ItalyUpdate

World-famous Italian conductor Claudio Abbado has come out on the side of conservationists by requesting that the city of Milan should plant 90,000 trees on its territory in lieu of his fee for returning to direct the orchestra of La Scala, Milan after a long absence.

An American biochemist believes that he has solved the mystery of the magical sound of Stradivari violins.

One of Italys most popular rice dishes, the saffron-tinged Risotto alla Milaneseâ provided the focus for this years International Day of Italian Cuisine.

HEART-THROB FOOTBALLER IN CALENDAR

Italian football ace Luca Toni has had a calendar dedicated to him in Germany this year 2009. The desk-size calendar features the sports star in twelve different poses, one for each month. Toni, who is admired by female fans for his good looks almost as much as for his ability with the ball, transferred  from an Italian club to the German Bayern Monaco.  

FIPE, the Italian service industry Federation, reports that Italian restaurants did well during the recent New Years Eve celebrations, despite the financial crisis.

Comune di Civitella d'Agliano

Already present in the UNESCO list of intangibile world heritage features with its Sicilian pupi (puppets) and the Sardinian shepherds exclusive a tenore singing, Italy is now preparing to candidate a series of folklore events, including the Viareggio Carnival, the Palio of Siena, the Master Lute-makers School of Cremona and a number of major historic festivals.

 The Pascal Institute of Naples, specialising in cancer research, has launched an unorthodox fund-raising calendar involving its doctors and specialists, who appear on its pages posing as magicians and fortune-tellers.

Epiphany (6th January) is traditionally the day when Italian children receive gifts from a kindly old witch known as the Befana (a corruption of the word Epifania).

  BUON  NATALE  E  FELICE  ANNO  NUOVO

 MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR

 For the past four Christmas, the Wishing Tree has greeted passengers and visitors to Rome Termini Station. The tree started off as an ordinary Xmas Tree  one of several that decorate the foyer and entrance hall of the city main railway station, but then, quite spontaneously, people began to pin scribbled notes on to the lower branches. First, it was mainly children, with their lists of wishes for Babbo Natale (Santa Claus), but now the tree is submerged with the hopes and wishes of passengers of all ages and nationalities. Some are from students begging Babbo Natale to help them pass their exams or to find a job, while lovelorn teenagers pray for divine intercession to make Roberto notice me or convince Giulia to come back to meť. Others, on a more serious note, beg for good health or to be healed from an illness. A grandmother prays that her grandchildren will always be safe and well and there is even someone who hopes for a good government.The Wishing Tree seemed to us an appropriate symbol to convey our personal wishes to all our readers for good health, tranquillity and prosperity  - in short, every conceivable good thing  for this Christmas and the coming New Year.

Signed: Julia Davidson, Margaret Stenhouse, Harry Reid, Antonio Rigillo and all our editorial staff.

0ne of the few remaining examples of the unique circular walled gardens of the Sicilian island of Pantelleria has been saved for posterity by Donna Fugata, one of Sicily top winegrowers.