Italian News & Lifestyle

Italian Heritage News & Lifestyle

Anno II 4/2012

Contents

E SIAMO DUNQUE ARRIVATI AL NATALE BUON NATALE A VOI E ALLE VOSTRE FAMIGLIE AUGURI DI UN 2013 SERENO, PIENO DI FELICITA’ E COSE BELLE E a proposito di nuovo anno non perdetevi il delizioso articolo di Emina Ristovic sulla mancata profezia Maya: Italiani versus Maya a pagina 6 Qualche idea su come decorare la vostra tavola?

La troverete alle pagine 4 e 5.

A pagina 8 una storia importante per cui chiediamo il vostro aiuto Sul prossimo numero troverete gli articoli “Visitare le Marche” e “Elezioni 2013, i candidati per le circoscrizioni estere”, che abbiamo rimandato.

ARRIVEDERCI AL 2013 2

La storia a tavola

Centrotavola in vetro di Murano 1930

Nella foto sotto un vero gioeiello. centrotavola romano in pietra dura e bronzi dorati con figure di alabastro del 1830.

Valore stimato intorno ai € 50.000

Raffigurato nell’immagine sopra e’ un centrotavola di fine ‘700. E’ una fruttiera in ceramica sorretta da quattro putti .

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Tutti a tavola Setting the table the Italian way and simple decor ideas

Setting the table the Italian way for such an occasion like Christmas is never casual. It’s a formal dinner and guests place settings requires some planning in advance.

Sulla tavola di Natale non possono mancare le candele.

Meglio rosse se avete scelto decorazioni dorate, bianche invece se avete puntato sull’argento. Mai in nessun caso saranno profumate e andranno accese prima dell’arrivo degli ospiti. Evitate di sistemarle di fronte al piatto, il fumo infastidirebbe l’ ospite. Inoltre candele e centrotavola troppo voluminosi sistemati di fronte ai piatti impediscono la visuale e sono d’impaccio alla conversazione

On the table you will leave wine and water, bread and breadsticks, and the under plates that you do not ever take off until the end of the dinner

First assign the seats to all your guests, use a tablecloth whose color is coordinated with the decorations, the centerpiece, silverware and plates. Tradition would call for a linen tablecloth but we are in the new millennium, cotton is fine as long as it’s very well ironed and absolutely wrinkle free.

Keep in mind that for the Italians the choice of wine to accompany the dishes and ‘just as important as food itself.

Use at least two glasses: one for water, more capacious and one for wine, a second wine glass if you will serve different type of wines, maybe a red one and a white one. Also a flute for the “spumante”

The orange peel is often used for Christmas decorations. In the picture on the left you can see a beautiful candle to place on the table on Christmas Day To make the candle cut in half one orange and carve the inside removing the pulp.

Once empty let it dry in the oven for a few minutes then clean the inside.

Insert the wick in the center and fill with grains of wax or oil trying to keep the wick in the center. It will be great to light this candle. Amazing and delicate scent

Un’idea originale per tovagliette natalizie stampate vecchi spartiti musicali con canzoni natalizie. Riponeteli all’interno di un doppio strato di plastica trasparente da sigillare lungo il perimetro.

An idea for Christmas placemats print old sheet music with Christmas songs. Place them inside a double layer of transparent plastic to be sealed along the perimeter.

Use a 2/3 storey fruit dish as a centerpiece, decorate with flowers of red and white poinsettias, pine cones and mandarins.

Nice effect also a combination of pine cones and red roses in a wicker basket or you can use an ice bucket if made ​​of glass or transparent material

Utilizzate un’alzata per frutta o dolci a due o tre piani come centrotavola, decorando con fiori di stelle di natale rossi e bianchi, pigne dorate e mandarini Bello anche l’abbinamento con pigne e rose rosse in un cesto magari di vimini ma si puo’ tranquillamente utilizzare and anche un portaghiaccio meglio se di vetro o materiale trasparente

A simple green wreath placed in the center of the table will become elegant by placing in the center red candles of different sizes and heights

Una semplice ghirlanda verde posta al centro della tavola diventera’ d’effetto se al centro disporrete candele rosse di diverse misure ed altezze

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Natale e’ servito.

