NEWS

THISMONTH June 2006

Italia’sregular communiqué from Italybrings news of a unique Michelangelo exhibition, more comfortable seating arrangements at Milan’s Malpensa airport, and the story of a woman with an appetite bigger than her bank balance...

ARE YOU SITTING COMFORTABLY? Travellers passing through Milan’s Malpensa Airport can now sit and wait for their flights on the world’s longest couch. The 45-meter ‘Bombay Sapphire Stretch’ couch was installed in the airport’s central departure lounge to mark Milan Design Week, held at the beginning of April. The unique ‘modular’ work is the creation of British designer Tom Dixon. He told the Italian news agency ANSA that “the evolution of the Bombay Sapphire Stretch is incredibly exciting. It will be great to see how travellers interact with the sofa”. Last September, Dixon (the London Design Museum’s Designer of the Year and creative director for Habitat) made a temporary 75-metre version of the couch, built using 12,000 giant elastic bands.

UNIQUE MICHELANGELO EXHIBITION Drawing on the outstanding collections of the British Museum, the Ashmolean, and the Teyler Museum in Haarlem, Michelangelo Drawings: Closer To The Masteris a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to follow the evolution of some of the world’s most celebrated works of art. The exhibition traces 60 years of Michelangelo’s stormy life, from intimate studies undertaken when he was in his early 20s to the visionary Crucifixion scenes he created shortly before his death. The show runs daily at the British Museum, Great Russell Street, until 25 June. Contact the British Museum box office on 􏰀􏰀 020 7323 8181 or visit www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/michelangelo/index.html

TRAFFIC POLICE ON HYDRAULIC PODIUM Piazza Venezia is Rome’s busiest square – and in the middle of it is a famous concrete pedestal from where police have directed traffic since 1898. It’s become so famous a landmark that local traffic police call it ‘the doughnut’ or the ‘belly button’ of the city. Over the years, however, as Rome’s traffic has grown heavier and heavier, increasing numbers of motorists have collided with the pedestal, particularly at night. Not even oil lamps or stark black-and-white stripes have prevented the thing from being repeatedly struck. Science, though, has come to the rescue of the 108-year-old icon. Now a hydraulic piston has been installed that lowers the pedestal into the road at night, controlled from the police station that overlooks the piazza. A case of the rise and fall of the Roman umpires?

Only in Italy

© Empics

‘DON CORLEONE’ ARRESTED If you thought that the town of Corleone, Sicily, from the movie The Godfather was made up and that a top Mafia boss never really was born there, think again. Bernardo Provenzano, the man considered to be the head of the Sicilian Mafia, has been arrested by police near Corleone, where he was born. Wanted on multiple charges of murder and armed robbery, he’d been on the run for more than four decades. A daring master of disguise, he is thought to have taken command of the Sicilian Mafia after the arrest in 1993 of former boss Salvatore ‘Toto’ Riina in the Sicilian capital, Palermo.

GALLOPING GOURMET A 42-year-old woman has done so many ‘runners’ from Rome’s restaurants after failing to pay the bill that she has been banned from the city for five years, say Italian police. Dubbed the ‘mooch artist’, she has struck at some of Rome’s best eateries, ordering the most expensive wines and multi-course meals before pretending to have left her purse at home. A resident of nearby Viterbo, police have so far identified the woman only as ‘DN’. Her eyes apparently still much bigger than her purse – wherever it is – the thief has continued to try her luck in Rome’s restaurants despite the ban.
GIOVANNI BATTISTA TIEPOLO SPIRITS AND FIREEXHIBITION

The Venetian painter Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (1696–1770) was one of the greatest and most imaginative artists of 18th-century Europe. He is best known for his monumental frescoes and altarpieces. Yet some of Tiepolo’s finest work can be found in the small, rapidly executed oil sketches that he made in association with these grand compositions. This exhibition in London, which should be fascinating if you know Venice, is focused on the important group of oil sketches by Tiepolo belonging to the Courtauld and other British collections. You can see Giovanni Battista Tiepolo: All Spirits And Firedaily at the Courtauld Institute of Art, Strand, London, until 26 May. For more information call 􏰀􏰀 020 7848 2777.

