Friday, December 31, 2010

DECEMBER 2010


BENEATH NAPLES


















12012010 Before long, Duncan had worked his way through most of the school’s tunnel network, and he moved on to bigger sites, like the remnants of the High Line railroad in Chelsea and the so-called “Mole People” train tunnel. On the internet, he discovered a like-minded group of explorers in Minneapolis—“a bunch of college dorks like me having adventures and writing about them,” he says—and then found his way to an urban exploration forum in Toronto. There, Duncan learned about other groups wandering through the sewers of Naples and Melbourne, the catacombs of Paris, and the Stalin-era bunkers underneath Moscow. Urban Cowboys | GOOD
12022010 Farnese Atlas (c. 2nd century) sculptor unknown, marble, Naples, Italy. According to Greek mythology, after the Titans lost a serious royal rumble with the gods of Olympus, Zeus punished Atlas by sentencing him to carry the heavens on his shoulders for the rest of eternity. Nowadays, instead of a celestial globe, Atlas is portrayed as holding the actual earth, a common misconception that Atlas would have surely welcomed. Having the weight of the world on your shoulders is one thing, but the rest of the universe? Many manly props to Atlas. 10 Manliest Sculptures | Men's Health
12032010 King Ferdinand I was a host to Saint Francis of Paula (1416-1505) in Naples. Through a half-opened door he witnessed the monk in meditation, floating high above the floor of his room. Pre-historic Nuclear War and ancient Flying Aircraft uncovered | The Canadian
12042010 As the first recorded syphilis outbreak occurred in 1495 during Charles the VIII’s invasion of Naples, Harper says that syphilis probably arrived in Europe with Columbus, who had just come back from the New World two years before. Since the 16th century, debate has raged on the geographic origins of syphilis (Treponema pallidum), a spiral-shaped bacterium that causes cardiovascular and neurological damage. Syphilis: spoil of the New World? | Nature
12052010 In Naples, the spirit of festive excess is more apparent: on the strike of twelve, the city erupts in a barrage of fireworks and firecrackers making it sound like a battleground. And a walk down the street can actually be potentially risky endeavour as there is also a new year tradition of getting rid of the old. Some people, then, in a burst of euphoria to start off the new year on the right foot, decide to dispose of the TV or the sofa and quite literally, throw them out - through the window! Which accounts for the rows of cars parked on the outskirts of the city where they hope to avoid damage. New Year around the world | Hello!
12062010 Sometimes it’s not very relaxing to be somewhere new when you don’t speak the language. It’s an adventure, but it can be a bit stressful. Finding the places you go for the things you need regularly is key to relaxation… especially when one of those key places is a wellness spa. In a popular vacation spot, finding a good spa with reasonable prices is tough, so your best bet is always a recommendation. Having been to Aisthesis in Varcaturo, twice now, I feel very confident recommending their services. Aisthesis offers everything from massages, facials, tanning, body scrubs, Turkish bath, sauna, manicures and pedicures to cellulite reduction, slimming treatments, and couples retreat days with chocolates and champagne. Fantastic Spa Treatment and Wellness in Naples | Examiner
12072010 Capri is as seductive as ever (last summer it drew the likes of Mariah Carey and Eddie Murphy) and the newest hotel, J.K. Place opened to rave reviews last spring. The 22 spacious rooms boast antique and retro furnishings, and an overall air of exclusivity prevails—felt mostly when you're lounging by the garden-framed pool absorbing the breathtaking views of the Marina Grande and Bay of Naples. Vacation Hot Spots | InStyle
12082010 The singer sparkled in her sequined plum gown and white fur bolero at the 14th Annual Capri Hollywood International Film Festival. Is she gorgeous glam or channeling Mrs. Santa Claus too much? Love It or Leave It: Mariah Carey | Cosmopolitan
12092010 Congratulations to Paul Weller, who is now a married man. The Modfather tied the knot in a secret ceremony, marrying Hannah Andrews in Capri, Italy, last week with just a handful of his family as guests. Paul got engaged to the backing singer, nearly 30 years his junior and pictured with him above, in April this year. A source said: "Paul didn't want a public wedding. He and Hannah agreed to just invite a select few family and friends. "They didn't want to make a big deal about it." The boy done Well | The Sun
12102010 He's one of Australia's most explosive young back-rowers, but Beau Robinson has been forced to play in Italy after failing to secure a Super 14 contract next year. The 23-year-old openside flanker has signed an eight-month deal with the Benevento Gladiators club. Robinson off to Italy | The Daily Telegraph
12112010 Giro d'Italia. In this stunning image of Maiori, Italy, cyclists swoosh around a mountainous curve on the Amalfi coast—a region known for its beautiful vineyards, picturesque villas and historic architecture. The stretch was part of Stage Four of the 2007 race, which ran from Salerno to Montevergine di Mercogliano. 10 Picture-Perfect Bike Races | Woman's Day
12122010 When Giovanni Trapattoni talks about educating his Irish team, this might be what he means. Not for the first time, he is trying to explain the Italian mentality. In Naples, he said, when they changed the law to make wearing seat belts compulsory, thousands of shirts were printed with a black band diagonal across their chest. The Neapolitans could look like they were wearing seat belts when they weren't. These are the little details. Losing ugly has become the most unwanted habit of all | Indipendent.ie
12132010 Looking for the perfect holiday decoration to one-up that neighbor who synced his Christmas lights to Slayer? How about a statuette of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange for your nativity scene. Seriously. Inspired by the silver-haired Australian's online escapades, a Naples creche creator has crafted an Assange figurine (holding a laptop, naturally) to go along with the more traditional Mary, Joseph, and Jesus ensemble. It's a Christmas miracle. Reuters: "I included him to poke a little fun at the world and have a good time," said Di Virgilio, 29, whose family has been making nativity statuettes and ornate creches since 1830. "In a sense, Assange is the man of the year," said Di Virgilio. Julian Assange: Coming to a Nativity Scene Near You | Mother Jones
12142010 The hike in the Valle delle Ferriere runs in the same valley as the one in the Valle dei Mulini, only several hundred meters higher. You do take a steep path (rather a stair) that brings you to Pogerola. As our hotel lies on the road to Pogerola and our hotel manager offers us a drive, we choose "the easy way" and drive to Pogerola by car. After all, the walk ahead of us is long enough ... Pogerola lies at an altitude of approximately 300 meter. The first part of the trail goes up considerably, until you reach an altitude of approximately 500 meter. Further on, the trail continues relatively flat. It winds around the slopes of the hills, once through a quiet forest, then under the cliffs, with magnificent views of the valley. Occasionally you pass a house, with the obligatory lemon trees and corresponding garden. In a clearing a few charred tree trunks still recall a single wood fire which some years ago devastated part of this nature. Luckily, nature recovers quickly. In some of the many valleys the water still flows down past splashing waterfalls. Valle delle Ferriere | amalfi-wandelen.be
12152010 In Fred Plotkin’s excellent guide to the regional food of Italy, Italy for the Gourmet Traveler (Kyle Cathie 1997) he includes in the information about each area, what he calls a “classic town”. This is a town or city which “... embodies the character, history and gastronomic personality of the region”. It is not hard to see why Plotkin used Amalfi as his “classic town” of the Campania region of Italy. All the delights of the southern region of Campania are indeed concentrated in this compact seaside town. Learning to cook in heaven | Cuisine
12162010 While holidaying, The Sunday Telegraph reporter Brittany Stack spotted former Home and Away actress Tammin Sursok in the small town of Praiano and discovered the identity of the mystery man she's been dating for the past four and a half years: relatively unknown American actor and director Sean McEwen. "My parents celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary here and they said it was beautiful so we had to come. It's definitely on the cards." Stunning Tammin Sursok's bikini atoll | The Sunday Telegraph
