The new Italian government has been announced and it is obvious that we will have a fight between technocrats and politicians. All the positions have been covered by highly qualified technocrats; however, will they be able to govern without the backing of the political forces. Will they face a hostile Parliament which will jeopardize the fulfilment of their task? Taking into account the current crisis, perhaps it is a good idea to keep politicians away from government... but.... is this possible or viable? Monti and his colleagues have a huge task ahead.

Just had an email from Easyjet guess what they are doing from spring 2012.............

Allocated seating just a trial to start.

As some of you have already pointed out on the blog, never do this before making sure it's not going to bring the house down...http://wp.me/p1TZTg-Y
Have others of you ever taken matters into your own hands in times of reno inactivity? I have friends north of Milan who have rebuilt the whole thing themselves, including installing the beams, so this seemed like child's play.

I think that I have, at last, found the perfect cooking teacher. Admittedly he almost only cooks desserts but that is no bad thing. He has brought out a set of videos that explain the science of cooking in detail and I am miffed as I was only in Italy to buy two of them. There are 24, I believe, so those of you lucky enough to get them, please let me know if the rest are good.
I did, however, buy 3 of his books last year and I am starting to add the things that I have made to my cooking blog.
Yumm

For anybody who likes to keep an eye out on the weather or sights of Italy, I use this site. http://www.webcamgalore.com/EN/webcam-map/Italy/Lucca/city-2161.html. Just click on a symbol and look through a Camera in your area or elsewhere for that matter.