Return to Sender
The Uffizi Gallery in Florence has reached out to to German officials in an effort to retrieve a stolen 18th century Dutch painting from a German family.
Return to Sender
The Uffizi Gallery in Florence has reached out to to German officials in an effort to retrieve a stolen 18th century Dutch painting from a German family. The oil painting, 'Vase of Flowers' by Dutch painter Jan van Huysum, has been the subject of much controversy over the last few decades as numerous requests for return by the Italian state have been ignored by the German citizens in possession of the art piece that was stolen during World War II.
Originally, ‘Vase of Flowers” was part of a collection owned by another well-known Florence museum, the Palazzo Pitti and measured a modest 18x14 inches. After being shipped to Germany the work's whereabouts remained unknown until 1991, after Germany was reunified following the war.
Photo: Uffizi Galleries
Photo: Uffizi Galleries
Currently, a black and white copy of A Vase of Flowers" was hung Tuesday at the Uffizi Gallery (located adjacent to the Piazza della Signoria in the Historic Centre of Florence in the region of Tuscany, Italy), with the word "stolen" in English, German and Italian on it with a brief explanation informing viewers of that the work was stolen by Nazi soldiers in 1944 and is now in a German private collection.
We hope you’ve enjoyed learning about how Italy is demanding that “A Vase of Flowers” is sent home in Return to Sender! Do you believe the German government has an obligation to return the painting to Italy? Join the conversation below!
The Top 3 Italian Festivals To Attend This Year
Italy has announced the official dates of some of it’s most popular festivals this year…
The Top 3 Italian Festivals To Attend This Year
Italy has announced the official dates of some of it’s most popular festivals this year. While we highly encourage experiencing this beautiful country at any time of the year, we’d like to introduce a few festivals that would be worth planning a trip around!
Verona In Love
Photo: travelhouse
The Valentines Day In Verona, Veneto could be the most romantic in the world. From the 11th-14th of February, the setting of Romeo and Juliet, will be holding a celebration of romance with its streets and squares filled with live concerts and markets. Now in its 15th year, the famous festival of St Valentine’s Day will illuminate the most charming views of the city including the famous Juliet's balcony, Piazza dei Signori, the Lamberti Tower, the Old Market Courtyard. Hotels near the festivities book up quickly, so if you’re planning on making the trip, be sure to act sooner than later!
Ciliegi In Fiore
Typically when cherry blossom festivals are mentioned, Japan would be the obvious option. For Americans, New York has become a popular destination to view the beautiful blossoms. However, Vigona, Emilia Romagna is famous for its cherry trees, and if you’re a fan of cherry blossom then you’ll want to visit in late March or early April as the trees bloom. In recent years, the cherry crop has suffered badly from excess rain, and screens have been put up to protect the trees, however they will be open for display during the festival. The town hosts a variety of parades, concerts, exhibitions, special restaurant menus and various other activities to enjoy surrounding the blooming season, and it is not a sight that should be overlooked.
Mille Miglia
From May 15th - 18th in Brescia Rome, you can enjoy the most exciting race in Europe at Mille Miglia (Thousand Miles). The long-running race attracts a plethora of vintage car lovers to Italy every year. A selection of vintage cars travel no-stop from Brescia to Rome and back, with crowds greeting them at numerous Italian towns along the way. ) Originially, it was an open-road, motorsport endurance race which took place from 1927 to 1957 and brought out an estimated five million spectators. From 1953 until 1957, the Mille Miglia was also a round of the World Sports Car Championship.
Since 1977, the "Mille Miglia" has been reborn as a regularity race for classic and vintage cars. The route (Brescia–Rome round trip) is similar to that of the original race with the point of departure/arrival in Viale Venezia in Brescia.
We hope you’ve enjoyed learning about The Top 3 Italian Festivals To Attend This Year! If you’re planning on making the trip, our culturally immersive group classes and native instructors can help make sure you’re able to enjoy the festivities to the fullest! Click below to learn more.
3 Must See European Year of Culture Heritage Events
Italy has plenty to offer for the European Year of Culture Heritage 2018 which is hosting 1,136 events as part of the EU-wide ceremony. We’ve listed the 3 events you absolutely MUST SEE if you plan on being in attendance.
