For Jan - Sardinia

March 12, 2008 · Filed Under Good Italian Things · 7 Comments

I’ve been digging around on You Tube again, and I dug this up. OK, so it’s not a video. It’s more of a promotional slide show with commentary, but, whatever, Sardinia is one beautiful place, as you will see if you watch.

One of these fine days, I’ll actually get round to going there.

Tags: beautiful, holiday, holiday ideas, Italy, promotion, Sardinia. Sardinians, vacation, you tube, youtube

Turning Round La Brutta Figura

January 21, 2008 · Filed Under Life in Italy · 3 Comments

Italy is a very image conscious country - just wander down any Italian street and you will see beautiful shops and elegantly dressed passers by. The places and people are examples of ‘la bella figura’ - which means ‘creating the right impression’. The opposite of the ‘bella’ version is ‘la brutta figura’, which is similar in concept to the French ‘faux pas’, only in Italian culture ‘la brutta figura’ is somewhat worse than its French equivalent. In the eyes of the world Italy is one making big brutta figura at the moment, thanks in no small part to recent articles in internationally read newspapers.

While some dismiss these articles as foreign interference, many of the people I know, would not disagree that things are not going all too well in the land of pizza and Ferrari. These people are aware of Italy’s brutta figura, and it is embarrassing. However, there is the possibility that the embarrassment that these mischievous articles have generated may actually help reverse the downward slide which is occurring in the Living Museum. Two changes would make a noticeable difference. First, the electoral laws need to be properly reformed, and second all that is needed is quite simply a few new faces in Italian politics, and, possibly, the forthcoming collapse of the Prodi government may just provoke someone who can bring about such change into Italian politics.

That someone is the present head of Ferrari and the Italian employers’ federation chairman Luca di Montezemolo, and there are rumours that once his presidency at the federation ends he will enter politics. Heck, I really hope so. He would be something of a breath of fresh air in Italy, and he certainly has the management skills necessary to put together the right team and thus get down to sorting things out. Whether he will be able to navigate the veritable ocean of vested interests is another question, but seems to have done OK at Ferrari and Fiat, both of which are quintessentially Italian companies, warts, vested interests, and all. So it sounds as though he may stand a sporting chance.
The slight fly in the ointment, or so it would seem, is that Prodi’s band of brothers has collapsed a short time before Montezemolo managed to enter the scene . However, all may not be lost, because you see, the next elections will result in the same old unloved but familiar faces gaining power, and this will further lower the Italian populace’s esteem in those who purport to lead them. Enter stage right Montezemolo and, with a little luck some electoral reform will be carried out, he will sweep the field, and his mere presence may well give the majority of Italians the impression that there is still a ray of hope shining through what has been becoming an ever more overcast sky.

And, never fear, if Montezemolo really does manage to get the Italian ball rolling once more, there are more than enough talented Italians to keep it rolling in the right direction. This I know, I am lucky enough to teach plenty of them. And the frustration that has built up in such people is, at the same time, serving to stoke the fires of ambition, and, in the not too distant future the flames emitted by these people will reduce the old and ineffective to mere ashes.

La brutta figura will lead to la bella figura, or, as we say in English ‘every cloud has a silver lining’. Just you wait and see.

Tags: beautiful, Culture, elections, Ferrari, government, Italia, Italian, Italian politics, Italians, Italy, montezemolo, museum, news, Newspapers, People, pizza, Politics, Prodi

Gigli Festival, Nola in Italy

October 15, 2007 · Filed Under Italy · Comment

Gaetano Salvo, who helps out with Blog from Italy, drew my attention to a particular festival that takes place annually in June in the town of Nola (click to see where Nola is), down near Naples in southern Italy. You can see some pictures here, here and here.This festival sounds spectacular and if you look at the number of people present in the pictures on the Nola Festival site you will see just how popular this event is, even though it is not all that well known outside of Italy, although similar celebrations have been set up in the US by ex-Nola immigrants.

The highlight of the festival is the carrying of the eight ‘Gigli’, intricately decorated twenty five metre high wooden obelisks in the form of lilies, around the centre of Nola throughout the day of the festival. Each of these obelisks is carried by a team of 120 men who slowly march around the town in rhythm to the music provided by a special band. In addition to the Gigli, there is also a boat which is transported around the town. This boat explains, in part, the origins of the event, in that the craft represents the boat used by a certain St Paolino to return to the town after having freed all of its male population.

As the story goes, the men of Nola were captured by the Hun, enslaved, and taken off to North Africa. St Paolino, who was of French origin, managed to save the town’s children during the Hun invasion. However, when St Paolino returned to the town with the children, he was approached by a mother whose child had been captured. St Paolino negotiated with the Hun for the release of the child, but freedom was only granted after St Paolino offered himself in exchange for the child. After some years, and after becoming the personal slave of the leader of the Hun, and after having used his apparent gift to predict the future to save the Hun from impending disaster, St Paolino was liberated. However, St Paolino only agreed to his being freed on the condition that the men of Nola also be liberated. The Hun leader accepted this and St Paolino sailed back to Nola. As you might imagine, the people of Nola were rather happy. When they came to greet St Paolino’s ship upon its return, they were all carrying Lilies, hence the name of this festival or feast. And this is how the festival started - it was held to remember St Paolino’s good deeds.

