OGGI IN ITALIA
ITALY’S NEWS, POLITICS, AND CULTURE
Italy Wins European Championship of American Football Italy defeated Sweden 41-14 to claim the 2021 European Championship of American football. The team, coached by Davide Giuliano, had an overwhelming 34-0 lead at halftime and coasted to Italy’s first championship in 37 years. Italy’s previous championships were in 1983, the first year that the European Championship was held, and 1987. Though Italy’s national American football team sports blue uniforms, rather than being referred to as the Azzurri—like Italy’s national soccer team—they are instead known as The Blue Team. While Italy has been competing at the international and local levels for many years, it was only in 2008 that the Italian Football League (IFL) formed by combining individual Italian leagues. The IFL is composed of 12 teams. Of its 13 Italian Bowls (their version of the Super Bowl), the Milano Seaman and Parma Panthers have both won five titles.
Italian National players singing the national anthem before an American Football game in Milan 2013. (Paolo Bona)
Italian Football League (IFL) Teams
Ancona Dolphins Ferrara Aquile Milano Seamen
Bergamo Lions Firenze Guelfi Napoli Briganti
Bologna Warriors Lazio Marines Parma Panthers
Bolzano Giants Milano Rhinos Torino Giagua
Abandoned Car Becomes a … Landmark?
Mother and Father of Tiramisù Die Two Weeks Apart
For 47 years, a light blue 1961 Lancia Fulvia sedan sat parked in the same spot on the street in Conegliano, a town in the Veneto region. The car, which belongs to 94-year-old Angelo Fregolent, was originally parked outside the newsstand that he and his wife ran back in 1974. Even after they retired, the car remained. Eventually, it began to attract tourists and locals alike, who snapped photos and posted them online. The photos then went viral.
Alba and Ado Campeol, the couple known for creating and serving tiramisù at their restaurant, died less than two weeks apart from each other last fall. Alba, who is credited with creating one of the world’s most beloved desserts, invented the initial recipe by accident.
Last fall, town officials removed the car to have it restored. After restoration is complete, it will be put on permanent display outside a school beside the Fregolents’ house.
Angelo Fregolent’s light blue 1961 Lancia Fulvia sedan. ITALIAN AMERICA
According to lore, she mistakenly added mascarpone to the egg and sugar mixture as she was making vanilla ice cream. She then tried the concoction on coffee-soaked savoiardi cookies (the biscuit type of lady fingers), and upon doing so, tiramisù was born in 1969. Three years later, the dessert started appearing on the menu in their restaurant, Le Beccherie, located in Treviso, a city in the Veneto region about 20 miles north of Venice. The dessert’s name—tiramisù—comes from Treviso dialect—tireme su—which means “lift me up.” Alba passed at the age of 92 and Ado at the age of 93. WINTER 2022 3
