JANUARY 2023

SPARKLING ASPRINIO GOES ACROBATIC

01012023 "The variety that drew me to the Caserta area late this past summer was Asprinio, which traditionally has been grown on monster vines—up to 40 feet tall—in 20 localities in the damp lowlands on both sides of the Caserta/Naples provincial border. I had to see some of the vertical vineyards using the millennia-old training system, vite maritata (“wedded vine”), in which vines are allowed to climb into the branches of poplar trees for support." Italy’s “Great Little” Pizza Wine | Wine Spectator

01022023 Italy will be hot again this year. Vive Voyage founder says her clients are also highly interested in connecting with Italian culture through cooking classes, boat excursions and artisan workshops. For private tour operators Access Italy and Imago Artis the Amalfi Coast, Lake Como, Tuscany, Puglia and Sicily are clients’ most requested destinations. The top travel destinations for 2023, according to experts | The Whashington Post

01032023 Netflix’s new six-part adaptation of Ferrante’s “The Lying Life of Adults” is framed as the coming-of-age of Giovanna; the mystery she stumbles into concerns her own extended family. From childhood into adolescence as she experiences the different sides of Naples. Location manager sourcing aspirational apartments, junked construction projects and long-forgotten backstreets. Netflix Hops on the Elena Ferrante Bandwagon With Persuasive ‘The Lying Life of Adults’: TV Review | Variety

01042023 The message of the campaign is that everyone can return to the beautiful little green Italian island, and it will use both digital, print and out-of-home channels as well as international influencers and tour guides. Ischia will also be taken to major international trade fairs to boost its brand, and visitors will be able to share their autographed shots of the island, which will be relaunched with a dedicated hashtag: #ThisIsIschia. This is Ischia. New campaign invites visitors to Italian island | ItalyAbsolutely

01052023 Ischia is one of the most geologically interesting places in all of Italy, as evidenced by Baia di Sorgeto. Admittedly, we’re cheating a bit to call this one a beach. The small, rocky bay sits at the bottom of a daunting set of stairs, where shallow pools are heated by thermal water bubbling out of the seafloor. Some areas, including the rocks, are too hot to touch, so wear swim socks and tread lightly. 16 Most Beautiful Beaches in Italy | Travel + Leisure

01062023 "Everywhere I go when I'm in Italy, I get inspired," Giada De Laurentiis explains in the video, which is why she visits pasta shops to glean inspiration from not just the fresh pasta but even the colors and logos on its boxes. In fact, there's one dried pasta brand that De Laurentiis can't stop using: Setaro. Giada's top 5 must-have foods from Italy | The Daily Meal

01072023 In the winding streets off the Bay of Naples, lived and worked Cesare Attolini, the great master tailor of the soft-shouldered suit. The maestro, who died in November at 91, numbered among his clients A-listers from movies past and present. At his funeral a month ago, actor Toni Servillo wore the canary yellow blazer that adorned him in the Oscar-winning movie The Great Beauty. AI is cool but can it tailor a $50,000 suit? | Livemint Lounge

01082023 Mafalda Inglese to tell this land of Cilento has chosen to starts with elements that join a fine line of a distant past with the present, our food preserved for millenia by women and men of this land. And here, in Cilento, in its landscapes, on the sea, mountains and on the tables of its villages, you can find very ancients products, whose beneficial properties and the art of making them delicioust ravel the world, known as Italian cuisine. Il Mio Cilento, un viaggio di emozioni | Italia Emotional WAY

01092023 Domenico Camardo, an archeologist with the Herculaneum Conservation Project, says it moves him every time he catches sight of it. After the initial explosion, Vesuvius imploded, releasing a massive flow of hot mud, preserving even objects made of wood. Now, for the first time ever, a comprehensive exhibit of those astonishingly rare wooden remnants from ancient times opens in Reggia di Portici, an 18th-century palace just down the road from Herculaneum. Exhibit of precious wood items buried by Vesuvius eruption offers glimpse into everyday life in ancient Rome | CBC News

01102023 Capri, Italy - Savvy travelers know that the best way to escape the crowds in Capri is to stay overnight, when it’s possible to revel in the island’s nightlife after the day-trippers have left. And when it opens in spring 2023, the highly anticipated Hotel La Palma, a member of the Oetker Collection designed by AD100 designer Francis Sultana, will become the island’s most glamorous new place to stay. AD’s 23 Places to Travel in 2023 | Architectural Digest

