Archive for 'Books and Movies'

One of the most enduringly famous portrayals of Sicily that has ever graced the silver screen has to be Francis Ford Coppola’s 1972 masterpiece, “The Godfather”, starring Marlon Brando and Al Pacino. This iconic movie is set in 1940s and 1950s Sicily and New York and tells the story of the Corleone family, characters from Mario Puzo’s novel, “The Godfather.” Many tourists have gone in search of filming locations from the movie throughout the years since its release. Many head to Corleone, the town that shares its name with Don Vito Corleone, but it was not actually where the film was shot as when they began making the movie in the 1970s, it had changed drastically in the time since Puzo wrote his novel. Modernised and greatly expanded, it no longer resembled the rural place from the books. However, never fear, if you have found a vacation rental in Sicily and are a fan of the movie, there are plenty of filming sites to visit as the villages of Motta Camastra, Forza d’Agro, and Savoca were all featured in, “The Godfather”.

Last March, I flew to South Korea for a trip, which takes about 24 hours from Ireland, all in. My game plan was to line up a range of recent Oscar-winners and watch all the movies that everyone was buzzing about in one go. Upon finding my seat, I met my two seat-mates, a very sweet elderly Korean couple who took a liking to me as I was raised Catholic and they were returning from a month long pilgrimage around religious sites in Europe. The lady asked me to help her with her screen and I spent a while trying to find something for her to watch in Korean or with subtitles. Surprisingly, there was very little for her to choose from so we eventually gave up. This, however, meant that she turned to look at the screen I had turned on and began watching it with me. I was very painfully aware that a religious granny was observing me watch, “Call Me By Your Name.” I had heard enough about the movie to guess when scenes she might not approve of were coming and, as I feared their approach, I paused the film, leaving it on a still of the idyllic town in which it is set. I began fumbling around with my things as I had become aware that she was slowly falling asleep, and I waited it out for it to happen. As her eyes got heavy, she looked away from the screen and to me and smiled, “What a beautiful place,” she said in Korean, moments before she fell asleep.

The Flaiano Prizes are often simply referred to as a film festival. However, this incredible series of events that take place annually in Pescara, Abruzzo is that and so much more. The Flaiano Prizes, or Premi Flaiano, are a set of Italian international awards in various fields including creative writing, cinema, theater and radio-television.

Established in honour of the Italian author and screenwriter Ennio Flaiano in 1973, the awards have been given out at the Teatro Monumentale Gabriele D'Annunzio in Pescara since 1974. The actual event itself is comprised of exhibitions, conferences, shows and more, culminating in an awards ceremony in June and July each year.

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If you have found a vacation rental in Milan and are wandering around the city, looking for somewhere to get a coffee, we suggest popping into Bar Luce, a Milanese cafè entirely designed by the beloved American film director Wes Anderson. Inspired by the classic bars of Milan in the 1950s and ’60s, it is a pastel dream that feels like stepping into one of Anderson's movies in real life. For fans of the director and for those who merely like cute cafès, it is an absolute must-see.

Narni in Italy is an old and beautiful hill-town that is located in the central Italian region of Umbria and is often better known by its ancient Roman name of Narnia.

The town is not the snowy wonderland from C.S. Lewis' famous series of books but it did inspire the author in his creation of that beloved fictional universe. He never visited Narni but knew of the town from reading Roman history and writers such as Tacitus, Livy, and Pliny the Elder.

Lewis' former secretary also noted that had specifically told him that the name on the atlas had inspired him in the writing of his Chronicles.

Located about 50 miles north of Rome, it is a place that any fans of Narnia will find interesting if they have found a vacation rental in Rome and are planning for day trips during their stay.