3 Must See European Year of Culture Heritage Events
Italy has plenty to offer for the European Year of Culture Heritage 2018 which is hosting 1,136 events as part of the EU-wide ceremony. We’ve listed the 3 events you absolutely MUST SEE if you plan on being in attendance.
Chiaravalle Milanese
New Cultural Landscape is running until December 31st, 2018.
An interactive project that involves residents, city-users and tourists in a "performative event" geared at regenerating this area on the outskirts of Milan. Chiaravalle is the name Saint Bernard of Clairvaux gave to the area when he founded the Cistercian abbey in 1135. Before 1923, Chiaravalle was an autonomous comune, named Chiaravalle Milanese, and despite being annexed to Milan, Chiaravalle has maintained the character of an autonomous town. The park that embraces the district also separates it from the urban agglomeration of the city. This isolation is reinforced by the scarceness of public transportation to the centre of the district.
"In a 1100-inhabitant-village, Chiaravalle’s old school gym has been transformed into a community hub, which aspires to become the local community’s hybrid cultural space dedicated to the landscape. terzo paesaggio’s goal is to provide workshop, based on the monks’ ancient tradition of cantieri scuola and memorable experiences," say the organizers.
Palermo
Italian Capital of Culture 2018 is running until December 31st, 2018. The city of Palermo is noted for its history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, that has played an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,700 years old. Palermo is located in the northwest of the island of Sicily, right by the Gulf of Palermo in the Tyrrhenian Sea.
Palermo is hosting 132 concerts, 132 exhibitions and 12,151 programs by artists as part of its designation as Italian Capital of Culture 2018. Dance, photography, architecture, street art, lectures and so much more in the Sicilian capital.
Venice
Venice Time Machine is running until December 31st, 2018.
Venice is situated across a group of 118 small islands in northeastern Italy that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. and is renowned for it’s beautiful architecture and artwork. The lagoon and a part of the city are listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
"The Venice Time Machine project, based on historical and cultural data from important archives and libraries and strengthened by advanced software and cutting-edge visualization methods, aims to build an interactive model of Venice and its social, economic and political environment during the centuries," according to MIBAC.
We hope you’ve enjoyed learning about the 3 Must See European Year of Culture Heritage Events! Planning a trip to be in attendance? Our native instructors and culturally immersive group classes can help you get the most out of all of the wonderful cultural celebrations taking place in Italy this year. Click below to learn more.
An Italian Sabbatical
Airbnb will be recruiting 4 people to move to the village of Grottole in the region of Basilicata for a 3 month Italian sabbatical…
An Italian Sabbatical
The American owned home-share company, Airbnb has been hit with many controversies over the last few years surrounding the issue that it’s customers have turned once residential areas into tourist hotspots. Critics say that this model has driven up property values and in essence made it impossible for residents to continue living in areas they have called home for most of their lives. The company, however, is seeking to make amends with locals with a new project in the sultry south of Italy by recruiting 4 people to move to the village of Grottole in the region of Basilicata for a 3 month “Italian sabbatical”.
Photo: Airbnb
During this trip, the participants will become part of the fabric of the community and to help revive the village. Like many places in Italy, particularly in the south, Grottole suffers from chronic depopulation to the point that the current population is 300 and there are around 600 empty homes in the town. The chosen candidates will enjoy an all-expenses-paid stay in the village, where they will be responsible for helping a local NGO, Wonder Grottole, revitalize the community. In exchange, the candidates will be offered free accommodation, up to €900 in expenses per month & given the opportunity to enroll in cultural classes.
Dying towns and villages across Italy have come up with a variety of novel solutions to avoid extinction. Some have offered empty houses for sale for just one euro (as you may remember in our article ___, including the hilltop towns of Gangi and Sambuca in Sicily, on condition that newcomers spend substantial sums restoring the properties.
The deadline for applications to this exciting opportunity will be on February 17th 2019.
We hope you’ve enjoyed learning about how you can be paid to take An Italian Sabbatical! If you’re planning on applying, why not already have a head start with being able to communicate with your new potential home? Our culturally immersive group classes and native instructors can put you on the path to fluency faster than you may have every thought possible. Click below to learn more!
