La Dolce Vita: Italian Village for Sale on eBay for $3 Million

If you are in the market for a good deal, you might consider purchasing an entire Italian village for the bargain basement price of $3 million US!

The medieval Tuscan hill town of Pratariccia—which consists of a total of 25 abandoned houses and buildings atop a promontory —is up for sale at online auction house eBay, for a reasonable starting bid of $3 million. The once lovely hilltop hamlet has been abandoned since the late 1960s. eBay does list the village as "in need of restoration", as most of the buildings have seen better days, many with collapsed roofs and crumbling façades after decades of neglect.

Set amid beautiful rolling hills and stunning scenery, Pratariccia is nestled deep in the Tuscan countryside and only 25 miles from the Renaissance gem of Florence. The town is also close to the inhabited hilltop villages of Bibbiena and Poppi, with Poppi being famous for its castle with Renaissance frescoes and Latin manuscripts dating from the Middle Ages.

Pratariccia also borders a national park that holds the source of the Arno River which flows through Florence before emptying into the Mediterranean Sea.

The town is currently owned by an order of monastic monks and was listed on eBay earlier this month for an original asking price of $5 million US. The price was lowered in recent days. If you are interested in purchasing the fixer-upper village, you may bid for it on eBay here: 

The Diary of Foxy Knoxy: Amanda Knox Signs Lucrative Book Deal

Amanda Knox, the American who was accused of murdering a love rival while studying in Italy, has signed a lucrative book deal to tell her story. Sources say that Knox met with a number of high profile book publishers and that a bidding war broke out for her memoirs. Harper Publishing came out on top of the bids, with an offer estimated to be in the range of $4 million for international publishing rights.

Knox, who spent four years behind bars in an Italian prison accused of murdering British student Meredith Kercher, was exonerated of all charges and was allowed to return to the United States in October. Her boyfriend,  Raffaele Sollecito, was also cleared of all charges in the murder, which made headlines around the world and kept millions captivated. The news isn't as good for Sollecito, as Italian prosecutors asked the country's highest criminal court to reinstate the murder convictions against him and Knox this past week.

Knox, 24, has only done one interview since being released from prison last year. She is currently dating musician James Tarrano and living in Seattle, Washington. The as-yet-untitled memoir is expected to be released by early 2013.

Sprockets: Skinny, Old, Ugly, Grey-Haired Designer Karl Lagerfeld Calls Adele "Fat"

"I'm perfectly perfect in my perfection, Ja?"

Old, scrawny, ugly and grey-haired fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld, famous for running off at the mouth, has let it rip once again, calling singing superstar Adele "fat" and Russian men "ugly".

The 2000 78-year-old designer has always been known for his petulant and often controversial outbursts and was his usual demon-possessed self in an interview for European paper The Metro. In the interview, he gives Rolling in the Deep songbird Adele a back-handed compliment by saying, ""The thing at the moment is Adele. She is a little too fat, but she has a beautiful face and a divine voice."

He also insists that US president Barack Obama only occupies the White House because of his wife, Michelle. "My favorite thing about Mrs Obama was when she was asked if her skirt was not too tight and she answered, 'Why, you don't like my big black ass?'"

He insulted millions of Russian men by proclaiming "If I was a woman in Russia I would be a lesbian, as the men are very ugly." He also went on to say that both Greeks and Italians have "really disgusting habits" when quizzed about his thoughts concerning the current European economic crisis.

In a touch of irony possibly lost on the fashionista,  the  pony-tail wearing and fan-carrying Lagerfeld was once a bit of a porker himself, and lost a considerable amount of weight after going on an extreme "diet" (aka gastric bypass surgery) in 2001.

O Solo Frio: Venice's Famed Canals Turn to Ice in European Deep Freeze

The famed canals of Venice, Italy, have fallen victim to the current European Deep Freeze and have frozen over, making it difficult for traffic to pass through the waterways of the beautiful, historic city.

Many of the city's vaporettos, water buses, were left stranded in the frozen waters, leaving tourists and residents alike without transportation. Venice, famed for its picturesque canals and waterways, relies on water traffic to transport people, as there are no roads and cars serve no purpose. Water pipes broke in the frigid temperatures as well, and over sixty-thousand people were left without power in Milan, where officials have declared a gas shortage emergency as demand for energy has increased by more than eight hundred percent in the past week.

