Latest news with #Beltrami
Times
06-07-2025
- Times
Grand Hotel Tremezzo review: the most storied hotel in Lake Como
La dolce vita doesn't get much sweeter than at this much-loved historic mansion. Near Bellagio, it's in the peachiest of locations, with a backdrop of romantic, century-old terraced gardens looking out at the Grigna mountains as they slide serenely into Lake Como's sparkling turquoise waters. From its trademark extravagant displays of velvety red roses and antique Italian lace to its lavish bedrooms and lakeside restaurant, interiors are an ode to old-school elegance and nostalgia. Charismatic staff, many of whom have been at the hotel for decades, ensure service is equally exceptional. This article contains affiliate links, which may earn us revenue Score 9/10The 80 rooms and suites have either lake or garden views and a pleasing mix of classical and contemporary styling, pops of bold colour and marble bathrooms. Luxury touches include indulgent Beltrami bed linens, made locally with yarn from birch wood, which is both sustainable and addictively silky. All rooms are maintained in mint condition and refreshed annually during the hotel's winter closure. Even the snuggest rooms feel spacious thanks to bay windows and balconies but if you can splash out, the top suite — named after the Swedish-American actress Greta Garbo — is as showstopping as the enigmatic star with its extravagant gilded bed, a marble-lined bathroom with a circular whirlpool tub and a huge terrace overlooking the lake. Score 9/10 There are four restaurants and none of them hold back on Italian exuberance. Its flagship is the fine-dining La Terrazza Gualtiero Marchesi, which is a tribute to the chef widely acknowledged as the founder of modern Italian cuisine. It would be a shame not to order his classic dishes such as the delicious saffron risotto with gold leaf, proudly served by waiters who will present you with a copy of the recipe as a memento. Da Giacomo on the hotel's 'beach' (the sand is imported) is the place for seafood and people-watching — try the lobster. For a casual bite, there's T Pizza in the garden, while L'Escale, the hotel's 21st-century take on a traditional trattoria, serves Instagrammable meals such as carbonara prepared table-side in a parmesan cheese wheel before being generously topped with truffle. Breakfast offers 101 ways to develop diabetes before lunch, with trestle tables laden with every kind of cake and confectionery known to humankind as well as magnificent displays of cheeses, meats, cereals, nuts and fruits. • More great hotels in Lake Como• Best villas in Lake Como Score 9/10There are three pools; the standout one floats on the lake and has its own mini 'beach' for long, lazy sunshine days. There is another cool pool in the garden, surrounded by neatly clipped hedges and sweetly scented borders, while the third is a stylish indoor lap pool in a glass house that has knockout views. The spa has treatments by the world's oldest pharmacy, the Officina Profumo Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella, which has been making incredible lotions and potions in Florence since 1221, and the high-tech Swiss brand Transvital, as well as a sauna with lake views, a steam room, a hammam, an ice fountain and a hair salon. There's a tennis court, the gym comes with killer views and there are complimentary morning yoga classes. Score 9/10The gardens of Villa Carlotta, one of the lake's main tourist attractions, are next door, and the extraordinary Villa del Balbianello is also close by. Pick up a ferry from a pier that's about a five-minute walk away to explore the lake's charming towns including Bellagio and Varenna. Price B&B doubles from £1,900Restaurant mains from £32Family-friendly YAccessible Y Susan d'Arcy was a guest of Grand Hotel Tremezzo ( • Lake Como v Lake Garda: which one should you visit?• Best villas in Italy with a pool
Chicago Tribune
16-06-2025
- Politics
- Chicago Tribune
‘No Kings' protesters in Oak Park gather by the thousands: ‘It shows we're not afraid of him'
While approximately 75,000 people rallied in downtown Chicago on June 14 for what was called No Kings protests to voice opposition to President Donald Trump on his birthday, thousands of other protesters attended rallies across the Chicago suburbs to amplify the message. One of the largest No Kings suburban rallies was in Oak Park where a few thousand protesters gathered in downtown Oak Park, filling Scovill Park and parading for a few blocks along crowded Lake Street sidewalks. Oak Park resident Lisa Beltrami stood with a megaphone on a Lake Street sidewalk, leading chants such as 'hey hey, ho ho Donald Trump has got to go' as the enthusiastic crowd chanted along with her. Beltrami had attended a protest earlier this year where organizers noted her strong voice, so this time they gave her a megaphone and she went to work with it. 