This is not Florence’s first tramway system. In fact, on April 5, 1879 the first horse-drawn tramway between Florence and Peretola was inaugurated. A year later it traveled as far as Prato and Poggio a Caiano. However, by 1926, the system had become obsolete and dilapidated and opened the way for the first buses to appear on the city’s streets. Its tribulations were multiplied when the company managing it went bankrupt and then when the tram lines were badly damaged during World War II. Although the lines were soon fully repaired, by 1958, the writing was on the wall and the old tramway ceased to exist.

Today, two other tram lines are projected, one linking Piazza Libertà in town to the Florence Airport at Perotola and another which will run from the Fortezza, near the main station to Careggi, Tuscany’s largest hospital complex. Whilst dogged by protests from critics who have managed, on cultural heritage grounds, to stop an earlier plan for the tram to run around the Cathedral,  perhaps a short ride on the elegant and very quiet Sirio may, at least, serve to placate some fears for the future.

The condom is the most popular form of anti-contraception and they are usually bought in pharmacies or supermarkets. With safety firmly in mind, of those who habitually used condoms, 42% said they always carried them with them and 60% stated they would not have sex without them. For those few bold enough to buy sex toys, they opted for the anonymity of the web, automatic distributors and sex shops for their purchases.

Despite this rather unimaginative picture of what goes on between the sheets in Italy, a grandiose 88% of those surveyed said they were happy with their sex lives and a little over half of them confessed they were sexually active and had sex more or less every day or at least 2 or 3 times a week.

So perhaps the situation isn’t all that bleak after all, maybe just a little boring.

‘It must be the malocchio (evil eye) because, since I moved into my new office six months ago, two of my employees have broken bones and now I’ve finished up like this!’.

I began thinking about it. Was this only foolish superstition or what if there was some truth in it? Can you even provoke disaster by simply thinking that some kind of curse on you or a building or a thing is true? Whatever should she do to remedy the situation - real or imagined -  to make sure that any of the rest of her staff do not finish up in plaster?

The popular tradition is for Italians to resort to amulets to protect themselves from any evil spirits that may be lurking around. The most popular and strongest is, of course, the red cornetto or corno (horn), a very ancient talisman to encourage fertility and, therefore, good luck. In fact, it is not an unusual gift, made in gold or coral, to give to newborn babies and many drivers, especially in Southern Italy, have one appended to their car keys.

But what if wearing a horn around their necks or having them scattered about the office is not enough to protect Suzy and her personnel? In that case, there is only one solution - exorcism. To my surprise, I discovered that more than 180 exorcists in Italy  belong to the Association of Italian Exorcists which was founded in 1990 by a Roman priest and exorcist, Don Gabriele Amorth. Furthermore, since 2004, the Ateneo Pontificio Regina Apostolorum, the Vatican University,  in Rome has also held annual theoretical and practical courses on exorcism for priests. So help is certainly at hand for Suzy.

In the meantime, I’ll just give my horn a tiny rub and keep my fingers crossed.

Happy New Year…

After discussing my planned menu, we got down to business beginning with the aperitif. What better way to start, according to Rachel, than with a glass of Bellavista’s Curve Brut. A Franciacorta wine, it is 80% Chardonnay and 20% Pinot Nero and Pinot Binco. In the mid 1980s, a construction magnate, Vittorio Moretti created his Bellavista wines, making them a real success story of  Franciacorta wines.

Having set the festive mood, it’s time to sit down at the table and for me to serve our ‘primo piatto’ (appetiser). Here, the candidate wine is a white, a Cerraro della Sala from Castello della Sala in Umbria. A combination of Chardonnay and Grechetto, a local grape, this Antinori wine maintains the buttery notes of oaky Chardonnay but with a unique freshness and intensity. It truly, at least to me, caresses you palate.

Then to the ’secondo’ (main course), it’s time to move onto red wine. Firstly, in honour of Tuscany, a velvety smooth Chianti Classico Reserva called A-101 from the Principe Corsini vineyards. Then to Puglia, in Rachel’s opinion the up and coming area for fine wine production in Italy, for a bottle or two of Bocca di Lupo from the Tormanesca cellars. It is 90% Aglianico, another local grape and 10% Cabernet-Sauvignon, well-rounded and savoury.

