“This land is our land” (photo from www.museodellandrangheta.eu)

Italy is famous for a criminal organization called Mafia, but this is not the only one we have in our territory.
“Gomorra”, the best seller written by Roberto Saviano, has highlighted the terrible situation that occurs in Campania, where Camorra rules and controls the Port of Napoli, as well as the drug traffic and many other activities in South Italy.
There is another organization called ‘ndrangheta who is involved in criminal activities in Calabria, another region in South Italy. Thanks to the efforts of the University of Calabria, the Region Board, the Province and an association called Antigone there is a brand new museum, in Reggio Calabria, that aims to denounce and be an observatory on a phenomenon that is silent but extremely powerful. Those kind of organizations flourish thanks to the silence that surrounds them. When Saviano was invited in Tv shows to talk about Camorra, a Mafioso turned informant, from the prison, has declared that he was worried because “Saviano is on all the media, and media are giving information and importance to his book”. For criminals the big fear is not a book, a movie, an article but the fact that if those documents are spread, people may talk. And the more they talk the less powerful those organizations become.
That’s why a museum concerning ‘ndrangheta is so important. In a villa confiscated from a boss, you can find documents resulting form trials, movies, a multimedia laboratory and events such as conferences and exhibitions.
The visit is worth seeing and the whole region can be a delicious place for a holiday. Calabria, in fact, is especially a land with a beautiful sea, good food and amazing traditions.

A shop sign reveals how much Italians know English. This is the reason why I don’t have fear to loose my job. The more Italians do not study English, the more I earn. Cynical? Hey, I need to pay my bills.

There is a little corner of paradise in Siena, were you can find a rest after a day spent among culture and art. With its salami and pieces of cheese in his shop window , the Pizzicheria De Piccoli is like a mermaid in the ocean of  primordial food. Her song is the smell that catch you as soon as you enter the street. The victim? You, and your basic instincts. You get in hypnotized, and once you are in all you can do is to choose one of the delicacies of the Tuscany food culture. One of their main dish is the “porchetta” , a sandwich with a roast pork filling. You can have a seat and eat there (the place is small but cosy), or ask for a take away sandwich, in case you are planning a pic-nic on the hills around Siena. Don’t forget to ask for a good glass of wine, and if you still have some space in your stomach, why not a local dessert.  Outside there is a funny bike made of  bamboo and a boar head. Ehm, sorry.. no veggie allowed.             Pizzicheria De Miccoli via di città 95, Siena

Alexa  has one of my favourite Italian blogs. Recently she has posted a pic of a sentence found somewere in a village in South Italy.

It says: “I only hope that looking into my eyes you’ll understand all that, for the second time, you’ve destroyed, it’s inside me…now I know what I’ve lost: nothing! Bye.”
Ain’t we sweet even when we kick ass?

Everybody should agree that our lives can change in a second. What I’ve just heard on TV few minutes ago, should make me happy. As young, free lance woman, this news should be  a blow of hope in my life. I mean, it’s hard to find a job here, and more, it’s hard to find the job of your dreams. And to have success and, why not, earn a bit of money. And..

Chiara Zardi was a normal young lawyer yesterday. This morning she has received a phone call like:
“Hallo, Ms Zardi? We are calling form the court of Milan”
“Yes?”
“You should come here as court-appointed lawyer, as we should carry on with a process, but the defendant’s lawyers seem to be on holiday”
“Ok, let me finish my croissant and cappuccino and I’ll be there in a second”.

Well, maybe those where not the exact words. I mean, we also have toasts or bread and butter at breakfast, but, whatsoever.

As soon as Ms Zardi has joined the court she has discovered that her defendant is Mr Silvio the Prime Minister Berlusconi.
Hey Chiara, I’m so happy for you. You did it, man! You are an important lawyer now. Your client is the Presid…ehm…well, actually….
What happened today is that there was a process against Berlusconi and a certain David Mills, charged of curruption. The two lawyers that were supposed to be on holiday, ehm sorry, at the court today, were already working in a justice commission in Chamber and Senate. At the trial there was only a legal practitioner, not properly qualified to represent the two lawyers. As no lawyer seemed to be in the nearby, the judge Nicoletta Gandus, who wanted to keep on with the process,  has decide to use the call centre to find a replacement.

Why can’t I simply ignore the words “President” and “corruption” and be happy for Ms Zardi?

A month after the end of my holydays in Haute-Savoye (France) I admit
of being a member of the sacred and devotional Order of the Reblochon
cheese, which is the core of the - almost psychedelic - French dish
called “Tartiflette” (a delicious concoction of potatoes, smoked
bacon, onions, double cream).
Our slogan has been used also by French skying company skypass.com,
which is now selling t-shits with the logo “In tartiflette we trust”.
http://www.skipass.com/shop/in-tartiflette-we-trust
Be the “reblochon” with you!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tartiflette
Why such a news on “The Italian Blog”? Because in the past the Savoie
was an Italian region, and I’m so angry it’s now a French region…
Angry and hungry.
Mariano

Lontano dagli occhi, lontano dal cuore

Far from the eyes , far from the heart

That means that if you want to forget something, it is better if you don’t have it in the nearby.

We didn’t know anything about StumbleUpon. Well, the webmaster knew, but as Socrate stated “he knew that he didn’t know”. He put a Stumble Upon button in the comment bar without even knowing what it was.Describing StumbleUpon in one word? Amazing. Basically is a users’ platform that help you to find interesting websites, posts, pics thanks to the fact that you can tell it what do you like or not. And the more you use it, the more it is able to find the sites you like. What happened few days ago, is that a Stumble Upon users jumped here on the Madonnaro’s post, he found the post interesting and he reviewed it. Result? He sent the review to something like 5 millions users and in few hours 11000 people visited our blog. Now, I’m a Stumble about addicted and yes, Barrie501, it’s all your fault!! Thank you darling! I owe you a coffee.

We don’t know the reason of this great success. Thank you everybody for visiting us.

In the eighties it was possible to find in many Italian cities the so called madonnari. They were street artists who used to paint pieces of public streets. The name comes from Holy Mary (Madonna, in Italian) as they mainly prefer holy subjects. You can still find them in some cities. I saw one of them in Rome last April. What was interesting was something he drawn near his painting. Fed up with answering always to the same questions…he wrote a FAQs. Isn’t that bright?