Gadling http://www.gadling.com Gadling http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/%SiteURL%/media/feedlogo.gif Gadling http://www.gadling.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/<![CDATA[Ancient Curses Uncovered In Two Countries]]>http://www.gadling.com/2012/05/25/ancient-curses-uncovered-in-two-countries/http://www.gadling.com/2012/05/25/ancient-curses-uncovered-in-two-countries/http://www.gadling.com/2012/05/25/ancient-curses-uncovered-in-two-countries/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,

ancient curses, curses, curse, Carlisle
It's been a good week for ancient curses.

A "cursing stone" has been discovered on the Isle of Canna, Scotland. More precisely called a bullaun stone, they're natural or artificial depressions in a stone that catch rainwater and give it magical properties, usually to heal or to help women conceive a child. A shaped stone is placed in the hole that's turned to make a prayer or curse.

The bullaun stone on the Isle of Canna is at the base of an early Christian cross dating to about 800 A.D. Now a round stone carved with a cross has been found that fits exactly into this depression. While bullaun stones are found in several European countries, it's uncommon for both the stone and the base to be preserved.

Over in Italy, two ancient curses have been translated. A Spanish researcher working at the Archaeological Museum of Bologna has revealed the text of two curses inscribed on lead tablets in Roman times. Called a defixio, such curses were common in Greek and Roman times and often came mass produced with only the name of the target needing to be filled in. The ones in Bologna target an animal doctor and a senator, making it the first such curse found against a Roman senator.

One reads in part, "Crush, kill Fistus the senator. . .May Fistus dilute, languish, sink and may all his limbs dissolve ..." The one against the animal doctor is no less nasty: "Destroy, crush, kill, strangle Porcello and wife Maurilla. Their soul, heart, buttocks, liver. . ."

Many museums have examples of these ancient nastygrams. One at the British Museum was found in London and curses a woman's memory. Since it's the only record of her to survive, it appears the curse worked.

Curses can be found all over the place. In Carlisle I came across a cursing stone made in 1525 by the Archbishop of Glasgow against the Border Reivers, Scottish raiders who stole English livestock. There's a photo of it above. You can read the text of the curse in my article about Carlisle.

Ancient Curses Uncovered In Two Countries originally appeared on Gadling on Fri, 25 May 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>ancient cursesancient religionancient romanancient romeAncientCursesAncientReligionAncientRomanAncientRomearchaeologyarchaeology newsArchaeologyNewsarcheologyarcheology newsArcheologyNewsblack magicBlackMagicBolognaBritish MuseumBritishMuseumbullaunCarlislecursecursesdefixioEnglandfolk magicfolkloreFolkMagicItalyLondonmagicmajickRomanRoman EmpireRoman EnglandRoman religionRomanEmpireRomanEnglandRomanReligionsciencescience newsScienceNewsScotlandsuperstitionFri, 25 May 2012 12:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Medieval Frescoes By Giotto Threatened By Construction Project]]>http://www.gadling.com/2012/05/25/medieval-frescoes-by-giotto-threatened-by-construction-project/http://www.gadling.com/2012/05/25/medieval-frescoes-by-giotto-threatened-by-construction-project/http://www.gadling.com/2012/05/25/medieval-frescoes-by-giotto-threatened-by-construction-project/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,

medieval, Giotto, Padua
Priceless frescoes in the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua, Italy, may be damaged by a nearby construction project, experts say.

The frescoes were painted by Giotto di Bondone around 1305 and are considered a high point in medieval art. They depict the life of Jesus and the Last Judgement and were painted for the private chapel of a rich banker. The figures' lifelike style and naturalistic poses anticipated the realism of Renaissance art.

Now the construction of a skyscraper nearby threatens to seriously damage the delicate paintings, according to three scholars who have started a petition to halt the project. They say the building will affect drainage in the area, causing the water level to rise. This would increase humidity and all lead subsidence of the walls, both of which would damage the medieval paintings.

A previous, smaller building proposal was postponed for the same reason but the skyscraper has been approved by the municipality. At the time of this writing the petition already had 1892 signatures.


[Image of "The Kiss of Judas" courtesy Flickr user Carla216]

Medieval Frescoes By Giotto Threatened By Construction Project originally appeared on Gadling on Fri, 25 May 2012 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>artart historyart preservationArtHistoryArtPreservationfescoesfrescoGiottiItalyItaly tourismItaly travelItalyTourismItalyTravelmedievalmedieval artMedievalArtmiddle agesMiddleAgesPaduapaintingpreservationrenaisance artRenaisanceArtrenaissanceFri, 25 May 2012 11:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Eating At Home In Bologna And The Dish That Time Forgot]]>http://www.gadling.com/2012/05/24/eating-at-home-in-bologna-and-the-dish-that-time-forgot/http://www.gadling.com/2012/05/24/eating-at-home-in-bologna-and-the-dish-that-time-forgot/http://www.gadling.com/2012/05/24/eating-at-home-in-bologna-and-the-dish-that-time-forgot/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Eating att Home in Bologna and the Dish that Time Forgot"I am very pig," Andrea proclaimed in his broken English, having abandoned the etiquette of dishing the meringue onto his plate. His arm was possessively swung around the giant serving bowl, he was digging into dessert with the fervor of man on a mission for diabetes. Then he looked up, his eyes shifting around the table at each of us, a meringue-eating grin on his face. It was the end of a long and amusing meal with strangers.

