by Dianne Hales | Nov 13, 2019 | Books, books on Italy, culture, Education, Florence, history, Italy, Language, Travel, Tuscany, Web/Tech, Weblogs
In the 1500s, an invaluable invention transformed Italian agriculture: il frullone, a sieve-like device that separated wheat from chaff to produce flour. A group of irreverent Florentine intellectuals, passionately devoted to preserving their language’s più bei fiori...
by Dianne Hales | Oct 7, 2019 | Books, books on Italy, Education, Italy, Language, Travel, Web/Tech, Weblogs
They said it couldn’t be done: There was no way to translate LA BELLA LINGUA into Italian. Too many idioms and colloquial expressions. Too much slang. Untranslatable words in both languages. However, the distinguished Italian publisher Treccani has done the...
by Dianne Hales | Jun 23, 2019 | Books, books on Italy, culture, Education, history, Italy, Language, Sayings and expressions, Travel, Web/Tech, Weblogs
“Of course, you are Italian,” a Roman friend insisted years ago, “You have something more important than blood: la passione.” I accepted the compliment without fully comprehending its significance. Passion, I assumed, can bloom anywhere. Think of France, with its...
by Dianne Hales | Mar 19, 2019 | art, Books, culture, Education, Fashion, history, Italy, Language, Romance, Social behavior, Travel, Web/Tech, Weblogs
In the gleaming kitchen of her culinary academy in Florence, I once asked an architect-turned-chef-turned-restaurateur about the passions that had changed her life: How did she know that she was choosing the right one to follow? “Ah, signora, we do not choose our...
by Dianne Hales | Mar 9, 2019 | art, Books, culture, Education, Fashion, Film, Florence, Food and Drink, history, Italy, Language, Music, Religion, Romance, Rome, Travel, Venice, Web/Tech, Weblogs, wine
“Imagine a world without Italy: Painting without Leonardo. Sculpture without Michelangelo. Literature without Dante. No Verdi choruses or Puccini arias. No Fellini films or Ferrari roar. Heavens uncharted, vines unplanted, tables bereft of pasta, pizza, and a Sicilian...
by DHales | Feb 21, 2019 | Books, Education, Italy, Language, Travel, Web/Tech, Weblogs
Lately I’ve been spending time with a man other than my husband — everywhere from the kitchen when I’m cooking to the car when I’m driving. His name is Manu (Emanuele) Venditti, a native Italian who lives in Australia and teaches Italian, mainly on his youtube...