It's been years since the Venetian canals have turned to ice, as the entirety of Europe struggles through the worst and coldest winter in decades. The canals of the more northerly city of Amsterdam in the Netherlands also froze over solid, with thousands of residents walking, skating or biking on the icy new thoroughfares.

Snowed In: Unprecedented Snow Traps Thousands in Europe

Earth Changes 101

Hundreds of thousands of people are trapped in their homes, as parts of southeastern Europe face the biggest snowstorm in recorded history!

Emergency services and authorities used helicopters to evacuate the sick and the elderly as well as deliver food to thousands of people in areas of Bosnia-Herzegovina, which has been hit by the heaviest snow in living memory. Hundreds of villages in the country are completely cut off from the outside world after an astonishing six and a half feet of snow fell. The capital of Sarajevo is currently under a State of Emergency, with a record-breaking three and a half feet of the white powder paralyzing the city.

In the neighboring nation of Serbia, hundreds of thousands of residents remain cut-off, as emergency services work feverishly to help clear roads and deliver food and medical supplies to people trapped in their homes. Throughout a large portion of Europe, bitter cold temperatures, heavy snows and strong winds have created nightmarish gridlock and caused many large cities to shut down completely.

Heavy snows and cold temperatures sank as far south as Naples, Italy, and portions of the Mediterranean island of Corsica, usually blessed with mild winter weather, saw eight inches of snow. Landmarks in Rome were shut down from the snow and ice, for fear that tourists would fall and hurt themselves. Great Britain was not spared winter's wrath and hundreds of flights out of London's Heathrow Airport, one of the world's busiest, were cancelled due to heavy snows and winds, creating a travel nightmare.

The overall death toll in the European Deep Freeze currently stands at over 275, with a majority of the deaths comprised of the homeless community, caught unaware by the savage winter storm and bitterly cold temperatures, not seen in some parts of the continent for centuries.

The Rats of Monte Cristo: Famous Island to Be Bombed with Rat Poison

Instead of hidden treasure, adventure seekers headed toward a famously mysterious Italian island will probably find a phalanx of dead rats!

The tiny island of Monte Cristo, the inspiration for the famous, swash-buckling Alexandre Dumas novel The Count of Monte Cristo, has become infested with hundreds of thousands of rats over the centuries. The rascally rodents initially arrived to the island as stowaways on pirate ships and later on cruise ships taking adventurers to sight-see on the craggy, desolate island.

Italian authorities plan to drop more than 26 tons of poison on the 4-square-mile island in hopes of getting rid of the pests. The island receives thousands of visitors and tourists each year, many captivated by the classic Dumas novel, which has been made into countless movie and television versions over the years. Dumas set his 1844 novel on the island because of the persistent myths and legends that it contains buried treasure.

Conservationists and environmentalists, however, fear the poison may end up in the sea between Tuscany and Corsica, killing other animals and marine life.

That's Amore! Ousted Silvio Berlusconi Releases Love CD

Italy's former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has released a "mix tape" of love songs on his way out the swinging door!

The aging Lothario, 75, released a CD of songs that he has written, performed by his good friend, singing star Mariano Apicella. The songs on the album "tell of tormented love, featuring lyrics such as 'another day of wind and rain, another night without you,' or 'Stay, and leave me your heart.'"

Berlusconi was forced to step down from his scandal-plagued post and is currently on trial for paying for sex with a 17-year-old girl at a dinner party he hosted at his opulent mansion. Some believe the album release is the outrageous billionaire's way of having the last word as the new Italian minister Mario Monti is set to take over his position

There were cheers from large crowds throughout Italy when Berlusconi's departure from the position was announced last week, as Italy struggles with deepening austerity measures brought on by the global economic super-crisis and the worrisome European debt situation.

The self-described Latin lover, who once boasted he single-handedly kept large groups entertained for hours on end with his smooth charm and silky voice, wrote the lyrics for the sappily-titled album True Love. 

 I'm sure a nationwide concert tour is in the planning stages, so break out the cigarette lighters and prepare to swoon!

"You know you want me..."

The Round Up: Top Headlines for October 7, 2011

Food Shortage in North Korea Brings Millions to Brink of Starvation:

Fleet of US Drones Hit by Mysterious Computer Virus

 Spain & Italy See Credit Ratings Downgraded...Again

Prince Harry Arrives in California for Military Training

Steve Jobs Left Plans for Four Years of New Products Before Death