Italy Blog

Image Podcast Language Podcast:  Italian Audio – Prodotti artigianali di seta di Como Text Teaser:  We investigate the silk culture of Como. Try reading and listening to the Italian version first then check with the English version. English:  Words by Martin Gani Half the merit goes to a domesticated blind butterfly that scientists call Bombyx Mori,’ says Diego Masciadri, the curator of the Museum of Silk in Como, Italy

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Dual Language: Silken artworks of Como – Prodotti artigianali di seta di Como

Initially, many Italians found Facebook a little off putting, and did not take to it.  Maybe Italians did not like having to deal with settings and an interface in English.  Now Facebook is in Italian, Italians are all over Facebook.  Now, the same thing seems to be happening with regard to Twitter . Before the summer I mentioned Twitter to students doing a tourism management master at the business school where I teach English.  Out of a class of 20 odd, only one or two had heard of Twitter, and none had, alas, tweeted

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Italy Takes to Twitter and Tweets

Italians who do not desire a break, at Christmas, from Mr Berlusconi and the scandal surrounding him can purchase, for their nativity scenes, figurines of the Premier, his estranged wife and the two women at the heart of the rumours.

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Fancy these in your Christmas crib?

For once Italy is about to introduce a law on which there is an all-party consensus – Northern League Senator Piergiorgio Stiffoni has proposed an amendment to a law reforming the highway code under which smoking while driving will become illegal.

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Car smoking ban proposed in Italy

Giorgio Barone or Giorgio 1, Prince of Seborga, otherwise known as “la sua Tremendità” [“your Tremendousness”] departed his “princedom” and this world on Wednesday.

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A "royal" demise

In an unexpected development in the Crucifix story we have been covering – in which the European Court of Human Rights ruled that crucifixes should be removed from Italian schools and other public buildings – the Mayor of Mandas,

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Now it’s a fine if you don’t display the crucifix

It’s not even the middle of winter yet, but things are looking somewhat bleak here in Italy.  It’s all doom and gloom. Honestly, trying to find a little good news originating from within Italy in Italy’s online press is only marginally easier than finding one of those proverbial hen’s teeth

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Italy – Hints In the, Almost, Bleak Mid-Winter

Words and Pictures by Katia Amore Custom Teaser:  Whenever Italians want to add a splash of purple to their recipes “radicchio” does the trick. But this colourful chicory is especially famous for its distinctive, elegant, slightly bitter taste that makes it a versatile ingredient to have in salads, soups, risotto, on pizzas or just on its own, grilled and served with top quality extra virgin olive oil and Modena Balsamic vinegar.

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Foodie guide to radicchio

Italian utility companies are not usually super-efficient at disconnecting the services of late payers but this week a water company acted quickly and cut off an important client – the legendary US Sixth Fleet, which operates in the Mediterranean Sea out of the port of Gaeta [Latina]. By doing so the company nearly caused a diplomatic incident.

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Got a few bills to pay? You’re not alone

Words by Pat Eggleton Meeting Mariaelena Lorefice and her husband Fabrizio Poidomani is both a pleasure and an opportunity for a fascinating lesson in the history of the Sicilian nobility, for Mariaelena belongs to one of the oldest families in Sicily.

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Aristocratic home for holiday rental in Sicily