Out and about in Italy

A request from a friend to recommend what to see in a weekend in Florence. This is impossible of course - you could spend a month in the Uffizi galleries alone and still leave frustrated that you didn’t exhaust the Tintorettos but … here goes.

The Uffizi is the biggie of course, one of the most famous museums/galleries on planet art it was started for Florentine ruler Cosimo I de Medici in 1560. The ‘U’ shaped structure was the admin centre offices (’uffizi’) for the Medicis. Succeeding generations added to the family art collection, which was eventually bequeathed in perpetuity to the good folk of Florence on condition the collection never left town. The 19th century saw the shifting of many of the statues to the Bargello and other pieces to the Museo Archeologico. That left just the 45 rooms-worth. No kidding, we have whole rooms given over to Tintoretto, a room for Rembrandt, one for Veronese, another for Leonardo, another for Flemish and German painting, another for the Siena school of the 14th century. Botticelli gets five rooms.

Next the Bargello, a former prison and barracks and now the home to Italy’s biggest collection of Renaissance and Gothic sculpture. We have Donatello’s David, Benvenuto Cellini’s bust of Cosimo I, lots from assorted Della Robbias and some very nice pieces by the ubiquitous Michelangelo, including Pitto Tondo and Bacchus.

Are you keeping up? That wasn’t the sculpture of David of course. That’s at the other Florentine heavyweight, the Accademia (Accademia di Belle Arti Firenze. Here stands Michelangelo’s David - removed from its position outside where it became at risk from pollution and vandalism. As well as what is probably the most famous statue going, there are some other nice pieces by Michelangelo, a good focus on major Florentine artists from the 15th and 16th centuries - the likes of Sandro Botticelli, Paolo UccelloAndrea del Sarto and Domenico Ghirlandaio.

Some places to stay in central Florence, handy for the Accademia, Uffizi and Bargello.

Everyone always thinks hotels for Florence but an apartment can actually make more sense (affordable, room, kitchen etc). If you do want a hotel then try Hotel Palazzo Ognissanti is in downtown Florence, on corner of Borgo Ognissanto and via Maso Finiguerra. Handy, comfortable and not too expensive.

Modena, Emilia-Romagna

One of the main staging posts on the Via Emilia, the ancient road that stretches out over this part of northern Italy, and Modena jealously asserts its distinctiveness from neighbouring Bologna. Read the history and you see why. These were (sometimes) independent fiefdoms vying for influence and power back in the Middle Ages (though they’re MUCH older than that of course) and the rivalry persists to this day.

A brief history of Modena

Originally an Iron Age settlement, then settled by the Ligurian tribes and the Etruscans and Gauls. Besieged during Hannibal’s invasion of Italy in 218BC. A military base for Marcus Aemilius Lepidus around 177BC. Rebuilt, it became an important crossing point on the Via Aemilia and thence to Verona. In Roman times called Mutina, and besieged by Pompey in 78BC, then by Marc Antony in 44BC. Escaped sacking by Attila the Hun (hidden by a fog apparently provided, miraculously, by St Germanius, patron saint and bishop of the town). Sadly Germanius let Modena down in the seventh century, when a flood inundated the town; relocated to Cittanova to the north (the village is still there) but rebuilt in ninth century by Bishop Ludovicus. Passed to Matilda of Tuscany, then a free comune from 12th century.

Modena was the seat of the Dukes of Este after the family lost Ferrara to the Pope in 1598. The Estes built most of the major buildings of the city centre.

Modern Modena

Modena now is most famous for the motor industry. This is the home of Ferrari, Lamborghini and Maserarati and Se Tomaso, as well as a host of lesser-known (to the layman if not to Jeremy Clarkson) suppliers of technical stuff to the manufacturers of big, red, fast Italian cars.

Modena dubs itself ‘the spiritual capital’ of Emilia, another poke in the face for bigger Bologna. It has a thriving industrial base, with ceramics and knitwear big employers along with the car business. Modena also produces Italy’s best balsamic vinegar - there is of course a Balsamico Festival, held each May. Other claims to fame? The Cathedral is reckoned the best Romanesque building in Italy, and has a superb West facade; it’s protected by UNESCO. This is in a very fine medieval centre, a tight concentric ring of streets, with most of the historic sights unsurprisingly. At the very heart is the main square, the Piazza Grande.

