Italian Clubs, Events, Lifestyle; Travel Italy

By continuing the effort to give exposure to Italian American events I came through an article covering about the10th anniversary of an Italian American club from New Jersey.

The club, based in Burlington Township, NJ, is “Amici della Lingua Italiana” - Friends of the Italian Language, its membership of 450 are from South and Central Jersey and from Pennsylvania.
The group promotes not only the Italian language, but Italian music, food, art, sports, winemaking and other traditions and is open to all who love things Italian, including its language.

I have appreciated what Mr. Joseph Paglione, Amici’s first president, said in the interview with courierpostonoline.com, about the stereotypes about our culture.

….Italian culture is more than just the food that most people identify with like pasta and pizza.[...]

I find it hard to believe that anybody could have any doubt about it.

He lamented that the popular TV show the “Sopranos” about an Italian crime family stereotypes Italian-Americans culture, saying 99.9 percent of Italian families do not lead that type of life.

I, as well as most of Italians, don’t even know “Sopranos”.

Amici della Lingua Italiana club is celebrating its 10th anniversary on Sunday April 30, with an Italian feast at Lamberti’s Modo Milano restaurant in Mount Holly.

Happy Anniversary Amici della Lingua Italiana!

A few figures about the tourists flows to Florence, show how this city has lately increased its, already high, visbility among the travelers visiting Italy.
In the last few months, Florence appears to have assumed the leadership among the Italian art cities, even exceeding Venice.

Florence currently emerges as the Italian art city with the highest tourist visibility.
Tourists visiting Florence, also take advantage of it as a base for day trips and excursions in the surrounding countryside of Tuscany.

The next month are scheduled initiatives and programs aiming to give tourists more chances to extend their stay in Florence and Tuscany.
Among them, we suggest the followings.

- Sunday in Chianti, offer tastings of the best specialties from the territory’s farms and discounts in the most prestigious hotels and restaurants of Chianti.

- ‘Amico Museo (Friend Museum) - Spring Visits’: initiative running from April 22nd to May 6th, sponsored by Tuscany Region.

- ‘Genio Fiorentino’ (Florentine Genius): from April 22nd to May 21st, 101 events including exhibitions, concerts, conferences, appointments with food and also fashion shows are scheduled in 44 towns that are included in the Florence area. It’s an unique opportunity to visit Florence and its province.

Italians like “la dolce vita” - the sweet life, and are more uncomfortable than any other people with programs imposing tough reforms.

Or at least, this is the stereotyped image of Italian people that is often displayed in the media around the world. However in the recent past, Italians in many circumstances surprised for their ability to accept painful reforms and to manage it.

The Newsweek, in “Italy: Dreams of La Dolce Vita“, by looking into the current situation following the April elections, lists many of such circumstances.

- In 1992, Italy recovered from its temporary suspension from the European monetary system when no one said it could.

- In the 1970s and ’80s, it was national terrorism and civil unrest that threatened disaster.

- Six years ago, who’d have thought they’d obey helmet regulations when riding their Vespas?
Or stop smoking their MS cigarettes with their meals?
But you won’t see a bare head on a moto in Milan these days, and the air in any Roman trattoria is as clean as it would be in San Francisco.

Italy’s long postwar history of doomsday predictions that didn’t come true.

But the newspaper conludes:

But first they must believe such stiff medicine is indeed necessary.

It’s well known that Italians are a people who are inventive, loving of sweet life, but also hardworking and with willingness to accept sacrifices, when it is necessary.

The film ITALIAN AMERICANS AND FEDERAL HILL is in the final stages of postproduction.
Seven Fishes Productions LLC will be premiering the film on September 29th and 30th, 2006 at the Columbus Theater, 270 Broadway in the Federal Hill neighborhood of Providence, Rhode Island.

The documentary film is the result of a five year effort to document the history and cultural evolution of Italian Americans in Rhode Island’s “Little Italy”, Federal Hill.

“Politicians, priests, entrepreneurs and others discuss their families, experiences, and the evolution of the culture” according to producer Jon Raben, “It is a frank, heart warming and introspective film.”
Numerous people were interviewed for the film. Mr. Raben’s goal was to capture the Italian American experience on Federal Hill.

The film depicts a determined population who

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