Italy

Torino, photo of rain: sparkles of light over the eternal.Torino, foto di pioggia: scintille di luce sull'eterno.

In 2013, for the fifth straight year, the Vatican Museums have extended visiting hours on Friday evenings this summer and fall, to accommodate the many visitors who wish to take in the constellation of collections known as the "Pope's Museums.” As in years past, there will be live music, both classical and contemporary, in the Raphael Rooms and the Sistine Chapel. Read all the detailsDream of Italy's Rome App Reveals Best of The Eternal City!Just $2.99 on iTunes or Google Play (Android)420+ entries (with a lifetime of free updates) on hotels, restaurants, must-see sites, art, museums, shopping, cooking classes, walking tours, private guides, apartment rentals, food tours and more. Photo by aaskew, flickr.com

There is much more to see in Pisa than just the Piazza dei Miracoli (Square of Miracles), but we will start from there. The Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta (St. Mary of the Assumption) lies in the middle of the wonderful square, also known as Piazza del Duomo. “Duomo” is another term for “Cattedrale” (Cathedral).External links: Piazza dei Miracoli - Duomo (Wikipedia)(Why are we posting about Pisa? Click here for an answer)Versione italiana

One of my favorite Venice events is the Vogalonga, a 30 Kilometer rowing event that starts and ends at St. Mark's. It's a non-competitive race open to just about every rowing type boat imaginable from one man kayaks to 16 man boats, canoes and drum boats. This year's event began, unfortunately, in a light rain, that progressed to a heavy rain at a few points during the day. Not a good day for the rowers. The good news is the sun came out towards the middle of the afternoon, just as rowers were finding places to pull up their boats to rest at the end of a long, wet 30 kilometers. This year 1,700 boats and 7,000 rowers from all over the world participated. Between 9 am and 3pm, the Grand Canal is closed to all motorized boat traffic, so no vaporettos available. If you needed to get somewhere today, you were walking, or taking a very long route around the outside of the city, or- worse case, renting a private water taxi that was also taking a long route to your destination as they also were not allowed on the Grand Canal during the regatta. I have to say, while we were waiting for the first of the boats to return to the Grand Canal, the silence on the canal is almost eerie. It's something you don't see too often, so when you do, you can't help but be awe struck by how just how grand this canal is. Here's a look at the Vogalonga course, beginning at St. Mark's square, down around Sant'Elena, past Certosa Island, Sant Erasmo island, Burano, Mazzorbo, Murano and back through Venice down the Cannaregio canal to the Grand Canal ending at St. Mark's. I positioned myself at the waterfront at Sant'Elena at 9:00 am this morning, in the rain, and was able to get some great photos. Later in the morning I was at Rialto, watching as rowers were making their way down the Grand Canal. Right in front of me I saw a man swimming. At first I thought he had fallen overboard off one of the boats. I looked closer and noticed he had flippers, a wet suit and swim cap, and was being accompanied closely by a gondola with 2 rowers front and back. This man hadn't fallen in, he was actually SWIMMING the Vogalonga!!!! Made me think of Lord Byron! The next few photos are post-Vogalonga, after the rowers had completed the course. These colorful kayaks were stowed at the Rialto fish market. All of the participants who came with these boats were changing out of their wet clothing under cover of the fish market. Here a group of rowers were pulling their boats up at Campo San Trovaso, and headed to the wine bars across the canal for some spritz's. And this guy pulled his boat up at the memorial in front of Giardini. A little unorthodox, but hey, it's Vogalonga.