There are some terrific sights to satisfy your cultural hunger. More mundanely, like anywhere in Emilia-Romagna, Modena is a great place to eat. Pork is big, try the ciccioli (pork scratchings/rinds). Zampone are pig’s trotters filled with minced meat, cotechino is pork mince inside a bladder. Anyone mention haggis?

Famous Modenese include Luciano Pavarotti, who frequently brings his now declining voice to town to flog a few arias into submission. And small boys who love football stickers will be pleased to know that Modena is the home of Panini!

Main sights in Modena

• Palazzo Communale/Communal Palace
• Torre della Ghirlandina
• Cathedral of Modena
• Church of S. Giovanni (and a number of other fine medieval churches and early modern churches
• Palazzo Ducale
• Museums Palace/Palazzo dei Musei containing the following museums: Museo d’Arte Medievale e Moderna e Etnologia, Estense Gallery and Library, Museum of Medieval and Modern Art, Risorgimento Museum and others.
• The motor museums for Ducati and Ferrari.

Some handy links

• The Comune of Modena (local council)
• A good selection of Emilia-Romagna hotels.
• Holiday villas and apartments in and around Modena.

Not on the usual tourist trail, and you may not be expecting to find anything of interest in the area around Modena (think furniture superstores and factories, interspersed with neglected farmsteads); the sort of sub-rural sprawl the Italians sadly do so well. However, if you can make a diversion for Carpi (region: Emilia-Romagna, province Modena (MO)) then do. Piaaza dei Martiri (square of the martyrs) is the town square and the largest in Emilia-Romagna. There is the 16th century Castello del Pio, with a splendid jumble of turrets and towers - look within and you’ll find the Museo al Deportato. The occuping German forces during the Second World War held prisoners at a camp in Fossoli, 6km north of here, before deporting them to the concentration camps. The camp huts are still standing in a field should you wish to visit, though are in a state of some dilapidation. Moving, and well worth a diversion from the usual tourist trail.

The red-brick Portico Lungo dates from the 16th century, and boasts some good clothes shops. There is the Teatro Comunale and the renaissance cathedral, which boasts some Baroque flourishes. You’ll find an hourly train service back to Modena.

You’ll find a good selection of holiday accommodation in and around Modena here, with Emilia-Romagna hotels here.

Lamezia Terme, on the Tyrrhenian Coast of Calabria, is a fairly recent creation, the comune being founded in 1968, with the pulling together of Nicastro, Sant’Eufemia Lamezia and Sambiase. The unpopular and controversial plan was to create a stronger economic hub, to regenerate an area typical of the ‘Mezzogiorno’, the south mired in crime, neglect by central government and antique social structures. For a brilliant pen picture of the south (though not this exact area) read Christ Stopped at Eboli by Carlo Levi - he was exiled to Basilicata during the Fascist era.

And Mussolini had his finger in a few grand plans for Lamezia, including largely building the modern Sant’Eufemia on a dried-out marsh. The ambitious scheme to create a new supercity would have appealed to Il Duce perhaps. The constituent elements had a much older history.

Sanbiase was built around the tenth century around the monastery of St Blaise. A major religious centre, now just five (just five!) remain.

Sant’ Eufemia was moved onto the hill after the 1638 earthquake - the original town was lower, the Greek Terina. Sights here include the ruined Castle (probably Norman), the Bastion of the Knights of Malta (a superbly preserved watchtower, massive and impregnable). This is only one of several watchtowers in this part of Calabria. There is the Cistercian Abbey of Santa Maria di Corazzo, and the ninth century Abbey of 40 Martyrs (still going). Check out also the Diocesan Museum.

Nicastro dates from the ninth century. Neo Castrum was the ‘new castle’ created by the Byzantine rulers. The Norman ruler Robert Guiscard created the Benedictine Abbey of Sant’Eufemia in 1062. Suffered a major earthquake in 1638, ruining the abbey, killing more than 100 people. Nicastro has, like so much of the Mezzogiorno, depopulated furiously during the late 1800s and early 1900s, accelerating after WW2. There are probably more Calabrese from this area in New York than in Catanzaro province.

And that 1968 reorganisation? It did generation huge wealth … for the local mafia or ‘Ndrangheta. Half-finished building schemes, huge sums of Italian and EU cash disappear into the pockets of organised crime. We’re not sure what the Italian is for ‘la plus ca change…’ but you get the picture.