Now, if any of us are still able to lift a fork, I have to bring on the  dessert with ‘panettone’ (Christmas cake), ‘torrone’ (nougat), nuts, dried fruits and chocolates. This time the choice is Ben Ryé Passito di Pantelleria of  Donnafugata. Made 100% of Zibibbo or Muscat of Alexandria grapes, this is definitely  a dessert wine but it is neither cloying nor sticky. Instead, the grapes capture the Sicilian sun and the hot winds blowing in from North Africa and translate them into a perfumed golden nectar, difficult to forget and impossible to substitute.

Happy holidays and chin  chin……

As the song goes, it used to be ‘my two front teeth’ but my how things have changed! It seems in Italy that teenage girls over the last few years have increasingly wanted and obtained a gift voucher for breast implants under their Christmas trees. Today, over 5% of operations involving plastic surgery in Italy are performed on teenage girls under 18 years old. But, the government has decided to put a stop to it because of health risks involved in surgery when the mammary gland isn’t, as yet, fully developed.

The Italian Council of Ministers has approved a Bill setting up a Register of Breast Implants and it has outlawed breast implants for girls under 18 years old unless there are valid medical reasons. The Minister for Youth, Giorgia Meloni said that this ban was necessary  ‘to put a brake on the danger represented by the influence of the wrong aesthetic models on those who, very often, are not yet able to make a properly pondered choice’.

Not surprising, many teenage girls (and boys for that matter) feel unsatisfied with their bodies and suffer low self esteem because of it. This is just one of the many painful aspects of growing up. Being bombarded every day with images of pencil thin but procacious actors, models and celebrities on TV, in movies or in magazines doesn’t help but research has shown that a teenager’s idea of body image improves with maturity with or without the intervention of the surgeon’s knife.

Less  known is that breast augmentation can  cause difficulties after surgery and  the American FDA has estimated that 40% of patients have at least one serious complication within three years after getting saline implants. Furthermore, if the teenager changes her mind later and wants to have the implants removed, in all probability her breasts will look saggy and wrinkled, creating yet another problem.

This year, however, in Italian teenagers’ homes, Santa has no alternative other than to use his  good sense……

In fact, from Friday 18 to Sunday 20 December 2009, golf balls will be flying off the oldest bridge in Florence during the Tenth Annual Ponte Vecchio Golf Challenge. The Arno River will be converted into a golf course with three greens floating on the water. Landing your golf balls on any of them is more like a miracle than a challenge. But there to show us how it can be done are the champions invited to tee off this year. They include Jerome Theunis (Belgium), Gaurav Ghei (India), Benn Barham (England), Diana Luna (Italy), Jan-Are Larsen (Norway), Rolf Muntz (Netherlands), David Lynn (United Kingdom) and Robert Karlsson (Sweden). Entertainers and and sports stars will also be there to give it a whack.

The beautiful and recently restored 19th century station, Stazione Leopolda, will house the Sponsor Village where, in the area dedicated to the Federazione Italiana Golf, there will be an indoor golf hole, surrounded by trees and sand. There will also be a putting green. Added to this, a series of side events will enable  participants and visitors to enjoy gastronomic tours, museums and exhibitions, wine tasting and walking and bicycle tours in Florence and the surrounding countryside.

If you can’t make it this year, put it in your golfing calendar for 2010. It’ sure will give you a golf story that’s hard to cap.

Sadly, some of the landscape of the Casentino has not been protected with the same rigour as the Chianti landscape and has, because of the economic necessities of providing work for those living in the area, been marred in places by the unsympathetic insertion of light industries. Nonetheless, it is still dotted with romantic villages and Romanesque churches and is seeped in history.

One of my favourite villages is Poppi, situated not far from the site of the famous battle of Campaldino between the Guelfi and the Ghibellini in 1289. It lies in the shadow of the medieval Castle of the Guidi Counts, a sort of Lego-size prototype of Palazzo Vecchio, which has a dominating view of the surrounding scenery and the Arno river which flows beneath it.

Not too far away, the extensive and beautiful National Park of the Casentinesi Forest is a walkers’ paradise. It is also where the peaceful monasteries of Camaldoli, founded in 1012, and La Verna where St. Francis spent the last years of his life can be found. The antique pharmacy and galenic laboratory within the Camaldoli monastery, dates from 1513, and still sells some of its wares.

Try not to miss other towns like Stia and Bibbiena both renowned for their artisans and for their good food.

