by Dianne Hales | Feb 18, 2020 | Books, Carnevale, culture, food, Food and Drink, history, Italy, Language, Romance, Sayings and expressions, Social behavior, Travel, Venice, Web/Tech, Weblogs
For centuries the pre-Lent festivities of carnevale sumptuously celebrated carne, a word that translates as both “meat’ and “flesh,” in every sense. However, the name comes specifically from the Latin for meat (carnem) and “take away or...
by Dianne Hales | Nov 20, 2019 | Books, books on Italy, culture, history, Italy, Romance, Travel, Venice, Web/Tech, Weblogs
Why Venice means so much to so many… No place on the planet looks like Venice, half sea and half land, an architectural fantasy that rose out of the Adriatic mudflats like a maritime Oz. None may have had a more improbable genesis or left a more remarkable...
by Dianne Hales | Sep 25, 2019 | Books, books on Italy, culture, history, Italy, Language, Travel, Venice, Web/Tech, Weblogs
In the early fifteenth century, a Venetian sailor wanted to bring his fiancée a souvenir of his exotic voyages. Too poor to afford a proper gift, he plucked a ruffled sea plant called Halimeda opuntia from the waters off Greece and carried it home to the island of...
by Dianne Hales | Jun 3, 2019 | art, Books, books on Italy, culture, Food and Drink, history, Italy, Language, Music, Rome, Travel, Tuscany, Uncategorized, 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 Dianne Hales | Apr 25, 2019 | art, Books, books on Italy, culture, Film, Florence, Food and Drink, history, Italy, Language, Music, Naples, Religion, Romance, Rome, Travel, Venice, Web/Tech, Weblogs
Whether you’re a parent or an author, your first born always remains close to your heart. This month marks a landmark birthday for my first book on Italy and its culture: LA BELLA LINGUA: My Love Affair with Italian, the World’s Most Enchanting Language. My...
by Dianne Hales | Apr 22, 2019 | art, Books, books on Italy, culture, Florence, history, Italy, Language, Naples, Rome, Travel, Venice, Web/Tech, Weblogs
This article originally appeared in forbes.com. Click here to read the complete post. by Irene Levine Most travelers who visit Italy return changed in some way, either subtly embracing one or more aspects of Italian culture (perhaps food or style) or more...
