Funny Facts About Italy

1) There’s only one Silvio Berlusconi. Every comedian’s favorite ex Prime Minister has been accused of many things in his time, including mafia collusion, false accounting, tax fraud, corruption, fraternizing with prostitutes and bribery of police officers. But in our opinion Silvio’s finest moment was when he (allegedly) promised to use his influence to take care of his ‘friend’, 18 year-old Noemi Letizia’s career, whether it was a politician or a showgirl that she decided to become. Not a choice often made by our politicians I suspect!

2) The verb ‘Scoraggiare’ in Italian means to discourage. Make sure you pronounce that middle ‘a’ clearly though. Apparently it is common for the word to be interpreted as ‘Scoreggiare’ … which means to break wind!

3) There are over 140 types of pasta in Italy. There’s the bow-tie one, the swirly one …err… alphabeti spaghetti. That’s 3 anyway.

4) Given the huge choice of pasta, Italians eat an average of 25 kg of the stuff every year. That’s the same weight as 400 Mars Bars, 200 apples or 50,000 peanuts! I know which I would rather have … mmmm peanuts. That’s enough to make your own peanut beach. Never been done. Yes I am.

5) Many of the world’s best artists were Italian. Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello, Raphael … heroes in a half-shell, TURTLE POWER.

6) The world’s oldest operating bank is based in Italy. The Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena has been operating since 1472. I wonder how many times they have had to be bailed out by the taxpayer in that time?! Yeah … we do politics too.

7) The thermometer was an Italian invention. Well done to you, it’s a very useful instrument. What I want to know is who invented the practice of sticking them, you know, up ‘there’? I’ve never been able to look a doctor in the eye since that horrific day.  A bit of warning at least, is that too much to ask?

8) The largest Christian church in the world is St Peter’s Balisca in Rome. It took 120 years to build … which is slightly shorter and much less painful than the priest’s sermon at my cousins wedding last year.

9) Many of the finest Hollywood actors come from Italian families. Amazing talents like De Niro, Pacino, DiCaprio, all have Italian roots. It has been an honor to watch these great men in action over the years. Sylvester Stallone is also of Italian descent. He is also an actor.

10) Some of the finest sports cars in the world are Italian. Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati, Bugatti …. MarioKart.

We hope you enjoyed those, please browse around the rest of the site where we have lots more funny facts for you to enjoy!