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Italy must run in the blood, wine and water at 1415 W. 22nd Street in Oak Brook, Ilinois. The space that was formerly Tuscany has now been transformed to Lucca Osteria & Bar thanks to owner Steven Hartenstein. He obviously loves to talk to guests who patron his newly opened establishment as he looks them right in the eye when speaking to them. His...

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The world’s biggest menswear fair Pitti Uomo is preparing a condensed physical centenary edition with fewer brands and buyers amid falling Covid-19 infection numbers in Europe. Pitti Uomo expects to feature 300 brands during its upcoming edition from June 30 to July 2 after it was cancelled twice since the outbreak of the pandemic. The event will a...

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The historic centre of Pienza, like the Val d'Orcia that welcomes it, has been a Unesco heritage site since 1996, and it could not be otherwise, since Pienza is the "ideal" Renaissance city commissioned by Pope Pius II. The most important monuments of the city, reworked between 1459 and 1462, are located in the square of the same name. The backgrou...

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Oscar-winning Italian actress Sophia Loren received the keys to Florence at a ceremony in Palazzo Vecchio on 5 June. After conferring the honour, Florence mayor Dario Nardella performed a violin version of O sole mio especially for the veteran star of Italian cinema. Loren was greeted by crowds outside a new restaurant that bears her name - 'Sophia...

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Summer is arriving in Italy's wine country in Tuscany, and the leaves on the vines shimmer in gold and green. Yahya Adams moves his gloves through the foliage, removing excess buds and shoots to make the vines stronger. He's among 24 asylum-seekers from Africa and Asia who are working in vineyards of Tenute Silvio Nardi on this year's crop of Brune...

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In 1520, Cardinal Giulio de’ Medici—soon to be Pope Clement VII—commissioned Michelangelo to construct an ornate tomb for his family. In addition to creating a marble interior whose “strange proportions and thicknesses” defied classical conventions, per Encyclopedia Britannica, the Renaissance artist sculpted likenesses of two Medici dukes (Giulian...

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A humanoid robot called Abel is being developed to help recognize and react to human emotions. Researchers from Pisa University in Italy hope that one day Abel will be able to become a home help for people with autism and Alzheimer’s. Abel has the appearance of a 12 year old boy. Its age, facial features and physical build were chosen to improve th...

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This summer Italy will launch 'Dante's Train,' a special route tracing the journey of the Supreme Poet from Florence to Ravenna. The train will take visitors from the Tuscan capital of Florence to Ravenna in the Emilia Romagna region where Dante fled in 1302 to avoid the prospect of being burnt at the stake. The train will stop in Borgo S. Lorenzo...

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Today, the mere mention of Maremma, a region along the Tyrrhenian Sea in southwest Tuscany that dips into northern Lazio, evokes the idea of a paradise. Maremma is farmyard, stables, dairy, apiary, vineyard, olive grove, a store where you can buy high-quality natural products, from meat to wine, to oil to honey to pasta to cheese to even rice and n...

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Siena has announced the 2021 dates when the extraordinary inlaid marble mosaic floors of the city's cathedral will be unveiled as part of an eagerly-awaited annual event. The magnificent marble floor, covered with masonite sheeting for the rest of the year, can be visited from 26 June until 31 July and again from 18 August until 17 October. Visitor...

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