I was at someone's home. In Bologna. And dining with a small handful of people I'd just met that night, eating the food of a muscular-armed woman I didn't know existed until about two hours earlier. Welcome to Home Food, an organization that stretches from the tip to the top of the boot, offering hungry eaters the chance to eat regional home-cooked food in a home.

"Guests are treated like visiting relatives," said one of the women sitting across from me at the dinner, who was apparently a Home Food regular. And why not? Based on Andrea's affair with the meringue bowl we might as well have been visiting family. "And the chef, the Cesarina," - the name the organization uses to call the host-cook - "she is like our grandmother."

Continue reading Eating At Home In Bologna And The Dish That Time Forgot

Eating At Home In Bologna And The Dish That Time Forgot originally appeared on Gadling on Thu, 24 May 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>BolognaitalyThu, 24 May 2012 12:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Adventures In Italian Wi-Fi: Tips For Getting Online In Italy And Beyond]]>http://www.gadling.com/2012/05/21/adventures-in-italian-wi-fi-tips-for-getting-online-in-italy-an/http://www.gadling.com/2012/05/21/adventures-in-italian-wi-fi-tips-for-getting-online-in-italy-an/http://www.gadling.com/2012/05/21/adventures-in-italian-wi-fi-tips-for-getting-online-in-italy-an/#commentsFiled under: , ,

using wifi outside in italyIt's 45 degrees outside with a light rain and 40 mph winds and my wife is sitting in a doorway, huddled by her computer, teeth chattering, using a sketchy Wi-Fi signal a block from the Adriatic Sea in Polignano-A-Mare, Italy. My fingers are already numb from typing in the biting cold for two hours before she assumed command of our makeshift office, located right underneath a modem.

If you have the luxury of disconnecting from work while traveling and all you need to do is send and receive the occasional email, you'll be just fine in Italy. But if you're like us, and have to work while there and need a good, relatively fast Internet connection, you're probably in for some of the same adventures we encountered.

Over the course of a five-week trip, mostly in small to medium sized cities all over Italy, staying in hotels and vacation rental apartments, we spent countless hours trying to make the most of tepid or non-existent connections. In unseasonably chilly Polignano-A-Mare, we realized the only true hotspot we had access to was in the doorway of the reception area for an apartment we rented; in Spoleto we had to sit literally in our windowsill to get a connection; in Parma I had to set up shop right on the front desk of the hotel; and in Lecce, we used an outdoor courtyard behind our apartment. What follows are some of the lessons we learned trying to get online in Italy.

Continue reading Adventures In Italian Wi-Fi: Tips For Getting Online In Italy And Beyond

Adventures In Italian Wi-Fi: Tips For Getting Online In Italy And Beyond originally appeared on Gadling on Mon, 21 May 2012 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>internet sticksinternet sticks in italyInternetSticksInternetSticksInItalyitalywifiwifi in italyWifiInItalyWireless internetWirelessInternetMon, 21 May 2012 13:00:00 EST<![CDATA[The 10 Words Travelers Hate To Hear In Italy]]>http://www.gadling.com/2012/05/19/the-10-words-travelers-hate-to-hear-in-italy/http://www.gadling.com/2012/05/19/the-10-words-travelers-hate-to-hear-in-italy/http://www.gadling.com/2012/05/19/the-10-words-travelers-hate-to-hear-in-italy/#commentsFiled under: ,

chiusoWe were standing on a train platform in Ancona, Italy, waiting for a train, when my 4-year-old son, Leo, made a surprisingly prescient comment.

"I hope our train's not ritardo," he said, using the Italian word for delayed, which he's heard many times on our trip.

Leo knows only four words in Italian but it occurred to me that two of them- ritardo and chiuso (closed) are two of the dreaded words that travelers in Italy become all too familiar with if they spend enough time in the country. Here are some of the others.

Chiuso. I'll say up front that I'm an Italian-American who is extremely fond of Italy and the Italians but even the most ardent Italy-backer has to admit that the arbitrary and capricious opening hours in museums, shops and restaurants can be maddening. For an American used to supreme convenience, things seem to be chiuso more than they're aperto. One could cite thousands of examples, but here is just one I noticed in Parma: the museum attached to the Church of St. Constantine is open from 9:30 until 11 a.m., and then again from 3:30 to 5 p.m.