La festa puo’ cominciare Idee semplici per la tavola di Natale

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Un Dicembre da Fine del Mondo Italiani Vs Maya

Finisce il mondo, si salvi chi può! La salvezza, però, si sa, ha un prezzo. Si tratterebbe di una cifra elevatissima, che si aggira intorno a 250 milioni di dollari, per le soluzioni piu' sofisticate.

Dagli States alla Russia, Spagna o Francia, i gruppi di catastrofisti si erano preparati al peggio costruendo bunker e rifugi sotterranei e comprando sul web i manuali per salvarsi. Il più modesto bunker, per così dire, si poteva acquistare per 10,000 euro (1,500 euro al metro quadro).

Il ristorante Maya a Milano ha organizzato “The Apocalypse Party”, con menu a base di burritos, nachos di pollo, fajitas e litri di sangria. Ai Magazzini Generali c’è stata la festa “The New Era” con musica anni Ottanta e invasione degli alieni in pista.

All’Alcatraz invece per sfidare i Maya è stato organizzato “Fine del mondo night party”, col motto della serata: “È solo l’ultimo venerdì della settimana”. A Roma, negli Studios cinematografici sulla Tiburtina c’è stato “World’s End. The last party on Earth”, un mega party per 3000 persone, con ricostruzione delle piramidi e dei templi Maya al centro e ai lati del privè e tutti a ballare al ritmo di house e dance.

C’è chi, invece del bunker ha preferito rifugiarsi nei luoghi definiti “sicuri”. Uno di questi, scelto da molti, era Bugarach, un paesino francese di soli 194 abitanti, che da mesi era diventato meta di un pellegrinaggio senza precedenti. Stando sempre alla profezia, a salvarsi dall’imminente fine sarebbe stato il monte che lo sovrasta, il “Pech”, 1231 m di roccia distribuita in modo strano per uno scherzo della geologia.

L’iniziativa più originale però è stata promossa dal ristorante Rapsodia di Fagnano Olona in provincia di Varese. La cena in onore del popolo antico, Mayan Prophecy 2012, con portate ricchissime era accessibile al modico prezzo di 1000 euro, ma solo se il mondo sarebbe davvero finito allo scoccare della mezzanotte.

Se, com’è successo poi, non accadeva nulla, il prezzo scendeva a 30 euro.

In Italia la salvezza assicurata si nascondeva nella provincia di Forlì, in un paesino chiamato Spinello, che è stato scelto dai seguaci di Ramtha, un guerriero vissuto ai tempi del mito di Atlantide, asceso poi come Maestro, e che dal 1977 parla e insegna la liberazione e la consapevolezza del sé utilizzando il corpo di una medium americana. Il Maestro avrebbe scelto il paesino sull’ appenino per la nascita del mondo nuovo, più giusto.

Mentre in Italia e nel resto del mondo si aspettava che calasse il sipario sulla terra, in Australia e Nuova Zelanda era già l’alba del 22. La profezia dei Maya sulla fine del mondo non si era avverata e i cittadini “sopravvissuti” non hanno tardato ad avvisare il resto del globo attraverso le reti sociali con i messaggi ironici o meno sulla mancata Apocalisse.

Anche il mondo del web italiano si era mosso per dare l’addio al mondo attraverso i messaggi anti-profezia, spiegando, in pochi caratteri perché non potevano morire proprio il venerdì 21 dicembre. Su Twitter l’hashtag #DomaniNonPossoMorirePerché è stato a lungo trending topic. Coscienti, o meno, che non sarebbe successo nulla, molti hanno aperto il proprio cuore ma anche ironizzato sull’attuale situazione politica italiana.

C’è chi c’aveva davvero creduto, e chi l’aveva preso da subito per quello che era: una semplice bufala. C’è chi ne aveva approfittato per arricchirsi e chi invece aveva dato tutto per poter salvare la propria pelle.

I Maya, che ingiustamente erano chiamati in causa, si sono chiusi in preghiera e hanno festeggiato il nuovo inizio. Per tutti.

È arrivato il fatidico 21 dicembre 2012. Siamo tutti ancora vivi e vegeti, L’Apocalisse non c’è stata ma non è detto che un giorno , prima o poi, non ci sarà.