'I feel at some level you can get the energy up and get people motivated, and I have a big mouth,' Beltrami said. Beltrami said that she came to protest because she fears for the kind of country her children and grandchildren will live in. 'I'm terrified of the future,' Beltrami said. Other protesters echoed that feeling, saying they needed to make clear their opposition to the Trump administration and their concern that democratic norms were being trampled. Marchers voiced concerns about abrupt deportations and many other actions of President Trump, who they say acts like a king. 'We want democracy not idiocracy,' said Viola Vega, 10, who was at the protest with her father and older sister. The Vega girls particularly relished protesting on the birthday of Trump, who they said 'cares a lot about images.' Tatiana Vega, 15, was carrying a sign that said 'We Are the Birthday Crashers.' 'It shows that we're not afraid of him,' she said. Protesters said they were inspired by the turnout, the energy and by being around so many like-minded people. 'I feel empowered; I feel encouraged,' said Ronen Kohn of Chicago, who carried a sign that said 'Drag Kings Only.' Marlene Wesol-Cid, of Chicago, carried a cardboard sign saying 'Trump the Antichrist — Dump Trump.' 'I feel like if I don't stand up for our rights and do something I'm going to go crazy, essentially' Wesol-Cid said. 'And it's a shame our democracy has come to this — almost fascism. People are allowing it to happen and I can't take it anymore.' The Oak Park No Kings protest was organized by Indivisible West Side, a progressive group, and the group Congregations Networking for Social Justice. The organizers were pleased with the turnout. 'What we wanted to do was to create an opportunity for people who were not able to make it to the downtown event to have something local, because to me the most important thing is not where you show up but that you show up,' said Betty Alzamora, a leader of Indivisible Chicago and Indivisible Westside. 'It also confirms to people that they are not alone. It gives people courage; it gives them strength. We say that courage is contagious and the more people see their neighbors, their friends, their family members, their beloveds all out on the streets doing the same thing, raising their voices in peaceful protest, that's important.' The No Kings rallies and protests were part of a nationwide day of protest against the Trump administration. Other No Kings protests were held in many Chicago suburbs including La Grange, Lisle, Naperville, Evanston and many other Chicago suburbs as well as throughout the entire country in a massive outpouring of protest against the Trump administration.
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
How this Boston physics student became one of Murano's youngest master glassmakers
Born in the Italian town of Brescia, Roberto Beltrami grew up just a few hours' drive from Venice and the island of Murano, world-famous for producing beautiful glassware. But it was nearly 4,000 miles away in Boston, Massachusetts, that he first came across the art of glassblowing. 'I was just so struck by this material, the colors, the transparency, the shapes,' recalled Beltrami. It was 2011, and Beltrami, then a sophomore physics student at Boston University, was captivated by an exhibition of the work of American artist Dale Chihuly. Known for pushing the boundaries of contemporary glassblowing, Chihuly's pursuit of his craft has taken him around the globe, including a stint in Murano in the 1960s. Beltrami visited the island on his summer break, taking up a class in glass blowing. That class turned into an apprenticeship, and the summer turned into a year. Beltrami quit university, trading lecture halls for roaring furnaces, sweating it out in centuries-old workshops, and studying under some of the world's most renowned glassblowing masters. At one time, Murano was the global leader in glassmaking, renowned for unparalleled quality, style, and innovation, including the invention of 'cristallo,' clear glass. But over its 700-year glassblowing history, Murano has faced numerous challenges, and in recent years, the number of factories has plummeted. While many in the industry say that young people are disinterested in pursuing hot, hard manual labor, Beltrami has a different perspective. With a long legacy of closely guarding their trade secrets, workshops in Murano are reluctant to welcome newcomers, said Beltrami, 34. 'Everybody was afraid you were going to steal their job, and nobody wanted to teach you anything.' 'It was really nightmarish, having this passion for this material, and then you can't really learn anything,' he added. Frustrated by the lack of opportunities, Beltrami decided to strike out on his own. In 2017, the then-25-year-old started his own workshop, Wave Murano Glass. Now with a team of 20, many of them in their twenties and thirties, Beltrami — believed to be the youngest glass master in Murano — is ushering in a new generation of artisans. 