Lazio region shines in Covid battle

Last spring when Covid vaccinations started, I was very envious of my friends in the US who were able to get vaccinated months before those of us in the same age group – over 65 – over here. But then, lo and behold, in a country not known for efficiency, a miracle occurred.  Italy’s vaccination […]

Authorities cracking down on absenteeism? We’ll see.

It’s amazing. Despite the fact that in recent years people have frequently gotten caught in very-well publicized investigations at post offices and ministries, a huge number of Italian public employees are apparently still convinced they can get away with it. Not murder, of course, but absenteeism taken to ridiculous extremes. This time it happened at […]

Funiculi, funicula. Oh, give me a break!

I guess I missed this during last spring’s mayoral election campaign here in Rome, but it seems the mayoress (she stupidly has insisted on being called “sindaca” which is not an Italian word – the word is sindaco and can just as easily refer to a woman as a man) is going ahead with her […]

Too much English, but not on Italian tongues.

Did you know that your Italian health service doctor can now send you a prescription for a Class A pharmaceutical even if you are out of town? Yes, indeed. And it’s quite convenient with only one element of absurdity. Here we are in Italy, speaking and reading the language of Dante, and this new online […]

For Rome’s new mayor, an uphill road.

Italy’s new young mayor, Virginia Raggi, a member of the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement party (M5S), earlier this month managed to convince a majority of Roman voters that a new broom will really sweep clean. But, boy oh boy, is she going to have her work cut out for her. Raggi, soon to be 38, a […]

For Rome’s new mayor, an uphill road

Italy’s new young mayor, Virginia Raggi, a member of the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement party (M5S), earlier this month managed to convince a majority of Roman voters that a new broom will really sweep clean. But, boy oh boy, is she going to have her work cut out for her. Raggi, soon to be 38, a […]

New Rome mayor faces an uphill battle

Italy’s new, young mayor, Virginia Raggi, a member of the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement party (M5S), earlier this month managed to convince a majority of Roman voters that a new broom will really sweep clean. But, boy oh boy, is she going to have her work cut out for her. Raggi, soon to be 38, a […]

Seeing will be believing

Raise your hand if you have ever seen someone in Rome get a fine for not picking up after his or her dog, or for letting it run free without a leash. Raise your hand if you have ever gotten a ticket for double-parking your car (I got one recently when I ran into a […]

La scoperta di acqua calda

The Italians use the above expression – the discovery of hot water – when they want to poke fun at importance given to something that to most people is pretty obvious. This is what many of us could say about the recent announcement that voting for both this June’s local elections and next October’s popular […]

The last of Italy’s postwar giants is dead

Marco Pannella, the founder of the Italian Radical Party and a long-time warrior for civil rights in Italy and elsewhere, died yesterday at the age of 86. Many young Italians of today probably don’t even know who he was. Or, if they do know his name, they may have come away with an image of […]