Tra i luoghi prescelti figurava anche Cisternino, il piccolo centro della Val d’Itria in Puglia, che ospita un tempio di preghiera e di meditazione di Bubaji, un sacerdote dell’India ritenuto immortale. Per festeggiare la “fine del mondo” la cittadina brindisina ha deciso di organizzare una notte bianca, con negozi aperti ed eventi in piazza per ringraziare i numerosi turisti venuti da tutte le parti che l’avevano scelta per trascorrerci l’”ultimo giorno” di vita.

Quelli meno paurosi, invece, hanno deciso di divertirsi e di sfidare i Maya facendo festa in grande stile.

Le feste a tema 21.12.2012 sono state popolari in tutta Italia.

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New You www.yoururl.co.uk

Italians Vs Maya At Magazzini Generali took place the party “The New Era”

And then came the prophetic December 21, 2012. We are all still alive and well, no Apocalypse with music from the 80’ and invasion of the aliens. but this doesn’t mean that one day, sooner or The Alcatraz instead chose to challenge the Maya and later, there will be one. organized The world ends, every man for himself!

“End of the World party night”, with the motto Many Italians fled to ‘safe havens’ others decided to enjoy the end together partying.

There are people who, instead of bunkers preferred to take refuge in places defined as “safe”. one of these, chosen by lot, is Bugarach, a French village of just 194 inhabitants, which for months had become a place of unprecedented.pilgrimage. To the point that the Mayor called the army, worried about keeping order in the small town.

In Italy the salvation was granted in the province of Forlì, in a village called Spinello, which was chosen by the followers of Ramtha, a warrior who lived at the time of the myth of Atlantis, then ascended as Teacher, and whom since 1977 speaks and teaches liberation and self-awareness using the body of an American medium. The Maestro would choose this small village for the birth of the new world.

Among the chosen places also fCisternino, a small town in the Val d’Itria in Puglia, which houses a temple of prayer and meditation named after Bubaji, a holy man of India considered immortal. to celebrate the “end of the world”, the town of Brindisi has decided to organize a sleepless night, with shops open all night and events in the streets to thank the many tourists from everywhere that chose to go there to spend the “last day” of life.

The less fearful, however, decided to have fun and to challenge the Maya partying in style.

21.12.2012 theme parties have been popular throughout Italy.

: “It’s just the last Friday of the week.” In Rome, at the film Studios there was “World’s End The last party on Earth”, a big party for 3,000 people, with the reconstruction of Mayan’s pyramids and temples.

The most original initiative was promoted by the restaurant Rhapsody Fagnano Olona in the province of Varese.

Dinner in honor of the Mayan Prophecy 2012, offered at the ‘low’price of 1000 euro, but only if the world would really finished at midnight.

If, as happened then, nothing happened, the price was to drop to 30 euro.

While Italy was expecting the final countdown, in Australia and New Zealand was already the dawn of the 22nd. The Mayan prophecy about the end of the world had not come true and citizens “Survivors” have been quick to warn the rest of the world through social networks with messages more or less ironic about the missed Apocalypse.

Somebody had really believed, and somebody else took it as a joke.

Somebody had the opportunity to enrich himself and others gave everything in attempt to save their own life.

The Maya, who were unfairly called into question have probably focused on prayers and then celebrated a new beginning. For everyone.

The Maya restaurant in Milan has done “The Apocalypse Party “, with a menu of burritos, nachos, chicken fajitas and liters of sangria. .

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FEATURED STORY

the big challenge Villa PacchioniInsieme per tenerla in vita Together keeping it alive Questa e’ la storia di una famiglia:una mamma quattro figli e la loro casa. Non e’ una storia allegra, ma vi invitiamo a leggerla.

Poco tempo fa riceviamo un’email, colgo questa occasione per ringraziare personalmente Nicoletta Ferrari, a quella prima mail ne seguirono altre e insieme raccontano una storia.

Siamo a Cavezzo, uno dei paesi colpiti piu’ duramente dal terremoto dell’Emilia, Ci sono una mamma, Monica, e quattro figli tra i 9 e i 24 anni di eta’.

