Bel paese is the classical poetical appellative for Italy, meaning the “beautiful country” in Italian, due to its mild weather, cultural heritage and natural endowment.

The usage of the term originated in the Middle Ages, being used by Dante and Petrarch:

del bel paese là dove ‘l sì suona,

Of the fair land there where the ‘Sì’ doth sound,

il bel paese
ch’Appennin parte e ‘l mar circonda e l’Alpe

The term is currently widely used in modern Italian as in other languages as a synonym for Italy, but can sometimes be intended slightly ironically.^[1] It is commonly used as a term of endearment by members of the Italian diaspora, and it is often used to endorse or promote goods^[2] and services^[3] both in Italy and abroad.

Italy v Switzerland. “One of the epigraphs John Hooper uses to introduce the various chapters in his new book, “The Italians,” is a bit of dialogue from the 1949 film “The Third Man.” In it, Harry Lime compares the tumultuous 30 years of Borgia rule in Italy, which produced the Renaissance and some of its greatest artists, to the 500 years of democracy and peace in Switzerland, which, he claims, produced only the cuckoo clock.”

So that’s why they call it cappuccino. “The Capuchin friars are a Franciscan order named because of their habit, which features a pointed brown hood (cappa). The word cappuccino is in fact derived from this and it allegedly alludes to the colour and ‘peaked finish’ of the coffee. In 1631, the Capuchin friars relocated to their current home on Via Veneto and the Vatican ordered them to also take the remains of their brethren with them. Following their relocation, the friars then went on to construct this bizarre crypt. ”

A Must See in Rome: Museum and Crypt of the Capuchin Friars (Museo e Cripta dei Frati Cappuccini) e the Church of Our Lady of the Conception of the Capuchins (Santa Maria della Concezione dei Cappuccini)

“Let me tell you a little story. In animal mythology, the female lion, her cubs are born stillborn, and she roars them into life, to provoke their hearts with that roar. Beauty and provocation’s root words in Greek are closely associated, almost identical: beauty is a provocation and my particular provocation is that I want to show the beauty of the beast.”

Becky and I were in the middle of today’s huge protests against the government – one from the Matteo Salvini and his anti-immigration Lega Nord political party and a counter protest from the Liberal Party. Enormous numbers of policeman and military personnel with riot shield lining the street. Becky got close-ups of the Lega Nord protestors (scarily so) – will post later.

ROME (Reuters) – Thousands of supporters of Italy’s anti-euro Northern League filled one of the biggest squares in Rome on Saturday, accusing the government of Prime Minister Matteo Renzi of selling the country out to faceless powers in Brussels.

Northern League leader Matteo Salvini, who called the rally, took aim at a series of targets, ranging from illegal immigrants and Romanian truck drivers to tax authorities, banks and big business.

“The problem isn’t Renzi, Renzi is a pawn, Renzi is a dumb slave, at the disposal of some nameless person who wants to control all our lives from Brussels,” he told the rally at the Piazza del Popolo, called just over two months ahead of regional elections in May.

Italy’s centre-right opposition has been in disarray for the past year, riven by faction-fighting and unable to mount a consistent challenge to Renzi, whose centre-left Democratic Party holds a commanding lead in opinion polls.

However, 41 year-old Salvini has overseen a resurgence of his party since taking over as leader a little over a year ago, focusing on attacking immigration and the euro in a drive to broaden its appeal beyond its base in northern Italy.

Bluntly, even crudely spoken at times, he has articulated a growing frustration at austerity policies many in Italy believe have been dictated by Brussels at the expense of ordinary citizens struggling in the long economic slump.

“Europe is what’s allowing our truckdrivers to be squeezed out by Romanian contracts, Romanian wages and pensions that can be used to come and work in Italy because that’s what Europe wants – a race to the bottom,” he told supporters who also heard a message of support read out from Marine Le Pen, leader of France’s far-right National Front.

With 78-year-old former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi struggling to hold his squabbling Forza Italia party together, Salvini has taken over his mantle as the highest profile leader on the right.

He is more popular than any political leader apart from Renzi himself and opinion polls show the League challenging or even surpassing Forza Italia as the largest party of the right.

As well as immigrants and the EU, his attacks have also been directed against Italy’s business establishment, ranging from the head of Fiat Chrysler, Sergio Marchionne to employers lobby group Confindustria and business daily Il Sole 24 Ore.

“Italy isn’t Marchionne and it isn’t Renzi. Italy is millions of tradesmen and small businessmen,” he said.