Simple Italy

Celebrating Your Inner Italian

Sofia Coppola è Sposata

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Speak softly, love, but carry a big stick.

As an admirer of Academy-Award nominated director Sofia Coppola, I wish her tanti auguri on her marriage to Phoenix front man Thomas Mars. The fairy tale ceremony was held on Saturday at the Coppola family estate in Bernalda, in the arch of the Italian heel, in the region of Basilicata.

The New York Daily News reports, “Coppola’s famous father, director Francis Ford Coppola walked his 40-year-old daughter–clad in a custom-made lavender Azzadine Alaia gown–down the aisle.”

Good thing art (in the form of Papa Coppola’s original Godfather film) isn’t imitating life (21st Century style) on this nuptial.

Imagine if Don Vito Corleone’s only daughter Connie were finally to marry boyfriend Carlo Rizzi after being with him for six years and bearing two daughters, as the real-life Sofia has done. Forget the over-the-top wedding scene opening the film. More likely, Connie’s Mom, clad all in black, would be weeping, begging Don Vito to quit saying, “Connie’s dead to me now.”

And what about son Michael’s sun-kissed Sicilian nuptials with the luscious Apollonia?

It was a nice diversion from the blood and gore but we all know how badly that ended. All we have left from that union is the saccharine “Speak Softly Love” theme. Composer Nino Rota may be a musical genius but we all know he phoned in that one for the money.

So, Sofia. We applaud your independent spirit.

Perhaps this is sweet payback for Dad casting you in The Godfather III?

Pranzo di Ferragosto

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This is one lunch you won't want to miss.

August 15, the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into heaven, is a national holiday in Italy. Like many other Christian celebrations, it is built upon the crumbled foundation of ancient traditions.

In modern times, Ferragosto is the jumping off day for Italians to escape stifling apartments and head for holiday al mare or in montagna—the sea or the mountains.

August is the worst time for foreigners to explore Italian cities because mostly they’ll encounter overheated, testy tourists like themselves. The living spirit of the cities has been drained out like the color from a faded photograph. [Read more…]

Villa del Balbianello

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Just knowing that a place like Villa del Balbianello exists makes me happy.

But visiting Villa del Balbianello makes me even happier.

Courtesy of Province of Como Tourism

Perched on a cliff on the western shore of the southwest leg of Lake Como, Villa del Balbianello can be accessed by boat—an approach that sets the mood of romance right from the start.

Villa del Balbianello's private marina.

My group of travel agents and journalists, on a fam trip sponsored by New Jersey-based Central Holidays, disembarked at the private marina and entered the gates to paradise. Climbing up the steep gravel path, my memory flashed back to the exquisite Villa Cimbrone in Ravello. (Note to Como Tourist Board: Don’t be offended by the comparison. If I had been to Balbianello first, the evaluation could easily be reversed.)

The chapel facade marked by two distinctive bell towers is all that remains of the convent of an order of Capuchin monks.

Twin Capuchin Towers.

The present Villa and Loggia were constructed in the late 1700s by Cardinal Durini who wanted a quiet summer place to read books. After the Cardinal died, the property passed through several owners and was abandoned for nearly 40 years around the late 19th and early  20th Century.

Enter American soldier and statesman Butler Ames of Massachusetts who purchased and restored the property. The next owner Guido Monzino was a prominent Milanese businessman and avid explorer (he climbed Mount Everest in 1973.) He converted part of the Villa into a private museum filled with his collection of rare art pieces and souvenirs.

Hydrangeas and Cypress.

Fortunately for all of us, Monzino willed Villa del Balbianello to FAI, Fondo Ambiente Italiano, a private not-for-profit organization devoted to preserving Italy’s artistic and natural treasures. That’s how a lucky person like me—or you—can tour the grounds for 6€  (there’s an additional fee to enter the museum). There’s even a convenient public ferry from the town of Como up to the Villa stop (the town of Lenno).

For those with bigger bucks, the Villa is available for booking. Private weddings take place here and movies are made: the Bond film Casino Royale and Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones to name two.

The Villa's hilltop loggia.

 

If you can’t get to Villa del Balbianello right away, don’t fret. You can visit via this delightful video that was taped in early spring. The plants are bare, just coming out of dormancy, but you get a wonderful perspective on the majesty of the Villa and grounds.

