What does an Italian Groundhog look like?

A blackbird.  

Turns out, while Americans wait and see if a groundhog will see its shadow, the Italians have their own mother nature equivalent.  I giorni della merla - The blackbird's days which fall on the last three days of January and indicating the coldest days of winter. And although weathermen report that there are (often) days much colder, and with this year's record high temps, the legend has stuck.

But leave it to the Italians and their gift for gab and you'll find that the legend has now morphed into a number of different tales, to be recalled by future generations, depending on your point of view.  So, pick your tale:

I. During a very cold winter in Milan's Porta Nuova (I like this, my old stomping grounds)...a family of white birds took refuge in a courtyard of a palazzo.  The father could not find food due to the cover of fallen snow.  It kept right on snowing, so the father bird decided to fly out of the snowstorm looking for food.  Before he left, he settled the mother & three baby birds near a smokestack for warmth.  Able to return only after the storm had passed (3 days), he found his family black with soot.  The sun came out in February, marking the end of winter, but by then even the papa bird had turned black and from then on, blackbirds were born.

II.  ...It was so cold that the family - unable to even flap their wings - perched its nest atop the smokestack.  Finally, after three days they could fly away - but by that time the white birds had turned black, and from that point on, the blackbird came to be.

III.  This version becomes more dark (in tutti sensi):  The papa bird left his family inside the chimney, and went out to search for food.  Upon his return, finding his mate all black, he didn't recognize her and left.  She died of hunger.

IV.  Two young blackbirds return to the hometown of the young female in order to marry, situated beyond the Po River.  Afterwards, once they left for home, back over the river, it got to be too late and too cold.  So they spent two days more nearby with relatives.  On the third day, their next attempt, it was so cold that the male died -- and that's why today you can still hear the lament of the female along the Po river each end of January.

One astute blogger reported the actual temperature indications.  In fact, they found that:  

The average temperature of the three days in question is 3.6 degrees celsius, while the average of all of January is 2.8 degrees.  At nearly 1 degree more, it "proves" that legends and tall tales are just that, indeed.  

Nonetheless, be sure to throw an extra blanket on your bed just to be sure...

The Way we Were...Italian Style

As part of my occasional series on how far we've come in Italy (from telephones to cinema chairs -- click to read posts) just in the last few decades or so, this post takes on our 'Information Age'.  In our over-blogged, tumbled, stumbled and tweeted world, it's said that a person today gets more information per minute than the entire contents of the New York Times back in the day (which is not to say that the information they get is quite as valuable as it was back then.)  Today, we can 'Channel Surf' hundreds of channels, with programming bursting on the screen 24/7.

But in Italy, it wasn't so long ago when we were fairly contented with just taking our pick of one of three stations.  We'd have those delightful presenter-women telling us what to expect on the tube momentarily, and then, we'd simply wait for the program to begin.  Wait. And wait some more. [We were blessed back then not to have adverts filling the synapses with their rowdy blathering and vacuous housewives]. So we just watched the clock. Literally.
And here's how it looked like as far back as 1986 [try and see if you can kindly refrain from checking emails / text msgs / twitter / facebook pages for the duration of the video]:

Other live links to The Way We Were above.

2012 Italy Year in Review

I love all those year end summaries you find across every category and across every type of media.  But, I'm too busy reading those, I confess I did not type up my own list.  Say what you will about next in line to be 'The Sick Man of Europe' (you might call it Greece's younger sister, la Bell'Italia), 2012 was the year that Italians woke out of their apathetic stupor and started taking on the problems that confront the country, while never giving up on what they do best: Arts - Culture - Events - Hospitality.  So, here it is, a short list of great things about Italy:

Colombus points the way toward a New World
- via Queen Isabella's court -

Great Art Discoveries/ One of the most charming towns (or Borghi) in Italy, Citerna got their Madonna back--a stunning work by Donatello, that had gone in for restoration. That's just one excuse to pay a visit to this wonderful Umbrian town (as if you really needed one).

While in Rome, the Carabinieri frequenting the market stalls of Porta Portese managed to return to an Art History professor 200+ works of inestimable value that were being pawned on the banks of the Tiber.  Now...to figure out how a simple professor amassed such a vast collection...

Then, news came from Palermo that a dozen works from the most valuable heist in the last 10 yrs were found in an abandoned farmhouse in Sicily. They had been pilfered from the church of San Nicola of Trapani.

In Madrid, the Prado showcased a 'new' Titian painting, that resurfaced after art historians decided they wanted a claim to fame it was his.