12172010 Talk about a spontaneous photo this year. We went to Naples - Diane Smith (Sports Illustrated editor) - and on to Pompeii. One day we were eating at a pizzeria by the water, and suddenly the model is sitting on a table in her bathing suit. We're in each place for two weeks, and a lot of the spontaneity comes from getting to know the people. In Naples, all the old widows call out, "Ah, come in. Bella, bella!" They just love these gorgeous girls. They have us over for dinner. Dream Job | New York Post
12182010 "Football Football," in which Bosnian director Haris Pasovic explores the phenomenon of football and its impact on ordinary people, is possibly the biggest theater production to be staged in the impoverished Balkan country this year. The play is a combination of story-telling, music, dance, drama and video, co-produced by the Sarajevo-based East West Center, Singapore Arts Festival and Napoli Theater Festival Italia. It is set in a guns-and-drugs-ridden ghetto of Scampia in Naples, the fiefdom of Camorra, Italy's second largest mafia group. The setting is similar to the slums where some of the beautiful game's greatest players, such as Diego Maradona and Zinedine Zidane, grew up. In the play, Scampia is home to a group of marginalized, soccer-loving young immigrants, suspended between a grim reality of their lives and unfulfilled dreams about football fame. They are played by professional actors, ball-juggling footballers and dancers from four continents. "Football dance" play a global soccer celebration | China Daily
12192010 As announced last February, primo ballerino Roberto Bolle was drafted into the Salvatore Ferragamo camp as the new face behind the lux design house. Fashion photographer of the gorgeous and glamorous, Mario Testino, built the new Ferragamo ad campaign around German supermodel Claudia Schiffer and Bolle. The motivation? Schiffer, in a retro era evocative of glamor, invites herself backstage to meet étoile Roberto Bolle. They were all shot in Naples' Teatro San Carlo with Bolle modeling Ferragamo in various states of dress & undress. Bolle's Ferragamo Ads Are Ehhhhhh | Opera Chic
12202010 Capri's Punta Tragara hotel—carved out of a rock face and once renovated by Le Corbusier—has long been a magnet for fashion types, artists, politicians and the rich and fabulous in general. And with the recent opening of the hotel's UNICA spa, jet setting guests now have even more reason to make a layover. The spa specializes in thelassotherapy, using sea water and algae to create a menu of treatments inspired by the ocean surroundings. Serene Getaway: Punta Tragara's New UNICA Spa | Modern Luxury
12212010 Italy fits nicely into our remit, not only are the properties of the highest caliber, but also the locations are some of the most picturesque to be found in Europe. Italy’s property market has increased in popularity in recent years with VIPs buying some of the most prestigious residences on the market. Our portfolio of properties in Italy will soon include ‘prestige resale’ properties, prestigious villas and luxury homes in Como (including Lake Como), Liguria otherwise known as the Italian Riviera, Amalfi, Penisola Sorrentina and Capri. The launch our wonderful Italian Portfolio | Unique Living
12222010 The moment of a volcanic eruption is so hard to predict it seems incredible that people continue to live near Vesuvius. Turner, who was not painting from life, imagined that volcano breaking into infernal fireworks forever; his painting could stand as a warning. But equally magnificent, and unexpectedly grand, is Andy Warhol's vast Vesuvius, in which the mountain is erupting in lighting-strike lines and explosions of irradiated colour that clash and repercuss. The volcano has become an icon, like Elvis or Marilyn or the Brillo boxes, but unlike them it remains vividly active. Volcano: Turner to Warhol | The Guardian
12232010 Casa Angelina is perched above the town of Praiano, between Positano and Conca dei Marini, and overlooks the sea with views of Capri and the smaller private island of Li Galli, once owned by Rudolph Nureyev. It is a contemporary five-star hotel, white-washed inside and out, a blank canvas for the view to fill. The sea is framed perfectly in the huge windows of the restaurant and downstairs bar, with vibrant local art and sculpture the only colour, apart from the splash of blue swimming pool. Indipendent Days | Business Traveller
12242010 Italian author Orietta Boncompagni Ludovisi has had her book “The Best Pizzerias In Italy” republished some five times since it first appeared in 1996. Each time a new edition of Boncompagni Ludovisi’s pizza book hits the bookshops of Italy, it sells like hot cakes. As Naples is reputedly the place where pizza was invented, it should perhaps not come as much surprise to see that four out of the top five pizzerias in Italy are in Naples. The Top 5 Pizzerias in Italy | Blog from Italy
12252010 OliO Pizza e Più (West Village) - Champion pizzaiolo expands from Naples home base to school NYC in artisanal pies. Master pizzaiolo with a shelf full of medals drops authentic Neapolitan pies on the West Village. Light crusts provide the base, artisanal Italian ingredients do the topping. Lemon and arugula on the Amalfitana, prosciutto and burrata on the Campagnola, over-the-top house signature combines cream of broccoli and ricotta with edible silver. OliO Pizza e Più | BlackBook
12262010 Well, one Japanese bloke makes the best Neapolitan pizza in the world. And that's official. UPI reports Akinari Makishima, 33, who works in Nagoya at an Italian restaurant, became the first Japanese person to win the international competition in Naples, Italy, for making the best Neapolitan pizza. The competition has been held for the last nine years, the Kyodo News said today. Mr Makishima trained a bit on the outskirts of Naples (so he did get some Italian help) before entering a field of 150 competitors from countries including Spain, France, the US and Italy. Japanese man Akinari Makishima wins pizza-making contest in Italy | news.com.au
12272010 In 1922, a talented young conductor from Naples decided that San Francisco paid far too much for opera -- bringing in travelling productions from other cities. He keenly observed that the city could sponsor its own opera company. This man was Gaetano Merola -- a visionary and gifted promoter of the arts. Merola founded San Francisco Opera without a theater -- assembling a troupe of singers, musicians, and set designer in Palo Alto at Stantford University's outdoor athletic stadium. The Curtain Rises | Gentry
12282010 Bibliopolis - Edizioni di Filosofia e Scienze was founded in 1976 by its owner and director Francesco del Franco, together with his wife, Nella Castiglione Morelli, an archeologist in classical antiquity. The focus of Bibliopolis on scientific and philosophical subjects is strictly related to the background of his publisher. Francesco del Franco, on the one hand, was awarded a degree in physics from the Theoretical Physics Institute of University of Naples, on the other he has inherited from his father Constantino, a bibliophile who cultivated humanistic studies within B. Croce's entourage, a genuine interest in philosophy and in classical world where it rose, as welI as a taste for publications conforming to high printing standards. History | Bibliopolis
12292010 Father Vesuvius, devising to punish the wicked cities of the Romans that lay beneath his flanks, erupted not in a vulgar Old Testament cataclysm but instead—as befitted a good Classical volcano—distributed his destruction with prim discrimination. He put forth first a lofty vertical column of ash which, as it spread out at the top, looked to all the world like an elegant umbrella pine. The folk of the Bay of Naples (such of them as had any sense on that fatal day in 79 A.D.) accepted this timely warning, and took to flight, a healthy impulse encouraged by the soot that began to drift like a heavy snow upon those downwind of the mountain. Mortal Remains | The Weekly Standard
12302010 In 1906 Maksim Gorky settled in Capri where other proletarian leaders, such as Lenin, used to come for a vacation. He fell in love with Capri and Italy at large; as a result of this love affair twenty seven Tales of Italy appeared in 1906 – 1917 presenting a strange mixture of socialist propaganda with stories of larger-than-life human passions and colorful sketches of Capri, the Bay of Naples, Sorrento and other romantic places, drenched in golden sunlight, with craggy cliffs and sweet scent of flowers wafting from the hills. He cherished the breath of antiquity which blurred the distinction between the past and the present. The Quark-Hadron Duality | International Workshop on QCD
12312010 Terry Gilliam is, once again, about to start production on a short film. According to a patchwork of info from various Little Bleeders, the film is due to shoot in Naples from January 10th to 16th, though some filming may have taken place in the week before Christmas; it’s based upon Eve Merriam’s poem The Wholly Family; we can expect it to run around fifteen minutes. Terry Gilliam Shooting The Wholly Family In Naples This January | Bleeding Cool

