italiafile

Mr Berlusconi has 'forgiven' his attacker, and all is right with the world; the PM now being seen as more Christlike.. see entries passim. On the other hand a well known Italian poet has had the brass neck to compare Mr B to Mussolini... it may have been because they both sported large plasters at one point during their leadership, or it maybe Berlusconi's increasing sense of infallibility. Either way, the papers have made hay with the quote.

Pres. Ciampi has been in Naples.. He went off to Scampia yesterday to show solidarity with the people who live in that god forsaken part of the city and appealed to them not to leave, but to stay and fight the Camorra. Easier said than done. There have been another 3 murders since New Year, one of them at a funeral.

The vast majority of the city's population has instead been going to the sales. There are queues outside the shops every morning before they open, and it gets no better as the day progresses.

Fatigued from a hectic browse, if the two words can go together, I went to see the worlds largest, and possibly only, chocolate presepe (nativity scene). Here are the facts... 3,300 kg of chocolate, 4,500 hours in the making, it covers 24 square meters, 32 chocolatiers made it and it has 172 animals and 128 human figures. The best bit though, is the smell of it all. And it makes Juliet Binoche knocking up a few fondant fancies in that terrible film look like she's slacking.