ItalyUpdate

For the first time in many years, two of Romes most famous monuments are to be open to the public at night.  

VENICE: FIRST WOMAN GONDOLIER

24-year old Giorgia Boscolo has become the first official female gondolier to transport visitors on the Venice canals. Giorgia passed her theory and punting exams after a years apprenticeship to become a fully-fledged  gondolier, breaking a tabu lasting nine centuries that barred women from the profession.

An attractive blonde, married with two children, she is sure to attract a lot of custom!

Romes Leonardo da Vinci Airport, more commonly referred to as Fiumicino, after the Tiber fishing town and port nearby, celebrates its fiftieth birthday this month.

August ends with a flourish at the northern tip of Sardinia with the Music at the Bocche di Bonifacio festival, now in its 10 th edition.   

Police in Parma have confiscated 2,500 counterfeit monodose bottles of one of Italys most celebrated gastronomic products, the  balsanic Vinegar of Modena, distributed among local restaurants and food shops...

Parmigiano cheese, one of Italys most famous gastronomic products, has just won an important battle against German imitators. ....

Archaeologists from the University of Turin have announced an exciting find at Tarquinia near Viterbo (Lazio). ..

During the summer, the town of Merano in Alto Adige is organizing a series of fascinating excursions in the series of underground bunkers constructed in the mountains during the first and second World Wars. 

The lavender harvest in Fruili Venezia Giulia recently concluded with the annual Lavender Festival, held at the spa town of Bibione and the seaside resort of Lignano Sabbiadoro. 

A mysterious black beast, provisionally identified by the Sicilian regional forestry corps as a panther, was spotted recently near Palermo. !