Perugia: The Italian Town Haunted by Amanda Knox

by Dave Seminara on

The medieval city of Perugia is known for its chocolate, its well-respected universities, and for hosting one of the world’s premier Jazz festivals. But in the United States and Great Britain, this city of ancient, winding streets filled with fortress-like stone dwellings is inextricably linked to Amanda Knox, the American college student who was convicted and then acquitted of murdering Meredith Kercher.

The trials attracted a tsunami of reporters from around the world to this ancient Umbrian hill town and exposed a decadent sex, drugs and party subculture that has existed amongst the student population here for a long time. Various news reports indicated that the Knox-Kercher case has scared away British and American tourists and students but according to some in Perugia, the overall effect on tourism here may not be as grim as one might think.

Tourism officials here didn’t want to make an official comment on the effect of the Knox case on tourism in Perugia, but hotel managers and a local who rents apartments to tourists here told me that the publicity surrounding the case has brought more Italian tourists to Perugia, not less.

“Italians have a curiosity to come here and see where the murder took place,” said the apartment manager, who asked that I refrain from publishing his name. “They’re also visiting the island of Giglio to see where the Costa Concordia crashed. People have a fascination with these things.”The apartment manager and others here have told me that locals are nearly unanimous in their belief that Knox and her Italian boyfriend, Raffeale Sollicito, who no longer lives here, are guilty. The fact that Knox has received a book deal that could be worth close to $4 million has only hardened attitudes towards her here. (Kercher’s father is also set to release his own book) Sollicito reportedly finished a computer science degree in prison and, according to ABC News, recently had job interviews in the U.S.

Criticism of the Italian judicial proceedings, which were widely viewed in the U.S. as a travesty of justice, damaged national pride in Italy and created ill will towards Knox’s defenders in the U.S. I followed the trials and was relieved when Knox was acquitted on appeal because I don’t think there was anywhere near enough evidence to convict her of murder. I came to Perguia to see the city’s historical treasures but couldn’t resist taking a walk out to the house where Meredith Kercher was murdered. (see top photo)

As I arrived with my family in tow, a young Bangladeshi couple that now lives in the home were on their way out. They were accompanied by some relatives who were visiting from Great Britain who translated for us. The young man, whose name was Mohammed, just moved into the home four months ago, after emigrating from Bangladesh. The landlord never mentioned that a gruesome murder took place in the home but he wondered why tourists come by to photograph the place.

Initially, Mohammed asked me to take his photo and include it in this story, but I bumped into him later that evening- he sells novelty balloons on Corso Vanucci in the center of town- and he asked me to delete the photos of him from my camera.

The house is located behind an imposing fence on a busy street, very close to the University where Knox was a student. It’s considered a run-down area in Perugia but there is a very nice view of the surrounding countryside behind the home. I found no evidence of any memorial for Kercher, which is a shame.

After looking around the place for a few minutes, I felt like an intruder, even though Mohammed and his relatives were very friendly and seemed to want to ask us about the Knox case, which they had only a vague awareness of. The infamous house has new tenants and life goes on, but Perugia will never be the same.

For her part, Knox has stated that she still loves Perugia and would like to return to Italy, though it’s not likely she’ll do that anytime soon, given the fact that Italian prosecutors have appealed her acquittal. Her parents face defamation charges for comments they made about alleged mistreatment of their daughter by Perugia police officers and Knox is reportedly planning to testify via videoconference. For Perugia, there is no end in sight to the Knox case notoriety.

Adventurers Needed For Expedition Across Europe’s Largest Glacier

by Kraig Becker on

Travelers looking for a completely new and unique challenge will definitely want to take note of an expedition being organized by adventure travel company Secret Compass. Later this summer, the outfitter will send a small group of trekkers on one of the first commercial expeditions across Europe‘s largest glacier, the Vatnajokull ice cap located in Iceland.

The 12-day journey is scheduled to take place July 13-24 and will give travelers a once in a lifetime opportunity to explore glacial valleys, ice caverns and snow capped volcanoes across Vatnajokull’s massive expanse. They’ll also experience beautiful waterfalls, steaming hot springs, rushing rivers jammed with ice and the incomparable Northern Lights.

Participants in this adventure will certainly want to be in good physical condition, as the entire journey will be made on cross-country skis. They’ll also be pulling all of their gear and supplies behind them on sleds, just as polar explorers in the Arctic and Antarctic have done for decades. If that isn’t enough, the intended route will even take the group to the summit of Hvannadalshnukur, the tallest mountain in Iceland at 6923 feet.

This is an epic adventure that isn’t for the faint of heart. Secret Compass has put together an expedition to an extremely remote and wild place that few humans will ever have the opportunity to experience. For that reason alone this new offering is likely to appear on many bucket lists in the year ahead.

The cost for the trip is £2099 (about $3365) and only 12 lucky people will get to join the expedition. For more information click here.

Roman Fort Attacked By Moles, Archaeologists Benefit

by Sean McLachlan on

When you stroll through a museum, you generally assume that all those ancient artifacts you’re seeing were dug up by professional archaeologists or found by accident by some farmer plowing his field. Mostly you’d be correct, but researchers into England’s Roman past are getting some unexpected help. . .from moles.