Il terremoto si e’ portato via non “solo” la loro casa ma anche il loro lavoro, dato che in quella casa svolgevano attivita’ di Bed & Breakfast.

Credo che la foto qui sotto valga piu’ di mille parole.

Ma andiamo con ordine: ecco l’email di Nicoletta ricevuta qualche tempo fa.

Prima del terremoto non conoscevo questa famiglia, due ragazze universitarie Annamaria e Carolina e due bimbi di 13 e 9 anni rispettivamente Carlo e Claudia, la madre viveva del reddito dell’agriturismo dove loro abitavano che ora è inagibile. Nei giorni successivi non smettevo di pensare a questa famiglia e a questa madre da sola così l’ho chiamata pur non conoscendola e chiedendole di raccontarmi come stavano e se avessero bisogno di qualcosa nell’immediato. Dai suoi racconti e dalle sue necessità è nato il mio forte desiderio di aiutarla a ricostruire/sistemare CASA, che per quanto distrutta e non agibile potrebbe anche essere del tutto 8

sistemata in sicurezza, è solo una questione di costi.......

Già qualche anno fa aveva perso il marito quando era in cinta dell’ultima figlia e si è quindi costruita piano piano questa attività di agriturismo e bed and breakfast nella casa di proprietà del marito, una bella villa del 700 appartenente alla famiglia del padre da sempre, ma ora classificato in classe E, ovvero inagibile .... .......forse verranno stanziati dei fondi, ma sembra già che questi soldi verranno dati come compensazione fiscale, quindi ti puoi immaginare i tempi e soprattutto vuol dire non avere i soldi per iniziare i lavori...

Sto pensando alla possibilità di raccogliere dei fondi per lei perchè possa riavviare questa attività.

La famiglia non ha mai chiesto nulla, ne’ a noi ne’ ad altri.

Lo facciamo noi. Ci aiutate a dimostrare solidarieta’ e a dare una mano perche’ Villa Pacchioni possa ritornare quella di prima?

Anche un solo dollaro sara’ apprezzato, TUTTE le donazioni verranno pubblicate e la loro pubblicazione costantemente aggiornata.

the big challenge This is the story of a family: a mother four children and their home.

It’s not a happy story, but please read it.

A short time ago we received an email, I take this opportunity to personally thank Nicoletta Ferrari, the first mail was followed by others, and together they tell a story.

We are in Cavezzo one of the most affected towns hit hard by the terrible earthquake of Emilia.

In this story there is a mom, Monica, and four children between 9 and 24 years of age. ‘ The earthquake took away not “only” their home but also their job since that house was a well know ‘Bed & Breakfast.

I think the picture below is worth more than a thousand words.

funds will be allocated ....... maybe, but it seems already that this money will be given as a tax compensation so, as you can imagine, this means not having any money to even start the renovation..

I’m thinking about the possibility to raise funds for her so she can restart this activity.”

So this is the story.

The family has never asked for anything. We do.

Will you help us demonstrating solidarity to bring Villa Pacchioni back to life?

Even one dollar will be appreciated, ALL donations will be published and continuously updated.

Thank you.

But first things first: this is the email we received from Nicoletta some time ago.

“Before the earthquake, I did not know this family, Mom Monica, two girls, Annamaria Carolina who are college students, and two kids aged 13 and 9 years respectively Carlo and Claudia. , They lived with the income generated by the B & B where they also lived and which is now uninhabitable..... In the following days I couldn’t stop thinking about this family and this mother alone so I called them asking to tell me how they were and if they needed something, how could I help. From their story is born my strong desire to help her rebuild CASA, destroyed and not accessible but which may be entirely placed in security, it is only a matter of cost .......

A few years ago she had lost her husband when she was pregnant of the youngest daughter and then she slowly built this agriturismo and bed and breakfast in a house owned by her husband, a beautiful villa from’ 700 belonging to the family of the father from many generations, but now classified in Class E, or unusable ....

We will post more pictures, on our facebook page and also on our website.