As ever though, you are unlikely to see it, unless you plan to initiate a major civil engineering task into your family vacation. Calabria is bleak, sometimes medieval in apect, sparsely populated and quite beautiful. You have miles of unspoiled coastline (and some which is quite spectacularly spoiled too, but it’s easy to avoid), three coasts in easy reach (Italy’s toe is narrow at this point), and stunning hinterland in the Sila Massif. Check out the Tropea Promontory, white sand and blue waters. Check out the lovely old town in Cosenza just north of here. Nearby too you have great hill walking and, believe it or not, skiing. Also check out the Albanian villages (impenetrable dialect) the relic of centuries of migration from across the Adriatic: San Demetrio Corone is the most interesting.

Things to know about Lamezia Terme

• The site of Calabria’s main airport, largely summer only.
• Nocera Tirinese, village near Lamezia: now you’re really in the south. The Easter Procession through the streets sees the celebrants flagellating themselves until they run with blood. You won’t get that at St Edmund’s in Beckenham.
• Sant-Eufemia-Lamezia is rail and road hub for Catanzaro and Ionian Coast. Superb and slightly scary viaduct carries the Autodstrada del Sole above the Tropea Promontory. Breathtaking.
• 35km from Catanzaro, 70km from Cosenza, 135km from Reggio Calabria on the Piana di Sant’Eufemia Plain.

Find hotels in Calabria here.

Many people skip right past this bit of Calabria on their way down to Reggio di Calabria and across to Sicily. And if you’re to accept the Rough Guide to Italy at face value you’ll see why. ‘A crowded, overdeveloped, traffic-ridden city, within a short ride of some five-star beaches, but otherwise best avoided’. Ouch! But there is more, so let’s explore.

Where is Catanzaro?

Catanzaro’s the regional capital of Calabria. Set in the foothills of the Sila Massif, the town has fantastic views out to sea. The city was founded as a strategic base by Byzantium in the ninth century, controlling as it does the mountain passes between the Ionian and Tyrrhenian Seas. Look at a map of Italy and you’ll see how narrow Calabria and Italy are at this point. Traditionally a silk town (the worms were bred here) from the early Middle Ages it was the de facto linen and lace capital of the world.

Strategic as it is, the town is set on an escarpment, split down the middle by the precipitous Fiumarella Valley. The town halves of the town are connected by an enormous concrete and steel bridge. This Viadotto Morandi, one of the highest in Europe, was built in 1960 to a design by Riccardo Morandi. The old town was developed in the Byzantine era on three hills: St Trifone/St Rocco, Episcopate and St John’s Hill.

So, by the late Middle Ages, Catanzaro was a thriving, prosperous town, its silk heading out from the port of Reggio Calabria to all over Europe. Its heyday was ended with the cataclysmic earthquake of 1783, destroying historic palazzi, churches and much of the population. Another quake in 1832 razed the remainder of the old town.

Useful links include the Comune di Catanzaro. Okay, we admit we got about as far from the traditional Calabria as you can in our choice of hotel, staying in the Holiday Inn Cosenza around 20 miles north-west of Catanzaro. But you know, air con, minibar, good internet connection, the feeling that you could be in a Holiday Inn anywhere from Lisbon to Lewisham … but they do do local food. Greek influenced, aubergine, lamb etc.

Things to see and do in Catanzaro

• That bridge: the Viadotto Morandi is amazing.
• The Norman castle built by Roberto il Guidscardo. Once you’ve scaled the hill gaze onto the Ionian Sea and down onto the town. Stunning.
• Some terrific churches, inlcuding the Chiesa d’Osservanza, Chiesa di Rosario and Chiesa San Giovanni.
• Local feste include A Naca (Good Friday), July’s Feast of the Sailor’s Madonna and the Catanzaro produce markets during the first days of August.
• Catanzaro Lido: the seaside area of the town. Good for swimming, diving and sailing.
• Caraffa: one of the Albanian villages typical of the region. No matter how much you’ve been practising your Italian, we challenge you to understand the dialect.

Between Europe and Africa

It never ceases to surprise us looking at a map of Sicily. Agrigento, the ancient town that sits at the centre of Sicily’s long sweep of south-western coast, is about as close to North Africa as it is to the Italian mainland. (Haouaria in Tunisia and Reggio di Calabria, the point at which Italy ‘kicks’ Sicily respectively). The only spots closer to Africa are Pantelleria, and the Italian archipelago of the Pelagie Islands (Lampedusa and Linosa) but more of those in another post.

