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Italian News Snippets: 05.12.07

  • Want to learn your way around one of Italy’s cities while also adding a little whimsy to your home? Why not pick up a fly swatter in the form of Milan’s street system? It even comes in four fashionable colors.
  • Remember my post about crazy fun Italian festivals? Jackie found one that’s a frog race – only the frogs are on little wheelbarrow things that people push along the course. Sounds like an easy ride for the froggies.
  • Something tells me that talking to a computer-generated person at the tax office would be even more frustrating than talking to a real person, but then again I’ve never had to deal with the Italian tax man. Maybe Betty is a pleasant alternative.
  • Is it possible to lose an entire temple? One journalist claims Italy did just that after WWII.
  • If you’re wondering why that rural Italian property you want to buy costs so much, you can blame the Brits.
  • It’s not always strikes by train workers that stop the trains, sometimes it’s strikes by water buffalo breeders.
  • Drought concerns are spurring Italian scientists to find ways to grow crops which use less water.
  • As if Alitalia wasn’t having enough problems, its flight attendants went on a 24-hour strike last week.
  • Italy is working on protecting its famous olive oil against foreign companies which would produce something similar and try to confuse the consumer (much like California still tries to do with its “champagne”, much to France’s chagrin).
  • Visitors to Turin can see some of Leonardo da Vinci’s flying machines produced in 3D computer images at the Biblioteca Reale.
  • I don’t know about you, but an “artificial sleep machine” just sounds like a way for slave-driving bosses to eke another few hours out of their employees. Maybe it’s got a less sinister application, too?