Italian News Snippets: 11.04.07

Some Italian news for your Sunday reading pleasure:

• Plans are being put into motion to create a Truffle Nature Park near Pisa in 2008, which will eventually include truffle-related tourism.
• Because of changes in the weather this year, Italy’s prized white truffles are more rare – and much more costly. You may see that cost reflected in menu items which contain the delicacy.
• There’s a big art exhibit going on in the town of Alba in northern Italy – the works were the private collection of a prominent art critic who died in 1970, and the show runs until February 10.
• The famous Ghiberti doors on Florence’s Baptistery are currently on display in New York in what’s being called their “first and last trip to the US.” Don’t worry, the copies which are on the Baptistery back in Florence are still there for you to see.
• New Yorkers are lucky in lots of ways, not least because during the first week of December they’ll get a taste of Rome’s popular “mozzarella bar,” Obika.
• Officials in Milan say that even though the city is polluted, Milan’s air pollution isn’t damaging “The Last Supper.”
• The first official signpost for the Via Francigena, a medieval pilgrimage route, went up this past week and Italy’s Premier, Romano Prodi, was there for the unveiling.
• Just when you thought Italian food was all wine, cheese and pasta, along comes a NY Times article featuring some of Tuscany’s best chocolate makers. (Link via Italofile)
• In a poll of destinations where US citizens go on holiday, Italy only ranks 5th behind Mexico, Canada, the UK and France. Funny, I could have sworn the last time I was in Italy that every US citizen was there at the same time.
• If you’re looking to experience some of the charms of central Italy without the massive crowds of Tuscany, try heading east into Le Marche. This brief introduction to Le Marche is a good start to get you going.