“L’Italia è l’unico paese al mondo dove è nata prima la cultura e poi la nazione” – “Italy is the only country in the world where first culture was born, and then the nation.”

🇮🇹 🇮🇹 🇮🇹

I love this quote from the great Roberto Benigni (you’ll remember him from La Vita è Bella), because Italy truly is a very young country with thousands of years of culture. In 1946, both men and women voted in a national referendum and by a relatively slim majority (54%), the monarchy was voted out (and the Savoy family was exiled), and a new Republic was born.

Should you find yourselves in Rome today, you will see (and hear!) the Frecce Tricolori of the Italian Air Force flying over the city blowing green, white, and red smoke behind them. All over the peninsula, the tricolore (tricolour 🇮🇹) flag will fly, and various parades and ceremonies will take place (but none so grand as in the capital, ovviamente).