of late:
Italy protesters back gay rights - A majority of Italians seems to think that being gay isn’t that big of a deal, even if they do happen to live in the shadow of the Roman Catholic Church’s mothership. Last weekend, tens of thousands of protesters in Rome marched in favor of the bill. My favorite slogan on one paper bishop’s mitre reads “Meglio gay che Opus Dei!” or “Better to be gay than Opus Dei!”
No Comments
It’s now been confirmed by the Italian government - Daniele Mastrogiacomo, the Italian reporter who was kidnapped by the Taliban recently, is in safe hands.
Italian officials said on Monday that Mastrogiacomo had been freed after Taliban officials said a day earlier that they had released him in exchange for two Taliban officials.
No Comments
With a little help from my friend Alessandro, here are the lyrics to this year’s Sanremo Song Festival winner, “Ti regalerò una rosa” by Simone Cristicchi. According to Alessandro, not only is the song about the plight of the insane in Italy’s mental hospitals, but some of the lyrics are also cobbled together from actual letters written from inside those hospitals and never sent.
Apologies for the tiny text, it’s still not lining up properly from the Italian to the English - and with a larger text size it gets really off-kilter. Hope it’s still readable.
2 comments
You wouldn’t know it by my crazy enthusiasm for all things Italian, but I’m way more Irish than Italian. (I blame my parents.) In any case, Italians the world over can appreciate the idea of having a good time, so I’d like to take this moment to say Happy St. Patrick’s Day to everyone who’s drinking their green beer today. And here’s a special toast to our friends at the Ireland Logue, who have even been thoughtful enough to give us all a little St. Patrick’s Day history.
Cheers, and may the …
1 comment
I can’t count the number of times I’ve wandered through the streets of an Italian town (take your pick) and thought, “I wonder what it would be like to live here?” Where would my local market be? What transportation would I use? Would I make friends with my neighbors? Would the local cafe owner recognize me if I came in every day? Would I ever stop thinking “WOW” every time I looked out my window?
Yes, I’ve thought often about what it would be like to live in Italy, but I’ve not done nearly as much thinking about what it would be like to move there. The very same things that make densely-packed Italian streets so charming to wander and photograph would, it appears, make them a nightmare to anyone moving house. There wouldn’t be any gigantic U-Haul moving truck pulling up in front of an Italian apartment building, I can tell you that. And in the older apartment buildings, the ones without elevators, you think someone is hauling a sofa up six flights of stairs? I doubt it.
No Comments
As I was browsing my Italy news feeds this morning, a pattern began to emerge… So rather than fight it, I’m giving in to it. I give you today’s collection of news bits, all having to do with beverages.
First of all, we have a wonderful explanation of why Italians drink so much bottled water from Deirdre. It’s not the fact that it’s bottled - in other words, not just any bottled water will do - it’s all about where the water comes from. Most Italians drink bottled water that comes from actual mountain springs because it tastes better. Sure, you can order tap water in a restaurant, and drink tap water in your hotel or apartment, but the spring water often tastes better. And if you thought water is water is water and it all tastes the same, Deirdre’s here to tell you that’s just not so. After some time you’ll probably begin to develop a taste for the subtle differences (usually due to the mineral content of the spring from which the water comes), and probably have preferences for one source over another. Just think - you could come home from an Italian vacation having turned into a wine snob and a water snob.
No Comments
