by Dianne Hales | Jan 11, 2022 | Books, books on Italy, culture, history, Italian, Italian folklore, Italian language, Italian words and expressions, Italy, Language, learning Italian, Travel, Uncategorized, Web/Tech, Weblogs
b. The start of a new year is a good time to follow the example of the Roman god Janus, whose two faces allowed him to look back to the past and ahead to the future. As 2022 begins, I recall 2009, the year when LA BELLA LINGUA was published and when...
by Dianne Hales | Jan 4, 2022 | books on Italy, culture, Epiphany, history, Italian, Italian language, Italian words and expressions, Italy, Religion, Sayings and expressions, Travel, Uncategorized, 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, on January 6, which commemorates the arrival of i re magi, the three kings who followed the bright Christmas...
by Dianne Hales | Aug 10, 2021 | Books, books on Italy, Capri, history, Italian, Italian language, Italian words and expressions, Italy, Language, learning Italian, Roman history, Sayings and expressions, summer in Italy, Travel, Uncategorized, Web/Tech, Weblogs
Years ago I celebrated my first Italian Ferragosto in Capri, a most fitting (though crowded) place to be on August 15. The Roman emperor Augustus, whose name graces summer’s last month, was so enamored with the beguiling island of Capri that he appropriated it from...
by Dianne Hales | Aug 3, 2021 | Books, books on Italy, history, Italian, Italian language, Italian words and expressions, Italy, Language, learning Italian, Sayings and expressions, summer in Italy, Travel, Uncategorized, Web/Tech, Weblogs
Italy goes on vacation in August. Even in not-yet-normal times, shops are shuttered, restaurants closed, streets quiet. Cities empty as residents join the esodo estivo (summer exodus), the mass departure of Italians heading off for their ferie estive (summer...
by Dianne Hales | Jul 27, 2021 | Italian, Italian language, Italian words and expressions, Italy, Language, learning Italian, Sayings and expressions, summer in Italy, Travel, Uncategorized, Weblogs
They buzz, bite, sting — and shatter the serenity of a summer day in Italy. Many of the insects (gli insetti) you might encounter in Italy are familiar foes. The fly (mosca), mosquito (zanzara), gnat (moscerino), wasp (vespa), bumble bee (calabrone) and tick...
by Dianne Hales | Jun 15, 2021 | Books, books on Italy, culture, Fathers Day, history, Italian, Italian folklore, Italian language, Italian words and expressions, Italy, Language, learning Italian, Religion, Sayings and expressions, Travel, Uncategorized, Web/Tech, Weblogs
On Father’s Day I cherish a special memory: the last time I danced with my Dad, at an Italian-American banquet in Northeastern Pennsylvania. My mother had died a few months before, and I decided to bring my broken-hearted Dad along with me on a book tour that would...
