Tag Archives | video

The Best Ever In-Depth Video of Siena’s Palio

By on December 12, 2012 in Festivals and Events, Siena, Sports, Tuscany

Inspiration always seems to find me when I’m not looking and that is exactly what happened as I settled in to watch a few minutes of television last night. Lucky for me, I clicked over to Kenny Mayne’s Wider World of Sports, a show on ESPN that puts sports into a cultural context.

One of the segments was on the Palio, the famous, twice-yearly horse race in Siena. Mayne gained insider access to the Leocorno (Unicorn) contrada to cover the race from mane (ahem) to tail. We learn about Leocorno’s rivalry with the Civetta (Owl) contrada, the pre-race ritual of having the horse blessed in the district church, and the strategies and intrigue that go into competing in one of Italy’s oldest sports traditions. Both the footage and the commentary in this segment were compelling, so I wanted to share the video with you.

Fantastic stuff, Mr. Mayne. Mille grazie!

Centuries of History and 300,000 Wheels of Cheese Destroyed in Deadly Italy Earthquake

By on May 21, 2012 in Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, Italy News, News

The latest reports about the earthquake that hit Emilia-Romagna this weekend state that at least seven people were killed, 50 injured, and more than 13,000 have been displaced. The 6.0 earthquake struck early Sunday morning north of the city of Bologna in the town of Finale Emilia. According to The Guardian, the quake “wrought havoc in small towns and villages dotting the countryside between Bologna, Ferrara and Modena.”

The Guardian filmed a video that looks at the destruction, including the loss of “centuries of history.” Destroyed or severely damaged in the earthquake include the Palazzo dei Veneziani and Castello della Rocche in Finale Emilia; towers of a 14th century castle in San Felice sul Panaro; and the church of San Martino in Buoncompra. Other news outlets are reporting that more than 300,000 wheels of cheese worth €250 million have been destroyed.

The last major earthquake to hit Italy was the one that struck the Abruzzo city of L’Aquila in 2009.

Dreaming of Basilicata

By on November 13, 2011 in Basilicata

Bad experiences can happen in Italy. You may lose your wallet, have to deal with a brusque waiter, or turn your ankle while walking on a cobbled path. But despite unfortunate circumstances, it seems like everyone I have ever talked to who has visited Italy thinks of it the way that Matthew Brown does: Italy as fever dream. It is a place of red roofs, blue grottoes, smiling nonnas, and never-ending glasses of wine. The video uses spinning imagery to convey the whirlwind pace of a vacation in Italy, where even if you are moving slowly, your senses are absorbing every small detail.

Matthew Brown is the creative genius behind the above video, “Dreaming In Italy,” which was one of several videos sponsored by the Basilicata Tourism Board with their project cantforget.it{aly}. The cantforget.it project invited seven photographers, videographers, animantion artists, and bloggers all under the age of 35 to create “viral videos” on Basilicata, the region situated in the Italian boot’s instep not known for its thriving tourist industry. These Digital Diaries – check out the YouTube channel or view the videos in HD on the cantforget.it website – are all in English and are great places to get lost if you feel like daydreaming about Italy for a while.

Do these videos make you want to visit Basilicata? I’m ready to pack my bags.

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