I am lactose intolerant and I am Sicilian and every time I go to Sicily I eat everything and nothing hurts me. I have to tell you that often foods are made with fresh milk, both cheese and ice cream, and therefore it’s not condensed or powdered milk. I often eat sweets and also arancini, calzones, lasagna, pasta with cheese but nothing hurts my stomach. The reason is the quality of the food and the raw materials that are fresh. So I can advise you to eat granita for breakfast, with a nice Sicilian “Brioscia”. You will be full and you won’t have any stomach problems. Then for lunch you can eat all the arancini you want or if you want there are also panelle or calzoni, or even pizza (not the round one but the one they sell in pieces in the takeaways) and you will be happy and satisfied too. Furthermore, in Sicily there is a lot of very fresh fish and you can eat it for lunch and dinner.
When I went to Canada on vacation and went on the street in NewMarket, people said hello, everyone talked to me and everyone was kind and friendly. The same thing doesn't happen here, why? What happened to the Italians?
Catania is known as "the black city" because of the color of its buildings, blackened by the soot and ashes of the Etna volcano, whose eruptions have often damaged and even destroyed the city, which has always been able to rise again from the her ashes becoming more and more beautiful. Etna is the highest volcano in Europe and every now and then you can see magmatic explosions and fumes coming out of its lava mouths.
In the contemporary collective imagination, the Volturi constitute the most powerful vampire coven in the world. This association is expressed in the design of a brotherhood that the gender community has respect for. Over the centuries this reverence has given the Volturi an ambitious status of absolute power; they are the highest expression of authority among vampires, although no one has elected them.
The Roman cistern has acquired the fame of Vampire Crypt, either through the fault or thanks to the collective imagination sprung up by the fans of the Twilight Saga. The writer Stephanie Meyer wanted Volterra to be the home of the Volturi and, in the first years after the American bestseller was published, numerous readings and amateur theatrical scenes were organized in the city that saw thousands of readers from all over Italy gather.
Volterra is an ideal tourist destination for lovers of typical Tuscan landscapes, placed in a context of great importance for Italian history and art. Volterra, in fact, offers extraordinary views thanks to its location on a hill.
Do not miss the opportunity to admire, among other things, the remains of the Roman theater and the Etruscan acropolis. Discovered during the 1900s, they date back to the period in which this land was inhabited by the Tusci population. Next to the theater, dug into the natural slope of an elevation, you can admire what remains of a thermal plant, built during the third century.
And a central role in the economy of Visconti's work is played by the underground cistern of the Augustan era, the scene of that 'marriage' between Claudia Cardinale, which Visconti had also wanted in this film after Il Gattopardo, and his brother Gianni (Jean Sorel ) who awaits her in that place and reminds her that this was their home once upon a time.
The structure, one of the archaeological jewels of the city of Volterra, had been built to the east of the area of the temples of the acropolis and collected rainwater, which flowed there through various pipes. The tank is very large, with a capacity of about one thousand cubic meters, and is well preserved. It dates back to the 1st century BC, is made of concrete and supplied water to the entire area of the acropolis.
An exhibition, that of the Torture Museum, which lays bare the worst side of human nature: a potential executioner hides and hides in every man. An exhibition confirming the fact that, if presented with great rigor and fairness, it helps to foment a conscience in solidarity and to respect the opinion and creed of those who think differently from us, the primordial basis of the democratic systems of the modern era.
The Medici Fortress was built in 1474 - on the remains of older fortifications - exactly two years after the city of Florence had conquered the city after a bitter war to control the mines of alum, an important mineral used in the processing of textiles. Today the fortress houses a penitentiary.
The fortress was not intended only to protect the city, but above all to keep it under control and prevent rebellions. A part of it - the easternmost sector - already existed before 1474, and constituted the oldest castle, the Cassero.
This structure, which expanded the defenses of the city, was intended to protect the area around the Porta a Selci and was completed in 1292.
"La Primavera" by Sandro Botticelli was performed between 1477 and 1482.
