Thursday, October 5, 2017

Castles of Romeo and Juliet at Montecchio Maggiore


Castles of Romeo and Juliet at Montecchio Maggiore


THE CASTLES OF ROMEO AND JULIET AT MONTECCHIO MAGGIORE: STORY OR MYTH?

When I went to visit the Castles of Romeo and Juliet at Montecchio Maggiore, I did not expect to find what I found. I did not expect anything, really. Although I live half an hour away I did not know in fact almost nothing about these castles, until a friend told me something about them. I also found very little in the internet: no info, no visiting hours. Mystery.

Then, me and my friend went there on a Saturday at lunchtime after some errands in the area. We parked in the first spacious parking. A sign indicated that a bar / restaurant in the other castle was open. Thank goodness, we were starving!

The Castles of Romeo and Juliet at Montecchio Maggiore

At Romeo’s Castle some workers were setting up the preparations for the outdoor cinema. In fact the whole interior area was occupied by chairs and big screen.

All around there was a wall, damaged in some places, and two towers. Sadly the Castle is very decaying. One of them is well preserved and accessible by staircase. But there was no sign. We climbed the stairs and the door was open. Inside we found a nice gentleman of a certain age (he called himself old, but he was not so old) reading the paper. He didn’t say a thing. I climbed the wooden stairs (maybe 4 or 5 flights) to finally reach the top of the tower. The view was worth it. What a nice panorama! Not far you can clearly see Juliet’s Castle. It was a shame that the air was so muggy that the view was not totally clear.

When I came down I told the gentleman that I had very much appreciated the view, so he started to narrate me ancient and interesting stories. For example, Montecchio is named Maggiore (major, superior) because the view from the hill allows you to see even the bell tower of St. Mark in Venice (who knows if it is true), so the name is due to the strategic importance of the place. He also asked me if I was a romantic person or not, and I said yes. So he told me what his grandfather (which was told by his grandfather and so on) told him as a child: all the stories that survived to this day have some truth in them, so it is nice to believe in them and tell them to other people.

He told me also that Luigi Da Porto, writer and military man from Vicenza, to recover from a serious war injury, returned to his villa in Montorso Vicentino (a few km from Montecchio Maggiore). At the time he was only 25. During this period he heard about the legend of the two poor lovers. From his villa he could also see the two castles on the hill of Montecchio.

Inspired also by his unhappy love for a girl who didn’t reciprocated him, he began writing a novel entitled Historia found again of two noble lovers, published in 1530. Probably having read Dante’s verses he called the two rival families Montecchi and Cappelletti, then turned into the Capuleti. In Italian the names are in fact Montecchi and Capuleti. Besides the name Montecchi it is very similar to Montecchio. Dante’s verses: “Come and behold Montecchi and Cappelletti, Monaldi and Fillippeschi, careless man! Those sad already, and these doubt-depressed!” (Purgatorio).

The two castles were actually built in mid-fourteenth century by the Scaligeri family of Verona, and they were seriously damaged during the war of Cambrai in the sixteenth century. After the war no one thought to restore them, as their defensive function was over. Restoration work began only at the end of 1800.

The Castles of Romeo and Juliet at Montecchio Maggiore are 300 meters away from each other.  Their actual names are Castello della Villa (Romeo) and Castello Bellaguardia (Juliet). There’s another parking lot before arriving at the second Castle, on the left. Inside there are a bar and a restaurant that seemed really nice. We only ordered two sandwiches and two cokes at the bar (with very good bread and cold cuts). The staff was nice and helpful. The toilet very clean (in the restaurant, so I could spot the interior, quite nice!). From the terrace we could see the nice panorama and the Castle of Romeo.

After lunch, as I was curious, I convinced my friend to go and see Villa Da Porto in Montorso. We couldn’t find the address on the Internet so we asked a passerby. The villa is in via Luigi Da Porto. The sign says it was built in 1400 and amended several times up to 1724. Here Luigi Da Porto wrote his novel. Sadly, at the beginning of 1900 the last descendant of the family mortgaged property and now it lies in deep decline. The sign also says that the municipality has started in 1987 a long process of restoration. Unfortunately, out of the villa there is another sign with the words: Edificio Pericolante (unstable building). What a pity! It is a real shame that the Villa and the Castles are so ignored. They could be a real tourist attraction.

In the end, everyone is free to believe in what he wants. Those who are romantic will definitely like to see these two Castles thinking that Romeo and Juliet once lived here.


