Italian Restaurant Serves “Fried Air”
A restaurant in the Italian town of Castelfranco Veneto has come up with an ingenious way to get a leg up on the competition – treating guests to a unique dish called “fried air”. Nicola Dinato, the head chef at Feva Restaurant wanted to capture the essence of being outdoors and breathing fresh air in an […]
‘Robin Hood Banker’ Steals From Rich Clients to Help the Poor
Gilberto Baschiera, the former manager of a bank in Forni di Sopra, a small town in Italy’s Dolomite Alps, has been nicknamed the “Robin Hood Banker” for taking around €1 million ($1.15 million) from rich savers’ accounts, over several years, to help poor people qualify for loans. It all started in 2009, at the the height of the […]
Venice Cafe Charges Tourist $50 for Two Coffees and Two Small Bottles of Water
A cafe in Venice, Italy has been slammed as a tourist trap after recently charging a man €43 ($50) for two espressos and two small bottles of water. Venice’s St. Marks Square is known for its notoriously pricey cafes and restaurants, but one such establishment has been getting a lot of negative attention online after a […]
Europe’s Oldest Tree Is At Least 1,230 Years Old And Still Growing
A team of researchers studying a national park in southern Italy recently discovered the oldest tree in Europe ever to be scientifically dated – a Heldreich’s pine that is at least 1,230 years old and still growing. Nicknamed “Italus”, the ancient tree was discovered on a steep mountain slope in Italy’s Pollino National Park by a […]
Italian Parents Forced to Change Daughter’s Name Because It’s Not Feminine Enough
A couple in Milan, Italy, who had chosen to name their baby daughter “Blu”, was recently ordered by a court to change the name to something more suitable for a girl or risk having it changed for them. According to a presidential decree issued in the year 2000, “the name given to a child must […]
16-Year-Old Takes Mother to Court for Posting Photos of Him on Facebook
We all post photos of our loved ones – especially adorable children – on social media all the time without ever giving any thought to the potential legal consequences, but as this recent case in Italy proves, posting photos of other people online is not as simple as we all think it is. Last year, […]
Stereo Bicycles Pump Up the Volume on the Streets of Palermo
When it comes to bicycles, tuning options are rather limited, especially in the audio department, but a community of teenagers in Palermo, Sicily, has found a way to adapt car stereo systems complete with speakers, subwoofers, amplifiers and even car batteries on their cycles, allowing them to pump out up to 1250W of sound as […]
The Shocking Story of an Italian Couple Who Had Their Baby Taken Away Because They Were Too Old
Are you ever too old to become a parent? Well, the Italian justice system seems to think so, and the tragic story of Gabriella and Luigi De Ambrosis, an elderly couple who had their natural daughter taken away and put up for adoption because they were deemed too old to take care of her is proof enough. […]
The Extraordinary Story of an Italian Peasant Who Taught Himself 100 Ancient Languages
86-year-old Riccardo Bertani is an exceptional man. Born to a family of farmers in Caprara, a small settlement in Reggio Emilia, Italy, he abandoned his study right after elementary school and dedicated his life to translating and documenting over 100 extinct and rare languages from all around the world. “It was castrating, I quit,” Bertani […]
The Hide-and-Seek World Championship is an Actual Event
The game of hide-and-seek may not yet be an Olympic sport – although efforts are being made in that regard – but it’s apparently popular enough to have its own world championship. What started out as a fun one-time event thought up by small Italian publication CTRL Magazine, in 2010, eventually turned into an annual event […]
Italian High-School Students Create Vending Machine That Turns Plastic Trash into Phone Cases
A group of high-school students from Italy have invented an awesome vending machine that grinds used plastic bottles into pellets which are then turned into smartphone cases by a built-in 3D printer. Saving the planet, making the world cleaner for future generations or just doing the right thing are powerful arguments for recycling, but the […]
Spanish Doctor Gone Missing 20 Years Ago Is Found Living Deep in Italian Forest
A Spanish doctor who went missing 20 years ago and was declared dead by authorities 14 years later, after nothing was seen or heard of him, was recently found living deep in a forest in Tuscany, by a couple of villagers foraging for mushrooms. Carlos Sánchez Ortiz de Salazar, who should now be 47-years-old, disappeared […]
Nemo’s Garden – Italy’s Revolutionary Underwater Fruit and Vegetable Farm
In a bid to explore alternative methods of growing produce, an Italian company has created the world’s first underwater farm. The futuristic station – aptly named Nemo’s Garden – consists of five transparent biospheres anchored to the bottom of the sea off the coast of Savona, Italy. They’re being used to grow strawberries, basil, beans, garlic, […]
Italian Village Plagued by Mysterious Fires Has Been Puzzling Scientists for Years
For 10 years, the residents of the Sicilian village of Canneto di Caronia have been utterly spooked by hundreds of mysterious, unexplained fires that seem to erupt out of nowhere. The bizarre phenomenon, which has seen a sudden surge this year, includes spontaneous combustion of mattresses, beds, cars, and devices like fridges and mobile phones, […]
The Double Tree of Casorzo – A Tree Growing on Top of Another Tree
Located between the towns of Grana and Casorzo in Piemonte, Italy, is a very unique tree – well, they’re actually two trees, one growing on top of the other. Locally known as ‘Bialbero de Casorzo’ or the ‘double tree of Casorzo’, this natural oddity consists of a cherry tree growing on top of a mulberry […]