centroin italy

Totally immersing yourself in a certain culture means getting past the cliche perception of one. While cliches helps to describe a people or a country in general, they do not help create a dynamic and three-dimensional perspective of things, especially when it comes to the traits, beliefs, and day-to-day living of a people. And oftentimes, cliches can be unjust and unfair.

For instance, Italy has its fair share of cultural cliches. Some are funny, others offensive, but too often, they are believed to be true and unquestionable by people fed with media generalization and Hollywood portrayal. Here are just a few of the cliche beliefs about Italy and its people.

The country is secretly run by Mafiosi. As entertaining and thought-provoking as they may be, Hollywood classics like The Godfather and other Mafia-centric films, plus best-selling literature about them, have painted a dark and somewhat terrifying picture of life in Italy as run by a group of syndicated criminal organizations. The Mafia does (or did) exist to a certain extent, but not so much that it affects daily living in Italy and casts a sinister shadow on its culture. Besides, interest in it is almost confined to a historical or documentary nature nowadays.

 Italians eat only pasta or pizza, along with red wine. This cliche is definitely carb-laden and full of air! Italians may be famous for their delicious pasta, pizza, and wine, but these are not the only things they consume. Many Italian families actually eat simply-prepared non-pasta meals like chicken risotto, lentil and vegetable stews, polenta, sandwiches, and fish dishes like cod. And wine isn’t always part of a meal, as other beverages also make it to the daily Italian diet. If ever there is a distinguishing gastronomic factor in Italian meals, it would most probably have to do with the delicious sauces: either thick and creamy, or hearty tomato-based.

All Italians know how to sing opera. While we owe Italy many world-class sopranos and tenors (Andrea Bocelli, Enrico Caruso, and Luciano Pavarotti come to mind), not all Italians can sing opera or are inherently singers or vocalists, for that matter. Admittedly, opera as an art form plays an important role in Italian history and culture. But it does not define all of Italy-born talents, as many contribute to different and diverse art forms like painting, sculpture, architecture, literature, fashion design, culinary, and more, in their own unique ways.

Everyone in Italy is chic and fashionable. Again, this particular cliche perhaps largely stems from media and Hollywood portrayal and projection. While Italy boasts of many fashion houses and designers who are now practically royalty in the world of fashion such as Giorgio Armani, Dolce and Gabbana, Bruno Magli, Nino Cerruti, Roberto Cavalli, Donatello and Gianna Versace, Nina Ricci, and others, not all Italians run around in the most chic haute couture clothes the rest of us can only ogle at on Fashion TV. Italy does enjoy a rich and colorful history in the garments and accessories industry, but you can also find your fair share of down-to-earth, sometimes even dowdy people, in its streets on any given day.

This merry month of May, Italy is set to host a Beatles art exhibit. It promises to be an exciting, nostalgic, and colorful art event with the main subject matter being the Fab Four and their collective inspiring music, images, events, and memorabilia spanning a number of decades.

Organized by Italy’s Compagnia Artisti in Sansepolcro, an entire art collection dedicated to the Beatles will be on display. The artists involved in the endeavor include both Italian and international ones.

They will likely take inspiration and draw freely from the legendary years surrounding this band from Liverpool. Arguably, the Beatles’ most colorful years in terms of music, fashion, costumes, photographs, and film are between the sixties and the seventies. As far as subject matter goes in art, there is a wealth of references between those decades. Also, the Beatles visited Italy in 1965, so there is a huge chance that some of the local artists will reference that particular visit in their work.

The exhibit will be at Brescia, Italy. It is supported by the country’s official Beatles fans club, the “Beatlesiani D’italia Associati”. It will open on May 26, a Saturday, at the Garda Exhibition Centre of Montichiari.

