Valentina Nesci
The Legend of Risotto alla Milanese
Milano, LombardiaIt was September 1574, and Milan’s cathedral, the Duomo, had been under construction for almost two hundred years. By then, the whole cathedral was surrounded by a jumble of shacks and tents which housed carpenters, artists and architects from all over Europe. Among them was the Belgian glasscutter Valerio Fiandra, accompanied by his most skillful… (more)
La Grattachecca
RomeIn Rome, the summer heat has the timing of a naughty child ( it hits as soon as vacations start and doesn’t end until your first day of work.) For this reason, every person who wants to explore the city without melting onto a sidewalk is obliged to cool him/herself with Rome’s own special refrigerating… (more)
Wall-E exists, and he is Italian!
PisaWhile walking through the streets of Pisa as of April this year, you might have encountered five foot tall green unidentified moving objects. Indeed, these creatures are not humans. No need to panic however: the wide eyed, smiling Dustbots come in peace. Created by the students at the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna of Pisa (a university… (more)
The man behind the mask
Rione Sanita', NapoliBrunello Leone was an architect who gave up his career in 1978. He did not win the lottery, nor did he follow Siddharta’s example and sit under a tree to reach Enlightenment. Much better… Bruno Leone had a chance encounter with Nunzio Zampella, (both pictured at left), the last man on Earth to practice the… (more)
Sons of… wolf
RomeJust like the city itself, Rome’s history too is a multi-layered tangle of stories and legends with Rome’s birth itself shrouded in mystery. Rumor has it that everything started with the birth of two sons: Romulus and Remus. Fine, but nothing we didn’t know already. What perhaps not all know is that Rea Silvia, their… (more)
Fun Run
RomeFew marathons involve chihuauas, couples in ski gear, little kids, orchestras and free cartons of great Italian milk. One such event is the Roma Fun Run, which takes place in the second weekend of March as part of the Maratona di Roma (Rome Marathon) weekend. In this year’s Fun Run edition, 64,700 runners were supposed… (more)
The non-Campaign
RomeYour brave journalist was prevented from taking pictures for this Note, chased and almost run over by two angry women on bicycles last Friday. The women were wearing the disturbing medicine-shaped coffee liqueur bottle/brand they were trying to advertise, and they were shouting “Niente foto per favore, non vogliamo pubblicità!” (No pictures please, we don’t… (more)
In Ritardo – The Bus
ItalyAt some point in Italy, you will be obliged to take the bus. Here you will encounter two opposite – but equally incredible – phenomena. The buses will either come all at once, (two or three bumper to bumper) or you see one after another racing by on the other side of the street, while… (more)
Italia Express
BresciaHe didn’t paint the Sistine Chapel, fight for the unification of Italy, or invent the radio. Yet in 1933, Alfonso Bialetti, a simple aluminum manufacturer, created one of Italy’s greatest icons. The earlier new-fangled steam espresso (literally, fast) technique was a turn of the century invention that was pretty much available only to those affluent… (more)
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