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The Italian Cultural Institute |
The Polis International Cultural Association, which was recently established by just such young people the café hopes to attract, wants to show that Italian culture is not just about ruins and museums, said the association's chairman Giuseppe Monsone at the opening of the café in Bródy Sándor utca on Saturday evening.
The association's efforts were lauded at the opening by Italy's ambassador to Hungary Giovan Battista Campagnola and by Italian Institute director Prof. Dr. Salvatore Ettorre. Both men welcomed the establishment of a venue that can serve as a base for young people interested in Italy and Italian culture.
Éva Novodomszky, the master of ceremonies for the evening, read a letter from Italian Culture Minister Sandro Bondi, who wrote that Hungary lies close to Italy, if not geographically, than certainly in a cultural sense.
Monsone - who was born in Sicily, but has spent vacations with his grandparents in Budapest since he was a small child and now lives in the Hungarian capital - said the Polis Association plans offer two or three cultural events a month at the café. The first one -- an exhibition of paintings by Attila Kondor - also opened on Saturday.
The café's bookstore gets its books directly from the publishers, so it is able to offer 500-600 Italian language volumes at around the same price one would pay for them in Italy. But visitors to the café may also read the classics free of charge as they enjoy a rich Italian coffee.
Italian language learners are sure to find a native-speaking conversational partner at the café, Monsone said.