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

NOVEMBER 2010


DREAMY LITTLE RESORT


















11012010 Cilento is a protected Italian region - much of it a national park and Unesco world heritage site, no less - that sits not far south of the teeming holiday centres of Naples and the jet-setting Amalfi coast. Its interior is all sun-baked hilltop villages and majestically undulating, tree-clad mountains - harbouring, it is said, eagles and wolves. Our first base was Le Favate in Ascea, a stately farmstead hidden within the green folds of interweaving valleys that roll back from the blue Mediterranean. It's part of the agriturismo chain, a nationwide affiliation of rural estates that also provide impressively upscale hotel accommodation; its buildings - stylish, spacious and chunky - date from the very early 17th Century and are as natural to the ancient terrain as the surrounding olive groves. Hiding away in Cilento, the secret corner of southern Italy | Daily Mail
11022010 Villa Enterprises Management Ltd., Inc. (and its affiliates, Villa Enterprises) is a global multi-concept restaurant franchisor with 322 quick service restaurant (QSR) locations across 38 US states along with five additional countries. Founded in 1964 by Naples, Italy native Michele Scotto as a small pizzeria next to the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York City, Villa Enterprises today is an international organization that owns several unique QSR brands. 'Feed The Fear' Winner to Receive Pizza for a Year | PR Newswire
11032010 Danny DeVito -- actor, producer, director and proud Italian American -- has reached back to his roots to bring Americans a taste of Sorrento in Danny DeVito's Premium Limoncello. Danny DeVito Wants to Get You Drunk | Advertising Age
11042010 Carthusia I Profumi di Capri: "I always pick up several of these scents when I'm in Italy." Beauty Tricks for Travel | Marie Claire
11052010 Live like a prince in a country villa in Nola. This raspberry pink, 18th-century mansion was the neglected holiday home of the Princes of Castelcicala; now it has been restored, with care and passion... Relais Castelcicala | Sawday
11062010 An Italian gentleman, Mr. Leonardo B. Romano from S.Agata de Goti, a town near Naples, has recently watched the documentary movie about the Bosnian Pyramids on Italian TV. It hit him like lightning that he had an identical view from the balcony of his house, a pyramid like hill covered by grass with pointed edges and a square base. He always was wondering what this strangely shaped hill was, but never thought of doing research. “What is in front of your eyes every day, is of no special interest after some time”, he says. But after having seen the Bosnian Pyramid documentary he was convinced that his town of Santa Agata dei Goti had a pyramidal structure under one of the hills. The Pyramid Hill of S. Agata dei Goti | European-Pyramids
11072010 Through the brand Giosole, the Pasca di Magliano family commercializes from more than twenty years, homemade food specialties transformed by using fruits and vegetables produced in the land in Capua (Italy) owned from more than three centuries. The strong point of Giosole’s products lays in the highest quality of the row ingredients employed: fruit and vegetables are cultivated according to the “lotta integrata” method (which means the lowest possible use of pesticides and the use of natural farming and storage techniques) in the farm estates and then processed on the premises with artisanal care. Giosole s.a.s | Bravo Italy Gourmet
11082010 Off the coast of Amalfi, a Neapolitan man that I admire. His head fell into my lap with exhaustion, preceded by the rest of his Neapolitan body. He was wet and cold and the night sea water was rough and dangerous. A fisherman’s trawling net was caught in the motor of our sail boat. He was full of gratitude to be born in Napoli, the son of a doctor, at the foot of Vesuvius in a village of sailors. He spoke willingly about his Napoletanità, how they thrive on drama, deep feeling and the friggatura; the clever getting away with va fan cuolo rule-breaking that delights a free soul and their appetite for living in the flesh, eating well, living large, simply and sensibly. When the elements were with us, instead of against us, sailing with him was a blue dream, like being on the back of the surfboard of a skilled surfer, going up and down the swells with controlled abandon. Whehew! Fantastico! Che pezzo di uomo! What a man! A Man of Substance. | Elephant Journal
11092010 Jennifer Egan's spellbinding interlocking narratives circle the lives of Bennie Salazar, an aging former punk rocker and record executive, and Sasha, the passionate, troubled young woman he employs. We first meet Sasha in her mid-thirties, on her therapist's couch in New York City, confronting her long-standing compulsion to steal. Later, we learn the genesis of her turmoil when we see her as the child of a violent marriage, then as a runaway living in Naples, then as a college student trying to avert the suicidal impulses of her best friend. We plunge into the hidden yearnings and disappointments of her uncle, an art historian stuck in a dead marriage, who travels to Naples to extract Sasha from the city's demimonde and experiences an epiphany of his own while staring at a sculpture of Orpheus and Eurydice in the Museo Nazionale. A Visit from the Goon Squad | KQED
11102010 In the summer of 2004, while traveling to Naples, Italy with my family, I found myself standing in the middle of a courtyard that, as a boy in the 1960’s, I had once claimed as my domain. I had fantasized about this return to childhood for many years. I had imagined entering the courtyard in endless variations, and envisioned startled ghosts, shaken by my appearance. But when I discovered the big courtyard door unexpectedly open, allowing me to step straight into the rectangular courtyard, I found myself simply, uneventfully there. Robert Zweig, Return to Naples | Jewish Magazine
11112010 For the spring summer Kenzo campaign, fashion photography by Mario Sorrenti was turned into Kenzo artwork, per usual the house always succeeds in bringing up the artsy side. Sorrenti was born in Naples, Italy, he moved to New York at the age of ten, where he’s still working and living. Besides working on notable photography like Calvin Klein ads featuring Kate Moss, Lancome, Paco Rabanne and Benetton adverts, Sorrenti’s photography was also a subject of exhibitions at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum, New Yorks Museum of Modern Art and a number of other galleries. Kenzo by Mario Sorrenti | Designscene
11122010 By measuring telltale molecules in the blood, doctors can determine patients' cancer risk, monitor chronic diseases, and estimate the best time to perform in vitro fertilization. A European consortium, including electronics companies ST Microelectronics (headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland) and Technobiochip (of Naples, Italy), is developing a device for bedside diagnostics that integrates sensitive optical detectors with sample-handling microfluidics on the same chip. Silicon Chip Spots Blood Proteins | Technology Review
11132010 The Cilento coastal region in Campania remains as down to earth today as it was centuries ago, and gives priority to the tranquillity of country life amid unspoilt natural beauty rather than any tourist bustle. Of course its residents are proud of sights such as the Temple of Paestum, which Goethe praised so highly. But instead of advertising these things, the residents allow visitors to discover them in passing – the wonderful food (the authentic buffalo mozzarella and the original hand-twisted fusilli pasta come from Cilento) and the warmth of the locals.
Great Escapes, Italy, Taschen | Telegraph
11142010 Next, a plush intercity train from Bologna to Naples, where, in December 1818, Percy Bysshe Shelley's party visited en route to Vesuvius. Although the landmark volcano was spewing smoke and fire, Shelley et al attempted an ascent on mules. Their guides tried to desert them, and the party was overcome with exhaustion. I took the bus to the last stop and joined a grey stony track that winds to the top of the cone. Today, vents spew out steam and a smell of sulphur hangs in the air. I stayed in the youth hostel near Paestum, about 50 miles south-east of Naples. The Greek temples of Paestum, discovered in 1750, are a breathtaking sight: 2,500-year-old structures standing magnificent in tall, wild grass and poppy plains, accompanied by bird song and the occasional visitor. Goethe visited the ruins of this ancient Greek city in 1787 and marvelled at the temples of Neptune and Hera as they stood enormous in the marshes, surrounded by buffalo. On visiting Paestum, Shelley found the place inexpressibly grand. Poetry in motion: On the trail of Shelley | The Indipendent
11152010 The town of Pompeii existed already in the archaic period. Traces survive from the seventh, eighth, ninth centuries BC. People have always wanted to live on the delicious Bay of Naples. Greek settlers, Etruscans, Oscans, Campanians, all occupied attractive sites and left evidence of their settlements. When Rome conquered and unified Italy, wealthy Romans flocked there; we find straitlaced or pessimistic commentators complaining that slackers, even among members of the Senate, preferred the luxurious half-Hellenized lifestyle of that seductive area—”more or less the ancient equivalent of St Tropez,” as Beard calls it—rather than the generally hard-faced and censorious atmosphere, and the dignified but less comfortable dress, of Rome, the conqueror of the world. Such complaints were generally ineffectual, and many upper-class Romans continued to prefer the softer and more interesting existence. Under the Volcano | The New York Review of Books
