Point Pelee Sits on Same Latitude as Rome

http://www.shengnuo.ca/html/en/pointpelee2days.htm

It's on the latitude of Rome, Italy.  It grows trees native to Florida.  It contains swamps and marshes.  It boasts 27 species of reptiles and 50 species of amphibians.  Acadian flycatchers, Carolina wrens and red-bellied woodpeckers are at the northern limit of their habitat.  Monarch butterflies stop here on their fall migration to Mexico (http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/on/pelee/natcul/natcul1.aspx).

During peak season, as many as 10,000 monarch butterflies per day land at Point Pelee courtesy http://www.learner.org/jnorth/www/critters/monarch/833382137.html.

You might think it's a tropical area.  Yet, come autumn, the trees lose their leaves.  The lake freezes over.  The clouds open up and the snow falls.  After all, it's Canada -- the southernmost point, Point Pelee.  Unlike Rome, which is surrounded by the moderating effect of the Mediterranean Sea, Point Pelee sits on Lake Erie, the shallowest of the Great Lakes which freezes over in the winter.  Unlike Rome, which is protected by the mountains, Point Pelee gets the full brunt of the westerly winds.

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The Point Pelee boardwalk in winter courtesy http://pointpeleenationalpark5.weebly.com/climate.html.

Point Pelee is one of Canada's treasures, commemorated by Canada Post in 1983 by a stamp.  For more information, visit http://alinefromlinda.blogspot.ca/2011/09/point-pelee.html or http://alinefromlinda.blogspot.ca/2014/08/preserving-point-pelee.html.

http://www.catawiki.com/catalog/stamps/countries-regions-territories/canada-can/1724835-point-pelee

Cesare Pavese Inspiration for La Dolce Vita Writer

Federico Fellini's masterpiece La Dolce Vita, which won a Palme d'Or, was based on the life of Italian writer and poet Cesare Pavese.  In the 1930's and 1940's, he moved in anti-Fascist circles. Pavese's protagonists tended to be loners and their relationships tended to be superficial.  Pavese seemed to lack purpose in his life.  He spiralled into a depression and committed suicide in 1950. Italians took the death of the great author and poet very hard.

Fellini's protagonist in La Dolce Vita is also a writer.  He works as a gossip columnist, chronicling "the sweet life" ("la dolce vita) of fading aristocrats, second rate movie stars and aging playboys.  He attends high class parties and meets bikini clad women while his long suffering fiancee waits at home.  He is a "soulless man" with empty nights and lonely mornings.  His life lacks purpose and meaning.

Fellini catches old Rome on film in scenes at the baths of Caracalla, the Trevi Fountain, the Via Veneto and St. Peter's Square.  The story chronicles the seven deadly sins which take place over seven days on the seven hills of Rome.  One scene shows a statue of Christ being transported above the Roman aqueducts as someone yells:  "Look, it's Jesus!"

The Roman Catholic Church considered the scene to be sacreligious as it seemed like the Second Coming of Christ.  They banned the film in Spain until 1975.  The film, however, was well received at the Cannes Film Festival where it won the Palme d'Or.

http://www.classicartfilms.com/la-dolce-vita-1960