by Dianne Hales | Jan 28, 2020 | art, art history, Books, books on Italy, culture, Florence, history, Italy, Language, Rome, Travel, Web/Tech, Weblogs
This year marks the 500th anniversary of the death of a Renaissance painter hailed for achieving graziosissima grazia, the most graceful grace. Raphael of Urbino, born in 1483, was talented, affable, kind and drop-dead gorgeous. Raphael’s artistic genius sprang from...
by Dianne Hales | Jan 21, 2020 | Books, books on Italy, culture, food, Food and Drink, Health, history, Italy, Travel
I first tasted aceto balsamico tradizionale when a friend from Modena arrived for dinner with a tiny bottle a quarter filled with a dark liquid. After cutting a chunk of Parmigiano-Reggiano for each of us, he tilted the bottle above my plate. I waited, and waited,...
by Dianne Hales | Jan 14, 2020 | Books, culture, Film, history, Italy, Language, movies, Travel, Web/Tech, Weblogs
January 20 marks the 100th birthday of the legendary director Federico Fellini. In a business built on dreams, he may have been the biggest dreamer of all. As a boy, Fellini kept a sketch pad and colored pencils by his bed so he could record his vivid fantasies when...
by Dianne Hales | Jan 7, 2020 | Books, books on Italy, culture, food, Food and Drink, history, Italy, Language, Sayings and expressions, Social behavior, Travel, Web/Tech, Weblogs
A passion for food merits a precise word in Italian: golosità (from gola, for throat), which goes beyond appetite, craving, gluttony, or hunger. Friends proudly declare themselves “golosi,” often for a dish made only in their hometowns, only with local ingredients,...
by Dianne Hales | Jan 3, 2020 | books on Italy, Christmas in Italy, creche, culture, history, Italy, Language, Nativity scene, Sayings and expressions, Travel, Web/Tech, Weblogs
Long after many Americans have taken down their Christmas trees and packed away the decorations, Italians continue to celebrate. The final feast is l’Epifania (Epiphany), on January 6, which commemorates the arrival of i re magi, the three kings who followed the...
by Dianne Hales | Dec 30, 2019 | Books, culture, history, Italy, Language, Sayings and expressions, Social behavior, Travel, Web/Tech, Weblogs
New Year’s Eve as we know it was an invention of the ancient Romans. In 153 B.C. they moved the start of the new year from the Spring equinox to January 1 and dedicated the first month of the year to Janus, the two-faced god who looks back toward the old year and...