Continue reading The 10 Words Travelers Hate To Hear In Italy

The 10 Words Travelers Hate To Hear In Italy originally appeared on Gadling on Sat, 19 May 2012 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>chiusoitalystore hours in italyStoreHoursInItalySat, 19 May 2012 10:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Drunk Italians Dancing In The Streets And Other Very Good Reasons To Visit Lecce And Salento]]>http://www.gadling.com/2012/05/18/drunk-italians-dancing-in-the-streets-and-other-very-good-reason/http://www.gadling.com/2012/05/18/drunk-italians-dancing-in-the-streets-and-other-very-good-reason/http://www.gadling.com/2012/05/18/drunk-italians-dancing-in-the-streets-and-other-very-good-reason/#commentsFiled under: ,

ostuniAs I sit in the cool open-air courtyard of our rented apartment, on a hard-to-find street behind Lecce's Duomo, the sound of carefully spaced church bells punctuates the silence of the mid-day pausa - Italy's siesta. Our American instinct is to get out and "do something" on this warm, sunny day. But our newfound Italian inclination is to laze about, digest lunch, and think about what we'll have for dinner.

When the mood strikes us, we venture back into the web of streets in this sultry city between the Adriatic and Ionian Seas, smack near the butt end of Italy's heel. The streets of Lecce's baroque centro storico were made for walking and the town's well dressed residents are out in force, eating gelato, enjoying glasses of wine in sidewalk enotecas and stopping to greet one another, with an exchange of cheek kisses and a flurry of smiles. Overhead, crazy flocks of blackbirds, called rondini, in these parts, swirl and swoop in wild packs, making a racket and creating an eerie, tropical din I've never before encountered.

On our first passegiata in the city, we notice music and a crowd forming on Via Templari Street and follow our ears to see what's going on. A street-side piano player is leading a group of middle aged Italians in a rousing version of what I later learned is a famous WWI era, Neapolitan love song, "'O Surdato 'Nnamurato" (The Soldier In Love). I'm not accustomed to seeing people set up pianos on the street, and I hadn't seen people have so much fun in a very long time. I assumed it was some sort of special festa we were unaware of, but onlookers quickly disabused me of that notion.

"Nesuna festa," the youngest member of the group told me. There was no festival.
"It's drunk Naples people."

Continue reading Drunk Italians Dancing In The Streets And Other Very Good Reasons To Visit Lecce And Salento

Drunk Italians Dancing In The Streets And Other Very Good Reasons To Visit Lecce And Salento originally appeared on Gadling on Fri, 18 May 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>apugliagallipoliitalylecceotrantoPugliasalentoFri, 18 May 2012 12:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Toddlers Partying In The Piazza At Midnight: Tips for Traveling With Small Children To Italy And Beyond]]>http://www.gadling.com/2012/05/18/toddlers-partying-in-the-piazza-at-midnight-tips-for-traveling/http://www.gadling.com/2012/05/18/toddlers-partying-in-the-piazza-at-midnight-tips-for-traveling/http://www.gadling.com/2012/05/18/toddlers-partying-in-the-piazza-at-midnight-tips-for-traveling/#commentsFiled under: ,

kids in italyIt's ten o'clock on a Saturday night and for Italian children, the night is still young. In the small, seaside town of Polignano a Mare, in Puglia, children of all ages convene in the Piazza Vittorio Emmanuelle to play soccer and tag, fill balloons with water in an ancient fountain and have the time of their lives under the not-very-watchful glances of their parents, who may or may not be very nearby.

Oh to be a small child growing up in Italy, or any number of other Mediterranean countries where the parents couldn't possibly be more different from the hyper-cautious American super-parent. On Saturday night in Polignano, we let our boys, ages 2 and 4, play in the piazza until 10 p.m. and couldn't help but feel as though we were doing something illicit.

"We could probably get in trouble for keeping our kids out this late at home," my wife remarked.

But in Italy, especially on weekends, the night is just getting started around 10. Many restaurants don't open until 8 - my children's bed time in the U.S. - and you wouldn't be a very nice parent if you didn't let your kids have some gelato afterwards, right? Then it's time to burn off that sugar in the piazza. In Polignano on a Saturday night, it's not unusual to see toddlers strolling the streets and playing in the Piazza Vittorio Emmanuelle close to Midnight.

