SNCF: Oooops, we made the trains too big!
SNCF, the French rail operator that last year ordered trains too wide for its platforms has now ordered cars too tall for the tunnels that connect the rail systems of France to Italy.
Italy
If you're flying out of Rome, you may not be
A fire last May that heavily damaged Terminal 3 at Rome's Fiumicino airport is leaving passengers stranded or with major changes. The terminal handles most international flights, and it is mostly international flights that are affected. In one...
11 days, all inclusive: $120,000. Includes John Legend
And mind you, that price is for sharing a room. There's an $11,000 single supplement! So, what do you get for a vacation that costs more than double the median household income in the U.S.? Read on....
Virgin sails into the cruise business for 2020
Richard Branson, whose Virgin brand is slapped on everything from mobile phones to megastores and especially airlines is now launching a cruise ship line, to be called...of course...Virgin Cruises. The line will start operations in 2020 with...
Fake restaurant, fake reviews punk TripAdvisor
Could this be the next top restaurant? Write a review! La Scaletta, TripAdvisor's top restaurant in the northern Italian town of Moniga del Garda, has left a bad taste in the mouth for TripAdvisor...because it doesn't...
Aerial attack on Milan cathedral: camera drone goes rogue
Camera drone, similar to one used in Milan incident. Photo:Asurnipal / Wikimedia Milan's cathedral suffered some damage early Monday morning when a small drone, equipped with a camera, crashed into a construction cable on...
Gumbo's Pic of the Day, June 22, 2015: The 7 churches of Santo Stefano, Bologna
At first glance, you see a church, albeit an oddly solid one with few windows, and no grand portico. At a further glance, it looks like parts of three churches wedged together. And then from the inside, the full picture becomes clear:...
Sweden claims 'best pizza' title. Yes, Sweden!
Nothing like a culinary controversy to grab some weekend attention. And after a week in which Italy seized the "world's longest pizza" title from Spain and France and Italy nearly came to blows over Nutella, a bizarre pizza seems like just the thing....
New life for Italy's 'ghost towns'
Italy has numbers of abandoned villages, emptied by earthquakes, landslides or economic losses, and some of them are now being brought back to life as resorts, artists' colonies and more. A recent article on TheLocal.it gave some examples,...
International incident: France attacks Italy's Nutella!
While most observers of international relations have been focused on the issue of Greece, and whether it will remain in the Eurozone, a war of words has broken out between France and Italy over a favorite chocolate-hazelnut spread.
'World's Longest Pizza' title goes home to Italy
Apparently spurred into action by the shame of having Spain claim the title for an Italian standard, pizza chefs in the town of Rende, in Calabria, worked 16 hours to produce a pizza 1.229km long—more than 3/4 of a mile. Not that we really knew...
Shanghai touts its leaning tower as Pisa Rival
Shanghai wants the world to know it's not taking second place to anyone in the Leaning Tower business, and they have numbers to make their case. Alright, they admit, the Shanghai tower, at right above, is only about 20 meters high compared with...
Hot early summer worries Europe
June weather that's hitting the mid-30s (mid-to upper 90sF) is worrying authorities in several European countries, where officials are warning people, especially the elderly or ill, to stay cool.
'World's Best Restaurant' title heads south
El Celler de Can Roca, in Girona, Spain, northeast of Barcelona took the top listing when the year's World's Best 50 Restaurants list was announced June 1st. It's a return to the spot, trading places with Copenhagen's Noma, which held the spot from...
Holy Cannoli! Italian town builds 3-ton Tiramisu!
The northern Italian town of Gemona has gotten its just desserts: a listing in the Guinness Book of World Records, and over 3 tons (3015 kg) of tiramisu. The coffee-flavored treat beat a months-old record by over 1000 kilos. I know what you're...