A Mafia Movie Musical
Surprisingly, a Mafia musical and made its debut as it opened the 12th annual San Diego Italian Film Festival…
A Mafia Movie Musical
America has a long running tradition of movie musicals. With masterpieces such as “Singin’ in the Rain” to modern box office hits like “La La Land,” the genre has been cemented as an undeniable force in American film history. However, a new Italian take on the genre is causing quite a stir in the film community. "Ammore e Malavita" or “Love & Bullets” is described as a Mafia musical and made its debut as it opened the 12th annual San Diego Italian Film Festival.
Antonio Iannotta, the artistic director of the festival, has stated that the more accurate description for this crime film would be ‘a Camorra musical,’ since the film is set in Naples and the crime in that part of southern Italy goes by that name. "Ammore e Malavita" won the Donatello Award (the Italian equivalent of the Oscar) for Best Film earlier this year and is the festival choice.
Although Italy is the birthplace of opera, musicals are not really a part of its cinema. Iannotta said that Italian cinema doesn't have a tradition of musicals to draw on, but that the filmmakers, Antonio and Marco Manetti, come from outside the film industry and with a background making music videos.
We hope you’ve enjoyed learning about A Mafia Movie Musical! Want to get rid of those pesky subtitles while enjoying your favorite foreign films? Our native instructors and culturally immersive group classes are sure to have you singing along seamlessly at your next viewing! Click below to learn more.
The Retro Return of Ellesse
It appears that those behind Ellesse have vowed to make a return…
The Retro Return of Ellesse
In the 1950’s, the Italian fashion brand, Ellesse, launched in the United States only to reach its peak from the 1980’s - 1990’s. Unfortunately, this slow climb appeared more like a sudden disappearance from the U.S. market overnight. However, it appears that those behind the company have vowed to make a return.
The first collection in the U.S. debuted in November and was sold only in boutique shops (including Extra Butter, Concepts and Nice Kicks) but is taking a drastic new turn in December sourcing to a much wider and accessible array of retailers such as Urban Outfitters, Foot Locker and DTLR.
The initial collections were based heavily in retro-inspired design, including chunky outsoles on footwear and apparel with oversized graphic logos with bold branding, contrasting stripes and color blocking. The brand expects to have a presence in both footwear and apparel, tapping into its extensive archive and classic styles to pay homage to the brand’s past and will also maintain a tennis performance collection that will be available only in select pro shops (which have yet to be announced).
Photo: Ellesse
Robert Dundon, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Pentland USA, brand manager for over 35 years has stated that “We will always pay homage to our roots in some capacity when it feels appropriate, but this is a new era for Ellesse…Our platform will be forward thinking, but we’ll never abandon our roots.”
We hope you’ve enjoyed learning about The Retro Return of Ellesse! What are your thoughts on the styles being revived by this former fashion heavyweight? Join the conversation below!
The Likely Origins of Torrone
As popular as this delectable treat is, it’s origins are heavily disputed amongst the Italian community…
The Likely Origins of Torrone
Italy has its fair share of legendary desserts, however one stands above them all around the holiday season: the Torrone. All over Italy, The candy known as Torrone is a southern European nougat confection, typically made of honey, sugar, and egg white, with toasted almonds or other nuts, and usually shaped into either a rectangular tablet or a round cake. As popular as this delectable treat is, its origins are heavily disputed amongst the Italian community.
The city of Cremona in Lombardy has long proclaimed itself as the home of classical Torrone and swears that the sweet was served there for the first time after the marriage of the Tuscan-born mercenary Francesco Sforz, to Bianca Maria Visconti on October 2, 1441.
It has also been rumored that Torrone arrived in Cremona long before the marriage of Sforza and Bianca in the 1200’s when the Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick II, visited the city along with his many gourmet chefs. There is strong evidence to suggest that he is responsible for why it is served during Christmas time since he had a tradition of eating an exotic candy on his birthday (which happens to fall on December 26th).
There is further evidence that the Torrone in Italy has an even longer past as historians have noted that Romans were introduced to the sweet treat by the Samnites during the years of the wars between them in the 3rd and 2nd centuries BCE.
Whatever the final verdict you come to on the origin of the Torrone, its place in Italian Christmas culinary rolodex has been cemented.
We hope you’ve enjoyed discovering The Likely Origins of Torrone! What is your favorite foreign holiday treat? Join the conversation below!
JP Linguistics Holiday Gift Guide 2018 - Our Favorite (Authentic) Gifts From Around The World
Looking for unique holiday gifts to share with your loved ones this year? Check out our gift guide filled with (authentic) products from in France, Italy, Spain & South America.