Continue reading Toddlers Partying In The Piazza At Midnight: Tips for Traveling With Small Children To Italy And Beyond

Toddlers Partying In The Piazza At Midnight: Tips for Traveling With Small Children To Italy And Beyond originally appeared on Gadling on Fri, 18 May 2012 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>kidstravel with children in italytravel with kidstravel with small childrentravel with toddlersTravelWithChildrenInItalyTravelWithKidsTravelWithSmallChildrenTravelWithToddlersFri, 18 May 2012 10:00:00 EST<![CDATA[A Photographic Tour Of Matera And Alberobello, Where Primitive Dwellings Draw Crowds]]>http://www.gadling.com/2012/05/17/a-photographic-tour-of-matera-and-alberobello-where-primitive-d/http://www.gadling.com/2012/05/17/a-photographic-tour-of-matera-and-alberobello-where-primitive-d/http://www.gadling.com/2012/05/17/a-photographic-tour-of-matera-and-alberobello-where-primitive-d/#commentsFiled under: ,

alberobello trulliMost travelers are compelled to leave home by curiosity - the desire to know what life is like in different parts of the globe. Many of us, myself included, are especially interested in visiting places where people live a simpler life, without all of the modern technology that most of us in the United States take for granted.

But the more you travel, the easier it is to become jaded. In Italy, there are scores of beautiful small towns, each with their own piazzas, churches and corsos, where townsfolk take their evening passegiata, or stroll. Sometimes, it can become difficult to distinguish one place from the next. But there are several towns in Italy where some residents still live in primitive, cave-like dwellings that are quite out of the ordinary and well worth a visit.

Gallery: Matera



Five years ago, I visited Sperlinga, a town in the interior of Sicily that is famous for its cave dwellings, and this week I had an opportunity to visit Matera, a fascinating small city in Basilicata that is famous for its sassi cave dwellings, and Alberobello, a unique town in Puglia with some 1,500 trulli, small, primitive homes with distinctive conical tiled roofs. Both places are UNESCO World Heritage sites and major tourist destinations but are nonetheless well worth a visit.

Gallery: Alberobello's Trulli

Continue reading A Photographic Tour Of Matera And Alberobello, Where Primitive Dwellings Draw Crowds

A Photographic Tour Of Matera And Alberobello, Where Primitive Dwellings Draw Crowds originally appeared on Gadling on Thu, 17 May 2012 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>alberobellocave dwellingsCaveDwellingscavesitalymaterasassitrulliThu, 17 May 2012 14:30:00 EST<![CDATA[In Italy's Heel, Obama's A Rock Star]]>http://www.gadling.com/2012/05/14/in-italys-heel-obamas-a-rock-star/http://www.gadling.com/2012/05/14/in-italys-heel-obamas-a-rock-star/http://www.gadling.com/2012/05/14/in-italys-heel-obamas-a-rock-star/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

president obama dessert in italy named after obama pasticciotto He may be facing a tough reelection battle in the U.S., but in the heel of Italy, President Obama's still a rock star. A friend of a friend who lives in Lecce, a picturesque city of baroque churches and crumbling stone dwellings in Puglia, told me that while in town I had to try a pasticciotto, a muffin-like treat that is peculiar to this region.

"We have one that's named after Obama too," she said. "Ask for a pasticciotto Oh-Bam-ah."

"And people will know what I'm talking about?" I asked.

"Assolutamente," she said, reassuring me that I'd have no trouble getting my Obama treat.

We rented an apartment in the city, and I spent the following week wandering Lecce's atmospheric streets, periodically ducking in and out of pasticerrias and bars asking for Obama pasticciottos. Sure enough, everyone knew exactly what I was after, but no one had them in stock.

But while I didn't find any Obama pasticciottos during my first week in Lecce, I saw lots of young people, mostly girls, wearing the Stars and Stripes. I spent time in Italy in 2005, 2006 and 2007, during the George W. Bush years, and don't remember seeing our flag very much, other than outside of hotels.

Continue reading In Italy's Heel, Obama's A Rock Star

In Italy's Heel, Obama's A Rock Star originally appeared on Gadling on Mon, 14 May 2012 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>desert named after obamaDesertNamedAfterObamafood named after obamaFoodNamedAfterObamaobamaobama pasticciottoObamaPasticciottopresident obamaPresidentObamaMon, 14 May 2012 10:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Torture Museums Look At The Dark Side Of History]]>http://www.gadling.com/2012/05/13/torture-museums-look-at-the-dark-side-of-history/http://www.gadling.com/2012/05/13/torture-museums-look-at-the-dark-side-of-history/http://www.gadling.com/2012/05/13/torture-museums-look-at-the-dark-side-of-history/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Torture Museum
Ah, the Good Old Days, when everyone lived in a perpetual Renaissance Festival quaffing ale and shouting "Huzzah!" It must have been wonderful.

Not!

People died young, the cities were filled with rats and open sewers, and God help you if you ever got arrested. You'd be taken to a torture chamber in order to "confess" while being subjected to various imaginative torture devices, like the rack shown here in a photo courtesy Jan Mehlich. It's from the torture exhibit in the Lubuska Land Museum in Zielona Góra, Poland. A victim would be tied to it and stretched until his limbs popped out of their sockets. The spikes on the cylinder would add an extra level of agony. This museum stands out among torture museums in that many of its objects were used in the local area.