To make it an unforgettable visual spectacle, Italian-born international set and interior designer Silvia Chialli will supervise and be in charge of creative direction for this Beatles exhibit. It aims to become an innovative contemporary exhibit with the amount of promise the Beatles memorabilia created. Pop art has been rife with them, so it will hardly be surprising that the exhibit reflects aspects of them.

You can expect to see references to famous Beatles LP covers and their images, plus logos, characters, and historical events. It will be a cornucopia of different “Beatles Days” interpretations by a wide array of artists. Just imagine the colorful output to be on display! Any Beatles fan, or even art fan, for that matter, will surely have a grand time at the exhibit launch.

Italy has a very rich artistic history, so getting a project like this is hardly surprising. The coming Beatles exhibit only underlines how the country is willing to embrace other cultural references in the name of art. The great thing about it is the devotion put into the preparations, with local and international artists willing to put time and effort to make it a truly memorable event.

 

Italy is perhaps best known for its fashion, quality shoes and bags, and its popular gastronomic contributions of pizza and pasta. However, Italian cuisine is not confined merely to these two types of mouth-watering food, as this top five list of Italian dishes will prove!

1. Pizza Margherita

Although not a dish strictly invented by the Italians (the early Greeks had a simpler, tomato-free prototype called pita), pizza is now nearly synonymous to Italian cuisine. The modern Italian pizza was believed to have originated with Italian queen Margherita’s visit to Naples in 1889. Neapolitan chefs, wanting to impress her, made a pizza using tomato paste, mozzarella cheese, and basil leaves to represent the Italian flag’s colors of red, white, and green.

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. Tiramisu

“Tiramisu” in Italian literally means “pick me up”. One whiff of its delicious aroma can really pick you up..and you’ll definitely love the first bite! Tiramisu is a dessert made of ladyfinger biscuits flavored with coffee, surrounding a layer of blended egg yolks and mascarpone. Everything is typically topped with a generous sprinkling of cocoa powder. There are many different versions of the tiramisu in recent times, including ice cream, puddings, and those with added garnishing of fruit and other savory things.

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. Focaccia

Focaccia is a flat bread baked in an oven, and used for sandwiches, soups, and to accompany many different meals such as pasta. It can be eaten plain or garnished with cheese, herbs, and savory bits. They look a lot like plain pizza dough but are more flavorful on their own. Focaccia bread typically have puncture marks made by a fork to ease the bubbling of the bread’s surface while it is baking.

 

 

 

 

4. Gnocchi

Yes, there is an Italian version of dumplings, and they are called gnocchi. These are thick and soft treats made from semolina flour, eggs, butter, and with cheese and other ingredients. They are usually eaten as an entree before a pasta or other dishes, and can be mixed with vegetables and savory meats.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5.  Pasta Puttanesca

This is a delicious traditional Italian pasta with a controversial name and history. Puttanesca is referred to as “the prostitute’s dish” because it is believed to be the preferred dish of “ladies of the night” during the mid-20s. It is easy to prepare, with spaghetti, linguine, penne, or even vermicelli as pasta, and garlic, onions, tomatoes, and olives sauteed in olive oil to top. Some like adding other garnishes and toppings to their puttanesca, although it really should be a basic pasta that is free of meat.

Tour Italy Now

Would you like to learn Italian language? Do you want to work or live in Italy and learn how to speak their language?

“Italian language, member of the Romance group of the Italic subfamily of the Indo-European family of languages. The official language of Italy and San Marino, and one of the official languages of Switzerland, Italian is spoken by about 58 million people in Italy, 24,000 in San Marino, 840,000 in Switzerland, another 1 million in other European countries, and approximately 5 million in North and South America.”

Learn Italian:

Today you don’t have to go far just to study the Italian Language. You can learn Italian language over the internet. You can also Google some basic words to get you started.

Watch the Video on Youtube:

There are many online schools who can teach you how to speak Spanish the right way.

It sounds really cute and sexy listening to the conversation of the Italian people. Even though I don’t understand what they’re trying to say, it sounds sweet.