ITALY MAGAZINE ROUND-UP - 26

Here is my pick of last week's Italy Magazine articles:

The week began with the sad news of Mario Monicelli's death and all here were upset by the manner of it.  But, as Michele Placido said, we should respect the great director's wishes.  

In art news the original model for Michelangelo's Pietà was found and UNESCO inspectors headed to Pompeii to find out more about the recent collapse of buildings on the ancient site.

There were plenty of smiles too, as this was the week in which Julia Roberts became the smile of Lavazza , mythological smiles appeared on the Pirelli calendar and pets all over Italy, including my Simi, smiled at this news.

Preparations for Christmas are now in full swing in Italy and, if you thought bagpipes were a purely Scottish tradition, you may be surprised to read this.

For my Patti Chiari column I wrote about Christmas cards - or the lack of them in Italy - and seasonal confusion.

Happy reading.