Agrigento town tends to get sidelined a little, an adjunct to the Greek remains that stretch out along a ridge overlooking the sea. That’s rather a shame, though understandable. Agrigento was a capital of Magna Grecia (Greater Greece): what we nowadays think of Ancient Greece was largely outside it for much of its history, a civilisation and culture sprawling around the Mediterranean. Let’s look at some of that history first before finding out what happens in the modern Agrigento.

The founding of Agrigento

The city of Akragas was founded in 581BC by colonists from Gela and Rhodes. This was a good strategic point, between the rivers of Hypsas and Akragas (and thus was fertile too). A huge defensive wall was built around the town, which thus commanded this stretch of the Med. A lower ridge formed the southern wall of the city, and here the city built their temples during the fifth century BC. This is what is today known as the Valley of the Temples or ‘Valle dei Templi’. You can drive, or take the bus, down from the town to this area. Sights include the Tempio della Concordia, with great views to the city and the sea. There is the Tempio di Ercole (Temple of Hercules) and the Tempio di Giunone (Hera). These remains in the eastern part are often remarkably well preserved. Even the destruction is well preserved, as evidenced by the areas of red on the stonework of the Hera Temple, probably scorching from the sacking of Arakagas by Carthage in 406BC.

The western zone, less well preserved, includes the Tempio di Giove (Zeus or Jove; be sure to take your pocket Greek Mythology with you); this was the largest Doric temple ever made, but was wrecked by the Carthaginians before it was finished. Beware the Tempio dei Dioscuri (Castor and Pollux) which is actually a 19th century jigsaw, constructed from odd bits of masonry. Check out the Museo Nazionale Archeologico, very good, and the Hellenistic-Roman quarter, with houses dating from the fifth century AD and before. This whole area is now a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Rise and fall of Arkagas

Arkagas reached its height under the tyrants Theron and Phalaris in the sixth century. Theron’s son was ousted and the city became a democracy. Managing to remain neutral in the war between Athens and Syracuse, it fell to Carthage in 406BC. It later became a Roman province and then part of the Byzantine empire. The town shifted up the hill to its present position sometime before the first millennium, probably as a refuge from coastal raids by the Berbers and Saracens. The modern name comes from the Saracen ‘Kerkent’, which was transformed into Sicilian as Girgenti. It only became Agrigento in 1927, when Mussolini ‘Italianised’ the old name.

Modern Agrigento

The modern town is in fact medieval and a delight. With little stepped streets, tatty old palazzos and some fine old churches, you can gaze down from here onto the Valley of the Temples. The main street is Via Atenea, and check out the church of Santa Maria dei Greci, built over a Greek temple from the fifth century BC. The town does have a certain notoriety, because of its Mafia connections, but that’s unlikely to ever cross your radar. Enjoy the harbour, the magnificent floodlit night view of the Valley of the Temples, and the enjoyable passegiata around the three, interlocking squares that form the heart of the town: Piazza Aldo Moro, Piazza Marconi and Piazza Victor Emanuele II.

Things to see in and near Agrigento

Check out Palma di Montechiaro, a medieval fortress the southern coast of Sicily very close to the town, and Santo Spirito Abbey, from 1260. Agrigento’s duomo or cathedral is the Church of San Nicola, an example of 11th century Sicilian vernacular. The Civic Museum in Piazza del Municipio has a good collection of Sicilian and Italian art from the Middle Ages to 18th century. Pirandello (1934 Nobel Prize for Literature) was born here (his house is south of Agrigento, with manuscripts, family photos and his grave in the nearby woods. During the summer you may catch the week-long Feste of San Calogero, ‘the Black Saint’, with music and performance. There’s also a folk feste and music and wine sagra - some great Sicilian vintages.

We stayed at at Agrigento’s Dioscuri Bay Palace Hotel. A fabulous location, rather luxurious, four stars, big swimming pool right by the ocean, and great views down onto the Valley of the Temples.

Blackpool on the Adriatic?