JP Linguistics Holiday Gift Guide 2018
Our Favorite (Authentic) Gifts From Around The World
The holidays are upon us and, this year, we wanted to round up a few of our favorite (authentic) foreign brands and share unique products with you, ideal for stocking stuffers and holiday gifts. Why did we create this guide? It’s because we know that sometimes around this time of year, gift-giving can feel like an obligation rather than a genuine act of kindness towards someone else. So, instead of picking up a random gift for someone just because, we wanted to introduce you to some (foreign) brands we love to make your gift giving more unique and thoughtful. What we look for in brands we love is authenticity and this guide has just that. We’ve included brands from France, Italy, Spain and South American (some of whom we know personally, but none of which we are being paid to advertise for) such as Le Slip Français, Mille Feuille Bakery, Asaro, Leone, Jolii Cosmetics, 1880, Ecoalf and more.
In addition, some of these brands have incredible philosophies that we are proud to support. For example, Ecoalf is a company from Spain that upcycles waste found in our oceans to create some of their products including shoes. Marianella Asto is an artisan from Peru who handcrafts alpaca wool gloves and sells them via her shop online with UNICEF. Asaro is a family-run organic olive farm based in Sicily that manually harvests their olives (making all of their products GMO and chemical free). Learn more about these brands by browsing through the entire guide which you can download below. The PDF includes links to each product for easy shopping. We hope you enjoy and, if you happened to buy any, let us know! We’d love to hear about your experience and if you love them just as much as we do.
Happy Holidays from all of us at JP Linguistics!
Fighting Fascism With Food
In Verona, foodie and street artist Pier Paolo Spinazzи has created a solution to hate propaganda…
Fighting Fascism With Food
The country that brought the world mozzarella cheese is also the birthplace to Mussolini’s fascism in the early 20th century. Neo-fascists still thrive in Italy today while using symbols of the past, including the Nazi Party swastika, to promote hate. In Verona, foodie and street artist, Pier Paolo Spinazzè, has created a solution to hate propaganda that has been on the rise by combining his longtime passions for food and art.
His subversive street art transforms divisive messages into culturally appropriate art almost everyone can get behind. Known as “Cibo,” which means food in Italian, he systematically covers swastikas and hate speech in Verona with paintings of food.
He, like the neo-fascists, repeats symbols with his work becoming so well-known that followers inform him whenever there is a new sighting of Neo-fascist graffitti.
For Spinazzè, even the most recognizable Italian dishes symbolize unity through diversity. For instance, A caprese salad of mozzarella, tomatoes, basil, & olive oil is an international project and a “message that cuisine is open to the world,” he says. “The basil comes from India, the oil from Syria, the mozzarella is Italian, and tomatoes originate in Colombia.”
Cibo’s street art is admired for its style and the substantive underpinnings. On his Facebook page, a fan recently wrote, “You are a hero.”
We hope you’ve enjoyed Fighting Fascism With Food! What are your thoughts on Cibo’s attempts to fight the rise of Neo-fascist graffiti? Join the conversation below!
Monopolizing Music
Italian song rights collecting organization, SIAE has been ordered to seek out and resolve monopoly-related issues by Italy’s Competition Authority to end market distortion tactics…
Monopolizing Music
Italian song rights collecting organization, SIAE has been ordered to seek out and resolve monopoly-related issues by Italy’s Competition Authority to end market distortion tactics.
Collective licensing (where music rights owners license as one through a collecting society) always raises monopoly concerns. How those monopoly concerns are dealt with by copyright or competition law varies hugely from country to country. In the U.S., the 2 largest rights holders: BMI and ASCAP are regulated, while in the UK collective licensing is subject to the intervention of the copyright tribunal. In most European countries, however, regulation of licensing has traditionally been much less formal and severe.
The European Union has sought to make the European collecting societies more competitive, both in terms of recruiting members and licensing rights. Responding to those moves within the EU, Italy changed its laws last year to encourage more competition in the licensing market. This has created a dispute between SIAE and two newer licensing organizations called Soundreef and Innovaetica.
SIAE is charged with having used tactics to prohibit songwriters to choose additional organizations to represent them. Because of this, the ICA has demanded that the SIAE not only immediately comply but also pay a fine of 1000 euros.
