On next 6th April the most expected sport event by the runners of our country comes back: ‘Stramilano 2008‘.

‘StraMilano’ is the most famous extracity in Italy, an event which, from 1972, gives as a gift to the city of Milan an entirely day dedicated to sport, to health, to solidarity, and to entertainment.

This year StraMilano is scheduled on 6th April, and once again, it will include professional and amateurs athletes who come from all over the world. StraMilano is dedicated to everyone, with no age, sex or “speed” discrimination.

Infact, the marathon, for its participants, divides itself into three! Right, because during the day of 6th April there will be three different itineraries which will go through the city: ‘StraMilano of 50,000′, ‘StraMilano Agonistica Internazionale’ (International Agonistic Stramilano) and ‘Stramilanina’ (The little StraMilano).

‘StraMilano of 50,000‘ is the no-competion run which took place along

The Burst of the Cart is an ancient celebration which dates back to the first crusade, and which Florence inhabitants love.

This manifestation takes place every year in Piazza Duomo (Dome Square), where there is the “Brindellone”, that is the wonderful three-floor cart which is the celebration’s protagonist.

At this point, a rocket formed as a dove, Easter peace’s symbol, comes down hanging on a thread which goes from the main choir of the Dome to the cart, and if the celebration is successfull, it burns and emits a wonderful play of lights, colours, smoke and outbreaks.

The story of the Burst of the Cart is rich of religious and historic details, a beautiful story, rich of turns of events, and it’s a really important chapter in Florence and its inhabitants history.

The tradition tells that, in the end of the first crusade, which ended with

“Milano dell’acqua” (“Milan & Waters”) is the name of a particular and suggestive event which takes place in these days in Milan and is born to value and appreciate the landscape and the history around the city of Milan, sometimes unknown by its own inhabitants.

The event has started on 14th February and is divided into a list of appointments which will give foreigners and people from Milan the opportunity to discover the territorial waters of the city through an unusual and suggestive itinerary, from the city Aquarium, to the Navigli and covered water channels of the city.

There will be 20 appointments which will lead all the participants in the historic, artistic and cultural reconstruction of the hidden part of Milan, certainly the most beautiful and interesting one.

Among many cultural projects, there are also lots of events for kids, and for all the participants there’s a brochure of the route full of images of the most beautiful water places.

“Milano dell’acqua” is part of the project “Cento Milano” (“One Hundred Milan”) and, as expected, it represents the fourth event, which will be followed in May by

“Italy is a country where inefficiency in the field of study is largely widespread, and most of all, too much expensive”

This is the general idea which Erasmus students have about Italian system. Infact, according to a survey made by “Studenti Magazine” (“Students Magazine”) and by the association “Erasmus Student network Italia”, tested on about 1500 guys who come from 28 different countries and who chose to study in about 27 Italian cities, these students are deeply disappointed by Italian welcome.

As the students sustain, the “Belpaese” disappoints all their expectations.

Therefore, we are talking about high cost of living, accomodations in ruin, and about a Italy which speak just a little bit of “bad English”… but

“D’improvviso Firenze” (“Suddenly Florence”) is the name of an interesting photo exhibition which highlights the historic centre of the city, and it will take place in Florence in Bardini’s Villa until 15th March.

The exhibition is based on the comparison between the photos of Florence immortalized by a young contemporaneous photographer, Gianni Ferrero Merlino, and the historic images kept intact by the Photographic Cabinet.

A photographic itinerary which starts from Uffizi up to Santa Maria Novella, a sort of photograph album of the historic centre of the city, where the history of Florence comes back to life and which will help the spectators to be aware of the changes of the city.

Florence is seen through two different perspectives, the one of the past and the one of the future, photographic clicks which express on their own an entire century of history.

On 16th March will start the 14th edition of the Marathon in the city of Rome, the Italian sport event which every year reaches the greatest number of participants. The marathon will start at 9.00 o’clock from Via dei Fori Imperiali, near to the Colosseo, and this year has a list of 14,500 athletes who come from 76 different countries.

The great Marathon of the city of Rome is an event which is organized at the same time in two different itineraries: the first one is the big run, to which take part professional athletes who race along a way 42 km long.

The second one, Stacittadina For Fun, has no competition, it’s about 4 km long, everyone can take part to it, and it starts immediately after the race of the athletes. This year it broke the record in participants, having a list of 50,000 registrations.

The marathon of Rome is an event which, as shows the number of registrations of every year, catches the attention of thousands professional athletes from all over the world, who use the occasion for running, trampling on the most ancient streets in the world and admiring the amazing artistic and architectural treasures which surrounded the run of the marathon.

Just last week the 80th edition of the Annual Academy Awards took place in the Kodak Theatre of Los Angeles, exactly as every year happens.

This year, our country conquered two oscar awards, thanks to the Tuscan artist Dario Marianelli, winning for the best original soundtrack of the dramatic film “Atonement”, and Dante Ferretti and Francesca Lo Schiavo who worked together to realize the scenography of the film Sweeney Todd, directed by Tim Burton (they had already won the Oscar in 2005 for the scenography of “The Aviator”).

The Oscar night, is currently a very important event in the world, one of the most interesting happenings for millions of international viewers who, in spite of time zone, stay awake in front of the tv, ready to comment upon the star’s look and curious to know which ones of the movies are going to be awarded with the most prestigious category prizes.

The first award in the history of Oscar dates back to 1929, and its official name was Academy Award of Merit, later renamed Oscar, following a curious episod whose protagonist was Margaret Herryck, a woman working in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, who, looking at the little statue on the table sayed