11162010 During the break between the master-classes professor A.Gruen (Switzerland) made a presentation about 3D modeling of Pompeii using air photos, terrestrial laser scanner data and close-range digital images. Along with the busy commercial program, the guests had an interesting cultural one. The conference participants could learn a lot about Italian traditions and culture during tours to Rome, Vatican, Naples and Pompeii. Xth International Scientific and Technical Conference | GeoConnexion
11172010 The Benevento Missal will be the first item of Nazi-era loot from a UK national museum to be restituted to its pre-war owner. It will be received by the archbishop of Benevento, Andrea Mugione, on 11 November, during a symposium on medieval literature. For the Italian city, the UK’s decision to return the 12th-century missal has a symbolic significance, since its cathedral was destroyed by British bombs during the second world war. UK national museums (which include the British Library) were not allowed to deaccession, so the restitution had to await a change in the law, which came into effect this year. The final chapter in a story which we initiated over a decade ago. It began in February 2000, when UK museums published lists of works which had an uncertain provenance for the Nazi era (1933-45). Among hundreds of items, one caught my eye: a missal in the British Library from Benevento cathedral library, “removed at some time before 1944”. The manuscript had been bought that year from a Naples bookdealer by Captain D.G. Ash, who sold it at Sotheby’s in 1946, when it went to the British Library. How The Art Newspaper changed the law | The Art Newspaper
11182010 Sure, Capri can be a cliché: a jaw-droppingly beautiful Mediterranean island drenched in champagne, caviar, Gucci…and tourists. But if you book a room here, by dusk the island will have emptied. Stroll along the winding streets, scented with lemon and juniper, toward the ruins of the Roman emperor Tiberius. Stare at the rising moon and Mount Vesuvius in the distance, and thank God you’re not a day-tripper. A Week in Capri | GQ
11192010 Currently in the midst of a trek through Europe, Kim Kardashian and Kris Jenner were spotted keeping busy in Capri, Italy on Saturday (September 18). Making numerous stops during the course of the afternoon, the purple dress clad E! babe and her mom grabbed up lunch before treating themselves to an ice cream at the pier market. Also partaking in a little sightseeing, the brunette beauties checked out the view at a spectacular panoramic sea-view terrace locale. Kim Kardashian And Kris Jenner: Capri Chicks | Celebrity-Gossip.net
11202010 Sebastian Vettel shook his head and said: "The greatest moment in my life was when... ah but then you weren't there. It was when I lost my virginity." Once asked his favourite item of clothing, he joked: "My Red Bull hat!" As for lavish holidays with the rest of the glitterati, forget it. Last year, he and Hanna went as far away as possible from the limelight. Finland. In a Caravan. "After the madness of motor-racing, I have to get away from it all." And you can't get much further away than on top of Japan's Mount Fuji, which he climbed last year. Only a month ago, he went up Vesuvius. Vettel just loves fast women | The Sun
11212010 Many of Italy's best-known wines come from northern or central Italy, but southern Italy also has its share of impressive wines. Some of DeCastro's favorites are from the Campania region, which includes Naples, especially the Feudi di San Gregorio estate. "Incredible wines," he says. The location near Mount Vesuvius has a major impact on the flavor. "It's from volcanic soil -- the reds are dark fruit, spicy and licorice," he says. Holidays Cheers | Kiplinger
11222010 On “Vesuvius,” Sufjan Stevens imagines himself as a volcano, finally speaking to his pain directly, sounding half-crazed: “Sufjan, the panic inside / The murdering ghost that you cannot ignore.” “Vesuvius” is so…apocalyptic, as brutally rendered as it is overblown. But in the commingling of tone and perspective, it feels both intimate and bombastic, a feat that’s maybe never been more successful in Stevens’ work than here. Sufjan Stevens, The Age of Adz | cokemachineglow
11232010 For Zachary the art director, Town & Country was an extension of Holiday: a magazine that allowed him to dream up even more fantastic pictures, with a cast of characters in even more extravagant attire. “Poverty makes great pictures too,” he says (witness Cartier-Bresson’s memorable reportage in Naples or Burt Glinn’s images of the seedy side of Hamburg, both shot for Zachary at Holiday). “But the rich have a sense of drama and a sense of their importance that can yield some colorful moments too.” Tutoring the Rich: Frank Zachary | Veronique Vienne
11242010 Italian architect, Matteo Thun, has built quite a reputation for his sensitive approach to corporate spaces. Both Hugo Boss and Vodafone have benefited from his fluid, delicate renditions of office buildings (...). What's your dream project? The most important aspect for me is location. And I’ve realised it with my house in Capri. Matteo Thun round-up | Wallpaper
11252010 For the first time in Naples, the city where the majority of Italian Shipowners are based, will host a conference during which some among the most important Italian and European Shipowners, Shipbuilders, Bankers, Marine Underwriters and other important service providers to the maritime field, will be engaged in a public discussion with some among the European leading maritime lawyers and arbitrators. The title of the conference, organised by Studio Legale Lauro, Shipping and the Law in the recent and current Market is self explicatory. In Naples, International Conference with Major Shipowners | Italian Insider
11262010 Adm. Mark Fitzgerald turned over command to Adm. Samuel J. Locklear III, during a change of command ceremony at Allied Joint Force Command (JFC) Naples, Oct. 6. The ceremony marked the completion of Fitzgerald's tour as commander, U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa (NAVEUR-NAVAF), commander, Allied Joint Force Command Naples. During his time in Naples, Fitzgerald successfully oversaw a large number of missions and programs, to include the multinational annual exercises of Noble Manta, Juniper Cobra, Phoenix Express, and the preconception and introduction of Africa Partnership Station (APS) East and West. NAVEUR-NAVAF, JFC Naples, Welcome New Commander | Navy.mil
11272010 Campania's aerospace industry began before the First World War and today ranks third in terms of the size of its sector, behind Lombardy and Piemonte, representing about a quarter of the €8 billion ($12.8 billion) Italian aerospace industry. There are about 10,000 employees working for 29 "core" companies and some 120 smaller suppliers, according to the regional government, which promotes the cluster under the Campaniaerospace banner. Alenia builds the fuselage of the ATR 42/7 as well as the C-27J in the region - and most of the smaller suppliers rely on the airframer. But although manufacturing of aerostructures is the dominant activity, the city of Caserta also hosts the Italian aerospace research centre, Cira, as well as institutions specialising in composites, microgravity and microelectronics. Other companies, including Piaggio and Aerosoft have research and development facilities and the region has five universities offering aero engineering degrees. The aerospace engine room of the south | Flight International
11282010 Ettore Majorana was an Italian theoretical physicist who worked with both Werner Heisenberg and Neils Bohr. Majorana began to develop a theory of neutrino masses while still in his twenties. Around 1933, he began suffering from illness and became a recluse. In 1937, Majorana was appointed a full professor at the University of Naples just a few months before his disappearance. He was only 31 years old in 1938 when he vanished during a boat trip from Palermo to Naples. Suicide, murder, and voluntary disappearance are all possibilities, but no one knows for sure. 6 Unsolved Disappearances | mental_floss
11292010 You’re a young ragazzo growing up in Castellammare di Stabia near Naples, Italy. In the shadow of Mount Vesuvius, surrounded by vineyards and olive groves, you spend the days watching your mother tend the family garden, raise a small flotilla of farm animals and prepare regional dishes from handfuls of fresh local ingredients. And though her talent in the kitchen has earned her a spot as chef for a noble family, she never wavers in her approach to food: simple, fresh, local ingredients cooked in a manner that showcases rather than overwhelms the individual ingredients. Cut ahead 20-odd years and you’ve been transplanted to Toronto. Mamma still tends vegetables in the backyard garden and cooks traditional dishes that fill the house with aromas from the past.With Ontalia, Angelo Bean has taken the best practices of the Slow Food Condotte — plus the legacy of his mother — and combined them with sustainable, local ingredients to create an evolving line of exceptional Italian-inspired Ontario delicacies that offer a true taste of the land. Ontalia Puts Italian Roots in Local Soil | Tidings
11302010 In 1866, Carlo Collodi, the Florentine author of Pinocchio, described Naples’ contribution to world cuisine as “a patchwork of greasy filth that harmonizes perfectly with the appearance of the person selling it.” Pizza was cheap, the food of the poorest of the poor in Europe’s cholera capital. No one with a choice would eat something that was made and sold by the hands of the Neapolitan underclass. It was only in the 1960s, after pizza’s New World success, that most of Italy took to it. Was pasta the original fusion food? | Maclean's

