Italy: Exploring sun-splashed Venice's city squares

I liked going out in the relative cool of the early morning, getting a newspaper, having my first cappuccino at the Bar all'Orologio and watching one of the last authentic neighborhoods in Venice come to life. In the last several decades, rising real estate prices have driven residents out; the population dropped from 171,000 in 1951 to fewer than 62,000 in 2006, leaving the city a tourist ghetto.

But you wouldn't know it in this campo, where I watched men with briefcases hurrying to work. Old women pushing shopping carts quarreled at the vegetable stand. Finally, the tourists started coming out, studying maps until they got the idea of looking up at the church.

It is one of the most companionable in Venice, with two main facades, one facing the canal, the other overlooking the campo where tourists enter. As the interior restoration proceeds, visitors can watch workers on ladders scour stone moldings and chip away old paint.

An Italian villa insists on food that's authentic and local

When Giovanna Grado decided to oversee the restoration of the abandoned 16th-century villa her family acquired years ago in Tuscany, her first thought was, "This is a nightmare!" But there was one aspect of the final objective – to make it an attractive destination for tourists – that was definite in her plans: "The food had to be authentic."

So along with period-accurate furnishings, traditional gardens, and renovations that had to conform to the property's status as a national monument, Ms. Grado insisted that, "We serve only traditional meals using local ingredients." To accomplish this, she tracked down Giuseppe Scarpellini, who, as a young man, had been to culinary arts schools during the winters and trained in hotel restaurants in the summers, but wanted to settle where his family still lives. And she engaged him to be resident chef at the Buonvisi Estate.

"It was my grandmother who showed me how to cook the first time," the shy Mr. Scarpellini observed as he navigated his way around the imposing wooden island at the center of the large kitchen at the back of the villa.

Manchester rents top Rome

Knight Frank's global real estate market annual review reveals that prime office rents in Manchester are now £32 a sq ft, making it the 17th most expensive office address in the world - behind Moscow, London and Paris, but ahead of Rome, Sydney and Los Angeles.

David Porter, head of north west commercial property at Knight Frank in Manchester, said: "These statistics underline the city's high profile and its draw to inward investors. Manchester's culture and lifestyle have proved to be extremely successful in attracting a young yet highly skilled population, putting it on a par with major capital cities across the world."

Italian Businessman Arrested In Manhattan Real Estate Scheme

An Italian businessman once romantically-linked to actress Anne Hathaway was arrested today on charges he duped investors in a real estate scheme.

Manhattan prosecutors say Raffaello Follieri portrayed himself as being the Vatican's representative in the United States, and used that status to obtain real estate at below-market prices, as well as money from investors, including millions from a California based equity firm.

He then allegedly spent the money on private flights and extravagant gifts for friends and family.