Castles of Romeo and Juliet at Montecchio Maggiore

Castello della Villa e Castello Bellaguardia
via Castelli 4 Martiri, 36075, Montecchio Maggiore (VI)

I found some info here but sadly no opening hours:
it.wikipedia.org
www.vicenza.com

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Sunday, August 27, 2017

Harrods

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Why The Hell Do People Go To Harrods?
BY WILL NOBLELAST EDITED 21 MONTHS AGO
In 1986 the small town of Otorohanga in New Zealand changed its name to Harrodsville. This was a nod to Europe's biggest department store, Harrods, but the nod was not a friendly one. On hearing that Otorohanga businessman Henry Harrod had had the audacity to name his business Harrod's Family Restaurant, then-owner of the London Harrods, Mohamed Al-Fayed, let fly with legal threats. Otorohanga's answer was to change the name of every single one of its business enterprises to Harrods — sticking up two solid gold digits to the Egyptian mogul.
The 'Harrodsville' gambit worked; Al-Fayed was made a laughing stock and the threats were dropped. But the storyperhaps sums up many Londoners' perception of the department store — a louche palace for the bolshy, where money talks and the hoi polloi can go do one. Yet Harrods is a London institution too. And when it bears the motto Omnia Omnibus Ubique (All Things for All People, Everywhere), can it really be such a bad place?
The first thing to whack you around the chops as you walk in is the Egyptian Escalator. Since 1998, this meaty bit of ersatz Luxor has formed Harrods's spine. It'd be easy to shrug it off as a pricey piece of Vegas tat (a vain one at that — Al-Fayed's face is resembled in some of the busts), but that's missing the point. All looming sphinxes with headdresses aglow, pudgy pillars etched with hieroglyphics, and a slow ascent to a celestial ceiling climaxing at the Salon de Parfums — if the sense of theatre doesn't dazzle you, the accumulating cloud of Estée Lauder surely will. Once when we were here, there was an opera singer trilling from a balcony overlooking the escalator; the pure melodrama worked somehow. The escalator also apes those previous times London fell in love with Egypt — after the Battle of the Nile, and again in the 20s — and though it might be no Carreras Cigarette Factory, we're going to say it: this is one of London's great staircases. Any chance of getting one on the tube?
Treat this place as a museum or a cabinet of curiosities, and it can be a hoot.

From the escalator you can splinter off and explore 4.5 acres of retail space, over seven floors and 330 departments, each offering up its own kind of lavish loopiness. In the Millionaire Gallery — presumably called because it sells stuff for the person who has everything — Marilyn Monroe's autograph is on sale for £16,000, Gandhi's for £25,000. Further exploration around Harrods's upper decks reveals a silver plated Millennium Falcon flash drive, BB King's guitar, and a box of six Christmas crackers for £499 (the socks stuffed inside may be cashmere but they're still socks).
The madness continues in a Buckingham Palace department (relations must have thawed since Al-Fayed sold up in 2010), where there are official Palace towels and room scent. The royal connections don't stop there of course; Harrods, has not one but two memorials to Diana and Dodi. At the time, they were an eerie touch — they're still eerie now — but have melted into the fabric of the building, part of its nuts history.
Harrods is a slice of London's history in its own right; Charles William Stephens's consumerist palace was built after the previous one on this spot burned down in 1883. Though the store has almost continually been tarted up, you can still take in many original features; the glazed tiles in the food halls, the lifts with their bulbous 'up' and 'down' lights. And, unlike Selfridge's, you can explore the back staircases with their wrought iron railings — a subtler alternative to that escalator. Here's the thing: treat this place as a museum or a cabinet of curiosities, and it can be a hoot.
Like every museum worth its salt, Harrods has a well-stocked gift shop. The atmosphere here is notably different to anywhere else in the store — less studious, more touchy-feely. That's probably because the people are buying jam and tea towels, rather than pondering whether to blow the daily allowance on Marilyn's autograph. Kat, from Devon, is on holiday in London, and has got herself a few key rings. Why Harrods? "I just heard loads about it, heard it's ridiculously expensive... Would I come again? I want to think yes but maybe when I win the lottery."
She seems typical of the kind of person browsing this part of the store; though lots of tourists here are obviously from abroad, it's surprising how many English accents are floating about. But wherever they come from, visitors are sold on the idea of Harrods, rather than coming to buy anything in particular. That, or they just want a bag emblazoned with the famous logo. And despite these being the best-known plastic bags anywhere, you don't fork out for them here; an assistant tells us that Harrods pays the government for the privilege. Snobby behaviour? Well, when you've bought a £100k Harry Winston watch, having a 5p surcharge bunged on might seem a bit of a liberty.
You can also come to Harrods just to feel a bit special. In a department store like this, staff can run the risk of seeming specious but here they've got it just right (apart maybe from the guy dusting wine bottles — that's a bit much). People greet you randomly, as if they've been expecting you, but then leave you to get on browsing all those products you're never going to buy. The average staff member is also so crushingly beautiful, the briefest stroll through the corridors of 'Shoe Heaven' means you risk having your heart broken five or six times.
When Charles Henry Harrod opened his first store in 1824 — a humble enough drapers on Borough High Street — he could hardly have dreamed the global brand it would one day mushroom into. Harrods may be overpriced, it may be gaudy in places, it sells some right tat, the website may has the poshest drop-down menu ever, it may make enemies with the odd antipodean town, and some of its regulars are probably downright abominable. But it's also a fine London attraction, and won't cost you 15 quid to get in. Come for the madness, stay for the key rings. Then step back onto the tube, and into reality with a jolt.
Last Updated 12 November 2015