Did we hear somebody say Blackpool? That’s a bit unfair to the Emilia-Romagna seaside town of Rimini - it’s a bit less sleazy and certainly less scruffy than the English resort, though the emphasis on brash, family fun does draw comparisons. You will of course encounter considerably better weather and food! This is where Italians go for their summer holidays, often going back to the same hotel or pensione year after year. That’s why you must book. There may be hundreds of hotels (mostly closed in winter) but they fill up. Don’t go in August, it’s too hot and too crowded; try instead to hit the edges of the season, in June/July. Rimini does have a racy side, inevitably, with gay and straight (and transsexual) prostitutes plying their trade in the town at night. Not much danger though for civilians, and personal assaults are much lower in Italy than in the UK or US.

Where it is

In the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna, on the Adriatic coast, between the Rivers Marecchia and Ausa. Originally a fishing town, now tourism central. This is the ‘Adriatic Riviera’. An ancient town, (inhabitants include the Umbri and Etruscans) it was a junction between the early Via Flaminia and Via Aemilia roads that ran the length and breadth of Italy. Invaded by the Gauls in the 6th century BC, it was retaken by the Umbri before falling to Rome in 263BC. A seat of emperors Augustus and Hadrian, the Romans built major monuments including the Arch of Augustus, Amphitheatre and Tiberius’s Bridge. An early seat of Christianity in late Roman times, it was sacked by the Goths in 493, then by Byzantium and the Lombards. Medieval battles between the rival Ansidei and Gambacari clans impoverished the city, but it became a religious centre in late medieval times - a number of convents, churches and religious orders were established here from the 14th century. High art followed, with Giotto inspiring the School of Rimini in the 1300s.

The Malatesta family ruled during the Middle Ages and early Renaissance, with colourful characters including Sigismondo Malatesta, a skilled general but excommunicated by Pius II (he called Malatesta a devil worshipper) for numerous crimes including rape and incest. Early modern times sees Rimini as a minor town of the Papal States (16th century). The town suffered centuries of misfortune (invasion, earthquake, famine, flood and pirate attacks from the Adriatic). The once grand town became more practically minded, a fishing centre (hence the lighthouse and fish market constructed during the 18th century). Napoleon came through in 1797, his troops creating havoc as ever. In 1860, Rimini and Romagna region became part of the new Kingdom of Italy. The first bathing establishment had been built in 1843 and this was the real way forward for Rimini - tourism. The Kursaal (not to be confused with Southend on Sea) hosted cultural and social gatherings, and the Grand Hotel was built at the turn of the 1900s. Riven by bombing during World War II the city has been almost totally rebuilt. Today it is a fun seaside city on the Adriatic.

Useful Information on Rimini

• Rail station in centre of town, on Piazzale Cesare. There are six other railway stations.
• Famous scions include Federico Fellini, Pietro Aron, Hugo Pratt and Francesca da Rimini.
• Served by the Federico Fellini International Airport, airport of Rimini and San Marino.
• Bus station central on Via Clementi
• Main tourist office at Piazza Federico Fellini 3
• Orange tickets from tobacconist or newsagent gives 24 hours’ unlimited travel in and around Rimini.
• Centro di Informazione Comunale, in the Municipio on Piazza Cavour, has information on cultural events (much in English).
• Rimini has 1600 hotels, but it can be hard to find a room. Check Rimini hotel accommodation at www.ahotelinitaly.com.
• The town’s website is at http://www.comune.rimini.it/. Brush up on your Italian first though.
• The tourist board is at http://www.riminiturismo.it/

