Hosts Sara, Jessica, and Michelle discuss the Pope’s first tweet, pot on Italian balconies, another round in the Naples trash crisis, & an Italian company making the news for firing only women. Then we talk with artist Alberto Alfonso and poet Edward Mayes about their unique collaboration, which will be presented at this year’s Tuscan Sun Festival in Cortona.
Eye on Italy News Stories:
- Pope sends his first tweet, from an iPad
- Top court permits marijuana on balcony
- Waste crisis: Naples snubbed by Northern League
- Due Diligence [by Bonnie of Napoli Unplugged]
- Berlusconi urges regions to solve trash crisis
- Italian firm’s women-only job cull inflames gender controversy
Special Guests

Cuban born Alberto Alfonso is a founding principal and President of Alfonso Architects, an award winning 35 member architecture firm located in Florida. He has recently been appointed the Interim Program Director of Architecture and Design at the USF Polytechnic. Alfonso has exhibited his paintings in the US and Italy and they are permanently installed in the Nielsen Media Global Technology Center, the Mission of St. Mary Chapel and Carmel Café.

Edward Mayes is a poet and scholar whose works have appeared in many prestigious publications, including the American Poetry Review and Iowa Review. His books have received many awards such as the Juniper Prize and the Bay Area Book Reviewers Association Award; he’s also received the Cecil Hemley Memorial Award and Gordon Barber Memorial Award from the Poetry Society of America, and a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in Poetry. He lives in North Carolina and Cortona, Italy, with his wife, writer Frances Mayes.
- Alberto Alfonso: http://www.alfonsoarchitects.com/
- Edward Mayes: http://www.thetuscansun.com
- Tuscan Sun Festival: http://www.tuscansunfestival.com/
- Press release for Alberto & Edward’s exhibit
Eye on Italy Angolo d’Italiano:
- alba – tramonto
- sunrise – sunset
Eye on Italy Picks of the Week:
- Sara: Ben & Jerry’s comes into Italy – benjerry.it
- Jessica: Angelo in 140
- Michelle: Berlusconi Inspires an Angry Bunga-Bunga App via @onlyinitaly
- Deal of the Week:
- Air Transat offering steeply discounted fares getting from Toronto & Montreal to Rome in July-August, as low as $551 round-trip. Check out the Rome travel deals page for the latest offers.
- See the WhyGo Italy travel deals page for the latest travel deals
Video of the week:
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