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MARK ZUCKERBERG

Mark Zuckerberg is one of the youngest self-made billionaires in the world. The Facebook founder signed the Giving Pledge. He promised to share at least half of his wealth in his lifetime. He has already donated $1.6 billion. Last year, Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla disbursed $25 million to help fight Ebola.


Mark Zuckerberg

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Zuckerberg" redirects here. For other people with the surname, see Zuckerberg (name).
Mark Zuckerberg
Mark Zuckerberg
Zuckerberg in 2014
BornMark Elliot Zuckerberg
May 14, 1984 (age 33)[1]
White Plains, New York, U.S.
ResidencePalo Alto, California, U.S.
OccupationComputer programmer, Internet entrepreneur
Years active2004–present
Known forCo-founder of Facebook
Home townDobbs Ferry, New York, U.S.
SalaryOne-dollar salary[2]
Net worthIncreaseUS$70.1 billion (August 2017)[3]
TitleChairman and CEO of Facebook
Spouse(s)Priscilla Chan (m. 2012)
Children1
RelativesRandi Zuckerberg (sister)
Websitefacebook.com/zuck
Signature
Mark Zuckerberg Signature.svg
Mark Elliot Zuckerberg (born May 14, 1984) is an American computer programmer and Internet entrepreneur. He is a co-founder of Facebook, and currently operates as its chairman and chief executive officer.[4][5] His net worth is estimated to be US$71.8 billion as of July 2017, and he is ranked by Forbes as the fifth richest person in the world.[6][7]
Zuckerberg launched Facebook from his Harvard University dormitory room on February 4, 2004. He was assisted by his college roommates and fellow Harvard students Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Moskovitz, and Chris Hughes.[8] The group then introduced Facebook to other college campuses. Facebook expanded rapidly, reaching one billion users by 2012. Meanwhile, Zuckerberg was involved in various legal disputes brought by others in the group, who claimed a share of the company based upon their involvement during the development phase of Facebook.
In December 2012, Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan announced that over the course of their lives they would give the majority of their wealth to "advancing human potential and promoting equality" in the spirit of The Giving Pledge.[9] On December 1, 2015, they announced they would eventually give 99 percent of their Facebook shares (worth about US$45 billion at the time) to the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.[10][11]
Since 2010, Time magazine has named Zuckerberg among the 100 wealthiest and most influential people in the world as a part of its Person of the Year award.[12][13][14] In December 2016, Zuckerberg was ranked 10th on Forbes list of The World's Most Powerful People.[15]
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LI KA-SHING

Li Ka-shing is a Hong Kong business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. He is one of the richest men in Asia. The Li Ka-shing Foundation supports education, healthcare, culture, and community-related causes. Li is regarded as one of Asia’s most generous philanthropists after having donated $1.2 billion