Situated in Piazza Ghiberti, the Sant’Ambrogio Market is open every morning except on Sundays and holidays. In the external part of the market, under the roof extension, stalls sell fruit, vegetables and other food stuffs as well as flowers, clothes (also second-hand clothes), shoes, bags, costume jewellery and some bic a brac at very competitive prices. Inside of the building, there are mainly other food stalls and places to eat or get a quick drink.

At the end of a mornings shopping, I suggest one of three inexpensive places where you can get a bite to eat – each and every one of them a Santa Croce experience. Within the Market itself, there is Rocco’s Tavola Calda. You can either eat there, although not on particularly comfortable benches, or you can take away. It is cheap and cheery and the comings and goings of the market around you provide great entertainment value.

Secondly, in via dei Macci, right in front of one of Florence’s swankiest restaurants, you will find the stand of the trippaio Sergio Pollini and his son, Pierpaolo. Tripe sellers are part of Florentine tradition and they have been selling tripe here for well over a century and cannot be found in other Italian cities. They specialise in tripe and lampredotto rolls, all washed down with a large glass of Chianti wine.

But should tripe or lampredotto not be to your liking, then turn the corner into via Pietrapiana where you will find the Rosticceria La Ghiotta. Once past the take-away food part at the entrance, make your way to the tables at the back. Although all of owner Andrea Ladisa’s food is hearty, I suggest the made-to-your-order dishes from the menu rather than those prepared beforehand ready to be taken away. Having time, it’s worth the short wait. His pizzas in the evening are also very good although the noise level of a room full of Italians all talking at once can be a bit of a cultural shock.

Enjoy…..

To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the institution of the Squad, three interesting exhibitions in Naples, Rome and Florence have been  put together under the combined name of  L’Arma per l’Arte (The Corps for Art).  The Naples exhibition called Archeologia che ritorna (Archaeology That Returns) was held at the Palazzo Reale from 8 May until 30 September 2009 and concentrated on the important work done by the Squad in combating trafficking in archaeological finds. Instead the Rome exhibition which began on 10 September 2009 and will end on 30 January 2010 is being held at the National Museum of Castel Sant’Angelo. There, the  exhibition,  Antologia di meraviglie (Anthology of Marvels), shows a series of recuperated archaeological finds and historic art works.

The third exhibition,  Aspetti del sacro ritrovati (Aspects of Recovered Sacred Art), will be of interest to anyone who will be coming to Florence between 21 November 2009 and 6 April 2010. It will be housed at the beautiful Sala Bianca of the  Palatine Gallery in the Pitti Palace. As its name suggests, it will focus on paintings, sculptures, illuminated books,  jewels, church furniture and furnishings that have a religious as well as artistic value. Just one of the many pieces that will be on show is a precious XII century reliquary cross  stolen from the Museum of  Saint Clement’s  Cathedral in  Velletri, near Rome in 1983. Having found its way to London, it then turned up again in Italy and was finally recovered by the  art squad’s 007s in Rimini.

Before visiting the exhibition in Florence, why not read or reread one or all of Magdalen Nabb’s mysteries that are set in the city. Her detective, Marshal Guarnaccia, is a carabinieri.

Designed by the famous architects Renzo Piano and Peter Chermayeff, the Aquarium of Genoa is the biggest aquarium in Europe as well as being the most popular in Italy. Annually, over 1 million people visit the 71 tanks that fill the Aquarium’s 10,000 square meter surface. However, the idea behind children staying overnight at the Aquarium is to introduce them to the mysteries of the colours, movements and sounds of the underwater world they can only experience by night. Limited to children between the ages of 7 to 13 years, those taking part enter the Aquarium about 9 p.m. without any adult from their family. They are asked to wear comfortable clothes and sneakers. To be able to bed down cosily late, they bring their own sleeping bag, pillow, pyjamas and tooth brushes with them. After a brief explanation by the Aquarium staff and a snack, they start their nocturnal visit. Around about 11.30 p.m, the children prepare their sleeping space in front of the sharks’ tank and settle in for the night. Between 6:30 and 8:15 a.m. the following morning, they pack up, visit several other tanks and have their breakfast. By 9 a.m., their parents have come to reclaim them at the exit.

For children to participate in this adventure, the tour cost about €70 and must be booked through the tour operator, Incoming Liguria (telephone +39 0102345666).

The address of the Aquarium of Genoa is Ponte Spinola, Area Porto Antico, 16128 Genoa.

Have fun, kids!