Italy

Question: We recently received a registered letter from the Commune of Lucca, Italy, notifying us that we were in violation of "circulating inside a pedestrian area" on May 5, 2011. Because we did not contest the violation immediately, it said, we must be considered guilty. We were to send immediately 123.76 euros, about $152. If we delayed more than 60 days, the fine would increase to about $245. We did visit Lucca on May 5, but we never received a ticket or anything else in writing.

To commemorate the centennial of the beginning of World War I, Dolomite Mountains Ltd. will lead eight-day tours exploring the via ferrata , or iron path,  the network of lines and metal ladders built to aid soldiers as they fought in and around the steep Dolomite peaks of northern Italy. Beginning in Cortina d' Ampezzo, hikers will climb a different via ferrata each day as guides discuss the stories, ruins and remnants of the historic routes among the Dolomites. The hike ends in Alta Badia.

From the Leaning Tower of Pisa to the smiling Mona Lisa, Italy has long distinguished itself with its artistry, innovation and style. With scientists such as Galileo Galilei, artists such as Michelangelo and artist-scientists such as Leonardo da Vinci, Italy has made amazing contributions for a country slightly larger than Arizona. Explore Italian history, art, architecture, music, cuisine and more through the direct links on the Times Launch Point Web site, http://www.latimes.

ROME - At least 27 people drowned Friday  in the Mediterranean Sea after a boat packed with more than 240 would-be migrants capsized south of the Italian island of Lampedusa, scene of another deadly sinking last week. Military aircraft from Italy and Malta dropped inflatable life rafts to scores of people in the water, as ships raced to the site of the accident. An Italian navy spokesman said 221 people were rescued by vessels from both countries, with the injured taken to Lampedusa by helicopter.

We spent four nights at this beautiful agriturismo and winery in Umbria. It has lovely guest apartments, a golf course, swimming pool, tennis courts and a restaurant in the middle of the vineyards. Rates are very reasonable for such a wonderful location, near Lake Trasimeno. It is owned by the daughter of Ferruccio Lamborghini, founder of Automobili Lamborghini. Agriturismo Lamborghini & Golf Club, 1 Soderi di Panicarola, Panicale; 011-39-075-835-0029, http://english.lamborghinionline.it . Rates from about $720 to $1,187 in July and August.

'The Turk in Italy' Where: Los Angeles Opera, Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, downtown L.A. When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 2, 5 and 10; 2 p.m. Feb. 27 and March 13 Tickets: $20 to $270 Information: (213) 972-8001 or http://www.laopera.com

Italians are flocking to see an exhibition in Rome celebrating the 400th anniversary of Caravaggio's death, held in the Scuderie del Quirinale -- the 18th century palace that once housed the papal stables. The exhibit is a stringent choice of just 24 rigidly authenticated works by Michelangelo Merisi, known as Caravaggio, a master of light and dark (chiaroscuro) painting. Caravaggio

THE BEST WAY TO GIGLIO ISLAND, ITALY From LAX, Alitalia offers nonstop service to Rome; Lufthansa, American, British, Delta, U.S. Airways, Swiss, United, Iberia and KLM offer connecting service (change of plane). Restricted roundtrip fares begin at $1,174, including taxes and fees. Drive or take the train to Porto Santo Stefano, where you catch the ferry (www.toremar.it, http://www.maregiglio.it ) to Giglio. Fares from $10. TELEPHONES To call the numbers below from the U.S. dial 011 (the international dialing code)

THE BEST WAY From LAX, connecting service (change of planes) to Naples is offered on Lufthansa and British. Restricted round-trip fares begin at $466, excluding taxes and fees. You then take the hydrofoil or ferry to Capri; prices start about $15, one way. Info: http://www.capri.com/en/ferry-schedule. TELEPHONES To call these numbers from the U.S., dial 011 (international dialing code), 39 (country code for Italy), 081 (the regional code) and the local number. WHERE TO STAY Hotel Punta Tragara, 57 Via Tragara; 837-0844, http://www.hoteltragara.com/eng/hotel.htm . Le Corbusier, one of 20th century's great architects, designed the luxurious villa that is now Hotel Punta Tragara, a stylish boutique hotel with panoramic views of the sea. Perched on a hilltop above the faraglioni , the island's iconic rock formations, Punta Tragara is away from the noise and craziness of central Capri Town.

