Some news from Italy for your Sunday reading pleasure:
- One Italian wine maker is going to be dropping more than 6,000 bottles of his spumante into the sea to let them age on the sea floor for 18 months. Which, even if it doesn’t do anything to the flavor of the bubbly, will undoubtedly make the bottles more expensive in the end. Bravo, wine maker. Bravo.
- I love chocolate. I love Michelangelo’s “Pieta.” I do not, however, need the two to be combined.
- I’m not even sure what to say about this… A woman near Treviso hit a child with her car, drove off without stopping to see if said child was okay, and then returned later to demand compensation from the child’s parents for the damages caused to her car. Thankfully, she was arrested and charged with hit-and-run.
- In soccer news, World Cup 2010 tickets may have gone on sale recently, but in Vatican City it’s all about the 3rd annual Clericus Cup.
- US Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi was visiting Italy last week, and the self-described “ardent Catholic” got an audience with the Pope.
- Criminals in Italy are using internet phone services, like Skype, more often – making them harder to track. I hope that doesn’t spell trouble for Skype in Italy.
- A teacher in Umbria removed a crucifix from his classroom wall – and was suspended as a result.
- There are reports that a 14-year-old girl was raped (and her 16-year-old boyfriend beaten) by what authorities are saying was two Eastern European Roma. Several recent rapes in Italy have been blamed on foreigners, and Italy’s government has just enacted a decree to combat such attacks. The new law requires a life sentence for the rape of a minor or a rape that ends with the victim’s death. Additionally, however, the law “allows mayors to organize patrols of unarmed citizens to boost security on city streets,” which (in my opinion) could lead to pitchfork-wielding mobs. Oh, and an additional response to the recent rapes was to once again clear out Roma camps.
- Italian banks and car makers have asked for state support in this economy, why not the Italian fashion industry, too?
- Most travelers in Italy get around the country by train, which is highly recommended. Still, not all train stations are created equal. This post lists five train stations in Tuscany you may want to avoid.
- Can’t get to Venice for Carnival but want to incorporate a Carnival tradition into your life at home? Then whip up some of these “chiacchiere” from Bleeding Espresso.
- Sicily was named the best destination for Italian tourists for 2009 by the Italian Tourism Exchange.
- A new study indicates that Mt. Etna on Sicily, the most active volcano in Europe, “breathes” in a regular cycle of inflation and deflation.
- Immigrants awaiting deportation from the Italian island of Lampedusa rioted and set fire to some of the buildings at the expulsion center.
- With all the money to be made from Italian wine, it’s not surprising that Chianti Classico is the “most cloned wine” in the world. The Chianti Classico Consortium aims to do something about that.
- A teenage kid near Venice apparently hated his music teacher so much, he brought a big kitchen knife to his violin lesson and stabbed his teacher in the back before running out of the building.
- I love this photo of Venice that Robin put up on her blog in honor of Carnival…
- And this photo from Karen in Naples just made me giggle. Only in Italy, indeed.
- Anyone who has gotten behind the wheel in Italy might dispute this, but Italians think they’re perfect drivers.
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