ItalyUpdate

 Velia Seithiti and Ravnthu Aprthnai are only two of the beautiful women immortalized on the walls of the Etruscan tombs of Tarquinia and Cerveteri. There are others without names, who dance seductively, recline at banqueting tables, play musical instruments and carry out sacred rituals.

 Italy's prize oyster, the Golden Oyster of Goro is on its way to receiving official recognition as another exclusive Italian gastronomic product. Goro, a fishermen's village on the River Po delta, is celebrated for its production of mussels and clams.

The Vertical Winter Tour, a fun event involving many of Italy's most celebrated ski resorts, is in full fling. The eight stages in the programme, which began at the Milky Way ski runs of Sestriere (Turin) just before New Year 2017 and end at Canazei and Val di Fassa (Trentino) on March 3-4  2018, involve winter playgrounds stretching from the Dolomites to the Alps.

The ten-day Douja d'Or wine and food show at Asti (Piedmont) runs between the 9^th - 18^th September 2016. The Douja d'Or award (the name refers to the traditional terracotta jug used locally to serve wine) is one of the most prestigious in Italy for DOC and DOCG wines.

The Benedictine monks of the earthquake-shattered Umbria archidiocese of Spoleto-Norcia have set up a blog with information and updates on the situation in the area round Amatrice  Norcia, the  birthplace of St. Benedict, is well-known to the US Catholic communities as a group of American Benedictines re-founded the monastic community, which is also linked both to St. Francis of Assisi, in 2000.

According to recent market research, holiday homes in Italy's beautiful old borghi (historic towns

and town centres) are in increasing demand.

Bargains are to be got in the regions of Molise, Calabria and parts of Irpinia, where country houses can be found for around 500 per sq.m. 

On the 29^th - 31^st July 2016, Arezzo (Tuscany) takes a time trip back into the past. Over 1000 costumed characters and 50 historical re-enactment groups will congregate in this beautifully preserved medieval town to recreate the Roman era, the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.

The town of Canale d'Agordo near Belluno (Veneto) is to inaugurate a museum dedicated to its most famous son, Albino Luciani, who was elected Pope John Paul 1 in August 1978. Although Luciani occupied the Throne of Peter for only one month before his unexpected death on the 28^th September, he left a lasting impression because of his cheerful and benevolent disposition, that earned him the nickname of the Smiling Pope.

Grand night for ballroom dancers in the Romagna Riviera between the 21^st - 23^rd July 2016. The event involves all the seaside resorts on the Emilia Romagna coast, as well as the nearby inland towns.