Germany was a pretty rough place back in the Bad Old Days, and this has spawned several good torture museums in the country. The biggest is the Medieval Crime Museum in Rothenburg, with 2,000 square meters of displays on torture, execution and medieval law. Nuremberg has a preserved torture chamber underneath city hall.

Italy was a rough place too, and you can find out more at the Criminal Museum in Rome, the Museo della Tortura housed in the Devil's Tower in San Gimignano and the Museum of Criminal Anthropology in Turin. The latter museum is interesting because it reflects the 19th century belief that a person's physical features, especially the shape of the skull, could show criminal proclivities. Hundreds of skulls, brains and death masks from executed criminals are on display, as well as the weapons they used in their crimes and the instruments of their demise.

Gallery: Torture Museums of the World

The gibbet displayed the rotting bodies of executed criminalsThe skull cracker removed heretical thoughtsEarly waterboarding, Inquisition Museum, LimaMask for gossips, RothenburgChain worn as punishment for cheating at gambling, Rothenburg

Continue reading Torture Museums Look At The Dark Side Of History

Torture Museums Look At The Dark Side Of History originally appeared on Gadling on Sun, 13 May 2012 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>crimecrime preventionCrimePreventioncriminalcriminal interrogationCriminalInterrogationcriminalscriminologyEuropeEurope tourismEurope travelEuropeTourismEuropeTravelgrosshistoryinstruments of tortureInstrumentsOfTorturemedievalmiddle agesMiddleAgesoddrenaissancescarystrangestrange museumsStrangeMuseumstorturetorture instrumentstorture museumtorture museumsTortureInstrumentsTortureMuseumTortureMuseumsweirdweird museumsWeirdMuseumsSun, 13 May 2012 09:00:00 EST<![CDATA[How To (Legally) Stay In Europe For More Than 90 Days]]>http://www.gadling.com/2012/05/10/how-to-legally-stay-in-europe-for-more-than-90-days/http://www.gadling.com/2012/05/10/how-to-legally-stay-in-europe-for-more-than-90-days/http://www.gadling.com/2012/05/10/how-to-legally-stay-in-europe-for-more-than-90-days/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , , , ,

stay in europePlanning an extended stay in Europe, travelers are often focused on what it takes to be there longer than 90 days, what is commonly believed to be the limit for tourists. Armed with a desire to stay longer, travel blog Nomadic Matt found a way and shares it in a recent blog post.

Getting to the heart of the matter, Matthew Kepnes, founder of Nomadic Matt's Travel Site, blogs "when people talk about the '90 day limit,' they are talking about restrictions on the Schengen Visa, which is the visa rule that governs 26 countries in Europe."

The easy way to stay longer than 90 days in non-Schengen countries, says Kepnes, is to vary your location when traveling in Europe, moving to a different country near the end of 90 days. That starts the clock ticking all over again.

But those 26 European countries that are covered under the Schengen Visa are really more like states and staying longer than 90 days can be tricky.

"When most people ask me about staying in Europe, they mean staying longer in the Schengen zone. After all, it covers 26 countries and visiting so many destinations in 90 days can be a little rushed (it is an average of 3.4 days per country)," says Kepnes offering a solution that tells of loopholes and other ways to hang around Europe, legally.

See more at Nomadic Matt's.

Continue reading How To (Legally) Stay In Europe For More Than 90 Days

How To (Legally) Stay In Europe For More Than 90 Days originally appeared on Gadling on Thu, 10 May 2012 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>EuropeSchengen Areastay in europeStayInEuropeWorldThu, 10 May 2012 15:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Experiencing The Beautiful Game In Italy]]>http://www.gadling.com/2012/05/09/experiencing-the-beautiful-game-in-italy/http://www.gadling.com/2012/05/09/experiencing-the-beautiful-game-in-italy/http://www.gadling.com/2012/05/09/experiencing-the-beautiful-game-in-italy/#commentsFiled under: ,

lecce salentini soccer fans ultrasI'd just been hit with a plastic bottle of water square on the back, but I was pretty sure it was nothing personal. But moments later, when I was pelted again, I started to wonder. Another minute passed and two thugs with tattoos on their thick necks ended the suspense with a blunt, intimidating message.

Thug number one barked at me in Italian and when I protested that I didn't understand, his colleague menacingly chimed in.

"No photos!" barked thug #2.

"Get out," cried thug #1, grabbing my wrist forcefully, and directing me out of Lecce's Ultra fan zone.

It was my first time watching a live soccer match in Italy's Serie A, the country's most exalted soccer league, and I'd been unceremoniously ousted from the curva nord, the wildest nook of Lecce's Stadio Via Del Mare for taking photos of "Ultras" the team's most fervent, some would say thuggish, supporters. I found the informal expulsion bizarre considering I took just a few wide-angle shots with dozens of fans in each frame and no close ups.