SIAE has responded by stating that it would evaluate the Competition Authority’s order until they are confident that the organization was compliant with the laws in place despite the regulator’s demands.
We hope you’ve enjoyed learning about how the Italian Competition Authority is keeping SIAE from Monopolizing Music! Do you think this course of action will help aid Italian musicians in finding a royalty collector that works for them? Join the conversation below!
Valuing Versace
U.S. based fashion giant Michael Kors will gain a massive acquisition of the Italy's famous fashion house, Versace, for $2.1 billion later this year…
Valuing Versace
U.S.-based fashion giant, Michael Kors, will gain a massive acquisition of the Italy's famous fashion house, Versace, for $2.1 billion later this year.
For those new to the world of high-fashion, Versace, is an Italian luxury fashion company that was founded by Gianni Versace in 1978. The main collection of the brand is Versace, which produces upmarket Italian-made ready-to-wear and leather accessories.
Interestingly enough, The Versace logo is the head of Medusa, a Greek mythological figure. The logo came from the floor of ruins in Rome that the Versace siblings played in as children, and Gianni Versace chose Medusa as the logo because she made people fall in love with her and they had no way back, thus hoping his company would have the same effect on people.
Michael Kors has made no secret of its ambition to grow its portfolio of high-end brands after acquiring the UK-based shoe brand, Jimmy Choo, for $1.2 billion last year. As part of the deal, however, the Versace family will keep a role in certain aspects of the company.
We hope you’ve enjoyed learning about how Michael Kors has gained a massive asset by Valuing Versace! What are your thoughts on the merge of these two fashion giants? Join the conversation below
A Brief History of Pasta
”Pasta" is Italian for paste, referring to the combination of flour and water that now come in over 600 different shapes that are produced worldwide…
A Brief History of Pasta
As the cold season continues to roll in, we wanted to highlight a favorite comfort food that has spanned internationally for hundreds of years: Pasta.
If you somehow have not ever heard of this decadent entree, ”pasta" is Italian for paste, referring to the combination of flour and water that form over 600 different edible shapes worldwide and is usually eaten with different types of sauces or tossed with oil, herbs and spices (the exception being layered flat sheets like lasagna, which is baked and tubes and pillows which are stuffed).
It is a matter of much controversy with regards to the origin of this well-loved comfort food. One theory is that Marco Polo brought pasta back to Italy on his return from travels in China. This theory is however rejected by nationalistic Italians who claim that Marco Polo returned in 1295 but in 1279, a Genoese soldier listed in the inventory of his estate a basket of dried pasta. Another theory is that the origin of pasta dates back to an archeological find of Etruscan tombs. Carvings on some of the stucco reliefs in the tombs depicted a knife, board, flour sack and an iron pin which was interpreted that these instruments were used to make pasta.
In Naples, commercial pasta making took off when King Ferdinand II hired an engineer who devised a system of using a machine to knead and cut the dough. Naples soon became Italy's center of pasta. Macaroni and cheese was a popular dish in America during the Civil War, but it wasn't until the large scale Italian migration to America that pasta as we know it today became widespread. The history of ravioli may be the most interesting of the bunch. The earliest records of ravioli appear in the preserved letters of Francesco di Marco in the 14th century. The city of Cremona claims to have created ravioli, but Genoa insists that the word ravioli comes from their dialect word for pasta, rabiole, which means "something of little value" and referred to the practice of poor sailors who suffered leftovers into pasta to be eaten for another meal.
So the heated debate continues down the ages paralleling pasta's continued development. Regardless, though, as to who did what and when, more importantly the world now enjoys pasta, and it has evolved without a doubt through the creativity and inventiveness of many including Italians who have embraced it as their own with the creation of shapes, sauces and processes.
We hope you’ve enjoyed learning A Brief History of Pasta! What is your favorite type of the famous Italian export? Join the conversation below!
Unearthing Gold
Nearly 300 Roman-era gold coins were discovered last week beneath the previous site of the historic Cressoni Theater in northern Italy…
Unearthing Gold
Nearly 300 Roman-era gold coins were discovered last week beneath the previous site of the historic Cressoni Theater in northern Italy. The coins were housed in a soapstone vase believed to be from 474 B.C. and in remarkable condition.