Li Ka-shing

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  (Redirected from Li ka-shing)
This article is about the founder of Cheung Kong Holdings. For the vice-chairman of Henderson Land Development, see Martin Lee Ka Shing.
This is a Chinese name; the family name is Li.
The Honourable
Sir Ka-shing Li
李嘉誠 爵士
GBM KBE JP
Li Ka Shing.jpg
Li Ka-shing in September 2010
Native name李嘉誠
Born29 July 1928 (age 89)
Chaozhou, Guangdong, China
CitizenshipHong Kong, China
Canada
EducationHigh school dropout[1]
OccupationChairman of CK Hutchison Holdings
Chairman of CK Property Holdings
Chairman of Li Ka Shing Foundation
Net worthIncreaseUS$34.0 billion (August 2017)[2]
Spouse(s)Chong Yuet Ming (m. 1963;d. 1990)
ChildrenVictor Li
Richard Li
AwardsJustice of the Peace (1981)
LL.D. (1986)
D. SSc (1994)
Li Ka-shing
Traditional Chinese李嘉誠
Simplified Chinese李嘉诚
Sir Ka-shing Li, GBM, KBE,[3] JP (born 29 July 1928 in Chaozhou, China)[4][5] is a Hong Kong business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. According to Forbes, as of August 2017 Li is the 4th richest person in Asia, with an estimated net worth of US$34.0 billion.[6][7][8] He is currently the chairman of the board for CK Hutchison Holdings; through it, he is the world's leading port investor, developer, and operator, and the largest health and beauty retailer in Asia and Europe.[9]
Li is one of the most influential entrepreneurs in Asia, presiding a business empire with a diverse portfolio of businesses from a wide array of industries, including transportation, real estate, financial services, retail, and energy and utilities.[10] His conglomerate company Cheung Kong Holdings is influential in many sectors of the Hong Kong economy and makes up 4% of the aggregate market capitalisation of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.[11]Forbes Magazine and the Forbes family honoured Li Ka-shing with the first ever "Malcolm S. Forbes Lifetime Achievement Award" on 5 September 2006, in Singapore.[12] In spite of his wealth, Li has cultivated a reputation for leading a frugal no-frills lifestyle, and is known to wear simple black dress shoes and an inexpensive Seiko wristwatch. He continues to live in the same house as he has for decades, which has now become one of the most expensive districts in Hong Kong, Deep Water Bay in Hong Kong Island. Li is also regarded as one of Asia's most generous philanthropists, donating over US$2.56 billion to charity and other various philanthropic causes.[13] Li is often referred to as "Superman" in Hong Kong because of his business prowess.[14][15]
Li Ka-shing was born in Chaozhou in Guangdong province, China, in 1928 to Teochew parents. Due to his father's death, he was forced to leave school before the age of 15 and found a job in a plastics trading company where he worked 16 hours a day. In 1950 he started his own company, Cheung Kong Industries.[16] From manufacturing plastics, Li developed his company into a leading real estate investment company in Hong Kong that was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 1971. Cheung Kong expanded by acquiring Hutchison Whampoa and Hongkong Electric Holdings Limited in 1979 and 1985 respectively.[17]


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JON HUNTSMAN SR

Jon Huntsman Sr. is the founder of Huntsman Chemical Corporation, the largest manufacturer of polystyrene in the United States. Huntsman plastics are used in a wide variety of familiar objects, including burger containers. Huntsman’s philanthropic giving reached $1.2 billion and focus on the areas of cancer research. He signed the Giving Pledge, a campaign led by Warren Buffett and Bill Gates, to encourage the wealthiest people to make a commitment to give most of their wealth to philanthropic causes.

Jon Huntsman Sr.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For Huntsman's son, former governor, ambassador and 2012 Republican presidential candidate, see Jon Huntsman Jr.
Jon M. Huntsman, Sr.
Jon Huntsman Sr 2004 Huntsman Award Ceremony.jpg
Jon Huntsman 2004, at Chemical Heritage Foundation
BornJon Meade Huntsman
June 21, 1937 (age 80)
Blackfoot, Idaho, U.S.
ResidenceSalt Lake City, Utah, U.S.
Alma materWharton School of the University of Pennsylvania (BS)
University of Southern CaliforniaMarshall School of Business(MBA), 13 honorary doctorate degrees
OccupationFounder & Chairman, Huntsman Corporation
Net worthUS$3.0 billion (1998)[1]
Spouse(s)Karen Haight
Children9
RelativesJon (son), Peter (son), Christina (daughter), Kathleen (daughter), David (son), Paul (son), James (son), Jennifer (daughter), Mark (son)
AwardsOthmer Gold Medal (2004), Bower Award from the Franklin Institute (2015), Armenia's Medal of Honor (1999), Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy Award (2015)
Jon Meade Huntsman Sr. (born June 21, 1937) is an American businessman and philanthropist. He is the founder and executive chairman of Huntsman Corporation, a global manufacturer and marketer of specialty chemicals. Huntsman plastics are used in a wide variety of familiar objects, including (formerly) McDonald's clamshell burger containers.[2] Huntsman Corporation also manufactures a wide variety of organic and inorganic chemicals that include polyurethanes, textiles, and pigments.[3] Huntsman's philanthropic giving exceeds $1.5 billion, focusing on areas of cancer research, programs at various universities, and aid to Armenia.

Early life and education[edit]

Jon Meade Huntsman was born in Blackfoot, Idaho. His mother, Sarah Kathleen (née Robison), was a homemaker, and his father, Alonzo Blaine Huntsman, was an educator.[4] In 1950 the family moved to Palo Alto, California, where Alonzo pursued graduate studies at Stanford University, earning an M.A. and Ed.D. He then became a superintendent of schools in the Los Altos, California district.
Jon Huntsman attended Palo Alto High School, where he became student body president. He was recruited by Harold Zellerbach, chairman of Crown-Zellerbach Paper Company, to attend the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania on a Zellerbach scholarship.[5] He graduated from Wharton in the spring of 1959, a brother of the Sigma Chi fraternity.[6]
Huntsman married Karen Haight, daughter of David B. Haight, in June 1959. Both are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or LDS Church. In July 1959, Huntsman left to serve for two years in the U.S. Navy as a U.S. Naval Gunnery Officer. He subsequently earned an MBA from the University of Southern California's Marshall School of Business.
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