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Italy has never wanted for pleasure palaces. At Silvio Berlusconi’s mansion in Arcore, outside Milan, attendees stripteased and beyond at the so-called Bunga Bunga festivities hosted by the former prime minister, who still insists that nothing untoward ever happened at the “elegant parties.” Five centuries earlier, Agostino Chigi, a financier to po...

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‘Should I add some prosciutto?’ Fumbling around in his kitchen, Massimo Bottura, the chef behind the three-Michelin-starred restaurant Osteria Francescana in Modena, Italy, is making a snack. We have just arrived at his home, a few kilometres from Modena’s medieval city centre. The motor of his white Maserati is still warm in the driveway. Around m...

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Design connoisseur Stephen Markos started design platform Superhouse on Instagram at the end of 2019, a few months before the brick-and-mortar abruptly transferred into an online space. From his Brooklyn apartment, he posted about designers he admired and, as of last summer, online fundraisers to benefit anti-racism organizations. Since then, Marko...

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Maserati. A trident inspired by Neptune in Piazza Maggiore, in the city of red and blue, Bologna. From humble beginnings in 1914 manufacturing cars for others to eye-wateringly beautiful 1950s racecars to exotica today. And this—a royal blue Levante GTS with red leather interior delivered into my manicured paws with a view to obtaining a view. Lead...

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In the cartoon Futurama, New York City was an idealized version of the cities of the future: hyperlinked and highly technological with robots fully integrated into society. While we still don’t have flying taxis and tele-transportation solutions, innovation has nevertheless begun to impact modern society with the development of smart cities. Silico...

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To become a legend, a car needs striking looks, matching power, and a cool name to wrap it all up, so it’s no wonder the De Tomaso Pantera is such an iconic piece of automotive history. Beyond its predatory feline name and impossibly cool Italian panache, what made the Pantera iconic was the fact that it was a fabulous sports car born and raised in...

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A few weeks ago I wrote about “Ten Things That Will Never Get Old About French Bistros,” and was prompted by readers to write the same about bistros’ Italian cousin—the trattoria. First of all, a trattoria is not a ristorante, which is (generally speaking) somewhat higher end, larger and refined, with, of course, higher prices. The word trattoria c...

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The secret to 102-year-old Virginia Carpino Bugni’s longevity is pure and simple. Family is what keeps her going. “They have been good company,” she explains. The feeling is mutual. Hard working, caring, stubborn, determined — these are just some of the words her family uses to describe their matriarch. You don’t have to delve much further to know...

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Frank Stella's name means star in Italian, and for decades that was the problem, the reason he stopped making them. "When I started out, I didn't really want to hear about, 'My name was Stella and I made a shape painting of a star.'" But then, computer design technology came along, and 3-D printing. Suddenly the star had possibilities. "It's pretty...

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The Santa Barbara County Education Office has begun planning a virtual version of this year's I Madonnari Italian Street Painting Festival. The festival is scheduled to take place on May 29, 30, and 31. Normally, the festival is held in front of the Old Mission where artists of all ages from across the country come to draw their chalk masterpieces....

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