Photo: Italian Ministry for Cultural Heritage and Activities
After the cinema construction crew discovered the collection, a team of archaeologists from the ministry excavated the coins and brought them to a lab in Milan, where they are in the process of being examined and conserved.
Photo: Italian Ministry for Cultural Heritage and Activities
Historical records show that at least a part of the Roman Empire was collapsing around 1,500 years ago, with many wars being fought in Italy. Whether the deposit of the hoard has anything to do with the chaos that was engulfing the Roman Empire nearly 1,500 years ago is not settled, but current research may eventually provide answers.
Culture Minister Alberto Bonisoli said “More than exceptional, it’s epochal — one of those discoveries that marks the course of history,” during a Monday news conference. Archaeologists are now restoring and studying the coins at a laboratory in Milan, according to the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities.
We hope you’ve enjoyed Unearthing Gold! Do you have a theory on where the coins originated or what their story may be? Join the conversation below!
Touring The World Of Coffee
It should come as no surprise that a new museum dedicated to everything espresso has opened it's doors in Turin…
Coffee is absolutely synonymous with Italian culture and, when it comes to authentic Italian coffee, no feat is too large to appreciate the coveted caffeinated beverage. So it should come as no surprise that a new museum dedicated to everything espresso has opened it's doors in Turin.
The Lavazza Museum is the latest venture from the famous Italian company in 1895. The museum looks at coffee as a crop, as a ritual, as a commodity, and even as a vehicle for innovation.
Ralph Appelbaum, the experience designer behind the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., and the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, planned the layout in collaboration with lighting designer Michael Grubb Studio. The resulting galleries take an interactive stroll through the world of espresso. The immersive, multimedia installations include a walk through of a simulated coffee plantation as well as a display of antique espresso machines. At the end of the tour, visitors can try one classic drink which includes espresso, drip coffee or, if you’re feeling fancy, a coffee-infused cocktail.
Photo" LaVazza
While you’re caffeinating, you’ll have plenty of time to plot out the rest of your visit to Turin as the city houses the Egyptian Museum, a historic Fiat factory with a rooftop test track, an automobile museum, and the famous Shroud of Turin, believed to be the cloth Jesus was buried in.
We hope you've enjoyed Touring The World Of Coffee! Looking to indulge in all of the caffeine related exhibits in the city of Turin? Our culturally immersive group classes and native instructors can put you on the path to fluency so that you get the most out of your trip! Click below to learn more!
Blanketted Fashion
From the release of the “Dapper Dan” collection to the hiking-inspired Flashtrek sneaker, the company’s initiative to reach out to those in the high-end “everyday effortless” market is apparent…
Blanketted Fashion
In recent years, the famous Italian fashion brand, Gucci, has gone under quite a few changes. Once one of the pillars of high fashion, it has now become extremely popular as a “streetwear” brand. From the release of the “Dapper Dan” collection to the hiking-inspired Flashtrek sneaker, the company’s initiative to reach out to those in the high-end “everyday effortless” market is apparent.
The latest Gucci piece is sure to cater to those who wish to spend more time indoors than out with their release of a fully graphic blanket crafted from woven wool. It features the undeniable Gucci logo pattern with fringed ends which pair perfectly with the new home collection.
Photo: UpscaleHype
The all-over logo print has proved supremely popular this season. However, if you’re worried that a $1,750 Gucci blanket won’t get the exposure it absolutely needs, fall is right around the corner. Be sure to take a tip from world-renowned rapper, A$AP Rocky, and use it as a shawl.
With the addition of the new Gucci line, you're sure to embody the latest in Italian style. Wishing to embody the language as well? Check out our Group Italian Classes and Private Italian Lessons and sign up today!
Confiscating Counterfeits
As millions of Italians begin to plan out travel routes, they may want to think twice about where they stop to refuel the vehicles…
Confiscating Counterfeits
A massive operation by the Guardia di Finanza (the Italian law enforcement agency under the authority of the Minister of Economy and Finance) found that 1 in 5 gas stations that were examined on Italy's roadsides are "illegal.” As millions of Italians begin to plan out travel routes, they may want to think twice about where they stop to refuel the vehicles. At 1,379 of the gas stations that were checked on Italy's roads, 500,000 liters of gasoline were confiscated for being fake.
