.little ray of sun.

Scala dei Giganti - The Giants Staircase.1483-85. Palazzo Ducale. Venice. marble.

* Nearly 80% of Italy is either mountains or hills. 

* In 2007, a dog named Rocco discovered a truffle in Tuscany that weighed 3.3 pounds. It sold at auction for US$333,000, a world record for a truffle.

* The wolf is Italy’s unofficial national animal and plays a large role in the legend of the founding of Rome.

* The author of “Pinocchio” (“pine nut”), Carlo Collodi (1826-1890), was Italian.

Venice, Italy

Tomb of Lorenzo de Medici, 1524, Michelangelo Buonarroti

Ask an Italian if they’re superstitious and they will say no - but superstition is so ingrained in the culture that sometimes, people don’t even realize that they do all kinds of things related to this. A few examples:

“Viola a teatro” - purple at the theatre. The Catholic Church back in medieval times banned theater for 40 days before Easter (priests wear purple during this period). Out of respect for the then starving actors you simply DO NOT wear purple to the theater in Italy.

“Cappello sul letto” - hat on the bed. Priests visiting the dying would rest their hat at the feet of the bed. DO NOT put your hat there in an Italian home!