TUSCAN SUN FESTIVAL GOES STATESIDE It’s one of Europe’s most prestigious cultural events, and this year the Tuscan Sun Festival is going to have a sister event held in California, America – the Festival del Sole. Now in its fourth year, in Tuscany the Sun Festival is making its home in the beautiful medieval hilltown of Cortona. A veritable celebration of the senses, for three weeks from 5–20 August you’ll be able to enjoy classical music, art exhibitions, literary events and the very best food and wine. And before that, in sunny Nappa Valley, California, a similarly dazzling Italian cultural extravaganza will be held from 16–23 July. For information about both events, visit www.festivaldelsole.com

TUSCAN FARMER TEAMS UP WITH ST ALBANS DELICATESSEN A delicatessen in St Albans has announced that it is now offering quality products from its own farm in Tuscany. St Albans’ Olio & Farina owner David Living has entered into a joint venture with Paolo Parisi, who farms near Pisa. Before joining up with Olio & Farina, Mr Parisi became famous in Italy for his innovative farming methods and fresh products – his eggs and smoked ham have won international prizes. “I decided to join Olio & Farina,” he says, “because like me they do not compromise on quality.” O&F is an international franchise that specialises in Italian gastronomic specialities including single-estate olive oils and wines, sauces, balsamic vinegars and dressings blended with Italian extra virgin olive oil. David Living’s St Albans branch, the first in the UK, has just celebrated its first birthday. Mr Living says: “All O&F products are created respecting the traditions of regional recipes.” You can contact the St Albans store on 􏰀􏰀 01727 83664.

CHEEKY OFFER TO BIN LADEN Italian porn star Cicciolina has offered herself to Osama Bin Laden. The 55-year-old actress said it was high time someone took on the terrorist and that she was the one to do it. Speaking at an erotic fair in Bucharest, Cicciolina said: “He can have me in exchange for an end to his tyranny. My breasts have only ever helped people, while Bin Laden has killed thousands of innocent victims.” The porn star says Bin Laden could learn from Saddam Hussein’s error: in the 90s she offered herself to Saddam if he gave up his dictatorship in Iraq.

ELECTION SQUARE-OFF Controversial and tight, the Italian elections have gripped the country – but tell that to mayor of Orta, north of Milan, who banned election rallies from its square. A beautiful lakeside place, Orta is loved by visitors for its peaceful charm – and Mayor Stefano Cusinato didn’t want this peace shattered by the election – hence a decree that made the central Piazza Motta out of bounds. Political rallies were allowed only on the outskirts of Orta, and then only in the evenings. The mayor’s decree also stipulated that “open-air political rallies cannot be held near rest homes for the aged, either.”

FLIGHTS UPDATED

® NEW LOW-COST FLIGHTS Jet2 will add these new direct links from the north of England to Italy in spring 2006: Manchester to Rome (from 7 April), Leeds to Rome (from 7 April), Leeds to Milan-Bergamo (from 7 April), Leeds to Venice (from 7 April), Leeds to Pisa (from 25 May), and Newcastle to Pisa (25 May). As from 27 May, Jet2 will also operate a Saturday-only flight from Edinburgh to Pisa, and as from 25 May from Belfast to Pisa (again, only on Saturdays). For more information, see www.jet2.com Ryanair, meanwhile, has introduced a direct flight from Stansted to Parma (Giuseppe Verdi airport) in EmiliaRomagna. This new service operates four times a week (Mon, Wed, Fri and Sun). As from 8 June, Ryanair will introduce a direct link from Bournemouth to Pisa on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. There will also be more flights from Shannon, in Ireland, beginning this autumn. As from 13 October, flights to Venice (Treviso) will operate four times a week. Its flights from Shannon to Milan (Bergamo) will also increase to 4 times a week as from 18 October. A new direct link from Liverpool to Alghero, in Sardinia, is also being opened. The flight will operate three times a week and will start on 3 October. This flight will become daily from spring 2007. For more information, see www.ryanair.com Rimini, meanwhile, is getting a direct link with London. easyJet will fly from London-Luton to Rimini four times a week (Tue, Thu, Sat, Sun) as from 29 June. www.easyjet.com

® NEW AIRPORTS IN PIPELINE Agrigento, in western Sicily, is to get its own airport at Racalmuto. The airport will be called Agrigento Valle dei Templi and will provide a much-needed link with this historic part of the island. Plans have already been approved and construction is expected to start soon. Meanwhile, the airport of Comiso (Ragusa), south-east Sicily, is almost certain to become operative in 2007 and likely, therefore, to provide low-cost flights to the rest of Europe. Latina, in southern Lazio, is also to get its own airport, a move that will relieve congestion at the two Roman airports of Fiumicino and Ciampino. Latina airport will act as a charter and low-cost flights airport and will be linked to the capital via an improved transport system.

June 2006 ITALIA! 17