Moles at the site of Epiacum, a Roman fort dating from the first to the fourth centuries AD, have been getting busy digging holes in the soil and turning up all sorts of archaeological goodies. The site is protected by English Heritage and nobody, not even the local farmers, is allowed to dig on it. The moles have apparently never heard of English Heritage and have been tossing out Roman pottery, jewelry, and even a bit of old plumbing.

Volunteers have been sifting through the moles’ backdirt, under the watchful eye of English Heritage, and the artifacts are being sent to a nearby museum.

Epiacum, known locally as Whitley Castle, lies twelve miles to the south of Hadrian’s Wall and protected some nearby lead and silver mines. Click here for more information about visiting the site.

Photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

The MeetingLife Journal Project Brings Together Cultures Through A Notebook

by Jessica Festa on



You don’t always need to leave the country to connect with others from around the world. The MeetingLife Journal, a leather-bound book full of stories from people all over the world, began in Rome, Italy, on November 11, 2011. For the past three months, it has traveled to 11 countries, being sent to various YouTube personalities who have been writing their stories down in the book, as well as creating video responses to let others know where the journal is. Nobody is sure when the process will stop, or if it ever will.

After making its way through Europe, the journal is set to travel the United States. Who receives the notebook next is not pre-determined, so those who do are always surprised. While at the basic level it’s an art project – with Post-it notes, drawings and text – though on a grander scale the journal is a tool that connects people and cultures from all over the world.

Want to be a part of the project? Write a blog post or upload a video on the MeetingLife blog, for a chance to be voted for by the blog’s followers. To get a better idea of the project, check out the video above.

Da Michele Pizzeria In Naples: Is This Really The World’s Best Pizza?

by Dave Seminara on

There are tens, if not hundreds of thousands of pizzerias in the world. Trying to crown one place the best in the world is an absurd task and a fool’s errand. There are an infinite number of varieties and once you start evaluating toppings and specialty pizzas it’s impossible to make a direct comparison between one pizza and the next. But if you just consider classic Neapolitan style pizza without toppings, you can probably narrow the world’s best pizzerias down to the low hundreds.

One place that almost always makes it onto world’s best short lists is Da Michele, a family run pizzeria that’s been serving up Neapolitan pies since 1870, right after Italy became a unified country. Last week I was on a cruise that stopped in Naples for just half a day. My wife wanted to take an excursion to Pompeii but I wanted pizza.

I read that Julia Roberts ate at Da Michele in “Eat, Pray, Love” and concluded that Da Michele was probably a tourist trap. I normally avoid such places but I wanted to see if the hype was justified.

My wife took our 2-year-old to Pompeii and my 4-year-old and I turned up at Da Michele just as they opened at 10.30 a.m. on a Sunday morning. At midday, the place can be a zoo, but in the morning it’s very quiet. It’s an ordinary looking place and the moment I saw an old man who later introduced himself as Luigi Condurro, (see photo above) dressed in a shirt, tie and white jacket, stoking the wood fired oven, I knew the place wasn’t a tourist trap.
Luigi is one of Michele’s four sons who preside over the place. They serve two types of pizza – margherita or Bianca, with no toppings. Normal size pizzas are 4 euros, and a large is just 5. A big bottle of water goes for 2 euros. This is a place that could be charging much more but isn’t.

We start with a large margherita and it looks amazing coming out of the oven, but it doesn’t appear to look different than other wood fired margheritas I’ve had in the U.S. and other parts of Italy. After taking a few photos of this round little work of art on our table, we sliced it up and dove in.

After my first bite, I had to stifle a laugh. Why was I so quick to assume that this place was overrated? The look on my face as I ate this remarkable pie must have been one of shear bliss. I couldn’t stop smiling. I’ve never taken ecstasy but both Leo and I were sort of overcome with happiness as we savored the perfect blend of crust, sauce and Buffalo mozzarella.

“This pizza is outrageous!” my son said, and he was right. It was ridiculously good. The sauce was sweet and a bit tangy, just right. My son normally tosses crusts, but in this case, he devoured every delicious bite. And the cheese was so good that when a clump of it oozed off of my son’s first slice and onto the floor, he wanted to scoop it up and eat it – and I almost let him. We downed our large margherita and decided to order a regular size Bianca. It was almost as good and we finished every last morsel until we were in a very happy little food coma.

How do I evaluate this pie against some of my favorite places in the U.S. like Joe & Pat’s in Staten Island and Frank Pepe’s in New Haven? It’s difficult to say without tasting them side-by-side, and even harder because I usually get clams or sausage on my pie at those places. But there’s something about having a pizza prepared by Luigi in the birthplace of pizza that makes this place special.

But what made the experience even better was the bill. The large margherita was 5 euros, the normal Bianca was 4 and our large bottle of water was 2, for a grand total of 11 euros. An individual size pizza in trendy places on the east cost can go for more than that alone. In the U.S. these days, Neapolitan style pizza is trendy and you pay accordingly, but in Naples, it’s an everyday food, no different than bread or water.

Da Michele could have very easily turn itself into a tourist trap, catering to foreigners, but instead, it’s still a neighborhood place, where people stop in to pick up pizzas for a song. I don’t know if it or anyplace else can be called the best in the world, but if you consider both price and quality, this place may take the prize.