What spot would you nominate for one of the most beautiful in Italy?

 

View looking south from Villa del Balbianello's terrace.

The Clooney Effect

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This much is true. I was on Lake Como last week participating in a fabulous fam trip sponsored Central Holidays.

However, I will neither confirm nor deny rumors that I had anything to do with Oscar-winner George Clooney’s breakup with the Sardinian velina Elisabetta Canalis.

As for the insinuations that I was stalking George? Laughable. I never got any closer to his villa than the distance from the sight-seeing boat.

All I know about the situation is what I read in the media.

As I sipped my secondo cappuccino on the morning of Tuesday, June 21, I read in La Provincia that George and Ely had been spotted sharing a romantic dinner on the lake. The article featured a photo capture from The Globe Web site. “La Favola Continua” . . . “the fairytale continues” proclaimed the headline.

So, I was as shocked as everyone with the announcement a day later:

“We are not together anymore,” People.com quoted the celebrities as saying in a joint statement.

“It’s very difficult and very personal, and we hope everyone can respect our privacy.”

No reason was given for the split.

Media reports point to George’s displeasure with Elisabetta publicly using the “M” word.

As George told CNN’s Piers Morgan in a recent interview, he has tried marriage and — basta –once is enough. (Here’s a trivia nugget: George’s ex-wife, actress Talia Balsam plays the role of Mona Sterling on AMC’s Mad Men. She’s married to actor John Slattery who plays Roger Sterling.)

While us glamor-starved gawkers fret over George’s romantic relationships, the folks on Lake Como care only about his residential entanglements. His purchase of a villa on Lake Como has been very, very, very good for local tourism– “The Clooney Effect,” as Leoni Luca, Vice Sindaco for the commune di Bellagio put it.

Frankly, I think George might want to spend a little bit less time dating and focus on keeping up the property. The roof really looks as if  it needs some work.

Colin Firth’s Inner Italian

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Italian film director and producer Livia Giuggioli with her husband British actor Colin Firth.

Like an astronomer discovering a new star or a botanist finding a new plant species, when I uncover a previously unknown Inner Italian, my heart races.

British actor Colin Firth took home the Best Actor Oscar on Sunday night for his role in the film The King’s Speech. But, far more impressive, to me, is his connection to bel’italia.

Thanks to a Diario Di Una Studentessa Matta post by Melissa Muldoon, my amica in the blogosphere, I learned that Firth speaks beautifully in Italian. She posted a video clip from the Red Carpet where the typically stiff-upper-lip actor jokes in Italian with a reporter whom he knows.

In the blink of an eye, he becomes more warm and animated than I’ve ever seen him onscreen.

The link to Firth’s Inner Italian is his gorgeous wife Livia Giuggioli whom he married in 1997. Giuggioli is a director, documentary film producer, environmentalist, eco-entrepreneur, and mother of two sons with Firth.

According to the New York Post, “Livia’s ‘Green Carpet Challenge,’ for which she dolled up in 100 percent eco garb and jewels to each of a number of award shows, had its climactic finale Sunday night as she strolled down the carpet in a gown assembled from 11 different vintage frocks—some, appropriately, dating back to the reign of King George VI.”

In an interview several years ago with The Independent, Firth commented on his Italian language skill. “Her English is better than my Italian will ever be. But if you’re going to live your life with someone you should, as a mark of respect, try to learn their way of conceptualising things.”

Firth is also taken with the power of la famiglia, as he explains in this quote to Vanity Fair Italy. “What strikes me about the Italians is their attachment to family. Livia’s family is beautiful and very close. From the family is derived a sense of inner security and stability that is not found in other cultures. We English, on the other hand, are always wandering apart … When I met my wife, I had to court her, present myself to her father. Before this, I had never met a 26-year-old woman who was still living with her parents.”

Colin Firth. Un bravo attore! Un bravo Inner Italian!

Frank & Fred on the Road

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Starring Francesco Maria Talò, Consul General of Italy in New York and Fred Plotkin “Pleasure Activist,” Frank & Fred on the Road: Crusin’ New York, produced by Italian/American Digital Project, is a charming homage to la cultura italiana, cinema neorealisma and the iconic Fiat 500.

Bello!