Prayerful angels carved from oak, grinning terra-cotta cherubs and gold pocket watches with time on their hands. All are stacked on the cobblestones of Arezzo's Piazza Grande. Through the shutters of my hotel window, I watch vendors unload a treasure trove of antiques: gleaming wood dining tables, paintings, pottery, jewelry, copper pots and Murano glass. As dusk throws shadows across the square, I go out to reconnoiter, excited by the thrill of the hunt. Tomorrow, when the fair opens, I will buy a memento of my Tuscan travels — something artful, affordable, Italian.

“I AM LA” could stand for many things -- for example, it could be the proud assertion of an Angeleno, invoking the city's strikingly diverse composition of ethnic cultures. This Saturday, the term “I AM LA” will resonate in Downtown L.A. as the abbreviation of the Italian American Museum of Los Angeles, which is hosting its fifth food and wine festival, “Taste of Italy.” The event is a fundraiser for the in-progress museum, which is nearing the end of a 20-year process working toward building a brick-and-mortar home for its collection.

Italian authorities have arrested a 35-year-old Tunisian with a reported history of human smuggling in last week's deadly sinking of a boat packed with some 500 Africans migrants trying to reach Europe, according to media reports. Khaled Ben Salem was identified by other survivors of the Thursday shipwreck as one of the men who brought the overloaded boat from the Libyan port of Misrata toward Italy, the reports said. The boat caught fire and sank just half a mile off the Italian island of Lampedusa.

ROME -- Italy's former prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, has made a last-minute U-turn on plans to bring down the Italian government, backing premier Enrico Letta in a crucial confidence vote after members of his own party threatened to desert him. In a shocking reversal that could splinter his party and seriously damage his political fortunes, Berlusconi agreed to throw his support behind Letta. The prime minister is trying to pass reforms intended to drag Italy out of its most serious recession since the Second World War. Following last-ditch talks with rebels in his party, the 77-year-old media mogul made a short speech to the Italian Senate shortly before the vote, saying: "We have decided, not without some internal strife, to support the government.

ROME - In a shocking reversal that left his party in disarray and could seriously damage his political fortunes, former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi made a U-turn on plans to bring down the Italian government and force early elections. Berlusconi threw his support behind Premier Enrico Letta in a crucial confidence vote Wednesday after members of his own party threatened to desert him. Letta is trying to pass reforms intended to drag Italy out of its most serious recession since World War II. After last-ditch talks with rebels in his party, the 77-year-old media mogul made a brief speech to the Senate shortly before the vote, saying, "We have decided, not without some internal strife, to support the government.

Renaissance art made in Florence, Italy, more than half a millennium ago wouldn't look the way it does without art and artists working elsewhere in Europe. It's easy to forget that travel and trade between Italy and other countries was frequent, including travel by artists and trade in art. Yet cosmopolitan interchange played an indispensable role in the blooming notion of a Renaissance. One of the most important of these interchanges is the subject of a newly opened exhibition at the Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens in San Marino.

The letter was two sentences long, addressed to "Dear Mr. Rossellini" and signed "Ingrid Bergman. " Like many moviegoers in the late 1940s, the actress was deeply affected by "Rome, Open City" and "Paisan," Roberto Rossellini's landmarks of neorealist cinema. Alone among the Italian director's admirers, she offered her star power and talents, as "a Swedish actress who speaks English very well," in hope of an on-screen collaboration. Rossellini accepted eagerly. But any expectation that Bergman's high profile would heighten his clout at the box office were dashed.

GIGLIO, Italy - Twenty months after it capsized off the Italian coast in a disaster that killed 32 people, the Costa Concordia cruise ship emerged from the Mediterranean on Monday thanks to a painstaking $800-million salvage effort. Fifty-six giant pulleys slowly heaved the half-submerged vessel back to an upright position in a 19-hour operation that went into the early hours of Tuesday, revealing a section of hull darkened by rust and algae during months underwater. "The rotation has finished its course, we are at zero degrees, the ship is resting on the platforms," said Italy's civil protection chief, Franco Gabrielli, at a 4 a.m. news conference on Giglio island, where he was applauded and cheered by residents.