And finally, the Colosseum finally got the approval for a facelift after consumer's groups looked a major gift horse - donation by successful owner of Tod's - in the mouth -- although we lost the fun decidedly un-battle worthy Centurions in the battle in the taste wars.

I spent much of this year making my own discoveries, visiting new places far and wide, from the Tagliacozzo area in the Abruzzo to 'the city that's dying' in Tuscia, Bagnoregio, to the natural reserve high atop Arezzo, to a half dozen new Tuscan towns (well, new for me), serving up age-old delights.
Women in Italy find their voice / Post-Berlusconi, Italian women have finally decided to take matters into their own hands. They're sick of being mistreated by the media, by the politicians, by the church and by companies.  While Italy's (nearly all-male-run) enterprises still haven't woken up to smell the espresso--that women actually make household purchase decisions (and that includes autos) and still show us plenty of T&A in order to sell oh, say, most everything.  Rome's city govt decided to pass a law that ads that denigrate women would be censored.  As far as I can tell, it's been pretty well-enforced (unlike most laws - the streets of Rome are paid with good intentions).
In the Rome City Govt, women won the -stay with me here-Enforcement of the law already in place that would guarantee equal parts male/female representation.  The Mayor has done his best at playing 'dodge-'em' for three years, refusing to enlist women on his cabinet, citing the Romney line of defense: He's reviewed 'File folders filled with women' but no one willing or able to join his government. Italy's Prime Minister Monti happened to find more than a few tokens for positions in his cabinet, and a woman now heads up RAI Television.  Incredibly, Italians couldn't believe to see that their resumès are larger than their bust sizes.
Then, most recently, after woman after woman (1 every 3 days) is killed at the hands of a loved one or ex, even the EU joined the fray and reprimanded Italy to start figuring out a way to handle this pox on civil society. Which led the Church to chime in, with a Genovese pastor (you know, that city that loves to gush over native son Chris Colombus who discovered America with the help of noneother than the most influential woman of all time, Spanish Queen Isabella) and others stating that women are killed by 'domestic violence' because they dress too provocatively.  Women have come out to protest in the thousands.
And finally, an Italian researcher was lauded for heading up the CERN Particle Accelerator breakthrough - except she's a perfect example of Italy's advancing 'Brain Drain' in which the brilliant minds of Italy are turning their attentions where they can get ahead - and get paid.

The best thing in my year was
finding Arcibaldo

More in Culture / Eataly came to Rome, sprucing up the abandoned Stazione Ostiense and bringing new life to a so-so area, that hadn't seen much action since bombs fell on it in WWII.  With it, came the launch of my new heartthrob, ItaloTreno and their lawsuit win to open up the fence so people could board the train without having to run the Seal Team 6 gamut of escalators and stairs - all of which are out of service to passengers-and have been 'work in progress' for years now.  Let's just say, it took a shorter amount of time to lay the track throughout the Peninsula than to fix the escalator.  
In my world, instead, I launched my book (!) with book readings at Rome's Hotel 47, a monologue show at the Teatro Arciliuto, and invites to even our Camp Darby army base near Pisa - and now, tweeting! (@IrreverentItaly)   Rome's luxe hostel, The Beehive, launched new initiatives from a vegan dining experience, to film nights on planetary issues of our day, to wonderful films offering a great 'how-to Italy' featuring their kids.  They also hosted an Expat Writer Book fair, showcasing authors & publishers and their works around the Boot.  While this winter, we were overjoyed at the annual opening of the ice rink at Castel Sant'Angelo, in summer we loved the summer nights at the castle, with the long walk along the passetto, the wall connecting the Vatican and the Castle.
Italy gained a new holiday, after the extraordinary 1 yr celebration of a united Italy (150 years ago).  Each 17th of March (move over Saint Patrick, we're into Garibaldi nowadays) we'll pay our tribute to what the Lega Party (Northern League) is trying to dismantle, with wild claims of 'corruption in Rome' while their own party heads are caught with the hands in the till time and again.

http://www.gianfalco.it

Retake Rome gained more momentum as schools and citizens take on the travesty of graffiti that is ruining the 'most beautiful city on Earth'. And speaking of retaking Rome, Berlusconi finally got sentenced in one way or another, so is busy running for high office in another attempt to keep him out of jail (his 4 yr sentence in fact already being reduced to 1 yr for no apparent reason). Italy's cowardly parliament decided that jailbirds couldn't serve in government -- unless of course, they 'only' served a couple of years.
I finally got to put a human face and warm hand on my book illustrator and incomparable political satirical cartoonist extraordinaire, Gianni Falcone when we met on U.S. Election Night in Rome.  And, ACRoma, not only imported U.S. soccer player Bradley, they started touring the U.S. to play 'friendly' matches and draw the American crowds, to great success.  Not only did they tour, so did Jovanotti, Italian rapper - who liked it so much, he's moved to New York.  Another Italian talent lost but another American gain.
You can see more of the week in / week out amazing things to see and do in Rome and that fill my world in my column Dove Sono? (in the right hand side of the official blog page).