Unfortunately, this seems to be a sign of a larger trend of tourist and traveller-targeted fraud. More than half of the vacation rentals investigated have not paid tax on their earnings or registered with the relevant authorities, according to Italy's Guardia di Finanza with landlords in the regions of Puglia, Tuscany and Lazio being the worst offenders.
In the town of Taormina, the Guardia di Finanza identified several B&Bs that had no record of existing while the owners made €130,000 without paying any tax and more than 2,000 commercial businesses had no license. Alarmingly, this means that just over 2,000 workers were paid under the table. In Verona, the operation even uncovered a criminal organization dedicated to employing illegal workers that were subjected to inhumane work schedules and barely livable wages. The criminal business even involved doctors who issued fake medical certificates and employees from Italy's social security and welfare institute INPS who falsified documents.
As expected, the criminal ring also includes an element of narcotic trade. Nearly 600 suspects were stopped at various ports attempting to smuggle drugs, weapons and counterfeit cigarettes, resulting in 23 tons of various illegal narcotics being seized since mid-June 2018. A total of 9 million counterfeit goods were also seized over the summer with an average of 200,000 pieces removed from the market each day.
We hope you've enjoyed Confiscating Counterfeits! Be sure to check out more articles from our culture blog to keep your Italian cultural knowledge up to date and avoid scams such as these!
The World's Newest (Oldest) Guitar
Italian musician and designer Lorenzo Palmeri has designed the oldest guitar in the world…
The World's Newest (Oldest) Guitar
Italian musician and designer Lorenzo Palmeri has designed the "oldest guitar in the world.” It's made of ancient Kauri, a 50,000-year-old wood native to New Zealand.
Photo: Lorenzo Palmeri
The navel comes in three different designs. To create the limited edition guitar from Kauri wood, Palmeri collaborated with furniture maker and wood specialists, Riva1920, who helped him work with the 50,000 year old material.
Kauri wood comes from prehistoric Kauri trees which were buried and preserved in New Zealand’s North Island. Buried by a yet to be explained natural occurrence, the trees have survived for centuries underground which has preserved the timber in perfect condition.
All 3 guitars' designs are meant to contrast masculinity and femininity characterized by the round, 'feminine' form and 'masculine’ angularity. The guitars' designs are "meant to match its tones, which are capable of extending from very sweet to very powerful" says Palmeri.
Photo: Lorenzo Palmeri
The Kauri wood guitar is one of three new guitar models from Palmeri. Another of the models is made of Fenix NTM, a nanotech material featuring low-light reflectivity and an anti-fingerprint, soft-touch effect, and the final model is a classic guitar that is made from beech wood.
We hope you've enjoyed learning about The World's Newest (Oldest) Guitar! Want to learn more about all that is happening in Italian music? Click below to check out more articles from our Italian Culture Blog!
Gaming Grammar
Through the years, Bregni has used Final Fantasy, Trivial Pursuit, Who Wants to be a Millionaire, Heavy Rain and Rise of the Tomb Raider in his classrooms, but one of the most useful games he has found to teach Italian is Assassin's Creed II…
Gaming Grammar
Using video games in the classroom have helped children growing up in the tech age become interested in learning in ways never imagineable. In recent years, teachers have even been able to leverage games that are not geared specifically for learning purposes to create experiences that resonate with students on a much deeper level. One teacher has even found a way to use the extremely popular 'Assassin's Creed II' to teach the Italian language to his students.
Simone Bregni, an associate professor at the Saint Louis University in Spain, began his journey with video games in 1975 when he was 12 and realized as he continued playing into the 1980s that his English was improving rapidly. He began incorporating video games into his labs in 1997 at the onset of a new generation of interactive adventure games in 2009 which brought astounding results to his students. Because these games incorporated immersive environments, students were able to enrich their experiences in both language and culture.
Through the years, Bregni has used Final Fantasy, Trivial Pursuit, Who Wants to be a Millionaire, Heavy Rain and Rise of the Tomb Raider in his classrooms, but one of the most useful games he has found to teach Italian is Assassin's Creed II.
"In my Italian Renaissance literature course, for example, students explore Florence as it flourished under the Medici by playing Assassin's Creed II ( which is set in 1476 Florence),” Bregni wrote in a study published in Profession. These games are used to reinforce vocabulary and grammar, and teach students to problem solve in Italian.
