Venice...vacant?

According to recent city council data, flooding and massive tourism are driving Venetians straight out of Venice!

Whoever thought Venice would be compared to Disneyland? Apparently La Repubblica Daily warns Italians that because of the colossal shift in Venetians moving out of Venice, mixed with the huge increase in tourism, Venice could be the Italian equivalent of America's beloved Disneyland.

The cost of living has skyrocketed due to increased water levels and pesky tourists. Naturally, Venetians can find a better way to spend their hard earned euro and it's not on rent.

"If you ask me, Venice has already lost its soul," said Paolo, a manager of a small bar in Venice. He may be correct, considering the fact that most local Venetian residents are now aged 60 or older.

City council housing chief, Mara Rumiz said, "We can't charge an entry ticket -- Venice is not a theme park." Yet...

So, will Venice slowly transform itself into the magical world of Disney? Only time will tell.

Check out this Article by:
Silvia Aloisi
A city with no residents? Venice frets over future
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2373302&page=1

Sicily and Italy-- joined...now literally?

"The most useless and harmful Italian project of the past 100 years," said Transport Minister Alessandro Bianchi, when he referred to Silvio Berlusconi, the former Prime Minister of Italy's idea to build a bridge that would connect Sicily to Italy's mainland.

Thousands of angry Italians rallied throughout Rome until they reached the office of the current Prime Minister Romano Prodi, demanding that Prodi's new, centre-left government follow through with Berlusconi's former bridge plans.

Prodi's government insists that more urgent projects in southern Italy are far more necessary, highway improvement for example.

Most of the protesters were from Sicily and Italy's southern region of Calabria, regions that are often linked with Mafia ties. Berlusconi himself has frequently been accused of having Mafia ties and although this notion has never been proved totally accurate, no thanks to his ridiculous affluence, his notion of connecting Sicily and Italy via bridge in order to promote modernization of Sicily could be seen as a plea to help the Mafia. (Just a hunch...)

Check out the Article:

Thousands demonstrate in Rome; demand government build bridge to Sicily

http://www.macleans.ca/topstories/news/shownews.jsp?content=w091921A

Roll out the wine and lets party, literally...

In the Tuscan town of Montepulciano, pairs of men train and compete in an annual wine barrel race.
Each year, these dynamic duos race through the tight streets of this medieval Italian town, rolling in front of them a 175-pound oak wine barrel.
Apparently this is a big deal, since everyone makes their way to watch his honorable race, which roughly started back in the 14th century as a tribute to Montepulciano’s patron saint, John the Baptist.
The festival lasts for 10 consecutive days, culminating with the wine barrel race on the 10th day.
Besides the Italian food, fun and merriment, the festival allows Montepulciano wine makers to endorse their wine, which has seen some competition from other sources such as the U.S., Australia and New Zealand. But despite competition, Montepulciano has a quite good superiority since they have been able to retain their Italian, German and Switzerland clients for years.
Apparently others have been catching onto this wine trend, since Montepulciano wine sales increased 17.4 percent in 2005 and have continued to increase.
One thing Italians pride themselves on, besides delectable food, is their superb wine. It has the power to make men perform wild races and gets whole towns to celebrate for almost two weeks! But honestly, Italians will uphold any tradition as long as they can let loose and enjoy the fruits of their labor…literally!

Check out the article:
Italian wine barrel race celebrates past and future
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/07/AR2006090700548.html?referrer=emailarticle
By Svetlana Kovalyova Reuters

Sicily, too proud for Viagra?

According to a recent study by IMS Health, Sicily is at the bottom of Italy's list for consumption of Viagra, the male sexual enhancement drug.

Throughout their entire study, they paid specific attention to Sicily and it's consumption patterns, or lack there of.

IMS Health put together a list of the Italian cities where males used the most sexual enhancements with Rome coming in first, followed by Pistoia, Rimini, Florence and Pisa. Out of the other high profile cities, Milan came in fifteenth place and Sicily ranked eighteenth place.

The Agenzia Giornalistica Italia, (AGI) article concluded that Sicilian men seem to be too proud to use the drug. However, promotion for the drug against impotence is steadily increasing and has been since the first launch of Viagra in October of 1998.

Maybe the "problem" is that Italians just have much more sex. By the time they get older, they are naturally tired. Certainly their not going to stop engaging in sex, therefore Viagra comes in handy. As for the Sicilians, it's unlikly they'll stop having sex. Could it be possible that Sicily made someone an offer they couldn't refuse in order to rig the study and keep their "honor?" Ponder away...

Check out the Article
Agenzia Giornalistica Italia (AGI)

Viagra: Boom in Italy, Little used in Sicily

http://www.agi.it/english/news.pl?doc=200609061133-1041-RT1-CRO-0-NF11&page=0&id=agionline-eng.oggitalia

Robots becoming wine aficionado’s!?

(I know I said this blog was going to be about Italy and/or Italian wine, but Italian wineries could be affected by this new technology and personally, I don't think they'll agree.)

Robots can be programmed to do anything, but wine tasting…who knew?

In Japan, Hideo Shimazu, Director of the NEC System Technology Research Laboratory said he wanted to create a robot that could distinguish wines and make recommendations about which cheeses and hors d'oeuvres go best with that specific wine because it seemed like a “real challenge.”

By using real time technology, the researchers in Japan equipped this robot with an infrared spectrometer that uses a beam of infrared light to determine the chemical composition of any object. Apparently the robot has already identified someone’s hand as prosciutto, an Italian ham. (haha)

Shimazu said wineries could start using the robot to taste wines without having to uncork any bottles.

Hmmm, sounds like this robot could be sucking the fun right out of a wine connoisseur’s mouth…literally!

Check out this bizarre article
"New Robot Can Identify Wines, Cheeses"
http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_4283339
By: Eric Talmadge
The Associated Press