*check out the dozens of live links throughout this post!

Branding la Befana

Today is the celebration of the Epiphany. Or rather, it’s the day the old kitchen witch brings gifts for good kids or fills stockings with coal for the naughty ones. And traditionally, this has been the Big Day for little kids, up until not very long ago when Good St. Nick finally overtook her market share. After all, who could make it against a rosy-cheeked guy with reindeer and elves? Even though I thought La Befana might make a comeback post-Harry Potter, with her broomstick and all.

But, I think La Befana’s image issue is actually representative of a deep-seated marketing problem which besets the entire country. Sure, everyone associates Italy with beautiful things, fast cars, and Pavarotti’s voice, but luxury goods aside, the Italians still haven’t quite caught the hang of brand imaging for everything else. Think about it: Jolly ol' St. Nick? Although originally hailing from Myrna (by some sources), he became  Italian and gained sainthood there after all.  And yet, the guy’s gift-giving habit will forever more be associated with Laplanders and the North Pole. All because of shrewd branding by the guys who gave us Nokia, although Antonio Meucci or even Innocenzo Manzetti actually invented the telephone.  Heck, even Google owes its engine to an Italian inventor.

Take our long-nosed Befana, for example:

A scary old gift-bearing witch is the figure they chose to symbolize the arrival of the Three Wise Men…and to announce that God had come forth in the body of Jesus? My friend’s son here for a visit couldn’t sleep all night – not from anticipation, but from abject fear. Those wily Olde Englishmen - the forefathers of our mass-advertising execs -- already defying the Church with their divorce decrees, caught on to this story, and rebranded her for Halloween. And now trick or treating has taken Europe by a storm.

[And dare I mention what happened to her when she reached America? Having already turned Halloween into practically a 2-month event including movies, Harry Potter book launches, yard decorations fit for MGM, haunted houses and so many costumes there’s a Dept of Halloween in China, it then took the witch, put her in the kitchen so she could stay (and they could sell her) year round.]

And those poor Sicilians steeped in tradition? They didn’t even get the scary witch and her treats to look forward to. Those kids only get 'I Morti', that night between Nov 1st and 2nd when they would be visited by dead relatives in the night. In the morning (if they hadn’t died of fright from boogeymen), they’d find scattered about the balconies or windowsills chestnuts, almonds, nuts, and dried up figs. It’s no wonder the practice never quite took off in the rest of the world despite centuries of migration to and occupation from dozens of other countries.
Branding, my dear Watsonini. Branding.

Italy has an Epiphany

January 6th marks the day we all get to have extra holidays in Italy.  That's because no one truly considers working between Christmas and New Years and not even between New Years (the Feast Day of Stephen-Santo Stefano) & the Epiphany, or La Befana - marked by the arrival of that old gift bearing kitchen witch floating by on a broomstick.  Once she turns up, expect the huge post-Epiphany sales, which cause tourists and residents alike to have their own sort of Epiphany.  The streets of Rome are so mobbed, even the counterfeit vendors don't have room to display their wares curbside.
In Venice, they hold the annual Regata of the Befana - From the looks of things, men can run the race dressed up as women, but still, a woman gondolier is as hard to find as a female priest.  Maybe this will bring the 'ol boys club just one step closer.
And, as a little curiousity, I just read in my charming This is Venice book (by M. Sasek) - a gift from the Befana herself - that in its heyday, Venice had over 10000 gondolas roaming its canals.  Now, fewer than 500 are in existence.  No wonder prices are so high for a ride. Talk about diminishing returns...

Pic from Venice.nu search engine site: 
  http://www.venice.nu/photos/regatta-della-befana/

And click here for a fun slideshow of the Venetian event.


And, for all those who don't know what we're celebrating exactly, here's my favorite video on youtube depicting the arrival of those three kings on this day:

Buona Befana a tutti!