He has created a process called Identify, Acquire, Create (IAC) that links specific game chapters to learning goals, prepares students with vocabulary and grammar worksheets, applies them them in the relevant game, and discusses them afterwards with written exercises. In a class called Intensive Italian for Gamers, every student made progress that mirrored two semesters of a traditional Italian course in a single semester, and by the final, students were 3 to 5 points ahead of their traditionally trained counterparts.
As a lifelong gamer, it is no surprise to hear Bregni affirm that “I firmly believe that learning should be fun. The fact that it is fun does not take away from the seriousness of the activity - it's just more effective.”
We hope you've enjoyed learning how Simone Bregni has been exploring language learning through video games in Gaming Grammar! What's your favorite game to learn new languages with? Leave a comment below!
War Of The Victorious Youth
An intense dispute has erupted about which country is the rightful home for the Getty Bronze…
War Of The Victorious Youth
The idyllic Greek statue found in the open waters of the Adriatic Sea in 1964 by Italian fishermen is currently housed in the Getty Villa in Los Angeles, but an intense dispute has erupted about which country is the rightful home for the Getty Bronze.
An Italian court ruled this month that ownership is in the hands of Italy, and should return there. However, in an extended legal battle over the statue known as “Statue of a Victorious Youth,” is only gaining more traction, even after nearly 10 years of litigation. The Getty has labeled the statue, created by Lysippus, the renowned Greek sculptor and dated to roughly 300 to 100 B.C. “priceless.”
The Getty has official stated that it will not be deterred by the most recent ruling and plans to file another appeal with the Court of Cassation. Ron Hartwig, a spokesman for the Getty stated that “We are disappointed in the ruling…but we will continue to defend our legal right to the statue. The facts in this case do not warrant restitution of the object to Italy.”
Its American home suggests that it had likely been carried out of Greece by Romans and that the ship was lost at sea. The fishermen later sold it, and it was shipped out of the country, eventually landing in ownership of the The Getty Trust in 1977 for $3.95 million. The heart of the legal conflict is derived from a 1939 Italian law that says Italy owns any antiquity discovered on its territory, but The Getty is adamant that the discovery in the sea puts it outside Italy’s jurisdiction. In 1989, the Italian government asked the Getty to return the statue, and in 2007, when the Italian cultural ministry struck a deal with the Getty Trust to return more than 40 pieces to Greece and Italy because of questions regarding provenance.
Italy sought “Victorious Youth” as part of a deal, and in 2010, an Italian court demanded the statue be seized in a case where the question of whether the Getty Trust had done its proper due diligence before acquiring the statue followed by The Getty Trust appealing to the regional court, which then upheld the decision in 2012. After several more hearings and appeals, it was ruled by the regional court that The Getty must return the bronze.
Alberto Bonisoli, the Italian culture minister, has stated that a request would be made to the United States government to seize the statue from The Getty if the Court of Cassation rules in favor of Italy.
We hope you've enjoyed learning about the ongoing War Of The Victorious Youth! Whose side are you on in this battle royal for the coveted statue? Join the conversation below!
Musical Notation en Italiano
However, the rules for music notation were transcribed for the first time in Italian around 1000 AD…
Musical Notation en Italiano
Anyone that has experienced the world of music can attest to the first time they opened a piece of music only to be guided by foreign terms. This is because when the rules for music notation were worked out and transcribed, it was all done in Italian around 1000 AD. In fact, Guido of Arezzo created the earliest version of the "heads-and-stems-on-staves" structure that we use today.
Over the next few hundred years, musicians built on Guido’s system and theorists added useful features like note values, time signatures, and of course musical directions. After some time these terms became quite fashionable, so when the rest of Europe started notating music, Italian was the only logical choice. Below are a few of the most common words one may come across in a piece of music.
Because Italian is naturally a musical language, it comes as no surprise that it’s universally used for musical directions. While there are some Italian terms like ‘tempo’, ‘adagio’, ‘allegretto’ and ‘rallentando’ which are only used in the context of writing or reading music, some words such as ‘concerto’, ‘piano’, ‘soprano’ and ‘opera’ became so stylish that they eventually made their way into our everyday English musical vocabulary.
We hope you've enjoyed learning about Musical Notation en Italiano! Looking to gain a better understanding into the cultural significance Italy has played in shaping the world of music linguistically? Our culturally immersive group classes taught by native instructors can help you read any foreign notation with ease! Click below for more info!