For reasons I now can't fathom, I found myself reaching into my wallet looking for a business card. I handed it to the hooligan on my left, because he looked like he might have just been released from prison for something like armed robbery, whereas the man on my right looked like he'd probably taken a life or two at some point. Thug #2 held my card in his large, bear-like paw for a few moments, studying it as though it were an important ancient text.

"We don't care about this," he said. "You go now."

Continue reading Experiencing The Beautiful Game In Italy

Experiencing The Beautiful Game In Italy originally appeared on Gadling on Wed, 09 May 2012 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>Calciofootball hooligansFootballHooligansitalian soccerItalianSocceritalyleccePugliaSerie ASerieASoccersoccer hooligansSoccerHooligansU.S. Lecce soccerU.s.LecceSoccerWed, 09 May 2012 10:00:00 EST<![CDATA[From Sunrise To Sunset By Boat In Venice, Italy]]>http://www.gadling.com/2012/05/04/from-sunrise-to-sunset-by-boat-in-venice-italy/http://www.gadling.com/2012/05/04/from-sunrise-to-sunset-by-boat-in-venice-italy/http://www.gadling.com/2012/05/04/from-sunrise-to-sunset-by-boat-in-venice-italy/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,



Created by Swiss filmmaker Joerg Niggli during two separate trips to Italy, "Venice in a Day" shows a day in Venice from sunrise to sunset. The time-lapse video shows viewers the beautiful city of Venice, or "The Floating City," with a ride up the Grand Canal and a tour from Rialto Bridge to Piazza San Marco. There are also some unique shots being taken from the moving boat, which creates a really vivid, first-person perspective. During the creation, a budget-friendly Canon G10 was used along with Motion, After Effects and Final Cut Pro X used to edit. Music is by Heart of Champions, Chris Haigh and premiumbeat.com.

From Sunrise To Sunset By Boat In Venice, Italy originally appeared on Gadling on Fri, 04 May 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>artboats in italyBoatsInItalyculturefilmmakingvenicevideoFri, 04 May 2012 16:00:00 EST<![CDATA[A Few Thoughts On Italian Fashion]]>http://www.gadling.com/2012/05/03/a-few-thoughts-on-italian-fashion/http://www.gadling.com/2012/05/03/a-few-thoughts-on-italian-fashion/http://www.gadling.com/2012/05/03/a-few-thoughts-on-italian-fashion/#commentsFiled under: ,

italian woman looking in mirrorIt's 85 degrees outside and even hotter inside the train carriage, but a young Italian couple dressed in layers - shirts, sweaters, jackets and scarves - is adamant about keeping their windows sealed tight despite the lack of air conditioning. A poet from New Zealand named Gerry is dressed in shorts and a T-shirt, as am I, and we're roasting. We want the windows open; they want them closed. It's unclear if they don't want the wind to ruffle their hair, or if they're not as hot as we are, but the cultural difference is clear.

Italians dress for the season, not for the weather at hand, so I amused myself last week as the mercury soared near the 90 degree mark watching Italians continue to dress in what could be considered winter or spring attire. Every time I saw someone all bundled up in a down coat and scarf, despite the heat, I'd feel the need to point them out to my wife. "Look at that guy," I'd say. "It's in the 80's and he's wearing a down coat!"

Even men in uniform get in on the act. I've seen both soldiers and train conductors wearing colorful scarves coiled tightly around their necks despite the heat. They look cool but it makes no sense to me. Who would want a scarf tied tightly around their neck like a noose on an 85-degree day? Italian men, that's who. The scarf-wearing soldier was also brandishing a man purse - try pulling that look off in the United States Marine Corps and you might end up in Guantanamo.

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A Few Thoughts On Italian Fashion originally appeared on Gadling on Thu, 03 May 2012 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>fashionItalian fashionItalianFashionitalyscarvesThu, 03 May 2012 09:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Italy's New Ferrari Museum]]>http://www.gadling.com/2012/05/01/italys-new-ferrari-museum/http://www.gadling.com/2012/05/01/italys-new-ferrari-museum/http://www.gadling.com/2012/05/01/italys-new-ferrari-museum/#commentsFiled under: ,

ferrari museum modenaCan you imagine driving a 1935 Alfa Romeo 208 mph on a public highway? Or how about a limited edition Maserati that was once owned by Evita Peron? These are just two of the remarkable cars on display at the stunning new Enzo Ferrari Museum in Modena, Italy, which opened on March 10. The museum is adjacent to the boyhood home and workshop of Enzo Ferrari, the legendary driver and founder of Ferrari, and is located in a striking, bonnet shaped building that took 8 years and more than $20 million to build.

