by Dianne Hales | Sep 15, 2020 | Books, books on Italy, culture, Dante, Florence, history, Italian language, Italy, Language, literature, Tuscany, Web/Tech, Weblogs
Celebrating Dante’s 755th Birthday Dante Alighieri was born in Florence in September, 1265. As a boy, he 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...
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...
by DHales | Jul 28, 2015 | Books, culture, history, Italy, Language, Sayings and expressions, Travel, Web/Tech, Weblogs
In a Dark Wood: What Dante Taught Me about Grief, Healing, and the Mysteries of Love by Joseph Luzzi Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita, mi ritrovai per una selva oscura In the middle of our life's journey, I found myself in a dark wood. "So...