Essential things to see and do in Rimini

• Arco Augusto and Ponte Tiberio (on southern and north edges of centro storico respectively), and the Antifeatro are Rimini’s most important Roman relics.
• Piazza Tre Martiri and Piazza Cavour (central) are two main squares (piazze). Cavour has statue of Pope Paul V and the gothic Palazzo del Podesta.
• The Old Fish Market (now antiques stalls) opposite Piazza Cavour.
  Museo della Citta (town museum) at Via L Tonini 1, http://www.comune.rimini.it/servizi/comune/cultura/museodellacitta/, has paintings from 14th to 19th century, including Giovanni Bellini’s pieta.
• Tempio Malatestiano: effectively the town’s cathedral (or duomo). Built by Malatesta’s Guelph family. A masterwork of the Italian Renaissance, grotesque and ornate, a personal chapel for ‘most evil man in Italy’ Sigismondo Malatesta, who was excommunicated by Pius II (he called Malatesta a devil worshipper) for numerous crimes including rape and incest.
• Castel Sismondo/Rocca Malatestiana, later used as a prison.
  Eating on the seafront: loads of good pizza places; snack bars on Via Garibaldi (try the delicious piadina flatbread.)
• Clubbing: mainly on the seafront. Lots of all-night clubs, and Rimini has a thriving gay and transsexual scene. Riccione (the Adriatic Ibiza) has lots of techno and house clubs.
• San Marino: head a little way inland to one of Europe’s smallest countries. Supposedly founded in 300AD by a monk fleeing persecution by Emperor Diocletian. Has its own currency, postage stamps and a rare skill in extracting cash from tourists.
• Santarcangelo: inland, a beautiful medieval town with steep streets and an old fortress. See the caves in the hillside, a hiding place for early Christians. In July, the town has its annual festival of music, plays, cirucs and art.
• The countryside: the hinterland of Rimini has hilltop villages and castles. See the spectacular San Leo fortress, 15 miles from town, with buses leaving the rail station twice daily.
• The passegiata: From main shopping street of town centre, the Corso, which begins at the Arco D’Augosto, to Piazza Tre Martiri, (once the forum). Turn left down Via Soardi to the castle of Rocca Malatesta. Enter Piazza Cavour (cafes and old fish market) and follow the Corso to Ponte di Tiberio, and past the English-style park.
• The feste: Sagra Musicale begins in late August, a month-long run of classical concerts. And in spring, Rimini hosts the world frisbee championships. Really!
• The beach! That’s what Rimini’s all about. Stretch out and tan.

I never say ‘this is a place you’ll never have heard of’ because … who knows. But I’m willing to bet that most people planning a trip to Il Bel Paese would have difficulty finding Trieste on the map and fewer still will be planning a trip there. Pause while you fire up Google Maps and tap in ‘trieste’. You’ll see it’s the bit of Italy that doesn’t really belong; you may even have been unaware that Italy reaches quite that far around the Adriatic. It’s a long way from Sicily and the Mezzogiorno, its neighbours being the Balkan countries (Adriatic Sea to the west, Slovenia everywhere else, and just a short passage of Italy to the rest of Friuli Venezia Giulia, and then west to Venice). This is where ‘the Mediterranean meets the Balkans’, ‘where southern Europe meets mainland’ Europe’, to quote the sometime mayor of Trieste.

Unsurprisingly, the city has been involved in the complex and internicine Balkan infighting over the last centuries. Its heyday was as part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, between 1867 and 1918. World War I had this region as its epicentre of course. The Great War redrew the map of Europe, saw the collapse of the old great powers, and saw Trieste annexed by Italy at the end of the conflict. Once the major seaport of this region, a centre for music and literature, this international crossroads went into sharp decline. The cultural hub of Mitteleuropa, where people spoke Friulian diaclect, German, Venetian, Italian and Slovenian (depending on class and occupation) had and has a real air of Viennese charm, with old coffee houses and Austrian architecture. World War II saw ethnic infighting, massacres and the only German concentration camp on Italian soil. Tito’s unification of Yugoslavia only intensified things - the area was finally carved up between Italy and Yugoslavia in 1954.

Essential sights include the Serbian Orthodox Church of San Spiridone, and the 11th century San Silvestro Basilica. There are Roman remains includining the Arch of Riccardo, the Basilica Forense and the Roman Theatre. Check out the Caves of the Carso plateau. Favourites for us are the cultural links. James Joyce wrote here (having left his punctuation back in Dublin), as did explorer Richard Burton. Check out the local comune website for Trieste (you’ll need Italian).

The arrest of Cesare Battisti in Brazil yesterday added another twist to a story that would strain credulity if contained within one of the thriller writer’s own books. Battisti was certainly involved in the ‘years of lead’ - the internicine and complex terrorist fighting of the 1970s. Think Red Brigades, or in Battisti’s case, the PAC (Armed Proletarians for Communism). There’s an interesting wrap of stories on The Guardian’s site.

Despite his travails in court, ageing cruiseship crooner and occasional international statesman Silvio Berlusconi had something to smile about yesterday. Berlusconi’s company, Italy’s biggest private broadcaster Mediaset, said on Tuesday it expected consolidated operating profit in 2007 to be above last year’s, which was hurt by tough competition in advertising.