The scene is set in a shady orange grove (probably the garden of Venus, placed by mythology on the island of Cyprus) whose soil is characterized by a lawn strewn with flowers and other plant species (about five hundred species of plants) while a blue sky stands out in the background. The work should be read from right to left. The first act of the scene opens with Zephyr, the god of the spring wind blowing from the west, here depicted as a blue-green winged being, who bursts into the garden with such an impetus as to force the trees to bend. After a chase, the god reaches and grabs the nymph Clori, of whom he is in love, and possesses her with strength. The nymph is wrapped in a transparent dress and looks at him in fear. The result of this violent union is the metamorphosis of Clori into Flora, goddess of flowering and summer. the fruitful breath of the spring wind covers the bare winter vegetation with colors (Clori's breath is transformed into flowers that come out of her mouth). In the center, in a dominant and isolated position, Venus is depicted framed by a myrtle hedge (a plant sacred to her). The goddess wears a red cloak whose lapels reveal the celestial and gold-woven interior: they are the symbolic colors of Human Venus, that is, according to the humanists of the time, lady of human love, that is, moderate by the intellect, therefore distinct from purely sensual love, and capable of directing the low energies of desire towards the higher dimensions of spiritual love. From her central position, the goddess separates material senses and loves (represented on the right by Zephyr, Chloris and Flora) from spiritual values (symbolized on the left by Graces and Mercury). The blindfolded son Cupid glides over Venus' head in the act of shooting an arrow towards one of the three Graces. The flame on the tip of the dart symbolizes the passion of love aroused by him. The goddess, with solemn gestures, supervises, directs and supports events. The central figure who turns his back on the viewer is the Grace towards which Cupid is pointing the arrow. She, distracted from the dance, seems to stare at Mercury who is there not far from her. The scene ends precisely with Mercury, the messenger of the gods, whose pose recalls that of Donatello's David. It can be recognized by the winged shoes and the wand held in the raised right hand.
LEONARDO- LA SCAPIGLIATALEONARDO- CRISTO REDENTORELEONARDO- STUDIO DELLA MATERNITÀLEONARDO- LEDA DEL CIGNOLEONARDO- UOMO VITRUVIANOLEONARDO- TESTA DI FANCIULLALEONARDO-GIOVANE UOMOLEONARDO- DISEGNI ANATOMICILEONARDO- IL MARTIRIO DI SAN SEBASTIANOLEONARDO- SANT’ANNA, LA MADONNA E IL BAMBINO
CANOVA- LE TRE GRAZIEBERNINI- APOLLO E DAFNEBERNINI- IL RATTO DI PROSERPINACANOVA- NINFA DORMIENTEBERNINI- IL DAVIDEMICHELANGELO- LA PIETÀMICHELANGELO- MADONNA DI BRUGESSANMARTINO- CRISTO VELATOMICHELANGELO- IL DAVID CELLINI- IL CROCIFISSOCELLINI- APOLLO E GIACINTOMICHELANGELO- MOSÈ
+The Tre Cime di Lavaredo in South Tyrol are the symbol of the Dolomites and a true landscape highlight in the area of the 3 Peaks in the Dolomites. The 3 Peaks of Lavaredo are located in the Tre Cime Natural Park and, together with other Dolomite peaks, were declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2009.
