This week found us with a new shipment of food (the porcini mushrooms are back!), some new artwork in our Galleria, and some newly flowering trees on our back area. We are looking forward to slowing down a little bit this weekend, and our round up of news from this week will provide some excellent conversation for your moments spend savoring life this weekend.

Italian Espresso gets sent into space, as a special treat for an Italian astronaut at the International Space Station. For a treat a little closer to home, we always go with Cafe del Doge.

The Today Show did a segment on “longevity soup.” Those who eat this soup in the South of Italy live longer than most…and this fountain of youth is only chickpeas, borlotti (cranberry) beans and the fregola (Italian couscous, which can be hard to find), as well as a giant can of tomatoes! Our own Deborah made it for friends to celebrate her birthday (may she live as long as the Sardinians!), and it was a big hit.

The migration struggle from Lybia to Italy is getting insreasingly complicated. This article from CNN does a just recap.

The New York Times covers an quirky story about how a quest to fix broken toilet for a would be trattoria owner ends in a huge archeological discovery. Oh Italy, you’ve done it again.

McDonalds made an add earlier this week suggesting that Italian children would rather have a Happy Meal than pizza. Neapolitan pizza makers retaliate against the MacDonalds add with their own hilarious and cute video. We’ll have the pizza too!

We hope you find the time to sink your teeth into an excellent pizza yourself this weekend.  We will be open for an extra hour tonight for the Book Hill Gallery Night, come say hello!

Ci Vediamo!

–Via Umbria