(Venice, Italy) Today is Vogalongo here in Venice, and every year it reminds us how peaceful and serene the city is without motors, an ambiance that gave Venice her name, La Serenissima Repubblica, or The Most Serene Republic. What is Vogalongo? From Wikipedia: "Vogalonga is a rowing "competition" in the Italian city of Venice. On November 11, 1974 a group of Venetians, both amateur and professional rowers, had a race in the island of Burano. They came up with an idea of non-competitive "race" in which any kind of rowing boat could participate, in the spirit of historical festivities. The first Vogalonga began the next year with the message to protest against the growing use of powerboats in Venice and the swell damage they do to the historic city. Participants gather in St Marks Basin in front of the ducal palace. They sing hymns to San Marco (Saint Mark) and begin the "race". The racecourse is scenic route 30 kilometers long along the various Venetian canals and historical buildings.... ...The numbers of participants has swelled to thousands over the years from all over the world. Some locals have founded new rowing clubs and build their own boats based on real, historical watercraft. Some participants have brought their own kind of boats like the Chinese dragon boats. Some have also chosen to swim through the route instead of rowing...." To me, Venice would be the perfect city to go "green," with hybrid boats that operated on solar/electric energy while inside the lagoon that could switch over to gas when more power is needed. And the roofs of the vaporetti, or water buses, seem like they are begging for solar panels! For more images and information, please visit the Vogalongo Official Site, which you can switch over to English by clicking on the right. The silence is... awesome. Ciao from La Serenissima, Cat Venetian Cat - The Venice Blog

Sickness and death possess "virtues" of their own, which "previval" can't nurse away.

Falanghina vineyards : Grotta del SoleNext Sunday, Movimento Turismo Del Vino will hold its annual Cantine Aperte. What does that mean? It means that a wineries that are members of the association have planned all kinds of activities in their homes. Activities to include vineyard visits, wine tastings, lunches, dinners, concets, etc. For a complete list of which wineries are participating in Campania, click here. Then contact the winery or go to their site for more information.

We are now well into the XXI century, but as a Livornese you may still end up without running water for several days. It happened last March and small army of technicians wasn't able to fix a broken main for the best part of a week.If you are an academic researching potholes, our town would be the perfect destination for your sabbatical year, but the task is going to be huge nonetheless. For your dissertation keep an eye on Viale Marconi: it is our crown jewel, with more holes than asphalt and a funny speed limit of 10 kilometers (6 miles) per hour.Everywhere generators are used in emergencies or to supply power to faraway places, but in Livorno a huge diesel model can materialize itself at your doorstep, in a central street, where it is kept running for days and nights, with a complete disregard for the quiet and the sleep of the people living nearby, left to cope with an ugly synergy of noise and exhaust pollution.As a form of protest, our blog will stop posting until this monster is turned down. But who will care?See also: Without Water - Dried Up - Third Day without Water - Habemus aquam! - Viale MarconiVersione italiana

I remember that day as if it were yesterday. A visit with Roberto Di Meo at his winery, Cantine Di Meo last June. I remember every detail; from the wines tasted to the music played during the tasting. I learned a great deal about wine tasting that afternoon. A great deal about taking my time and enjoying the aromas in a wine...and in everything for that matter.I remember the little spray bottles that appeared out of nowhere. Di Meo presented one of them as campione #6321. And on a small white napkin, he lightly spayed a bit. Fiano...he told me. profumo di fiano. Un esperimento. An experiment...stay tuned.Well, I stayed tuned. Di Meo and I crossed paths several times over the past several months. and would ask from time to time. He would answer with a smile, and a little chuckle.Non c'e' fretta...no hurry.So the experiment stayed just that- an experiment. Or so I thought. Campione #6321 has grown up - grown up and evolved into Profumo DiVino. A bottle full of the aromas of Irpinia. Fiano di Avellino... Di Meo's Fiano Di Avelino. Not a perfume or cologne for your body...but a perfume for your environment...your home... your space. I pushed the spray nozzle once, twice three times...then closed my eyes. Floral aromas...definitely fresh floral aromas floated through the air. Aromas, though intense, were also relaxing. And as the aromas dispersed, so did the intensity...though that relaxing feeling remained. A feeling that brought me back to my first visit to Di Meo's vineyard. The aromas of Irpinia. Memories that were now in a bottle. That I could have whenever I wanted. Whenever I wanted to take my time and enjoy.

Good luck to Italy's Marco Mengoni, who returns to the stage with his winning Sanremo song, L'Essenziale, in the Eurovision Song Contest tonight:Marco Mengoni - L'Essenziale And, because the UK will be represented by a Welshwoman, I have to root for Bonnie Tyler as well!Bonnie Tyler - Believe in Me