'We're not all under the age of 35 but the average age is definitely under 35 — which is unheard of in Murano,' said Beltrami. Glass is formed by melting sand, soda ash and limestone at temperatures of up to 1,600 degrees Celsius (2,912 degrees Fahrenheit). With a texture similar to treacle, the molten glass mixture is held on the end of a hollow pipe, inflated with air, and then shaped swiftly by swinging, blowing, and rolling while the material is still hot and pliable. Once cooled, it takes on a hard, transparent form. In Venice, glass has been manufactured for over 1,000 years. To prevent fires from the hot furnaces and keep trade secrets from escaping the city, all the glass factories were moved to Murano in 1291, where they've remained since. In addition to the invention of cristallo, Murano became well-known for its ability to add vibrant color to clear glass. 'It's not so easy to have different colors of glass together and have them match chemically,' said Beltrami, explaining that each shade uses a unique element — such as cobalt for purple-blue, lead for pale yellow, or tellurium for a pink tint — which expand and contract at different rates when they heat and cool. 'Being able to melt all these colors and have them match chemically so a piece doesn't break at the end was one of the biggest strengths of Murano glass,' Beltrami added. A self-confessed pyromaniac who unwittingly torched a sofa before he could walk, Beltrami says glass blowing combines his love of fire with his passion for making things and working with people. 'Glass blowing is kind of like a team sport, because it's very physical, very intense. You need to work in a team because you can barely do anything by yourself,' he said. The size and weight of many of the glass objects require at least one person to hold the pipe and turn the molten glass, while another shapes it, and another person may be required to torch the glass to keep it pliable, or add embellishments. 'It's like a choreography,' Beltrami added. At its peak in the 16th century, more than 30,000 people were living on the 1.7-square-mile (4.6-square-kilometer) island of Murano. Now, it is home to around 4,000 people. According to Consorzio Promovetro Murano, a trade consortium that promotes and protects Murano glass, less than a third of them work at the island's 105 glass-making workshops. The small factories struggle to compete on large-scale industrial orders, said Beltrami. Murano instead focuses on luxury and artistic glassware, although that too has been threatened by an influx of counterfeit goods: according to Consorzio Promovetro Murano, cheap imitation products are common in Venice's souvenir stores. Not only do they divert profits from local glassmakers, but they also risk damaging the reputation of Murano glass. The industry has been further impacted by a series of crises, including the financial crash of 2008, the Covid-19 pandemic, and rising gas prices. But despite the challenges, Beltrami is optimistic about the future of the craft. A major problem he saw across the factories he worked in previously was antiquated equipment and inefficient processes. So, at Wave Murano Glass, he introduced a variety of modern technologies, including streamlining administrative workflows with AI-enabled software and introducing more energy-efficient furnaces. Designed in the US, these furnaces capture heat that is typically lost via exhaust fumes and reuse it to preheat the air going into the burner, reducing gas usage by 80% compared to furnaces of a similar size, said Beltrami. According to Beltrami, Murano's factories have historically worked on small-scale industrial orders, with many rejecting commissions of less than a few hundred but unable to cater for those of a few thousand. Seeing a missed opportunity, he set up his furnaces to be flexible, allowing Wave to cover anything from one-off pieces, to a few dozen, up to 1,200 pieces. While the bulk of Wave's output is white label products for brands, designers, and artists, up to 10% of the company's turnover comes from classes and tours, which Beltrami hopes can share the art of glass blowing with a wider audience. His efforts have already paid off. Beltrami has made a point of offering internships to young, enthusiastic talent from around the globe, many of whom are now employed at Wave, including several women, who are underrepresented in the industry. For Beltrami, finding new talent is an essential step in preserving the craft he's come to love — and continuing its legacy of artistry and innovation. 'The craftsmanship, the tradition of over a thousand years of history, all make it very special,' he added.