What makes them unique, however, are the shapes and colors of the rock, which erosion has carved into towers, walls and bell towers. The color that varies between gray, yellow, red and ocher makes them even more suggestive.The foot of the Dolomite peaks, with their bizarre shapes, whitened by snow from November to May, a harmonious landscape extends, shaped by millennia of man’s work. The cultivated fields, the barns, the little churches, even normally prosaic details like the fences or the paths up here, are rich in history like the palaces, the most elegant churches and the castles.The Dolomites – like the type of rock that characterizes them, called dolomia – are named after the French geologist Déodat de Dolomieu, to whom we owe the first studies on this particular double carbonate of calcium and magnesium, published in 1791. However, it is only in the 1864 that the name Dolomites made its appearance, thanks to the English painter and naturalist Josiah Gilbert and George Churchill, who published the report of their travels in the region with the title The Dolomite mountains, starting the now long history of tourism and mountaineering in the region.Trentino-Alto Adige boasts the largest ski area in the world and for this reason represents for skiers, experienced or less experienced, from all over Europe and not only a true paradise framed by the majestic Dolomites. In Trentino-Alto Adige there are slopes that should be tackled at least once in a lifetime, under the sun reflected by the dazzling white desert of these mountains, with their fiery sunsets that reverberate in the cold and electric air and the deep green of the centuries-old woods. to cover their hips and their mighty breath. Here are all the most beautiful ski resorts in Trentino-Alto Adige, where you can enjoy pleasant ski weekends with the whole family, with friends or for a romantic ski week.Sunrise and sunset in the Dolomites are truly spectacular. The sun sets fire to the Dolomite rocks that take on colors ranging from yellow to fiery red, with pink and purple hues. In Ladin this phenomenon is called “enrosadìra” – it literally means becoming pink – and it indicates the phenomenon whereby the rock of the Dolomites turns red at sunrise and sunset. But why does enrosadìra happen? The color assumed by the peaks of the Dolomites depends on the very composition of the rock, the dolomite, which contains dolomite, a compound of calcium carbonate and magnesium. This composition causes the sun’s rays to refract on the rock and give life to the characteristic pink color. This phenomenon is unique, it varies from period to period, even from one day to another, depending on the different position of the sun, the presence or absence of clouds, the clarity of the air. Obviously, to fully enjoy the beauty of enrosadìra, a real spectacle of nature, the day must not be cloudy!
Triora is a beautiful medieval village, located in the Ligurian Riviera di Ponente, perched in the splendid Argentina Valley. It owes its name to "Tria-Ora" (three mouths) indicating the three main local products (wheat, vine and chestnut)
Some women of Triora in 1588 were victims of one of the bloodiest trials for witchcraft in Liguria. Everything has been documented in the documents that are on display in the small Ethnographic and Witchcraft Museum at the beginning of the town.The Cabotina is also worth a visit, a small building where legend has it that witches met. Visiting this ancient village is also a real pleasure for the throat. Among the typical products, the Triora bread is to be tasted: dark and homemade, prepared with flour and bran, it is part of the association of the 37 Italian breads. It is delicious spread with an ancient mountain cheese: bruss or bruzzo, ricotta fermented with herbs and spices with a slightly spicy flavor.The ethno-historical museum of witchcraft in Triora: in the first room, the tools of ‘magical thought’ are known, with the Pio Breddo esoteric collection. In the second, the images of “Goddesses, spirits and female creatures” present in the pantheon of the accused materialize in artistic forms. In the third herbal fragrances they illustrate the phytotherapeutic skills of the “dominae herbarum”. In the fourth there is the invention of the diabolical witch and the trial of Triora with a narrator who remembers the tortures to extort confessions.The Halloween party will take place between a monstrous game and another, to the rhythm of the music that will spread among the markets, children will go wild showing off their dark costumes and celebrating the party with dances, nursery rhymes and stories: animation, music, fashion shows and workshops. La Cabotina, the Gioco del Fuoco, the Ridda are some of the events that will animate the darkest night of the year! And for all the ghosts and hungry witches, there will be numerous refreshment points to taste the typical products of a generous land: rostelle, frisciöi, pancakes, let yourself be enchanted by these wonderful delicacies!Magic stalls, where you can find magic potions, and skulls; sorcerer who read your future with tarot cards or by examining your hand; and again, zombies and monsters of all kinds that invade the trade of the country … In short, a large outdoor masquerade that attracts thousands of people from all over Italy every year.This bridge crosses a tributary of the Argentina torrent and, in summer, when it thaws, it forms a splendid lake which is also very popular with swimmers. It is located in the Municipality of Molini di Triora, in the province of Imperia. A lovely place!Unmissable stop on a trip to Triora is certainly also the Castle with the central tower and the ruins. Triora also offers some interesting churches: the church of San Dalmazzo (from whose churchyard you will enjoy a wonderful view), the rural church of San Bernardino (where you can admire the beautiful medieval frescoes) and the 17th century church of San Agostino, which houses the statuary group of the Madonna della Misericordia.
THE PRODIGY OF IDEAS 