Hotel Capri

The Hotel Capri is a historic high rise hotel located in central Havana. It reopened in 2014 as the Hotel NH Capri La Habana, following a major renovation, after being closed for many years.

In 1955, President Batista enacted Hotel Law 2070, offering tax incentives, government loans and casino licenses to anyone wishing to build hotels in excess of $1,000,000 or nightclubs for $200,000 in Havana. This bill brought Meyer Lansky and his "associates" in the mafia flooding to the city to take advantage.

The Capri was one of first to be built. Located on Calle 21, 1 Mp. 8 Vedado, only two blocks from the Hotel Nacional, it opened in November 1957. With its 250 rooms, the nineteen-story structure was one of the largest hotel/casinos in Havana during its heyday. It boasted a swimming pool on the roof that can be seen in the opening scenes of Carol Reed's film "Our Man in Havana" and Mikhail Kalatozov's "I Am Cuba".

Owned by mobster Santo Trafficante, Jr. of Tampa, Florida, the hotel/casino was operated by Nicholas Di Costanzo racketeer Charles Turin (aliases: Charles Tourine, Charley "The Blade") and Santino Masselli of the Bronx NY(aliases:"Sonny the Butcher"). After it opened, George Raft was hired to be the public front for the hotel's club during his gangster days in Cuba. It was believed that he owned a considerable interest in the club.

Capri

Capri (/kəˈpriː/; Italian pronunciation: [ˈkaːpri]) is an island located in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the Sorrentine Peninsula, on the south side of the Gulf of Naples in the Campania region of Italy. The main town Capri that is located on the island shares the name. It has been a resort since the time of the Roman Republic.

Some of the main features of the island include the following: the Marina Piccola (the little harbour), the Belvedere of Tragara (a high panoramic promenade lined with villas), the limestone crags called sea stacks that project above the sea (the Faraglioni), the town of Anacapri, the Blue Grotto (Grotta Azzurra), and the ruins of the Imperial Roman villas.

Capri is part of the region of Campania, Province of Naples. The town of Capri is the island's main population centre. The island has two harbours, Marina Piccola and Marina Grande (the main port of the island). The separate comune of Anacapri is located high on the hills to the west.

Etymology

The etymology of the name Capri is unclear; it might either be traced back to the Ancient Greeks (Ancient Greek κάπρος kapros meaning "wild boar"), the first recorded colonists to populate the island. But it could also derive from Latin capreae (goats). Fossils of wild boars have been discovered, lending credence to the "kapros" etymology; on the other hand, the Romans called Capri "goat island". Finally, there is also the possibility that the name derives from an Etruscan word for "rocky", though any historical Etruscan rule of the island is disputed.

Capri Virkkunen

Päivi "Capri" Virkkunen later known as Päivi Selo (born on 28 February 1972), simply known as Capri, is a Finnish singer and vocal coach. She started as a pop singer in Finland and also member of a cover band. Starting 2012, she has become the vocalist metal singer of the Finnish symphonic power metal band Amberian Dawn replacing earlier band vocalist Heidi Parviainen starting with the band's compilation album Re-Evolution.

Early life

Capri first began singing in front of audiences at the young age of 3. As a teenager, she began to play the piano, and as well focused on vocal lessons on both classical and rock singing, but preferably, she took rock singing as her main focus. By the time she reached the age of 19, she took singing lessons, she studied to become a vocal coach.

In her early years, Capri studied at the Central Ostrobothnia Conservatory of Music in 1991, and taught at the Oriveden Institute. Among other things, she was a singing coach for Tampere Workers' Theatre in the musical Chicago.

Capri (TV series)

Capri is an Italian TV series produced by Rai Fiction. The story involves a young woman from Milan, Vittoria Mari (played by Gabriella Pession), who discovers, one month before she is to be married, that she has been named as a beneficiary in the will of a woman she has never met. She travels to the island of Capri to find out why, becomes entwined in the lives of the people she meets, and learns something shocking about her past. The two other main characters in the drama are brothers Massimo (played by Kaspar Capparoni) and Umberto (played by Sergio Assisi).

References

Rai. (2013). Capri TV series. Retrieved from http://www.capri.rai.it/dl/portali/site/articolo/ContentItem-02fd2394-0f7c-4ce3-b8b5-94f8c2f21d01.html?homepage#sthash.q41y6YDW.dpuf