So, it’s probably not the stuff you’d find on the front page of the dailies in Italy, but it’s Italian news nonetheless.
Some Italian news for your Sunday reading pleasure:
If the idea of a “Pope Casanova” seems surprising to you (as it did to me), then check out this Times Online article about the young man’s entry into Rome before his more legendary days as a, well, a Casanova.
Rick Steves writes about why he loves the Cinque Terre, even after all these over-touristed years.
If Nutella isn’t addictive enough for you already, consider that some young Italians are eating some of the hazelnut goo that’s been “enhanced” with psychedelic mushrooms.
Now that “Angels & Demons” is nearly …
2 comments
There are so many things to keep in mind when you’re hunting down a scoop of high-quality gelato in Italy, you’d be forgiven for just giving up and choosing whichever gelateria is closest to you. But in addition to my tips on finding good Italian gelato, some folks in Florence are trying to make it even easier on you by creating the “Real Homemade Gelato” designation.
Think of this “Real Homemade Gelato” designation, which is “vero gelato artiginale” in Italian, as you might think of a verification that a certain cheese is really parmigiano reggiano and not a …
2 comments
Who says genetic flaws are inherently bad? This baby deer found in a park in Tuscany would be just one of the crowd if not for its genetic mutation - instead of two horns, this little fellow has one. And it’s smack dab in the center of its forehead, making it - sort of - a real-life unicorn.
The deer/unicorn in question can be found near Florence, in a Prato park called the Center of Natural Sciences, and it’s already attracting quite a bit of attention from the international media. The park …
1 comment
Italy is, not surprisingly, a profoundly Catholic country - in name at least, if not in practice. The overwhelming majority of Italians self-identify as Catholics, although it’s a much smaller number who regularly attend any kind of church services. Still, when I’m told that one of the worst Italian swear words is “porco dio” (coupling the words “pig” with “god”), I know that it doesn’t matter how religious the Italians are in practice - the Catholic church is still central to the Italian identity.
So, you can imagine the consternation when a couple was discovered in a cathedral in the …
No Comments
Engineers proudly reported last week that a long effort to stabilize the Leaning Tower of Pisa has been successfully completed. The leader of the project has said that “the tower can rest easy for at least 300 years” at its current slant, which is just under 4 meters off true.
Pisa’s tower leaned before it was even completed in the 14th century due to the unstable ground it was built on, but it has been a popular tourist attraction for centuries. Still, it was closed to visitors in 1990 because authorities feared it would topple completely. It was …
No Comments
Mercer has just released its 2008 Quality of Living survey - it ranks cities around the world in terms of cost of living, personal safety, recreation opportunities, public transportation, and many other factors to come up with an overall ranking on “quality of living for expatriates.” Needless to say, I was curious where Italian cities had ended up.
Milan ranks 41st (up from 49th last year) on Overall Quality of Living, and that’s it. That’s the only appearance of any Italian city in the top 50 for either Quality of Living or Personal Safety. Yes, folks, that’s kind of …
No Comments
Some Italian news for your Sunday reading pleasure:
Yay! After a disastrous start, the Italian soccer team has actually made it out of the first round at the Euro 2008 soccer tournament. They have to play Spain today, and it’s win or go home. Keep your fingers crossed…
Well, you don’t hear this everyday. A dentist in the Ligurian city of Genoa has announced that he’ll perform his dental services for free in return for sex.
Italian actress Asia Argento seems to regret having French-kissed a dog for a scene in the movie, “Go Go Tales,” and …
No Comments
Some Italian news for your Sunday reading pleasure:
Remember the couple who was caught having oral sex in a cathedral confessional box? They’ve apologized to the archbishop, who accepted their apology.
Tom Hanks is in Rome at the moment, filming “Angels & Demons,” the prequel to Dan Brown’s hit “The Da Vinci Code.”
Apparently Italy can’t clean up its own trash - Germany is hauling 160,000 tons of the garbage in and around Naples back to Germany in order to incinerate it.
It’s official from the Guinness Records folks - Italy has created the world’s …
No Comments
Some Italian news for your Sunday reading pleasure:
After a couple was caught having sex in the Cesena cathedral’s confessional box, the cathedral had to be purified before it could be used again for normal services.
Someone’s wishing they had a satellite navigation device for figuring out how to get where you want to go in Venice. I think that would spoil all the fun.
SMS flood alerts for Venice are, however, not a bad idea.
Italy’s first game in the Euro 2008 championships is tomorrow - and last week captain …
No Comments
Some Italian news for your Sunday reading pleasure:
Some artists in Milan have produced a collection of needlepoint and fabric vaginas (yes, you read that right) which appear to be wearable art. An added bonus of the original Italian post, besides being just the kind of quirkiness I needed today, is that I now know the Italian word for clitoris. (Nevermind that it probably isn’t really going to come in handy. Ever.)
What country do you think of first when you hear the word “kiwi?” You probably said New Zealand, right? Well, some Italians are hoping to change …
No Comments
