If you live in Italy and are at the start of your Italian adventure, you’re probably still in the phase of being confused about just how and why the Italian people put up with many things the people themselves complain about. From public funding for transport, roads, education and arts, to the high taxes, hard work, low pay and the shenanigans of the prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, living in Italy can be extremely surreal.

And while many Italians complain or shrug their shoulders (or do both simultaneously), it’s tempting to say they have brought it on themselves. I am of the personal opinion that many Italians don’t deserve the current state their country is in and the reputation Berlusconi has brought them at an international level, but then there is a total lack of ambition, sense of public pride and real desire to change that means really, we’re all in this self-administered pickle.

If you’re keen to understand the Italian people and their national character a bit more, Michael Kimmelman is to the rescue in the New York Times. His article on Rome’s Cinecittà film studios is an allegory of all that is modern and historic in the Italian cinema. Like an ageing diva who relies on the glamour of the past and has no interest in the future, Italy muddles along in its own way with varying success and failures (often brushed aside).

While the article is about public funding for the arts and how the Cinecittà could be a model for Italy’s cultural institutions, it is far more expansive than that. Kimmelman writes:

Continue reading: New York Times on Rome: Cinecittà and the Italian character

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In the face of more Berlusconi scandals and a trial to start April 6, the Italian prime minister has taken time off from the controversies to further his Italian tourism campaign. Silvio Berlusconi has taken a personal interest in the fortunes of Italian advertising for local tourism, creating the Magic Italy campaign and now appearing in this latest television commercial.

Berlusconi talks of the wonders of Italy’s cultural and artistic landscape, encouraging Italians to holiday in their own country to discover “the Italy you still haven’t met”. The ad finishes with the partiotic call to arms of “this, our magnificant Italy, to discover and to love”. The commercial will probably keep Berlusconi in good light for some Italians still convinced of the miracles he is performing for their country.

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The love story between Silvio Berlusconi’s younger daughter Barbara and AC Milan player Alexandro Rodrigues da Silva also known as Pato continues; after being spotted dining together only last week, the two have now decided to come out into the open and show their love and passion to the world! This is their first kiss in public and as you can imagine it caused a frenzy among paparazzi!

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Rumours have been swirling in the tabloids about Barbara Berlusconi’s love story with football player Alexandre Pato. According to Chi magazine, the two quickly left a party organized to celebrate Silvio Berlusconi‘ s 25th anniversary of his Milan presidency in order to dine alone in a romantic restaurant. Always according to the same magazine, they ended the night at Plato’s place.

Stay tuned to find out if the couple lasts!

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After breaking up with Giorgio Valagazza, Barbara Berlusconi, Silvio Berlusconi’s younger daughter, seems to have fallen for footballer Alexandre Pato. The two were spotted together in a fashionable night club in Milan a few days ago, so rumours that she and the famous AC Milan player are an item are now running rampart. At the moment neither of them has denied or confirmed these love story rumours, so stay tuned for more updates!

Source | Novella

Barbara Berlusconi e Pato su Novella

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It seems that Alessandra Sorcinelli, a former Italian showgirl, has been demoted to call girl, at least in the UK press as The Telegraph reports on the Silvio Berlusconi sex scandals. We originally mentioned Alessandra way back in 2009 when she was still on Italian television screens. Since then, she has tried to follow in the footsteps of the likes of Elisabetta Canalis, who got a television break in the US after becoming George Clooney’s girlfriend.

The only problem it seems, is that Alessandra was lacking someone of the profile of Clooney, and didn’t make her dream in the US, returning to Milan to apparently become a call girl and get herself involved in the Berlusconi scandals. As you know from reading us, Italy is full of wannabe show girls, who become washed up showgirls at frighteningly young ages, and Alessandra can now probably include herself in that category. That the infamous Berlusconi parties were a way to get where you wanted on Mediaset television seems to be now completely denied. Another young lady going through the turnstiles of Italian politics and television….

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Silvio Berlusconi’s daughter, Barbara Berlusconi, recently posed for a photo shoot with the Vanity Fair Italian edition, and also conceded a long interview to the magaine in which she discussed the Italian prime minister’s sex scandals over the last year. And it’s clear that the conflict between what she considers ethical behaviour and the fact that it’s her father, has Barbara saying:

“They are events which have upset me. And it’s difficult to answer [this question] calmly. I would like the readers to put themselves in my shoes. It’s obvious that I don’t agree with certain types of behaviour, but I also have to believe my father’s truth….”

While Silvio Berlusconi himself has never admitted that the sex scandals he has been involved in could damage his political prospects, or even his private life, Barbara says otherwise, adding:

Barbara Berlusconi for Vanity Fair

Continue reading: Berlusconi scandals: Silvio's daughter speaks out

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Barbara Berlusconi, Silvio Berlusconi’s youngest daughter, has flown to the Caribbean with her family in tow for the Christmas season. After getting a degree in Philosophy and speaking her mind about her father’s scandals, the heiress looks relaxed and happy under the Caribbean scorching sun!

Continue reading: Italian heiress Barbara Berlusconi enjoys Caribbean holiday

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In a recent interview given to Max, Monica Bellucci talked at length about her husband French actor Vincent Cassel (the two met when Cassel was 28) and the art of seduction. She reminisced about her girlhood when she used to watch her mother and grandmother putting on the lipstick. It was - she said - an erotic gesture; lipstick has the power to transform and seduce. During the interview the Italian actress also discussed politics (i.e. Silvio Berlusconi) and the fatalism that seems to pervade the average Italian.

Monica Bellucci su Max Settembre 2010

Fonte | Max

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Maybe the thief did not know that the luxury villa he wanted to rob belonged to Silvio Berlusconi, Italy’s prime minister. The burglar, a man from Milan in his late thirties, tried to break into the villa where Piersilvio Berlusconi and his future wife Silvia Toffanin were peacefully sleeping but, unfortunately for him, he was tackled and captured near the door.

Source | Libero

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Silvio Berlusconi’s daughter, Marina Berlusconi was snapped topless while changing her bikini! The Italian heiress now in her mid forties wears her age very well if one must judge from the new hot pics published in the upcoming issue of Chi magazine!

Source| Chi via TgCom

Marina Berlusconi snapped topless

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Silvio Berlusconi, Italy’s prime minister, is spending a few days of rest in his luxury villa in Sardinia. The villa Certosa (this is the name of Berlusconi’s gorgeous retreat on the island) is surrounded by meadows, woods, lakes and artificial volcanoes!

Source | Virgilio.it

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