Sunday, October 31, 2010

OCTOBER 2010


POMPEIAN VINEYARD




















10012010 The Mastroberardino family, led by the scholarly Antonio Mastroberardino, preserved and propagated the species, which may be the oldest of Campanian vines. Popular opinion declares the grape's name to be a dialect version of the word 'Hellenic', indicating an origin some 2,500 years ago when southern Italy was a Greek colony known as Magna Graecia or Oenotria (Greater Greece or the Land of Wine). 'Aglianico has been grown in Campania for thousands of years. It made wine for the Romans. For centuries it has proliferated but was almost destroyed by phylloxera and was on the verge of extinction until my family acted.' Lesser known grape: Aglianico | Decanter
10022010 To most Romans, civilization was simply untenable without the pleasures of the grape. Inscriptions confirm that wine was quaffed by everyone from the wealthy patrician in his painted villa to soldiers and sailors in the roughest provincial inns. And although overconsumption no doubt took a toll, wine was far safer than water: The acid and alcohol in wine curbed the growth of dangerous pathogens. Epicures took particular delight in a costly white wine known as Falernian, produced from Aminean grapes grown on mountain slopes south of modern-day Naples. Vox Populi | Discover
10032010 Jason Hall-Spencer and colleagues at the University of Plymouth, UK, found a site off the island of Ischia in southern Italy where geologic CO2 naturally seeps through the seafloor. "It is visually stunning, like a 300-meter-long Jacuzzi," says Hall-Spencer, who says diving on the site felt like swimming through champagne. Natural CO2 seeps are usually associated with hot vents. The Ischia site offers an usual opportunity to study cool, acidified ecosystems that are not modified by the toxic effects of sulphur. It also allowed the researchers to study how the Mediterranean ecosystem changed across a pH gradient. Champagne sea | New Scientists
10042010 Joris Dik did his thesis on Naples yellow, a pigment that has existed for thousands of years. Ancient Egyptians used it, but it fell into obscurity until it reappeared in AD 1000. Slowly its use spread to western Europe from the Middle East in the 16th through to the 18th century. The pigment's complex phase composition changed throughout the years, and Dik’s aim was to determine these different compositions. His research could prove useful for dating purposes. "The early type of pigment, in the 16th century, was very pure and contained lead and antimonite. However, as it spread north, it was adulterated." The pigment was commonly called Naples yellow because people believed that it came from a volcanic mineral from Vesuvius, although this was eventually proved to be a misconception. Naples Yellow for Dating | lightsources.org
10052010 Many of Mario Merz works refer to the principles of the Fibonacci series, an exponential mathematical sequence that underlies the growth patterns of natural life. Fibonacci Naples, 1970, consists of ten photographs of factory workers at lunch, gathering from one person to a group numbering fifty-five [55 is equivalent to 10 in the Fibonacci series]. Algorithmic Art | UC Santa Barbara
10062010 In Basel, Tadiello was showing his sculpture LK100A—a construction of metal rods, an electrical motor, and two oversized funnels over three and a half meters high that reminds one of a machine or a bizarre insect. And indeed, Tadiello’s work provides a short, but clearly audible vital sign twice a day—an intimidating sound reminiscent of a siren. Tadiello’s sculptures combine mechanical elements with sound and a keen sense for formal precision. In his 2008 work EPROM, 48 musical boxes, electrical motors, and cables joined to form an ensemble of minimalist elegance on the white wall of his gallery, T293 in Naples. Sound and Silence Alberto Tadiello’s project for Art Basel | ArtMag
10072010 The Mascalzone Latino Sailing School on Monday unveiled its new facilities on the Naples waterfront and announced the patronage of Italy’s Ministry of Youth for outstanding results working with underprivileged children. Founded in 2007 by Vincenzo Onorato, whose Mascalzone Latino Sailing Team represents Club Nautico di Roma, the Challenger of Record for the 34th America’s Cup in 2013, the school offers free sailing lessons to children between the ages of 8 and 16 who otherwise would have no opportunity for education. “I believe the answer to the future of the youth in Naples can come from the sea,” said Onorato. Italy. Mascalzone Latino Sailing School opens new facilities | BYM Sailing & Sports News
10082010 BAA Ltd., the owner of London’s Heathrow airport, will sell its stake in the Naples airport to Italian infrastructure investor F2i SGR SpA for 150 million euros ($204.4 million), a person familiar with the matter said. The transaction is being announced tomorrow, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the details aren’t public. BAA, a unit of Ferrovial SA, owns 65 percent of holding company Gesac SpA, which controls the airport. BAA Said to Sell Naples Airport Stake for $204 Million to Italy's F2i SGR | Bloomberg
10092010 Leave grey England behind as La Regina Isabella’s private speedboat whizzes you across the brilliant azure sea to enchanting Ischia. It’s a dreamy place, which is not to say it isn’t also quite serious. The charmingly old-fashioned hotel is built around a medical spa based on the island’s curative thermal waters and volcanic mud. This healing centre is run with flair by Dr Paolo Magrassi – an Indiana Jones type who has worked in Brazil and the Congo. He oversees all manner of therapies for politicians, A-listers and ordinary folk alike. The glorious mud is dispensed from satisfying Mr Whippy-style canisters and improves everything from your circulation to your skin. After three days you’ll look and feel like you’ve been away for weeks. La Regina Isabella | Tatler
10102010 Procida it’s one of Italy’s best kept secrets: the houses are simple and coloured in soft pastel tones, fishermen’s boats dot the harbours, the people are friendly and either work as fishermen or for the tourist industry. It’s rural Italy at its best, especially in the locations of Corricella and Porto. It’s original, unspoiled, charming. It may be off the beaten path, but, at the same time, it’s been to everyone’s home, or nearly so. Why? Well, it’s all to do with a movie, an Italian movie: oscar-winning il Postino (the postman), with the late great Italian actor Massimo Troisi. Day trip to the Island of Procida | IgoUgo
10112010 Mr. Turturro's movie "Passione" is a bustling documentary about the rich and varied culture of song in Naples, covering music dating back to the 1200s. But rather than a panel of talking heads, Mr. Turturro has captured a series of colorful performances shot throughout the city, sometimes framed with a bit of storytelling (in the manner of the traditional sceneggiata). "[Naples] is a very particular crazy—like New York in the '60s and '70s, but crushed together," he said. "It's a wild place, and you can feel it on the streets. It's rough, but it's beautiful." Turturro Leads the Yankees Into Canada | The Wall Street Journal
10122010 I'm wild about Antichi Sapori, a grocery in the heart of Naples that's evolved into a trattoria. Owner Gennaro Canfora impressed me on my first visit with a taste of spectacular provola cheese that he'd aged himself, and there was a display of artisanal pasta from Setaro and a terrific selection of wines sold at grocery prices (at least a third less than most restaurants). His son, Salvatore, was in the kitchen with his mother, Patrizia, preparing traditional, mostly vegetable dishes, served at tables outside on the sidewalk under wine-colored umbrellas, or to go. In Naples, a Grocery Becomes a Trattoria | The Atlantic
10132010 Standing on the top of Vesuvius taking in the breathtaking view of the Gulf of Naples it struck me that although Iceland and Italy don’t seem much alike, they have one very powerful connection: volcanoes. Iceland and Italy are the only volcanically active countries in Europe and I suppose volcanoes look similar wherever you are in the world. Walking through the streets of Naples, admiring gallant buildings, medieval castles and taking in the atmosphere, Iceland seemed far away.
Locals were people-watching on narrow balconies while hanging their laundry out to dry in the sun—all around colorful items of clothing fluttered in the breeze. Yet Iceland was closer than I thought… While strolling on a narrow street in the city center after having enjoyed a traditional Napolitan pizza, a sign stopped me in my tracks: “Bacalao Islandia” it read. So Icelandic fish made it here too, I thought. Volcanoes and Rossopomodoros | Iceland Review
10142010 A legend begun in the Medieval Ages tells of how Archimedes used mirrors to concentrate sunlight as a defensive weapon during the siege of Syracuse, then a Greek colony on the island of Sicily, from 214 to 212 B.C. No contemporary Roman or Greek accounts tell of such a mirror device, however. Both engineering calculations and historical evidence support use of steam cannons as "much more reasonable than the use of burning mirrors," said Cesare Rossi, a mechanical engineer at the University of Naples "Federico II," in Naples, Italy, who along with colleagues analyzed evidence of both potential weapons. The steam cannons could have fired hollow balls made of clay and filled with something similar to an incendiary chemical mixture known as Greek fire in order to set Roman ships ablaze. Archimedes set Roman ships afire with cannons | msnbc.com
10152010 The sirens who lived off Italy’s Amalfi coast are said to have retrieved shipwrecked cargoes of honey, incense, resin and bergamot and mixed them with the airborne aromas of magnolia, tuberose and musk to seduce passing sailors. This is the inspiration behind Eau d’Italie, the signature fragrance of Positano’s genteel Le Sirenuse hotel, named after the legend. Siren's call | Wallpaper