To donate

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_donations&busines s=info%40italianheritagemagazine%2ecom&lc=US&item_ name=TOGETHER%20FOR%20VILLA%20PACCHIONI&no_ note=0&currency_code=USD&bn=PP%2dDonationsBF%3abtn_ donateCC_LG%2egif%3aNonHostedGuest

Web Site Villa Pacchioni http://villapacchioni.it/ Facebook Villa Pacchioni-Insieme per tenerla in vita Together keeping it alive

In Canosa di Puglia, near Bari, there is a living nativity scene enacted in one of the most beautiful locations, with a participation of more than 300 costumed performers of all ages.

The nativity scene of Tricase, in the province of Lecce, the town sometimes called “Bethlehem of Italy�, is one of the eight most long-lived Christmas cribs of Southern Italy.

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The Nativity scene in Italy The Nativity Scene is a very important part of Christmas not only in Italy but in the other Christian countries as well. Where does this tradition come from and why it is so important today?

We are taking you on a trip around Italy in discover of the most original and curious Nativity Scenes.

It is called Presepe and can be found in homes, usually prepared in combination with the Christmas trees,as well in Churches or outdoors, and is set up on the day of the Immaculate Conception. The name of the Italian Nativity scene comes from Latin praesepium which means place that has a fence; a manger used to feed animals in a stable. It represents the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem The first evidence of the Nativity scene is the narration of the apostles Luke and Matthew, who spoke about Nativity in the Gospels, but the story says that it was Saint Francis of Assisi who created the first Nativity scene during the Christmas night of 1223 in Greccio. following an idea he had during a trip in Africa he organized the living Nativity scene in a cave with humans playing the Biblical roles.

The first lifeless Nativity scene, as we know it today, is from around 1280 and it was carved by Arnolfo di Cambio from Tuscany. The oldest Nativity scene can be seen in Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome in the Sistine Chapel. From that period until 1400 the artisans built numerous big and small statues made of wood or earthenware that were inserted in a landscape mostly similar to the real one.I earthenware that were inserted in a landscape mostly similar to the real one.

It was Carlo III of Borbone who brought the Nativity scene to the south of Italy, in Naples to be precise, in 1700, and soon it became common in the rest of the Italian Kingdoms. In this new era artists decided to give a more naturalistic representation of characters, including more details not only of the country but

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The rich Neapolitan families started to compete for who owns the most beautiful Nativity scene. By 1800 the Nativity scene, also known as crèche, became a tradition also in Liguria, Sicily and Puglia.

During a brief period in the 1960’s the Nativity scene was surpassed by the Christmas tree, but today presepe is back to represent Italy and its tradition. The most devoted city to the Native scene is Naples, where you can buy in Via San Gregorio Armeno artisanal statues, while in Genoa, in Liguria, you can also visit the Nativity Scene Museum.

Of high importance are also living Nativity scenes that were prohibited by the church in the 15 th century.

However, the plays survived outside church walls and three hundred years after the prohibition, German immigrants brought them to America.

Living nativity scenes - presepe vivente in Italian - are frequent in Italy during Christmas time and are quite popular, especially in the southern part of the country. On Christmas Eve small towns celebrate with a nativity scene similar to the one St. Francis of Assisi did in 1223, with animals, children and adults playing the roles of the Holy Family and a newborn representing the baby Jesus.

The living nativity scene of Greccio is the most ancient nativity scene in the world. The representation evolves through six stages, each of which tells a different aspect of the origin of the first living nativity scene as desired by St. Francis of Assisi.

The Abruzzo region is well-known for the Rivisondoli’s living nativity scene that includes hundreds of costumed people dramatizing the arrival of the Three Kings on Epiphany and a living nativity on December 24th and 25th It is considered to be the one of the most ancient living nativity scenes of Italy, with its first edition going back to 1951.

In Tuscany, in the setting of the beautiful medieval hill town of Barga Vecchia there is a living nativity scene and procession with 200 costumed people walking through the town from Piazza Garibaldi to the Duomo.

In Lombardy, in the province of Sondrio there is the village of the nativity scenes called Talamona.

In Custonaci, a small town near Trapani in Sicily, the nativity scene is presented inside a cave. It is the occasion for town to commemorate the ancient, once flourishing, village that was buried by an earthquake in the 1800’s. It is one of Sicily’s most important Christmas events, with about 160 costumed people participating to the nativity scene.

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