Gallery: Modena's New Ferrari Museum



The museum tells the story of Ferrari's life and how it fits into the greater context of the automotive history of the Modena region, known as The Motor Valley, home to Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati, Ducati and other luxury car manufacturers. Ferrari was a racecar driver before he founded the company that would become Ferrari and the museum shows some of the 1930's era Alfa Romeo's he raced in as a young man.

The exhibits on Ferrari's life are interesting but the museum's real attraction is the collection of more than two dozen classic cars, which come from private collections and will be rotated every six months or so. One of my favorites was the aforementioned 1935 Alfa Romeo Bimotore, a racecar that was designed with two engines. The drivers realized that the car's two-engine design made it impossible to handle on a racetrack, so they took it out on a public highway near Florence and it set a record by topping 208 mph. Apparently there were no police wielding radar guns in those days.

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Italy's New Ferrari Museum originally appeared on Gadling on Tue, 01 May 2012 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>ferrari museumFerrariMuseumitalymodenanew ferrari museumNewFerrariMuseumTue, 01 May 2012 11:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Tips For Renting Vacation Apartments Or Homes In Italy And Beyond]]>http://www.gadling.com/2012/05/01/tips-for-renting-vacation-apartments-or-homes-in-italy-and-beyon/http://www.gadling.com/2012/05/01/tips-for-renting-vacation-apartments-or-homes-in-italy-and-beyon/http://www.gadling.com/2012/05/01/tips-for-renting-vacation-apartments-or-homes-in-italy-and-beyon/#commentsFiled under: , ,

lecce palazzo Italy is an addictive place. You get a taste of it, and you want more. Indeed, one could spend a lifetime exploring Bella Italia and still not see everything. But with the Euro still relatively strong against the Dollar, it isn't the most budget friendly travel destination for American travelers.

If you want to spend a week or more in any one town or city in Italy, you've probably considered renting a furnished apartment. Below you'll find some tips for navigating the selection process and making the most of your experience.

Weigh your options- and your baggage. If you travel light, and don't mind packing and unpacking frequently, renting an apartment might not make sense, unless you plan to spend a significant amount of time in one place, i.e. at least a week. Some landlords in Italy will rent by the night, but most do not. If you have kids or are less mobile, using one place as a base makes sense.

Take a look at the places you want to visit and look into the logistics of making day trips from your base. In some cases, the places you want to visit might not be easy or inexpensive to do as day trips. In choosing your base, try to find a place that's a transportation hub and is big enough to have a wide variety of restaurants. Car rentals can be prohibitively expensive in Italy, especially if you can't drive a stick, and gas is pricey, so finding a good hub and choosing your rental home or apartment near public transport is especially critical.

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Tips For Renting Vacation Apartments Or Homes In Italy And Beyond originally appeared on Gadling on Tue, 01 May 2012 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>apartmentapartment rentalApartmentRentalbudget-travelitalytipsvacation rentalVacationRentalTue, 01 May 2012 10:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Assisi's Quiet Police]]>http://www.gadling.com/2012/04/30/assisis-quiet-police/http://www.gadling.com/2012/04/30/assisis-quiet-police/http://www.gadling.com/2012/04/30/assisis-quiet-police/#commentsFiled under: ,

basilica of st francis in assisiThe 13th century Basilica of St. Francis in Assisi, Italy is one of the world's most spectacular places of worship. From the moment you walk into this magical place, your eyes are drawn to the glorious frescoes, the stunning stained glass windows and the Franciscan Friars in their brown robes. But on a recent visit with my two little boys, ages 2 and 4, I was also captivated by a much less heralded institution: the Silencio Police.

Both the upper and lower basilicas have uniformed men, dressed like snazzy police officers complete with flat, wide brimmed hats who patrol the churches, scolding unruly visitors through wireless microphones. The first Silencio Cop we encountered had a voice that was so deep and gravely that it sounded like a Hollywood voice over for God, delivering an angry message to a non-believer.

When I first saw the Silencio Cop in his uniform, holding the microphone, I immediately conjured an image of the cop from the Village People. Only this guy didn't sing YMCA, he had just three commands he imparted: "SILENCIO!" "SHHHHH!" Or "No Photo!" And they didn't smile or dance, they just looked stern and grimaced at people.

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Assisi's Quiet Police originally appeared on Gadling on Mon, 30 Apr 2012 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>assisiitalyst francis of assisiStFrancisOfAssisiMon, 30 Apr 2012 14:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Perugia: The Italian Town Haunted by Amanda Knox]]>http://www.gadling.com/2012/04/27/perugia-the-italian-town-haunted-by-amanda-knox/http://www.gadling.com/2012/04/27/perugia-the-italian-town-haunted-by-amanda-knox/http://www.gadling.com/2012/04/27/perugia-the-italian-town-haunted-by-amanda-knox/#commentsFiled under: ,

amanda knox house perugia

The medieval city of Perugia is known for its chocolate, its well-respected universities, and for hosting one of the world's premier Jazz festivals. But in the United States and Great Britain, this city of ancient, winding streets filled with fortress-like stone dwellings is inextricably linked to Amanda Knox, the American college student who was convicted and then acquitted of murdering Meredith Kercher.

