Italy News: 03.15. 09

Some news from Italy for your Sunday reading pleasure:

• The Italian government is still trying to force all bloggers in Italy to get official state licenses. The legislation would require ISPs to block any website the government decided was inapproprite, for any reason. As Beppe Grillo points out, “Today, this only happens in China. In a dictatorship.” If you’re a blogger, Italian bloggers are asking for your support – send in your photo with the words “FREE BLOGGER” in the image.
• Spiegel Magazine (no relation, but great name, eh?) has posted a really interesting and revealing look at what makes Italy’s Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi, tick. Let’s just say that according to them he’s thinking with something other than his brain.
• Archaeologists digging through one of the mass graves used to bury plague victims of the 17th century on an island in the Venice lagoon have found what they say is the skeleton of a woman who was believed to be a vampire – someone who was, they thought at the time, spreading the deadly disease. How do the archaeologists know this woman was thought to be a vampire? A brick was pushed into the dead woman’s mouth before she was buried, as it was believed this would keep the “vampire” from feeding on other people.
• As I’m someone who has yet to find the true charm of Rome, I really appreciated Robin’s “not-so” love letter to the Eternal City. Very funny. I hope she finds what she’s looking for this time!
• If you think the ancient Romans were all Latin seriousness, think again. The recent discovery of a 4th century joke book reveals that not only did they enjoy a good laugh, but many of the classic jokes we know and love today have much older origins than one might have guessed.
• Remember my Home Food dinner in Milan? Debbie of Delicious Baby posted a picture from her Home Food experience in Rome. That’s quite a dessert spread! And Karen at South of Rome lists a few of the southern Italian options Home Food has on offer.
• What happens when you’re a gondolier in Venice who hasn’t been paying your taxes and who then goes through a messy divorce? Why, your jilted ex-wife goes to the Italian tax police to let them know they’re owed a bit more euro than you’ve been forking over. Oh, and by the way, this leads to them finding out that several gondoliers are doing it. Yeah, you’re probably not the most popular gondolier in Venice anymore.
• I wouldn’t have thought that Tuscany needed a multi-million dollar ad campaign to try to get anyone to visit, but evidently the region wants to be more popular with young travelers and not just the middle-aged folks chasing their “Under the Tuscan Sun” dream. It’ll be interesting to see what that $21 million gets them.
• Thanks to Italofile, we learn about a new tourism website the tourism office in Tuscany has put together. And while it’s lovely, and well worth checking out, it makes me wonder… If they’re trying to get more people to visit (a la the $21 million ad campaign mentioned above), and they launch a new fab website, wouldn’t you think they’d tell people about it?
• You may remember me rhapsodizing about how lovely the 2009 Giro d’Italia route is, and how much I really want to go watch the race this year… Well, I just found this fantabulous page of Giro d’Italia maps and info on the Wandering Italy site that makes me want to go even more. It’s not just good information for race fans, it’s great information for travelers in Italy who might want to catch a stage during their vacation. Bravo!
• And if you’d like to ride the first few stages of the Giro – all while raising money for the Lance Armstrong Foundation – then the “Giretto” d’Italia is what you’re looking for.
• As touristy as the site is (and as totally non-authentic), you can now do more than just visit “Juliet’s Balcony” in Verona – you can get married there.
• Since I’m always going on about how much I like my Italian soccer boyfriend, I thought it only fair to mention the husband’s Italian girlfriend – especially since she just appeared in the news. Heart-stoppingly gorgeous Italian actress Monica Bellucci just received a World Actress Award from the Women’s World Awards organization.
• After all the hand-wringing and gnashing of teeth, it’s official – for now. Beckham’s staying in Milan through June. And then? I expect more hand-wringing and gnashing of teeth.
• The Italian government has been talking about building a bridge from the mainland to Sicily for years, and it’s back on the discussion table. If it’s actually built (I’m not holding my breath), it’ll be the longest bridge of its kind in the world.
• If you’re planning a trip to Rome next weekend, be aware that the Rome Marathon is on March 22nd – so you may find that getting around the city is a bit challenging. On the other hand, it’s a great opportunity to cheer on the runners!
• There will be no more confusion about where your olive oil comes from if the EU has anything to say about it. Starting July 1, all bottles of virgin and extra virgin will have to have their country of origin clearly marked.
• Lovely pictures from all over Italy? Yes, please.
• I discovered a new blog recently that, among other things, has lots of entries about quirky aspects of Venice. And there are lots of quirky things in Venice. A recent collection has to do with street names, including this one about “Hell Bridge” and this one about “The Bridge of Fists.” Good stuff.
• WhyGo Italy reader Rene Seindal has written a post about the steady and alarming decline of Venice’s population. I can’t imagine the city being completely without Venetian residents…
• There’s a movement afoot in Rome to transfer oversight of the city’s historic monuments to a government committee. Given the, umm, “efficiency issues” with the Italian government, I don’t see that as a positive step.
• In addition to the honey and olive oil that Sting & Trudie Styler already produce from their Tuscan estate, they’re going to be selling red wine now, too. Message in a bottle, indeed. (Oh, and for more on Sting, check out his commentary here on being a “Tuscan farmer.”)
• In the ongoing murder trial in Perugia, the latest news from the courtroom is that one of the kids suspected of killing Meredith Kercher had a “long” knife in his pocket when he was being questioned at the police station following Kercher’s death, and the other defendent “looked nervous and repeatedly hit her head with her hands.”
• Wine tourists in Italy might be interested in two new wine guides to Tuscany, both reviewed here.
• And for more wine news, these are apparently three of the best wineries in Italy for visitors.
• A great tip for anyone hoping to spend part of their Italy vacation shopping without spending a fortune – shop the way the locals do, in the Italian street markets which feature both new and used stuff.
• One of my favorite daily emails comes from Italian Notebook, and one from last week was just so cute I had to share it with you. It’s an attempt at a Q&A session with a bunch of octogenarian Italian women which, as you’ll see, goes off in all kinds of directions along the way.
• If you’ve tried to go clothes shopping in Italy, you may have noticed (like me) that womens’ pants were designed for stick-figure-thin people. So I’m not terribly surprised to read that food disorders like anorexia and bulimia are the “main cause of death by illness” for Italian women between the ages of 12 and 25.
• You’ve probably heard about the Siena Palio – but what you may not know is that there are Palio celebrations all over Italy. There’s even one that involves donkeys. No, really.
• Attention travelers – the European Commission has okay’d the sale of Alitalia, which will evidently involve breaking up the airline into smaller bite-sized portions. We’ll see if that makes the frequency of strikes go down at all.
• One of the statues in the open-air loggia next to the Piazza della Signoria in Florence was found missing a finger last weekend. Thankfully, the fallen digit was located nearby and has been sent to an art restoration house to be reattached. But still. I hope this doesn’t lead to fencing that fantastic open gallery off from visitors.
• Italian actor Roberto Benigni will be taking his Dante show, a combination of readings from the “Divine Comedy” and satire, on the road – to Paris, London, and Germany (among other places) before hitting the U.S. at the end of May. The cities he’ll be hitting in the U.S. are New York, Boston, Miami, and Chicago. You’ll find more on the tour’s official site (in Italian).
• A show of the early Renaissance artist Giotto’s work is on display at the Vittoriano in Rome until the end of June.
• Want some charming linen napkins bought in a Naples market? Enter Karen’s St. Patrick’s Day giveaway with your comment on this post by midnight on Monday the 16th, and you just might get lucky.