by Dianne Hales | Aug 18, 2020 | art, art history, Books, books on Italy, culture, Current Affairs, Health, history, Italian language, Italy, Social behavior, Travel, Venice, Web/Tech, Weblogs
I fell in love with Venice at first sight. This luminous collection of first-person accounts of the past year made me fall in love with the Venetians — “magnificent by nature,” as a historian once put it. A guest post by Kathleen Ann Gonzalez When a...
by Dianne Hales | Aug 11, 2020 | Books, books on Italy, history, Italian language, Italy, Language, Religion, Roman history, Rome, Social behavior, Travel, Web/Tech, Weblogs
The Roman emperor Augustus (63 BC-AD 14) so enjoyed late summer that he claimed the month we now call by his name. Yet Caesar’s grandnephew, adopted son and chief heir, born Gaius Octavius, seemed an unlikely candidate for any claim to glory. After his great uncle’s...
by Dianne Hales | Jul 28, 2020 | Books, books on Italy, history, love in Italy, Social behavior, Travel, Tuscany, Web/Tech, Weblogs
Monte Argentario “I want to come back here every year for the rest of our lives.” I made this declaration to my husband thirty years ago on our first trip to Monte Argentario on Tuscany’s western coast. We did indeed return annually—until this Covid-cursed year. When...
by Dianne Hales | Jun 30, 2020 | Books, books on Italy, Italian language, Italy, Language, Sayings and expressions, Social behavior, Travel, Web/Tech, Weblogs
The editors at Outwit Trade recently asked an array of language learners and experts “What is the best way to learn a foreign language?” Among the creative suggestions: Watch an episode of a TV show like Friends in English and pick out the phrases...
by Dianne Hales | Jun 23, 2020 | Books, books on Italy, Fellini, Film, history, Italian language, Italian movies, Italy, Language, movies, Social behavior, Travel, Weblogs, wine
In a business built on dreams, Federico Fellini, born a century ago, may have been the biggest dreamer of all. As a boy in Rimini, he kept a sketch pad by his bed so he could record his vivid fantasies. His lifelong passion was transforming his visions into stories...
by Dianne Hales | Jun 2, 2020 | Books, books on Italy, Health, history, Italian language, Italy, Language, literature, Renaissance, Social behavior, Travel, Tuscany, Web/Tech, Weblogs
The Medici, the dynasty that governed Renaissance Florence, blazed into the 21st century in a three-part series, now streaming on Netflix. While many dispute its historical accuracy, the lavish production captures the seize-the-day spirit of the age. Certainly...