The trials attracted a tsunami of reporters from around the world to this ancient Umbrian hill town and exposed a decadent sex, drugs and party subculture that has existed amongst the student population here for a long time. Various news reports indicated that the Knox-Kercher case has scared away British and American tourists and students but according to some in Perugia, the overall effect on tourism here may not be as grim as one might think.

Tourism officials here didn't want to make an official comment on the effect of the Knox case on tourism in Perugia, but hotel managers and a local who rents apartments to tourists here told me that the publicity surrounding the case has brought more Italian tourists to Perugia, not less.

"Italians have a curiosity to come here and see where the murder took place," said the apartment manager, who asked that I refrain from publishing his name. "They're also visiting the island of Giglio to see where the Costa Concordia crashed. People have a fascination with these things."

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Perugia: The Italian Town Haunted by Amanda Knox originally appeared on Gadling on Fri, 27 Apr 2012 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>amanda knoxAmandaKnoxitalyperugiaumbriaFri, 27 Apr 2012 10:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Da Michele Pizzeria In Naples: Is This Really The World's Best Pizza?]]>http://www.gadling.com/2012/04/26/da-michele-pizzeria-in-naples-is-this-really-the-worlds-best-p/http://www.gadling.com/2012/04/26/da-michele-pizzeria-in-naples-is-this-really-the-worlds-best-p/http://www.gadling.com/2012/04/26/da-michele-pizzeria-in-naples-is-this-really-the-worlds-best-p/#commentsFiled under: , ,

da michele pizzeria in naplesThere are tens, if not hundreds of thousands of pizzerias in the world. Trying to crown one place the best in the world is an absurd task and a fool's errand. There are an infinite number of varieties and once you start evaluating toppings and specialty pizzas it's impossible to make a direct comparison between one pizza and the next. But if you just consider classic Neapolitan style pizza without toppings, you can probably narrow the world's best pizzerias down to the low hundreds.

One place that almost always makes it onto world's best short lists is Da Michele, a family run pizzeria that's been serving up Neapolitan pies since 1870, right after Italy became a unified country. Last week I was on a cruise that stopped in Naples for just half a day. My wife wanted to take an excursion to Pompeii but I wanted pizza.

I read that Julia Roberts ate at Da Michele in "Eat, Pray, Love" and concluded that Da Michele was probably a tourist trap. I normally avoid such places but I wanted to see if the hype was justified.

My wife took our 2-year-old to Pompeii and my 4-year-old and I turned up at Da Michele just as they opened at 10.30 a.m. on a Sunday morning. At midday, the place can be a zoo, but in the morning it's very quiet. It's an ordinary looking place and the moment I saw an old man who later introduced himself as Luigi Condurro, (see photo above) dressed in a shirt, tie and white jacket, stoking the wood fired oven, I knew the place wasn't a tourist trap.

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Da Michele Pizzeria In Naples: Is This Really The World's Best Pizza? originally appeared on Gadling on Thu, 26 Apr 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>da michele pizzeriaDaMichelePizzerianaplesnapolineopolitan pizzaNeopolitanPizzapizzaworlds best pizzaWorldsBestPizzaThu, 26 Apr 2012 12:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Photos Of Cool Cliff Castles]]>http://www.gadling.com/2012/04/19/photos-of-cool-cliff-castles/http://www.gadling.com/2012/04/19/photos-of-cool-cliff-castles/http://www.gadling.com/2012/04/19/photos-of-cool-cliff-castles/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , , , , ,

Nobody minds seeing photos of dreamy castles, especially if the photos are of cool cliff castles. Towering over steep slated valleys and crashing waves, Woman's Day has a great roundup of these kinds of castles on their website here. Featuring castles in Ukraine, Italy, Spain, Tibet, Yemen, USA and India, these photos are the thread with which fantasies are sewn. Knights in shining armor, damsels in distress, drawbridges and dragons, anyone? I'm pretty sure these castles were the backdrops behind the stories surrounding all of those things. For that, these are places worth visiting. And you know what they (by 'they', I mean 'me') say: if you can't visit, look at photos online.

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Photos Of Cool Cliff Castles originally appeared on Gadling on Thu, 19 Apr 2012 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>castlecastle photosCastlePhotoscastlescastles on a cliffCastlesOnACliffcliff castlecliff castlesCliffCastleCliffCastlesindia castlesIndiaCastlesitaly castlesItalyCastlesphotos of castlesPhotosOfCastlesspain castlesSpainCastlestibet castlesTibetCastlesukraine castlesUkraineCastlesunited states castlesUnitedStatesCastlesyemen castlesYemenCastlesThu, 19 Apr 2012 14:00:00 EST