Elisabetta Canalis could do Zoolander after seeing some of her facial expressions in this video in which the Italian showgirl strips for PETA animal rights association. Canalis’ career hasn’t exactly had the launch she might have been expecting after being tied up with America’s most famous actor. Clooney’s girlfriend had a role in the American TV series Leverage, and didn’t get star reviews.

Canalis then returned to Italy for the most important Italian television event of the year - the Sanremo festival. Pitted against fellow showgirl Belen Rodriguez from Argentina, Canalis was criticised for her hopeless dancing and her attempt at an English interview with Robert de Niro.

So it seems that Elisabetta Canalis is back to stripping off for photo shoots and appears in this “I would rather go naked than wear fur” campaign, doing what she does best - just being plain sexy.

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Situated in one of Venice’s oldest districts, just steps from the beautiful Basilica of Santa Maria della Salute and the famous Peggy Guggenheim Museum, the Centurion Palace hotel offers guests breathtaking views over the Grand Canal and Piazza San Marco. With 50 rooms and fabulous suites, the five star hotel which is located in a 19th century palace restored by architect Guido Ciompi combines old home design with modern house design; here the international and sophisticated guests can appreciate the relaxed atmosphere of the elegant lobby bar or enjoy the superb cuisine of the hotel’s restaurant (sumptuously decorated in white). For more information click here.

Luxury hotels in Venice: Centurion palace hotel, near Santa Maria della Salute

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We recently presented the traditional Italian product of “fave”, or broad beans, and here is an excellent spring recipe with a broad bean soup. Adding some mint leaves gives this light dish a fresher flavour, perfect for days when the body is getting used to warmer temperatures but isn’t quite ready for salad.

Ingredients for four people are: 350 gr of fresh broad beans (shelled), 1.5 litres of vegetable stock, two onions, a carrot, one celery stick, one potato, fresh mint, extra virgin olive oil and salt and pepper.

Prepare the stock if using a stock cube and set aside. Toss the beans into some salted boiling water and boil for two minutes. Drain them and remove the skin. Wash, peel and chop the various vegetables and heat them in a casserole dish with some olive oil. Add some mint leaves and the broad beans.

Add the vegetable stock and a little salt if necessary. Cook for 50 minutes on medium heat and towards the end of the cooking, remove about three quarters of the soup and blend in a food processor. Add it back to the soup and mix together to get a smoother and creamier mixture. Add a little pepper and serve garnished with a fresh mint leaf.

Photo | Flickr

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The Gucci e-shop is selling this lovely Mamma Bag, made specially for mother’s day. The Italian fashion house has designed the bag with a fresh, summer look; simple but elegant, it’s made from white canvas with leather trim, classic green-red-green Gucci colours, a front zip-up pocket and two side pockets.

It’s an exclusive Gucci bag that will not only surprise your mum, but also help out Unicef as 25 percent of proceeds will go to Unicef work against HIV/AIDs. The Gucci Mamma Bag costs €750 but it’s not always that you can spoil your mum with luxury Italian accessories, and help out charity at the same time.

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Here’s the new AC Milan players’ shirt for the 2011-2012 Serie A Italian football season. The likely winners of this year’s scudetto, the club has released its new AC Milan jersey early, showing a radical departure from the current style. Players modelling the debut shirt were Clarence Seedorf, Mark Van Bommel and Luca Antonini, although the real man of the moment, Alexandre Pato was absent.

We say “man of the moment” because he is currently the media’s favourite player on the Italian circuit, both for scoring goals at the Milan football derby, and for dating Barbara Berlusconi. The new AC Milan strip is inspired by the early 1900’s and has probably been made to anticipate a defending champion title next season. In fact, the shirt has a vintage look with thinner, two-centimetre stripes compared to the current nine-centimetre design.

AC Milan is also playing on its international status, with a white collar, Associazione Calcio Milan written on the back, and a small tricolore Italian flag to indicate the club’s status of world famous Italian symbol (their words). Beyond the looks, the Adidas-made shirt will have two versions: a standard version and a body-hugging version that improves player performance. The new AC Milan guernsey will debut on May 15, at the last 2011 Serie A home match when the club will possibly win this year’s championship (if it hasn’t already by then).

