by Dianne Hales | Jun 29, 2021 | Books, books on Italy, history, Italian, Italian language, Italian words and expressions, Italy, Language, learning Italian, Sayings and expressions, summer in Italy, Travel, Web/Tech, Weblogs
I swam my way through the pandemic. As soon as Covid restrictions eased, our community pool reopened—with social distancing, which meant no more than two swimmers at a time. By coming late in the day I almost always have had the pool to myself. Lovely as it is to be...
by Dianne Hales | Jun 22, 2021 | Books, books on Italy, culture, Italian, Italian language, Italian words and expressions, Italy, Language, learning Italian, Travel, Web/Tech, Weblogs
A guest post by Andrea Bernardoni, vice president of LICET The country of Italy, with its culture and iconic lifestyle, beckons to be understood. Speaking its language can help. Obviously you can study Italian as a foreign language in a school abroad or online, but...
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...
by Dianne Hales | Jun 8, 2021 | art, art history, Books, books on Italy, culture, Florence, history, Italian, Italian language, Italy, Language, learning Italian, Leonardo da Vinci, Leonardo da Vinci, Religion, Roman history, Travel, Tuscany, Web/Tech, Weblogs, women
Lisa Gherardini del Giocondo (June 15, 1479 — July 15, 1542) My quest for the real Mona Lisa began years ago in Florence when I was doing research for LA BELLA LINGUA. An art historian who befriended me casually mentioned during a dinner at her home that the mother...
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...