01112023 After a 20-year restoration of famed frescos thanks to dozens of different professions ranging from archaeologists to restorers to architects, from structural engineers to landscape gardeners. With its mythological scenes, erotic pictures, blending of nature and culture to enrapture the sense and the intellect, the House of the Vettii offers a kaleidoscope of colours and images. Pompeii reopens its 'Sistine Chapel',the House of the Vettii | ANSA

01122023 "Very few people realise that there’s an entirely different side of Positano." The future of Positano lies in the opportunity to open up the region to travellers by offering a quiet extension to the season. Dolce Vitality, a week-long programme of walking, sunrise yoga, massage and fasting that bookends the summer months – when the weather is cooler, the plant life is more abundant and the crowds are largely gone. Bootcamp, but make it Positano | Financial Times

01132023 Over 2,000 years ago, Baiae was the most magnificent resort town on the Italian peninsula. Mark Antony, Cicero, and Caesar were drawn to its natural springs, building luxurious villas with heated spas and mosaic-tiled thermal pools. Now, the technology is making it easier to monitor underwater archaeological sites. AI is bringing the internet to submerged Roman ruins | MIT Technology Review

01142023 The deal, which covers all of Napoli’s Serie A, Coppa Italia and friendly matches, will place the logo of Dunamu’s crypto exchange, Upbit, below the number on the back of their jerseys. The company’s logo will also appear on billboards around Stadio Diego Armando Maradona in Naples. Crypto Exchange Upbit Logo to Appear on Italian Soccer Club Napoli’s Jerseys | Bitcoin.com

01152023 The perfect venue for enjoying a freshly made globe of mozzarella di bufala is in your car just off an aesthetically challenged stretch of the SS18 in Capaccio in southern Campania. There, from a small storefront next to the parking lot, Tenuta Vannulo sells cheese so fresh it’s still warm and so tempting. About an hour’s drive southeast of Salerno, a broad plain that was once marshy with tributaries running in to the nearby sea, an ideal habitat for wallowing animals. This Roadside Shop Makes the Best Mozzarella in Italy | Giadzy

01162023 An extraordinary showcase for promoting sparkling wines and regional wine tourism routes. “Campania’s long-standing ties with wine and winegrowing make it one of the oldest wine regions in Italy”, stressed Vinopres CEO presenting the concours “Campania’s sparkling wine industry deserves international recognition. Our judges are looking forward to discovering these wines made from native grape varieties”. Campania hosts the 2023 Sparkling Wine Session | Concours Mondial de Bruxelles

01172023 A wooden galleon that won the southwestern Italian city of Amalfi its first victories in a regatta against its ancient maritime rivals has been restored to its former vividly-colored glory.  The Vittoria is now on permanent display in Amalfi’s spectacular Arsenale, a masonry cross-vaulted shipyard built on the seafront in the 11th century. There is no other example of medieval architecture like it in the world. Amalfi’s Regatta winner “Vittoria” restored | The History Blog

01182023 The project has combined tradition, design and the excellent food and wine of the area with the skilful manufacturing mastery of the rare high school "Giovanni Caselli", heir to the Real Fabbrica della Capodimonte porcelain. 'A dish for Procida'  combines contemporary design and our tradition, in particular the decoration of the miniatures: in the center there is in fact a miniature of the plate which recalls the Neapolitan landscape paintings of the 2022th century. Procida 2022: a "signature dish" to celebrate the Italian Capital of Culture | Nova News

01192023 The city of Benevento is located in the southern part of the Apennine hinterland of Campania, in the Samnium region, halfway between the Tyrrhenian and the Adriatic Sea: an important stop on the Appian Way. Great strategic and commercial importance acquired the city thanks to the passage of the Appia. Emperor Trajan chose it as the starting point for the new route that took its name, the Appia Traiana, which brought the route to Brindisi on the Adriatic coast. Benevento – from Maleventum to Beneventum | Il Cammino Dell'Appia

01202023 A story in which both real and fictional neighborhoods, houses and objects – especially a bracelet – are the protagonists of a universal language. The new TV series based on Elena Ferrante’s novel speaks two languages and with them tells two worlds to different audiences. Finally, it is in a third environment, the house in the Posillipo, is the transitional limbo, with no meaningful interiors, no furniture, no anything to characterize it but the sea. In Netflix′s The Lying Life of Adults, the real story is the one told by design and interiors | Domus

