About 300 years ago, the Venaria Reale was a vast pleasure estate, a jewel in the crown of opulent Savoy residences surrounding Turin. The Baroque palace, stables, gardens and hunting reserve (235 acres), built by Duke Carlo Emanuele II of Savoy, were so magnificent that a local proverb claimed that leaving Turin without visiting Venaria [...]
Truck drivers demanding government subsidies to meet rising fuel costs mean closed gas stations and empty shelves in pharmacies and grocery stores across Italy. Strikers are vowing not to hit the roads again until December 14, but three days into the protest, my local supermarket in Milan already looks like the scene of wartime famine: [...]
The canals and narrow streets of Venice have long been known to breed romance, but for the first time 60,000 people will seal the reputation of Italy’s most romantic city by kissing on New Year’s eve. Called LoVe 2008 (the VE = stands for Venice), it’s the brainchild of Marco Balich, a Venetian known for [...]
A quick look at Milan’s new museum of design at the Triennale, which opened today. First impression: it’s a little dark (maybe just opening night glam?) and an little sparse. There are 400 objects, from Vespas and Moka coffee makers to Kartell plastic chairs and the Olivetti “Valentina” typewriter, that I remember seeing in just [...]
Shock fotog Oliviero Toscani’s latest exploit is a limited edition T-shirt for the holidays that says “It’s Christmas? Shall we F***?” in Italian (E’ Natale? Scopiamo?) with his name under it. It’ll be sure to liven up the otherwise soporific unveiling of Christmas lights in Milan shopping mecca Via della Spiga, where the tees with [...]
