In Other Italy News: Vatican Fan Of Dylan; Gelato Museum And Keeping The Sistine Chapel Open To The Public

The Vatican likes Dylan's latest album Tempest: "It's like biting into a baked cake made of excellent confection," said a review in Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano.

Always connecting everything to food.

Did I tell you the story of how I sipped espresso exclusive to the Vatican? I visited the SIAL in Paris in 2004 trying my hand at importing. I visited many company booths among them coffee producers. One of them was the exclusive distributor to the Vatican. It was, not surprisingly, outstanding. I forget the name of the company but they and Pellini remain the best coffee I've had, like, ever.

You can eat a lot of it because there's much less fat content than North American ice-cream - and less preservatives and sugar too given its usually made fresh and locally.

More proof Italy takes food more seriously than anyone else?

The gelato museum in Bologna (home of many communists, ahem), opens.

I swear. The gelato in Italy is beyond fucking great. A few Italian immigrants from Montreal have taken upon themselves to go back to the motherland to learn the art and bring it here. Montreal now has a few legitimate gelato makers. Of course, some places and companies shamelessly steal the "gelato" name only to sell crap.

Finally, closing or restricting access to The Sistine Chapel would be unfortunate, if not a loss for humanity.

"...Limiting the number of tourists accessing the Vatican Museum where the world-renowned Sistine Chapel is located would be unthinkable, according to Vatican Museums Director Antonio Paolucci...."

Depriving someone of its beauty would be a crime against humanism. All I know is when I walked into the chapel and looked up, the instant silence was deafening. It's just one of those majestic works of art that consumes people's thoughts and imagination. We knew we were in the presence of a remarkable achievement.