01212023Same-sex relations among Romans were lived and thought about in very different ways from our own. Not framed in terms of the gender of partners but in terms of power. Power was about masculinity – and Roman patriarchal sex cultures were assertions of both. An adult free man could have sex as the penetrating partner with anyone of a lower social status – including women or slaves and sex workers of both genders. Pompeii’s House of the Vettii reopens: a reminder that Roman sexuality was far more complex than simply gay or straight | The Conversation

01222023 The Amalfi Coast, this blessed little corner of Campania has one of the highest concentration of stars in Italy. And, some of the best eating experiences are to be had in authentic trattorie. The culinary traditions here are influenced by the dual existence of sea and mountains and the warm, sunny climate: flavours are bold and colours are bright. The 19 most beautiful restaurants on the Amalfi Coast | Condè Nast Traveller

01232023 Luigi Vanvitelli, interpreting the dream of the enlightened Charles of Bourbon, conceived the majestic project of the Royal Palace of Caserta. For this occasion, a program of celebrations of national and international importance declined in a plurality of initiatives to be held in different places in the national territory. Several initiatives at the Royal Palace of Caserta before next year’s 250th anniversary of the death of architect Vanvitelli | The Flora Journal

01242023 Ischia, Italy ~ A quick ferry ride from Naples, the island of Ischia – famed for its thermal spas and unshowy local life – is a tumble of fishing villages and beaches. The 59 most beautiful places in the world | Condè Nast Traveller

01252023 Irpinia's rural charm is a magnet for independent-minded traveller in search of wines that embody the local aromas and flavours. Taurasi is a patchwork of vineyards lying on slopes at altitudes between 300m and 700m, facing all four corners of the compass in 17 communes. Taurasi, A Buyer's Guide | Decanter

01262023 The Sorrento blonde orange (Citrus × sinensis), or arancia bionda sorrentina, is one of the traditional fruits of the Sorrento peninsula, having been cultivated there since about 1300. Citrus farming has traditionally been an important source of income in Sorrento. The pergolas - are 7 meters tall, covered with straw mats, and flanked by nets and windbreaks - protect the orange groves in the Sorrento peninsula from both wind and cold and delay the ripening of the fruits. Sorrento Blonde Orange | Slow Food

01272023 Victoria Fiore’s remarkable debut film, shot over four years in Naples, is one such picture. Boasting extraordinary access and lithe, instinctive cinematography that captures the unpredictable energy and distinctive dialect of the neighbourhood, it focuses on a streetwise kid, Entoni. A sobering portrait of a bright, personable kid whose destiny is preordained. Nascondino (Hide and Seek) review – remarkable documentary about a Neapolitan street kid | The Guardian

01282023 "This capsule represents our best attempt to channel the place’s charm into something that can be taken home," say co-founders of Tombolo of their collaboration with family-run, Positano-based hotel Le Sirenuse. The brand's collaboration features Amalfi Coast-inspired, unisex terry-cloth cabana tops and shorts, with striped cuffs and zip-details, accented with the hotel's whimisical mermaid motif. Hotel merch for jet-set style Le Sirenuse x Tombolo Italy | Wallpaper

01292023 Taking up the helm at the jewel in the Kering crown is Sabato De Sarno, who currently serves as the fashion director of the men’s and women’s ready-to-wear collections at Valentino according to his LinkedIn. The Neapolitan creative director also racked up stints at Prada and Dolce & Gabbana, building out his already robust CV. “I am deeply honoured to take on the role as Creative Director of Gucci,” he said. Gucci announces its new creative director | i-D Magazine

01302023 Naples, Italy - The gigantic sculpture in the form of an inverted steel funnel located at the exit of the Monte Sant' Angelo station completes the installation conceived about twenty years ago by Anish Kapoor and consisting of another work positioned at the main entrance. The artist's intention is to create a work of art that is not only contemplative but can be actively experienced by passing through it and living it. 15 works of public art that became the symbol of a city | Domus

01312023 Shooting is underway in Naples on the fourth and final season of HBO/RAI series “My Brilliant Friend” which sees some key casting changes in the lead roles of the two best friends. The final installment sees the two protagonists as adults. Elena, who left Naples, became an established writer and got married, then separated, returns. Lila instead has stayed in Naples and become more entangled with the Camorra, the Neapolitan mob. 'My Brilliant Friend’ Season Four Changes Cast With Alba Rohrwacher as Lenù, Irene Maiorino as Lila – First Look Image | Variety