Rocket Sheep In Space

Claude Ruggieri was a rocket visionary.

From the Rocketry blog (link above):

"Claude Ruggieri sent up a live sheep around 600 feet in the air and succeeded in bringing it back to earth with a soft landing using parachutes. He did this sometime around 1806. He would have sent a young boy up making him the first “astronaut” but the local police put a stop to it. Claude Ruggieri was an Italian living in Paris. He accomplished practical application of rocket propulsion using clusters to lift heavier objects. He referred to them as a rocket necklace."

When In Milan

You may want to check out he Museum of Science & Technology:

"With its twenty-eight sections, from information technology to engines to astronomy, some 40 000 square metres of displays, and a massive 15 000 pieces in its collection, the "Leonardo da Vinci" National Museum of Science and Technology in Milan is one of the most important technical and scientific museums in the world. The museum is made up of three separate buildings: the Monumental Building, which is a former Olivetan monastery whose construction dates back to the early sixteenth century; the Rail Transport Building and the Air&Sea Transport Building."

Cool Italian

I think I found a new favorite website: The Cool Hunter. Check out these amazing pics from Castello di Vicarello in Tuscany.

"Arguably the best holiday we’ve ever had anywhere, even in Italy, our favourite country, that manages to deliver every time — from food to the fashion, from people-watching to design, from architecture to hotels, from wines to coffee. How many countries get this many things right?"

I hear ya.

Motorcycles: Terra Modena

Terra Modena also have their own interpretations of what a bike is.

A Fully Integrated Thought Process

Years ago I sat an art-deco table sharing an espresso with a French-Canadian cafe owner, an Italophile as it were, talking about the ways of the Italian mind. I asked him what made them so special? He stood up and walked to the cappuccino/espresso machine. "Les Italiens n'arret pas a le cafe."

They're not content to make an Italian roast. They need to make the machine to perfect that art. It's a full integrated artistic and inventive thought process.

That's why Italy manufactures so many accessories to many things.

Consider bikes. They make the frames, tubing and parts needed to piece together and maintain a great bike. Then, they set their sites on gear such as helmets, gloves, tops, windbreakers, shorts and of course shoes.

Check out Dromarti shoes as an example.

Pic from this site.

Feast Of St. Anthony, North End Boston

As a native of Montreal, our Little Italy doesn't have, in my opinion, the charm and vibrance of Boston's North End. In a time where the concept of "Little Italy" is fighting obsolescence across the continent, the North End defies this pattern.