by Dianne Hales | Dec 7, 2021 | Books, books on Italy, Christmas in Italy, food, history, Italian, Italian folklore, Italian language, Italian words and expressions, Italy, Language, Religion, saints, Sayings and expressions, Sicily, Travel, Web/Tech, Weblogs
In the dark of December parts of Italy light up to celebrate a saint whose name derives from the Latin lux or lucis for light (luce in Italian). Lucia was a young girl who lived in Siracusa on the island of Sicily in the third century. According to various legends,...
by Dianne Hales | Mar 23, 2021 | books on Italy, culture, history, Italian, Italy, Language, Religion, Sayings and expressions, Sicily, Travel, Web/Tech, Weblogs
La Settimana Santa (Holy Week) will be different this year, especially in Italy. In years past pilgrims from around the world would travel to Italy to commemorate the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Every region celebrated with rituals that...
by Dianne Hales | Dec 1, 2020 | Books, books on Italy, Christmas in Italy, creche, history, Italian language, Italy, Language, Nativity scene, Religion, saints, Sicily, Tuscany, Web/Tech, Weblogs
Italy’s Christmas season begins with the celebration of San Nicola on December 6 and Santa Lucia on December 13. The son of a wealthy Christian family, Nicola grew up in a Greek-speaking colony of the Roman Empire, now part of Turkey, and became bishop of the city of...
by Dianne Hales | Mar 31, 2020 | Books, books on Italy, Easter, history, Italy, Religion, Sicily, Travel, Web/Tech, Weblogs
La Settimana Santa (Holy Week) will be different this year, especially in Italy. I recall the chants of the crowd at St. Peter’s on Palm Sunday, the Pope’s recital of the Stations of the Cross at the Colosseum on Good Friday, the explosion of bells and shouts of...
by Dianne Hales | Aug 27, 2019 | Books, books on Italy, culture, Food and Drink, history, Italy, Language, Religion, Sicily, Travel, Web/Tech, Weblogs
Once upon a myth, Cronus, son of the god of the sky, castrated his despotic father. Uranus’s testicles fell into the sea, which gave birth to a fully formed woman who floated upon a wave that swept a magic mountain to the northwest tip of Sicily. In a temple atop this...
by Dianne Hales | Aug 20, 2019 | Books, books on Italy, history, Italy, Language, Sicily, Travel, Web/Tech, Weblogs
“Stai attenta!” (Be careful!), Captain Tonino shouts as I dive into the Tyrrhenian Sea off Sicily’s northeastern tip. I ignore his warning. The Aeolian islands, ancient playground of the gods, shimmer as irresistibly now as in times long past. Above me Stromboli, the...