10162010 Amalfi is one of the most beautiful places on this earth, and by far my favorite. You'll be there in the peak of tourist season so it will be crowded - and very hot! There's a great trail out there called Sentiero degli Dei (Path of the Gods) that's similar to the popular Cinque Terre to the north in that it hugs coastal ridgelines to connect seaside villages, but won't have nearly the amount of foot traffic or unfortunate Americanization. The route varies depending on which source you look at, but no matter which you choose it will have spectacular vistas and roman ruins littering the mountaintops. Be prepared for extremely long sets of ancient stairs along the way. Forums > Amalfi Coast | Backpacker
10172010 This year, the memorial to the slain ex-Beatle and peace activist John Lennon includes a mosaic donated by the city of Naples, Italy. A plaque lists 121 countries that endorse Strawberry Fields as a Garden of Peace. The 2.5-acre (1-hectare) site was created by Yoko Ono and named after the Lennon song, which also observes that "living is easy with eyes closed, misunderstanding all you see. Fans Celebrate John Lennon's 70th Birthday in Central Park | Fox News
10182010 Antonio Pappano's career started within an extraordinary home in which music was the family business. His father Pasquale and mother Maria came from Castelfranco in Miscano, a small town of 1,000 inhabitants in the farming province of Benevento, an hour and 20 minutes inland from Naples. Music was his father's love and a career he was prepared to fight to pursue. Pappano says: "My father was a tenor. He realised he had a voice as a boy, singing the 'Ave Maria' in church, and when he came out of the army, he had a dream to study music." He began to realise his dream by joining the Milan conservatory. By that time he had had a bust-up with his childhood sweetheart Maria; she left their village to join her sister in London. He followed her there, they married and decided to stay. Force of nature | The Guardian
10192010 Personnel from Soprintendenza Speciale per i beni Archeologici di Napoli e Pompei and the National Museum of Singapore erect a mosaic water fountain recovered from Pompeii as they prepare for an exhibition, entitled Pompeii Life in a Roman Town 79CE, in Singapore. The first exhibition of its kind in South East Asia will focus on what life was like in ancient Pompeii before its destruction by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. The exibition runs at the National Museum of Singapore from 16 October 2010 to 25 January 2011. Daily Life in a City Steeped in Mystery | artdaily.org
10202010 The underwater Archaeological Park of Baiae is a National Marine Reserve which is managed by the consortium Assodiving Flegreum on behalf of the Archaeological Authority of Caserta and Naples. Within the park, there are numerous Roman remains of various villas, the port of the Miseno fleet and the protective barrier/breakwater - depending on the location it's possible to see the various building techniques used by the Romans, floor mosaics and, of course, geysers from which the Burning Fields’ name is given. As this is a marine park, it is obviously of interest to scuba divers but, given the depths, it is also possible to visit it as a snorkeller or in a glass bottom boat; all this can be arranged by the members of the Assodiving Flegreum. Dive Sites > Italy | Sport Diver
10212010 Migration and its consequences forms the theme of the Million Donkey Hotel, a project by feld72, a collective of Italian, French and Austrian architects based in Vienna. In August 2005, a group of artists was invited to address questions of identity, territory, social space and landscape in Prata Sannita, a village in the Matese regional park near Naples, by means of art projects involving the participation of the local population. The response is to view Prata Sannita as a large, scattered hotel that has rooms available in the abandoned buildings. These are refurbished and brought back into use. At the same time, the Million Donkey Hotel becomes an extension of public space, since in the low-season, the hotel rooms can also be used by the Pratesi locals. Million Donkey Hotel by feld72, Prata Sannita, Italy | The Architectural Review
10222010 Just-married Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer finally got away from it all. Over two weeks after tying the knot at a low-key Malibu bash, True Blood's real-life couple was spotted Monday on a honeymoon in Ravello, Italy -- where they graciously posed for a pic with two fans. A popular tourist destination, Ravello is located above the stunning Amalfi coast in southern Italy. First Pic: Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer Honeymoon in Italy! | US Weekly
10232010 Blu Mediterraneo Fico di Amalfi smells of beach joy!
Although it's a sweet fragrance, it's very manly and self-assertive. The opening is very soothing and elegant, and you soon realize what you have before your nose. Its dry down is highly cozy, but longevity doesn't seem to be FdA's forte. I would recommend it especially for day wear or during summer time, but FdA wouldn't play a bad role in the evening. By the way, this is the only Blu Mediterraneo scent that doesn't make me seasick indeed. Reviews of Blu Mediterraneo Fico di Amalfi | Basenotes.net
10242010 A weekday morning in October. An Indian summer. The perfect morning for a visit to Pallagrello country. An ideal opportunity to walk Casavecchia vineyards. And an excellent chance to spend the day with Giovanni Ascione-Nanni Copè’s one man show. Here Pallagrello hangs from the sky. Walking through the rows, we ducked, reached up, touched, picked, and tasted the grapes. The same grapes enjoyed by the Bourbons so many years ago. Aglianico is content here as well. Here on this hill, with a northwestern sun exposure. The perfect exposure for those in Southern Italy who want to make an elegant wine. And that is why he has chosen this small corner of Campania… to produce a wine that could only be produced here. With grapes from a vineyard with a penthouse view of the surrounding mountains, sandy soil, cool breezes. With grapes from 140 year old vines standing 1 ½ meters high…Sabbie di Sopra il Bosco. Simple… Vineyard Hopping – Vitulazio (Ce) – Nanni Copè | AIS Napoli
10252010 According to Professor Attilio Scienza, Italy (which was known as enotria tellus, or "land of trained vines," to the Greeks) gained such a rich genetic patrimony because of its auspicious location at the crossroads of the Mediterranean. The country essentially became a giant nursery and wine import/export hub with material used by the Etruscans or brought in by the Phoenicians and Greeks. (indeed, the term "indigenous" is misleading as many grapes were carried over from Greece or elsewhere millennia ago. The proof is often in the semantics: Greco, Greco di Tufo, Grechetto, Grecanico and Garganega are clearly Greek imports. Thanks to the Italian peninsula's harbors (Naples, Pompeii and the mighty port towns of Magna Grecia) the constant flux of grape material sparked a healthy trade business. 10 Italian Varieties You Should Know | Wine Enthusiast
10262010 For those looking to smooth cellulite, reduce the appearance of spider veins or give their legs an overall firmer look, Juliet Kinsman, editor-in-chief of Mr. and Mrs. Smithtravel guides, recommends Capri Palace's Beauty Farm, in Capri, Italy, for its Leg School - a set of treatments focused entirely on leg beauty and health. "This spa is not only super-chic but fantastically clinical in its results," says Kinsman. "This is the place to tackle cellulite, and celebrities flock to this exclusive Italian retreat to prepare for high-profile, red-carpet moments." Europe's 10 Top Spas | Forbes
10272010 A dazzling white villa on the cliffs above Marina Grande, ultra-chic J. Place Capri is set in manicured gardens with astounding views over the Bay of Naples. The sleek interior, large infinity-edged pool, delightful cuisine and an intimate spa combine to make the perfect Mediterranean island retreat. The view from the unbleached teak terrace makes it easy to see why Capri is so seductive; emerald-green waters lap rocky bays and Mount Vesuvius shimmers in the distance. Inside is stylish yet fun with columns and shining lacquered floors contrasting with fur-trimmed curtains, zebra print stools and nautical blue and white decor. JK Place Capri | Islands
10282010 At almost every turn, Naples made me think of the old courtesan Madame Hortense in "Zorba the Greek," at once so charming and so pathetic that she constricts the heart. Throughout most of the city's long history, the port of Naples sang a siren song to visitors, beginning with the Greeks and Romans, who built vacation villas in the lush, sunny countryside around it. Now many of these are archeological digs, but Naples endures in its unmatched setting, with perfectly proportioned Vesuvius, Europe's only active volcano, on the horizon, the Sorrento peninsula to the south and the fabled island of Capri out in the Tyrrhenian Sea. And then there's that mesmerizing azure bay, which kept me looking seaward. Loving Naples, flaws and all | Chicago Tribune
10292010 Q: What's the best place you've ever visited and why? A: New Zealand is my favorite because it's where my family is from. I go there every year for Christmas when it's summer there. It's a good way to get a tan while everyone in Europe is still in winter. I also love places like Italy. I went to an island called Ischia once (which) was so stunning with vivid blue ocean. Traveling with the Stars: Natasha Bedingfield | USA Today
10302010 An early 18th-Century Villa with panoramic ocean views of the Amalfi Coast - 6 Million Euros ($8.1 Million) - This six-bedroom four-bath villa, sold furnished, is perched above the town of Positano on the Amalfi Coast. The exterior is pink-and-white stucco. On the main floor, a terrace runs the width of the house. Arched doorways lead into the foyer, the formal dining room and the living room. Original frescoes adorn the bedroom ceilings. In addition to the 3,600 square feet of living space, the property has 5,000 square feet of terraces and gardens, including mature fruit and nut trees. House Hunting in ... Italy | The New York Times
10312010 Aret' a' Palm is Neapolitan for "behind the palm tree," and that's exactly where you'll find this agreeably dark bar on Piazza Santa Maria La Nova. Its long marble bar and mirrored walls suggest Paris more than Naples. Aret' a' Palm | USA Today

