by Dianne Hales | May 25, 2021 | Books, books on Italy, Dante, Florence, history, Italian, Italian language, Italy, Language, literature, Sayings and expressions, Travel, Web/Tech, Weblogs
Although 756 years have passed since Dante Alighieri’s birth in Florence in May of 1265, his words live, not just in literature, but also on the tongues of contemporary Italians. On a swerving, heart-stopping ride through Rome, a taxi driver assured me that the...
by Dianne Hales | Sep 15, 2020 | Books, books on Italy, culture, Dante, Florence, history, Italian language, Italy, Language, literature, Tuscany, Web/Tech, Weblogs
As a boy, Dante Alighieri, born in Florence in 1265, glimpsed a lovely girl named Beatrice in a local chapel. Despite Dante’s unrequited, undying crush, the two rarely met and barely spoke. Both wed others in marriages arranged by their families, but Beatrice would...
by Dianne Hales | May 26, 2020 | amore, art, art history, Books, books on Italy, coronavirus, history, Italian language, Italy, Language, Leonardo da Vinci, literature, love in Italy, Romance, Sayings and expressions, Social behavior, Travel, Web/Tech, Weblogs, wine
Cari amici, In a world turned upside down, we know that we can’t return to what was, yet we have no idea what will be. Although much has changed, one thing hasn’t: our love for Italy. Over the past few months, we’ve wept for the lives lost. We’ve worried about friends...
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 DHales | Oct 22, 2018 | Books, culture, Education, history, Italy, Language, Travel, Web/Tech, Weblogs
Ten Reasons Why I Still Love Italian Almost a decade ago, in the first chapter of La Bella Lingua, I confessed to being an inammorata,“enchanted by Italian, fascinated by its story and its stories, tantalized by its adventures, addicted to its sound, and...
