Nicole Martinelli

The whopper about the Canadian officials arriving in Italy to spread around the fortune of a bootlegging emigrant is a classic example of how what makes it into Italian papers won’t hold up after only a few phone calls…. Then promptly forgot about it, until “cybernun” Sister Antonella, who also runs the web site of the Dominican order, answered my email: “We’ve got plans for a web cam on the drawing board..but I don’t know yet when it will happen.

Got my number I managed to change a train ticket in Venice at the last minute. It was a major triumph. First Jabba the Hut behind the counter puffed at me, saying he wasn’t sure he could change my Internet ticket. So I Spaniel-eyed him. He reconsidered. Then punched in

In most countries, people check the weather forecast before leaving the house. They may also check traffic. Or, with skyrocketing gas costs, prices at the pump. In Italy, people check the strike-o-meter, or scioperometro, a strike forecast published on the Internet. Please take our survey. Why? Italians, with strong union