ItalyUpdate

The luxury 5-star San Pietro Hotel is a well-known landmark on the Amalfi Coast. Perched on a rocky promontory overlooking the town of Positano, it is celebrated as being one of the most beautiful hotels in the world. However, not content to rest on its laurels, the Carlino family, owners of the San Pietro, have embarked on an ambitious programme of renovation and restyling to create six new suites.

Rome's Villa Torlonia hosts a fascinating tribute to the famous women dancers of the Belle Epoque by the artist Maria Cristina Crespo in the whimsical Casina delle Civette (Little Owl House) in the villa grounds. The exhibition, entitled Il Giardino delle Muse Danzanti (the Garden of the Dancing Muses) displays the ceramic heads of eight mythical performers such as Mata Hari, Isadora Duncan and Ida Rubenstein in the form of vases containing the flowers that were symbols of the craftsmen and artists of the Liberty movement.

The International Festival of art and food is on till the 27^th June 2015 in the historic centre of the town of Montegranaro, near Fermi (Marche), famous for its production of high quality shoes. This is a mega-event, involving over a hundred different street performances featuring professional artistes from Italy, Belgium, France, Finland, Holland, Slovenia, Spain, Cile, Argentine, Uruguay, Kenya, the UK and the USA, many of whom are part of the EU OPEN-STREET project.

Hot competition to construct the tallest Lego tower in the world is underway during EXPO Milano. Up till the 21^st June adults and children can collaborate in the attempt to beat the Budapest Tower that won the last world record in 2014 with a tower that soared up to 34.76 metres.

With important appointments coming up such as the Extraordinary Church Holy Year (2015-16) and the possibility of hosting the 2024 Summer Olympics, Rome is awakening from a long lethargy and announces plans to complete long-overdue projects. These include the futuristic Nuvola (Cloud) conference centre by architect  Massimilian Fuksas, the Aquarium and the Ponte dei Congressi (Conference Bridge), all in the modern EUR district.

Thanks to an injection of new capital through its verger with Etihad Airways, Italy's national carrier Alitalia is relaunching itself on the long distance market with a new upgraded Business Class which offers additional comfort and facilities.

Puglia, Basilicata, Campania, Calabria and Sicily toast their traditional native vines in the Radice del Sud (Roots of the South) Festival, held this year in Bari (Puglia) until the 15^th June 2015. Over 400 wines will be judged by two panels of experts  of one international and the other Italian  in three days of blind tastings at the Hotel Rondo.

The very best of Made in Italy are to pool their brains at the 7^th Luxury Summit, organized by Italian financial newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore, on the 10th-11^th June 2015 at Milan. Representatives of leading fashion designers, such as Salvatore Ferragamo, Gianni Versace, Kiton, Santoni Calzatura and Louis Viutton Italia are among the participants at the event, which focusses on future business strategies and expansion in emerging markets, such as China.

Three bells commissioned by the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart of Jesus at Sanggau, Indonesia, from the historic Marinelli Bell Foundry of Agnone (Molise) are due to be installed shortly in the Cathedral in West Borneo.

 

The Student and Youth Travel Centre (CTS) opens its Nature Camps on the Island of Linosa  (Sicily) between May and October 2015 to young people who wish to spend a working holiday looking after the sea turtles that come to lay their eggs every year on the shore.