The town of Nola has kept up this tradition to the present day, and the festival has continued to grow. Now, on the day of the festival there are also lots of supporting events and traditional music is played. Mix all this in with the beauty and atmosphere of an unspoilt Italian town and you have an electrifying mix which is well worth checking out.

If you happen to be on holiday in the Naples area in late June and would like to get a feel for the ‘real’ Italy, then this is an event that is not to be missed. It would be a good idea to get there early though, because there will be a huge number of people. And those of you who like taking photographs are bound to find some interesting subjects for your lenses.

There is also the possibility for business to get involved and the festival would be an ideal occasion for some subtle brand-building down in the south of Italy. Today I spoke to one Angelo Amato de Serpis, the president of the Cultural Tourist Association in the area, about this and he told be that anyone interested in sponsoring this event should contact the Ente Festa Gigli section of Nola town council. English is spoken too, should this information be of any assistance.

If you would like to know a little more, then here are a few links for you to have a look at:

Information about the festival - Official Nola Festival site - In English and Italian

Contact Information - Angelo Amato de Serpis, President of the Cultural Tourist Association Meridies - cell phone: 335 633 79 63 (I don’t know if he speaks English, but it is possible)

International Calls: 39 338 847 31 93 - Information about Nola and the Gigli Festival Fax: 39 081 823 65 09 - Information about Nola and the Gigli Festival

Nola Council - Festival Organisation - in Italian

Giglio Feasts - US site - In English

Born to Giglio - Article from Voices - Journal of New York Folklore about the origins of a parallel festival in the United States - In English

Even if you do not manage to get to the festival, Nola is still worth visiting, as it looks as though it is quite beautiful. Although I have never been, I am, after having written about the place, very interested to see what it is like. But that is Italy for you: fascinating, fabulous and endless. You could spend a lifetime here simply exploring all that Italy has to offer.

If you do go to Nola, let me know how you get on.

Tags: beautiful, carnival, fascinating, festa, festival, Gigli, interesting, Italian, Italy, June, Lilies, music, Naples, Napoli, Nola, St Paolino, tourism, USA, visit

Cogne - something I prepared a little earlier

December 12, 2005 · Filed Under Holidays · 1 Comment

We got back from our extended weekend trip to the Alps on Sunday afternoon (11 December), after having spent just over two days in the midst of spectacular mountain scenery.

The picture on the left is the hotel we stayed in, which was not actually in Cogne, but situated above it in a small village called Gimillan. The friends who transported us there had already stayed in this little hotel and had found it very comfortable and convenient, not to mention very reasonably priced too. There is a restaurant, but it was not open during our stay - not a great surprise really, when you understand that we were there in the rather quiet period which precedes Christmas - in fact we were just about the only people in the place! The hotel is run by a man from the village with his Milanese wife, and I should mention the owners father, who built the fire in one of the hotel’s two lounge areas. All three were very friendly, without being obtrusive and contributed to the overall atmosphere of the area, which one of incredible peace and tranquility - maybe a little too peaceful for those who reside there, but for us stressed city dwellers it was an idea place to, er, chill out - in every sense of the expression. Oddly enough, even though the hotel was located at an altitude of 1,800 metres (5, 500 feet), it was warmer than the town of Cogne below in the valley, due to the fact that Cogne saw the sun for only around 3 hours in the afternoon, whereas Gimillan got the sun for most of the day. Boy, was it cold out of the sun. There was also a lot of snow, which was quite unusual for mid December according to the locals.

The area is picturesque and unmistakably Alpine. Beautiful low, wood and stone houses and plenty of restaurants brimming with character. On Thursday night I got off to a good start by tucking into wonderful Polenta Valdostana - that is polenta finished off in an oven with melted Fontina cheese and butter. A rich dish if ever there was one, but ideal for keeping the cold at bay. The polenta was followed by venison and all was washed down with a full bodied local red wine. Pudding was a hazelnut based ’semi-freddo’ - a type of icecream, although my other half and baby had ‘Cogne cream’ - a custardy type desert with chocolate, which was wonderful too. It was actually my second dose of Fontina that day, seeing as we had had an improvised lunch by getting a few sandwiches from a local shop. The sandwiches were filled with two extremely generous slices of, yes, you guessed it, Fontina! And as Fontina is one of my favourite Italian cheeses, I was one happy bunny.

On day two we awoke to find a crystal clear blue sky, with the mountain tops highlighted by the suns rays. A truly breathtaking sight if ever there was one. I could happily wake up every day to such a sight!

More coming soon…..ish.

Tags: beautiful, Cogne, hotel, Italian, peaceful, town, villa, wonderful