turin

Carla Bruni Sells Family Castle to Sheikh for $12 Million

Filed under: Estates

Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, the sexy supermodel, singer and first lady of France, has sold her family's castle in Italy (above) to an Arab sheikh for about $12 million, the London Daily Mail reports. The 40-room Castello di Castagneto Po, near Turin, has been repeatedly destroyed and rebuilt over the years but is believed to first date from the year 1019. Bruni's father, the billionaire industrialist Alberto Bruni Tedeschi, bought the castle-style mansion in 1952 for about $1.5 million. The contents of the house, include furniture and antiques, were auctioned off in London for another $13 million. The Italian-born Bruni married French President Nicolas Sarkozy last year and has renounced her ties to Italy. "We had finished with Castagneto Po – nobody went there any more," her mother Marisa Bruni Tedeschi, the castle's co-owner, tells the AFP.

Tags: Arab, Carla Bruni, CarlaBruni, Castle, France, Italy, nicolas sarkozy, NicolasSarkozy, Sheikh, Turin

THI Collection Offers Luxuriant Italian Hotels

by Laura Malesich (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels, Services

From Turin to Genoa, Venice to Naples and more, four- and five-star hotels, resorts and restaurants dot the Italian landscape offered through THI Collection. They provide traditional Italian style, art and history with innovative and modern strokes along with exclusive, personalized spa services. One of their restaurants, the Principe Cerami in Taormina, was recently awarded the coveted Michelin Star in the 2008 Guide. Specialty packages available include individual cooking lessons with a chef in Turin, gourmet weekends in Genoa or Sicily, and exquisite chocolate tastings...yum! Check out the gallery for a taste of what THI has to offer...

Gallery: THI Collection Hotels

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Tags: genoa, italian-resorts, Italy, luxury hotels, LuxuryHotels, naples, rapallo, taormina, THI, THI Collection, ThiCollection, torino, turin

Swatch Olympics 2006 Watch Collection

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches

Swatch has created a new collection that celebrates the Olympic Winter Games 2006 in Turin in February. The watches are designed to appeal to skiers and snowboarders. This model, the Annelli e Stelle is part of the Skin collection. The design is inspired by the Turin 2006 emblem and has a polished steel bracelet and silver-colored hour and minute hand. This watch sells for £48.94 (around $86). You can see other models at the Moodie Report.

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Tags: olympics, swatch, timepiece, turin, watch