Thursday, September 30, 2010

SEPTEMBER 2010


HISTORIC CENTRE


















09012010 The film, Into Paradiso, of Italian film director Paola Randi, reflects a story of friendship: the strong bonds which have gradually developed between the Neapolitan society and the Sri Lankan community living in the city, and which have further strengthened the process of integration of the Sri Lankan expatriate workers in Naples. Italian film on the Sri Lankan community in Naples selected at the 67th Venice Film Festival | Asian Tribune
09022010 When I’m talking about Naples, I don’t feel like I’m talking about a city. It’s more like an organism or a human being. She’s like a fantastically beautiful lover who has severe mental health issues.The love affair started in 2000, when I was invited out by an Italian gallery and pitched up there with a suitcase and my camera. It’s a city that can drive you mad. I think you need to get a way from it but then it has a strange draw. It’s like a drug addiction. You come back from there and almost immediately get an itch to go back again. Johnnie Shand Kydd in Naples: Siren City | Telegraph
09032010 But the most stunning house on show 'The Surreal House' is seen in clips from Jean-Luc Goddard’s 1963 film Le Mepris. High over a sundrenched Capri bay, Brigitte Bardot tempts and teases around the Casa Malaparte, a great bunker where an entire side is a staircase. Its designer, the writer Cuzio Malaparte, was inspired by a de Chirico painting, The Evil Genius of a King (1915), one of several classical surrealist masterpieces that the Barbican has managed to borrow. 'The Surreal House' | Run Riot
09042010 The huge cattle with sweeping horns which once roamed the forests of Europe have not been seen for nearly 400 years. "We were able to analyse auroch DNA from preserved bone material and create a rough map of its genome that should allow us to breed animals nearly identical to aurochs," said team leader Donato Matassino, head of the Consortium for Experimental Biotechnology in Benevento, in the southern Campania region. Giant cattle to be bred back from extinction | Telegraph
09052010 Fresh vegetables of the season + pasta = a fabulous bowl of Italy. Regardless of the shape or size, the pasta keeps its integrity, with a flavor that combines the taste of the wheat with the salty, dry breezes that blew through to dry it. Even commercial pasta tastes wonderful. In Campania, in fact, there is a town whose residents' expertise in pasta-making accounts for its name: Gragnano, named for its grains of wheat. Marrying pasta and veggies in southern Italy | SFGate
09062010 The Amalfi Coast is one of my favorite parts of Italy because of its unique beauty and serenity. There are Positano's confetti-colored facades, Capri's sapphire seas, fabulous beaches, quaint fishing villages, and hearty local cuisine. Note that in the height of summer, destinations such as Sorrento, Capri, and Positano are quite busy, so you may want to visit during the shoulder season. Peter Greenberg: Italy's Amalfi Coast, Sicily and Milan | AARP
09072010 Like the Mona Lisa, "Antea" is enigmatic and unattainable. And similarly, she has the potential to elicit an unlawful reaction: "Antea" is the type of painting you want to take home and be alone with. You want to steal her from the collection. I can actually attest to feeling jealous when I had to share her with my editor the other day, on a second visit. As mentioned in The Economist last week, "Antea", in postcard form, sells out on a regular basis at her home, the Museo di Capodimonte. It seems everyone wants to send her to a loved one, or display her face on the frigorifero with a magnet. Parmigianino has created a moment so intimate that nothing dare interrupt. Parmigianino' "Antea" | Intelligent Life
09082010 The village is nestled on the Amalfi Coast in southern Italy, on the edge of a mountain overlooking the water. The bougainvillea framed against the white walls, the fresco domes, the scent of jasmine gently traveling through narrow pathways and the reflection of the entire village in the sea all conspire to create the ultimate enchantment. I have a love affair with the Mediterranean Sea in general. It has a certain magic that has been of tremendous inspiration to my music. Jordanian pianist Zade Dirani finds Positano enchanting | Chicago Tribune
09092010 This year marks the 200th anniversary of the design of the first wrist-worn watch, ordered from Breguet by Caroline Murat, Queen of Naples. The anniversary offers Breguet the opportunity to add the first Grande Complication design to the Reine de Naples collection for ladies only: automatic strike. Breguet Reine de Naples 8978 | Worldtempus
09102010 Situated about 50 miles south of Naples, near the famous Greek ruins of Paestum, Seliano is a working farm and inn run by Baronessa Cecilia Bellelli Baratta and her two sons, Ettore and Massimino. The baronessa’s claims to fame include her prize herd of water buffalo and a portrait of the Bellelli clan circa 1860 painted by Degas. While the painting hangs in the Musée d’Orsay, the buffalo live right across the road, and as a result, Seliano’s guests are privy to some of the freshest, tastiest ricotta and mozzarella in all of Italy. Culinary Tours Italy | Shermans Travel
09112010 Salvator Rosa is another of those ill-used by fame. Born in Naples, he began his career as a landscape painter, making spontaneous works based on plein-air oil sketches on paper. Rosa became engrossed in magic, alchemy and witchcraft, and he began to produce landscapes and genre pictures featuring witches and bandits in macabre settings. These works were a great success commercially. Dulwich Picture Gallery > Salvator Rosa (1615-73) Bandits,Wilderness and Magic | The Art Newspaper
09122010 It is the mud that emanates from the rich volcanic soils of Ischia, an island in the Gulf of Naples that has drawn health-conscious disciples since Roman times. The spa at L'Albergo della Regina Isabella is looking for a new spring and five have been tested. This is no simple matter. Temperatures and mineral content must all be assessed, Dr Magrassi explained with classic Italian pathos. His patients require the best care and, of course, there are those who turn up for beauty treatments, "to look younger" he added, attempting not to sound too disdainful. The island of Ischia: Glorious mud | The Indipendent
09132010 Try the espresso in Naples. There's a splendid place right across from the Teatro San Carlo (the opera house): Gran Caffe Gambrinus. They've got these wild espresso machines with super long handles that control the pull. It's looks very much like the splendid cafes in Vienna, where Lenin and Freud hung out (Cafe Central). The place in Naples serves a very short pull that is almost burned and sort of spicy. Espresso Arts Education | Dewei21C
09142010 If you were part of a poor family and you had a son with a glimmer of musical talent, it was off to the chop shop. As a young chorister, Joseph Haydn narrowly escaped it. Barbers in Naples hung a sign: 'Boys castrated cheap here.' The Castrati: The Beautiful, Sad Men 'The Little Knife' Made | Slate
09152010 The European online hotel reservations specialist - reveals the results of the contest "Which is your fashion type?" An unexpected 'strange couple' - Spanish and English - who agree on their style preferences, choosing a country castle (49% and 47%) maybe in the hills of Anacapri, above the famous Grotta Azzurra (65% and 59%). Between strolls along the cliffs towering over the sea and under the bougainvillea, the "Bottega Veneta" model would prefer the luxury of a Rolls Royce (40% and 44%). For the "Bottega Veneta" type Venere.com suggests the Blu Capri Relais in Anacapri. Venere.com Reveals European's Favourite Fashion Brands | Entrepeneur
09162010 In Working Together former Disney CEO Michael D. Eisner offers us an intimate and deeply personal look at some of the most lasting and successful business partners. When Valentino and Giancarlo Giammetti met by chance at a restaurant in Rome, Valentino was on the verge of bankruptcy. After a whirlwind trip to Capri, romance ensued and Giammetti quit architecture school to manage Valentino's business. The rest, as they say, is history. Michael Eisner's New Book | HarperCollins
09172010 Food Director Susan Westmoreland's cousin, Paola D'Atino, makes this after-dinner cordial from the lemons that grow in her backyard near Italy's Amalfi coast. It's tastiest served from the freezer, very cold and syrupy. Do-Ahead: several months or more. Italian Lemon Cordial | Good Housekeeping
09182010 How did Giuseppe Mozzillo, COO, Exito Gourmet, a former investment banker who hails from a family of cheesemakers from Naples, land up in Haryana’s Golpura village to make authentic Italian cheese? “It was during a trip to India in 2006 that I came across water buffalos remarkably similar to those found in Italy. Later, I learnt that the buffalos found in Italy are descended from the Indian water buffalo,” he says. Having found the perfect bovine, he began the search for a perfect partner to set up business here. Jeez, it’s cheese | Business Today
09192010 Before you meet Alfonso Iaccarino, you might get to meet Josefina, the goat. I had reserved a table for lunch at Don Alfonso 1890, the most acclaimed restaurant in southern Italy, in Sant'Agata sui Due Golfi, a little hillside village sixty miles south of Naples in the Campania region. When my companion and I arrived at the restaurant, which is housed in an elegant pink villa in the center of town, a young man named Fortunato, a wavy-haired waiter with a good command of English, greeted us. "Don Alfonso wants you to see the farm first," he said. "Hop in." Farm Fresh in Italy | Town&Country
09202010 The sport of training horses for competition has existed for several centuries. Dressage developed as a method of training horses for war, teaching them precise movements. There is some evidence that dressage-type manoeuvres were developed by the ancient Greeks. Modern dressage began during the Renaissance when the Neapolitan nobleman Federico Grisone founded a riding academy in Naples in 1532. Equestrian | Beijing Review
09212010 The Ancient Shore explore the trademark sights and scenes of Naples: Mt Vesuvius, the district of Posillipo and the Spaccanapoli promenade, whose gothic churches, baroque palaces and medieval passages we are ushered to enjoy. Shirley Hazzard comes with first-class credentials to play Neapolitan tour guide. The UN sent her to war- savaged Naples for work in 1956. She has spent the spring and autumn months there for just on 50 years. Cool eye on a red-blooded city | The Australian
09222010 Some years ago I had the good luck to watch Sir Jonathan Miller give an acting masterclass for young opera singers, at Ischia, in the Bay of Naples. It was one of the most impressive moments of theatre I've ever seen, for he boiled down the entire secret of directing opera to a simple maxim: Remember that in opera you are always singing to someone. On very rare occasions it is the audience to whom you are singing; but in most cases you are singing to another person, or group of people, on the stage. This doesn't mean the singer can never look at the conductor. A moment of eye-contact is often sufficient to establish this bond with the other character(s) - but it has to be there, for in that connection is the essence of the drama. Diva details | Plain English
09232010 In the late 1990s, when Italian-born Sergio Esposito was shaping his concept for a shop of exclusively Italian wines. Now more than 15,000 wine investors nationwide currently use the company's portfolio management service. Much of Esposito's reputation is build upon his stamp of approval -- he travels to Italy frequently and personally tastes each wine that he buys for the store's collection. Esposito also recently wrote 'Passion on the Vine' which illustrates the connection between Italian wine merchants to his flavor-filled childhood in Naples. The Wine Entrepreneurs | Inc.
09242010 In Rome, Obikà is a mozzarella bar on Piazza di Firenze, an oddly modern place not far from the Pantheon that reluctantly serves as a tourist canteen during the day and then as a frosty, rather exclusive wine bar late at night. There has always been fresh mozzarella in Rome, trucked up each morning from its motherland near Caserta in north Campania, but Obikà, styled a bit like a sushi bar, was the first place to make a religion of the cheese. The Roman Obikà was the admitted inspiration for the mozzarella bar at Osteria Mozza in Hollywood. Obika: When Not in Rome ... | LA Weekly
09252010 One of my all-time favorite tomatoes comes from another backyard. Two years ago, I spent five months working on sailboats on Procida, a small island just off the coast of Naples. It’s one of the great tomato strongholds. At lunch, we’d eat at the home of Ellio Scotto Di Perta, a gentleman gardener much like my grandfather. His passion is equal to that of any gardener, but he also had the advantage of dark volcanic soil straight from the mouth of Mount Vesuvius. Premium Pomodoros. | Elephant Journal
09262010 The Bridge prize, a human heritage that will build and not destroy bridges”. Amongst the awarded people there were Saverio Moschillo, born in Ariano Irpino, 23 showrooms, 9000 customers worldwide and a 300 million Euros income a year. The “Filippo Mazzei” prize | Now Italy
09272010 Carthusia is an italian company based in Capri, Italy. The company has a line of fragrances for home and personal use. One of my favorites is Uomo with notes of fruit and leather. The newest offering in the line premiering in September will be 1681. 1681 features notes of mandarin, rosemary, bergamot, lavender, cedarwood, incense, and black pepper. Great perfumes launching in Fall 2010 at The Avery Perfumes in NYC | Examiner.com
09282010 The whole territory of Torrecuso is situated on the hillsides near Benevento, which start from the river Calore to the slopes of the Pentime Mountain. It is the district of the Taburno. The hillsides are sunny and covered with grapevines. Aglianico is the noble grape in this region. It was originally introduced to Italy by the Greeks who settled the penninsula a thousand years before the Roman Republic. Amid the hills of the Campania at Fontanavecchia (the name means old fountain), in sight of the remains of the ancient Roman bridge "Ponte Fenucchio" that spans the river Calore, rises the Azienda Agricola Orazio Rillo. The March Fab Five | Wine Shop at Foxcroft
09292010 The team of scientists wants to insert a borehole inside Campi Flegrei, a huge volcanic formation outside Naples, in the hope of gauging how active it is. Also known as the Phlegraean Fields, Campi Flegrei is an eight-mile-wide caldera lying west of Naples. It comprises 24 volcanic fissures and craters – one of which was believed by the ancient Romans to be the home of Vulcan, the god of fire - although much of it lies under water as it extends into the Bay of Naples. Scientists to drill 13,000ft into active volcano in test that could cause earthquake | The Telegraph
09302010 When upper-class Romans looked to escape the stress of modern life in the first century A.D., they ventured to the shores of the Bay of Naples, in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius, where they built elaborate vacation villas filled with Greek antiquities. Not every vacationer along the shores of the Bay of Naples could afford to acquire original Greek art, so the pieces found in these ancient getaways might have also been reproductions or contemporary works made in Italy from Greek materials by Greek artists. Shore Things | Art & Antiques

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

AUGUST 2010


PIZZA ALL DAY!








