We had closely followed the first trial, in which Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito were found guilty of murdering her British flat mate, Meredith Kercher, in Perugia. This was one of the most dramatic and internationally observed Italian trials of this decade, … Continue Reading
Anyone wandering around Rome in these days can see that it is a busy place. It seems as though the city has just woken up from a long slumber. Tourists and locals out and about and spending money. The good old days are back.
Or are they? … Continue Reading
Has the abuse scandal already had wider implications? Will it shape the future of the church, or is it merely a storm that will pass soon? Perhaps it is too much to link the following bit of news to the scandal, … Continue Reading
For travelers to Rome, and those expats being paid in Euros, the currency has become way too interesting over the last month or so. This is a quick overview to wipe away some of the main stream media misunderstandings, and try to understand what might happen to your money … Continue Reading
There is a lot of important travel news coming through at the moment, and it is worth summarising quickly a few of the more important ones.
1. BA strikes. Whether the Unions succeed in a 2 week strike, or 1 day strike over the next few weeks, the fear of strikes is hitting future bookings with BA hard. Willie Walsh, CEO, has come out and said that no matter what happens from here, there will be a fire sale of seats of the summer to win back loyal customers. That is, they will dump seats at very low prices. … Continue Reading
To be honest, the whole catholic church abuse scandal has had me sitting in front of my laptop in lethargy for days. The doubts cast on the church’s willingness to admit to the crimes commited among their ranks, and to do whatever is necessary to compensate the victims for their trauma – as much as that is possible – have highlighted … Continue Reading
What, if anything, has the volcano eruption taught us? Read about research gaps, risk assessments that didn’t happen, and a need to get more comfortable with alternatives. We revisit the spectacular eruption that crippled flight traffic around the world for days, asking: Is there a lesson here? … Continue Reading
The European shutdown of flights have highlighted, once again, the growing cost of the public not understanding basic risk assessment. If the public understood risk better, governments and their agencies could not as easily run off on their PR controlled “safety” sideshows which in truth put more people at risk … Continue Reading
According to daily newspaper La Repubblica, Termini station has been overrun by travellers since the Icelandic ash cloud forced cancellations of flights towards Northern Europe (read our first article about this issue here, “Iceland Causes Chaos In Rome“), with ticket booth queue times of up to two hours. … Continue Reading
UK: Note to Iceland. We said send Cash, you forgot the “C”…
The UK and the rest of Northern Europe continue to suffer from Icelandic revenge. The Eyjafjallajoekull Glacier volcano is creating an ash cloud … Continue Reading
Comparing the storm of criticism of the Catholic Church over child abuse by priests to Anti-Semitism may not have been his best move. The Pope’s preacher, Father Raniero Cantalamessa, is on the defense after he sparked worldwide outrage when he stated that he had received a letter from an unnamed Jewish friend that drew the parallel. … Continue Reading
While facing the worst crisis of his papacy as a sexual abuse scandal sweeps the Catholic church, Pope Benedict declared today he would not be “intimidated” by “petty gossip”, angering activists who say he has done too little to stamp out paedophilia, reports The Guardian.
During the Palm Sunday service, the pope did not directly mention the scandal … Continue Reading
The world’s eyes are on Rome – the Vatican, to be precise – as the moral authority of the catholic church appears to crumble under the weight of shocking allegations of child abuse, and the cover-ups that appear to have ensued for decades. The sense that the catholic church deems itself above the common law, … Continue Reading
The elections are due and who would know… Television (from which the majority of Italians get their information) has had an almost total blackout. Prime Minister Berlusconi’s government controls the 3 main independant channels, and two of the main public channels are also pro-government. He seems to have decided that no debate is beneficial to him – he could be right. … Continue Reading
How lucky we are! Rome has come first in The Times’ list of the world’s 12 sexiest cities. The criteria of the list are somewhat obscure, but it can be concluded that the sexiness of a city appears to be based on something more intricate than its red-light district, as the most famous cities in that respect – Amsterdam, Bangkok, anyone? – are completely absent in The Times’ list. … Continue Reading
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