Continue reading: AC Milan new players' shirt

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Considered one of the top 10 sexiest female politicians, Italian equal opportunities minister Mara Carfagna was snapped in skinny bikini on a beach in the Maldives. The former show girl (she sure knows how to keep herself in good shape) was enjoying a brief holiday with her fiancé Marco Mezzaroma before their wedding which will take place on June 25.

Italian minister Mara Carfagna and her future husband enjoy a sunny holiday before their wedding

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Throwing coins into the Trevi Fountain is just part of what brings thousands of tourists to Rome every year. Our colleagues at 06blog.it indulged in a little irony back on April 1st, publishing a piece on the banning of throwing coins in the Trevi Fountain as an April Fool’s joke.

They’re predicting that something of the sort could come true if the continuing coin stealing from the fountain occurs; or even the latest episode when D’Artagnan, infamous coin stealer, climbed the fountain and cut his stomach with a rasor blade as part of a protest against how he has been portrayed in the media.

D’Artagnan is the nom de guerre of Roberto Cercelletta, who even finished in the New York Times for his Trevi Fountain coin stealing efforts back in 2002. In a recurring popular media piece on crime in Italy, he recently reappeared on undercover “journalism” show Le Iene along with suggestions that local Roman police officers themselves are part of the daily Trevi Fountain coin collection problem.

The joke on April 1st was to sign up to an association with the slogan “No More Coins, Much More Desires”. But now our Roman friends and blogging colleagues are actually concerned that their joke might not remain in the realms of just being funny after all, and that a real ban on tossing coins in the Trevi may take place.

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For the second edition of NavigaMi, a boat show which every year takes place in the heart of Milan, the city ‘s “grand canal” was turned into a big harbor; with more than 50 boats on display, it was really lovely to stroll down the Naviglio and pretend that it was the sea. So if you did not have the chance to visit the show last week (60 boat builders were present at the event), don’t miss the next edition, it will take your breath away.

Continue reading: NavigaMi boat show, Milan

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Recent years have marked dark days for the Alfa Romeo brand, but the fascination of Italian exotics overseas lives on. The Bella Italia Concours took place over the weekend with vintage and luxury Italian sports cars from Ferrari, Maserati and Lamborghini on display. While the event is organised by the Ferrari Owners Club of San Diego, the latter Italian brands are invited in recognition of their equally iconic status.

2011 is a big year for Italian supercars with the new Lamborghini Aventador having been released, and the original Ferrari FF four-seater shooting brake making an appearance. It will mark a new era for this world famous Italian icon being the first Ferrari model to get a boot and all-wheel drive. In the meantime, Alfa Romeo will make its way back to US shores, possibly with its first true sports car in a long time, the Alfa 4C GTA. Watch the video to see what went on show at the Bella Italia Concours in San Diego.

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Central Italy has a long tradition of vegetables and legumes and in season at the moment is the traditional Italian product of “fave” or broad beans. While Umbria and Tuscany are famous for cereal and legumes, gustoblog says the best broad beans come from Leonforte in Sicily, and Carpino in Puglia where the ‘fave’ are smaller and tastier.

When buying broad beans, make sure that the pod is firm and is a bright green colour to get the freshest examples. The other trick to selecting broad beans is to be careful of how much you buy. The pod waste of broad beans can be about 70 percent of the weight of the whole lot you buy, so if for example you want 300 gr, you should purchase about a kilo.

You should shell broad beans only when you want to use them, because the beans dry up when in contact with air. To prepare broad boans for cooking, you should toss them into some boiling water first to remove the skins. You can then proceed to boil them for about 20-30 minutes. If the beans are small and tender, you can try them raw - I’ve seen people shell broad beans and eat them straight away as an Italian antipasto. Coming up, we’ll have a traditional fave recipe to share.

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