08012010 'When we were in Naples, we started shooting at eight in the morning, and I think by 8:45 I’d eaten eight or ten pieces of pizza. Pizza was what I ate all day that day.' Julia Roberts steals the show with her long legs at the premiere of Eat, Pray, Love | The Daily Mail
08022010 This morning is free to enjoy Naples which occupies a unique position, stretching around a beautiful bay, backed by mountains and overlooked by the imposing cone of Vesuvius. Once described by a member of a European royal family as 'Italy’s most beautiful crown', the city has been the subject of many a power struggle. Around the Bay of Naples - Family Holiday | The Adventure Company
08032010 To see the delight on a child's face, both climbing Vesuvius, but also receiving their personally inscribed 'Pizza making' certificate, having been carefully guided through the process, was worth every penny, and more!! Client comments on the Amalfi Coast - Pompeii & Pizza Family Holiday ... | Exodus Travels
08042010 Following Marina from one stop to another was a bit frenetic, but once we reached something she wanted to show me she took the time to explain why it was important and to make sure I understood. Her mission, as she sees it, is to turn ordinary tourists into “visitors” in her city. A Passionate Naples Tour Guide: Marina de Martino | WhyGo Italy
08052010 Not only are the local Neapolitans friendly, but they’re also very helpful and even look out for you. All the guidebooks warn you about pickpockets and bag-snatchers on bikes. But it’s very touching when the local residents show their concern by pointing to that wallet bulging in your pocket, or that bag slung over your shoulder, telling you to take care. Crazy, chaotic, noisy Napoli… | Meira’s world
08062010 The Roman town of Liternum sits on the Campanian coast where the waters of Lago Patria join the Tyrrhenian Sea. The low-lying coastline with its long sandy beaches contrasts starkly with the rugged cliffs further down the Bay of Naples and the Sorrentine peninsula. This coastline offered almost ideal conditions for landing troops from ships, whether it be large scale disembarkation or small scale riding parties. The lessons of the Second Punic War, during which Hannibal had ravaged the countryside of Campania, creating havoc in one of Rome's most important regions of agricultural production, had highlighted the need to defend this coastline from future attack. Liternum: a Campanian coastal town | The Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery
08072010 The Spiaggia Grande, or main beach, in Positano is a favorite spot for local artists. Trek to Italy's Amalfi Coast serves up glorious food, shopping and views | Pittsburgh Post-GazettePittsburgh Post-GazettePittsburgh Post-Gazette
08082010 Fifteen hundred steps.  A couple hundred less, incidentally, than the more famous 1700 steps that lead from Positano to Nocelle. Huffing and Puffing: Positano to Montepertuso | Oink and Away! (The Blog)
08092010 For me, Ravello is the most beautiful and romantic of towns on the Amalfi coastline. The feeling you get as you drive the 7 kms from the town centre of Amalfi, passing through the soaring mountains and deep ravines is indescribable. Ravello | Iced VoVo's
08102010 She would inhabit the outdoor cafés and trattorias on the streets of Capri, indulging her sweet tooth with ice cream and lemon granita. She would shop – 30 pairs of Capri pants bought in one store in half an hour – and promoted the flat sandals (the spider’s web of fine leather straps called ragni, similar to this year’s popular gladiator style) made on the island. The liberation of Jackie O | The Times
08112010 In a dark cellar in Oplontis, a suburb of ancient Pompeii, the remains of more than 50 victims of the eruption are put under the microscope of forensic science. A new insight into the people who lived in the shadow of Vesuvius before its eruption. | The BBC
08122010 The thermal baths at Giardini Poseidon are the most famous of Ischia's baths. Visitors come for a day of hot mud baths and soothing massages. Island of Memories | National Geographic Traveler
08132010 The Italian conductor Riccardo Muti (Naples 1941), becomes music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in September 2010. Naples, to the south, and Milan have long been cultural and social rivals, and Mr. Muti, who studied in both cities, unites certain of their supposed musical characteristics. Riccardo Muti | The New York Times
08142010 The cameramen who accompanied the American army, guided by famous directors like John Huston and John Ford document the liberation of Italy. Theirs is the only visual documentation we have of the eruption of Vesuvius in March 1944. The eruption of Vesuvius | Portal of Cultural Heritage and Activities Region of Campania
08152010 Popping out from the rolling hills, a stone outcropping catches my eye. “That’s Cairano” my friend says. I don’t really see a village, just a rock. Then the sun catches some windows and I begin to make out the outline of houses. Cairano 7x – Saving Irpinia | Vineyard Adventures
08162010 Always considered a table wine with probable Spanish origins. It was discovered on the Vesuvian area around 1500 or maybe '400. Currently diffuse only on the foot of Monte Somma, it is characterized by its very late ripening (end of October) and for its preservation ability on the plant. It has very interesting organoleptic qualities, especially in its dried state. In its dried state it has a very bright straw colour; the flavours are those of ripe fruite, bananas and pineapples, towards two/three years of ageing the hints or honey and magnolia can be tasted; it also has ethereal and hydrocarbon olfactory aspects, like that of an "Alsatian wine". Catalanesca Wine or Catalana | Costa del Vesuvio
08172010 Last night, after realizing there really wasn't much to do in Nocelle except for a Trattoria and a small Pizzeria that opened at around 8:00ish, I decided quite selfishly to drag Lina and head to Positano (she's still cursing). Nocelle, Positano | The Garbz blogs Italia
08182010 Driving along via Traiana Italy I was anxious to find a place to eat, after having read how Horace almost missed his dinner in Benevento 2000 years ago. A stop on Via Traiana Italy | Italian Notes
08192010 It comes as no surprise, then, to anyone who knows Neapolitan history, that today five menswear companies (Kiton, Luigi Borrelli, Isaia, Attolini, and Mariano Rubinacci) are making clothes that set the standard for unforced sartorial elegance in Europe, Japan, and the United States. Naples' five major apparel houses. | Departures
08202010 Orange flower water, cut kumquats, crystallised orange peel: there is something very distinctive about falanghina. This white grape has been grown in southern Italy for centuries. It thrives in the Irpinian hills of Campania, to the east of Naples, where it's escaped obliteration by a tide of international varieties because "it's so isolated here," says Feudi di San Gregorio's Francesca Festa located in Sorbo Serpico. "This area used to be overrun by wolves, partly because of the relatively cool climate, partly because it was such a wilderness – the word Irpinia derives from the word wolf – and that isolation helped to preserve indigenous grapes." Falanghina, a grape with expectations | The Guardian
08212010 Standing tall in his signature Panama straw hat and toting the tools of his trade—scissors, straight-edge razor, and almond soap - Antonio Boellis cut a dapper figure on the streets of early–20th century Naples. In 1960, his son, Giuseppe (who goes by Peppino), relocated the business to the third floor of a historic building in downtown Naples and added spa facilities that made the family of stylists synonymous with, well, personal style. Health & Grooming: The Barber of Naples | Robb Report
08222010 The oldest known brothel in the world is discovered in Pom-peii. A startling system is revealed that includes widespread prostitution and sexual slavery. Experts piece together the elaborate system and show how the sex trade helped reinforce class and power in Ancient Rome. Sex in the Ancient World: Pompeii | History Channel
08232010 Some call her the last of the divas, but tonight Cecilia Bartoli is playing the last of the castratos. They were the bizarre gladiators of the 18th-century opera arena, mutilated men who played Roman emperors or Greek heroes, but sang them with women’s voices — the result of one squalid operation and several years hothousing. Bartoli’s latest project is Sacrificium and is devoted to these strange, seductive creatures of the Baroque stage. And her stage is set just as she likes it: intimate with imposing surroundings. There are just 300 of us packed into the jewel-like theatre hidden inside the enormous palace at Caserta, some 40km (25 miles) outside Naples. Cecilia Bartoli Inc from The Times 08242010 Standing in the cool shade of the atrium at the centre of the Villa Oplontis it was easy to understand why the Emperor Nero's wife Poppaea found peace there, far away from the murderous power struggles in Rome and the debauched husband eventually responsible for her untimely death. The enormous villa, with its 60 metre marble swimming pool, is tucked away between Pompeii and Herculaneum on the Bay of Naples, where Poppaea's family had business interests. Travel: Naples, Italy | The Scotsman
08252010 Google’s Street View service, which lets you zoom into Google Maps and stroll through the city streets in a 3D environment, is amazing in its own right, but it just got twice as amazing with the addition of the ancient ruins of Pompeii.Pompeii — the ruined and partially buried Roman city near Naples, Italy — is one of the most amazing sights one can see in one’s lifetime. The city was destroyed during an eruption of the volcano Mount Vesuvius in 79 A.D., but after it was rediscovered in 1738 and excavated in the late 19th century, it became one of the most important archaeological finds (and tourist attractions) of all time. Ancient Pompeii Ruins Now on Google Street View | Mashable
08262010 "Leonard Bernstein, Laurence Olivier, Maria Callas, Elizabeth Taylor – it sounds like a legend, doesn't it?" mused Italy's most celebrated opera and film director, Franco Zeffirelli, as he recalled the guests who had passed through his retreat on the Amalfi coast. Built on the rocky coastline near Positano, Villa Tre Ville offers sublime views over the Mediterranean. But its originality as a hotel, which will go at least some way towards justifying prices of up to ¤5,000 (£4,171) a night, is that its new owners have left it as untouched as possible. The biggest suite, named after Zeffirelli himself, is much as it was when he moved out. The bedroom furniture, inlaid with mother of pearl, was brought by the director from Syria. Rub shoulders with famous ghosts at Zeffirelli's villa | The Guardian
08272010 Now single people in Italy want their own ministry: this is the idea of Joe Lo Pilato, an agriturismo owner from Avellino, near Naples. Mr Pilato says that single people are discriminated against in every sector of life and especially when it comes to salaries, paying taxes and finding a home or job. Mr Pilato has formed the “Sindacato dell’amore” or “Love Union” and it already has around 30,000 supporters in the Campania Region alone. A ministry of singles? | Italy Magazine
08282010 In A Murderous Procession (Putnam, $25.95), the fourth in a high- spirited series of romantic suspense novels by Ariana Franklin: Adelia was a foundling, raised in Sicily by a Jewish doctor and his Christian wife, also a doctor. She was trained in autopsy at the Salerno School of Medicine, then summoned to England by King Henry II, along with the Arab eunuch who accompanies her everywhere. The mistress of a bishop, she’s in constant peril of being burned as a witch for her heathen healing methods. Mind Over Murder | Sunday Book Review
08292010 Luca Aquino, born in Benevento, is a new rising star on the Italian scene. A trumpet player with a true voice, Luca quickly emerged on the scene as one of the leading soloists. As a leader, he has released his two latest albums for Universal Music/Emarcy, but also appears on many albums as a co-leader and sideman. Luca has collaborated and/or performed with musicians such as Paolo Fresu, Roy Hargrove, Bob Mintzer, Jimmy Heath, Slide Hampton, Tony Scott, and James Moody, among others. 2009 Top Jazz Award: "best new talent" 1st place! | Enrico Blumer Management
08302010 Vannulo, which claims to be Italy's only organic mozzarella farm, is a surprisingly informative place to spend a morning. The Vannulo farm located in Capaccio Scalo is a modern, high-tech incarnation of a centuries-old industry - each buffalo is chipped and the milking equipment recognises them individually. Advances haven't touched every part of the process though, the mozzarella is still plied into perfect spheres by hand, and the remaining whey drained to make ricotta. On Italy's mozzarella trail in Cilento | The Daily Mail
08312010 Sorrento is one of the most attractive Italian destinations also celebrated worldwide for its songs. Excellence Meets Excellence organizers plan is to highlight the best sites in the area and make the stay memorable by hosting the guests at an exclusive gala dinner with a breathtaking view of Vesuvius from the picturesque five-star hotel, Bellevue Syrene. Excellence Meets Excellence event to be held in Sorrento | eTurboNews