by Dianne Hales | Sep 29, 2020 | Books, books on Italy, creche, history, Italian language, Italy, Language, Religion, saints, Travel, Umbria, Web/Tech, Weblogs
October 4 marks the feast of San Francesco (St. Francis), born in Assisi in 1182, the son of a prosperous textile merchant. Young Francesco, the ringleader of a band of hard-drinking, carousing young men, seemed an unlikely candidate for salvation — let alone...
by Dianne Hales | Sep 1, 2020 | Books, books on Italy, food, history, Italian language, Italy, Language, Religion, Sayings and expressions, Social behavior, Travel, Web/Tech, Weblogs, wine
Even though we may not be able to spend September in Italy, we can enjoy its sayings and stories. Settembre In the ancient Roman calendar, the year began in March. September, the seventh month, took its name from the Latin septem. During this pivotal month, the hours...
by Dianne Hales | Aug 11, 2020 | Books, books on Italy, history, Italian language, Italy, Language, Religion, Roman history, Rome, Social behavior, Travel, Web/Tech, Weblogs
The Roman emperor Augustus (63 BC-AD 14) so enjoyed late summer that he claimed the month we now call by his name. Yet Caesar’s grandnephew, adopted son and chief heir, born Gaius Octavius, seemed an unlikely candidate for any claim to glory. After his great uncle’s...
by Dianne Hales | Apr 7, 2020 | books on Italy, Easter, history, Italy, Language, Religion, Rome, Travel, Uncategorized, Web/Tech, Weblogs
On my first Easter in Rome in the Jubilee year of 2000, I joined the throngs jammed into the massive piazza of St. Peter’s basilica. Pope John Paul II, bent with age, extended Easter greetings in dozens of languages, including Italian. “Buona Pasqua!” the Roman family...
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...
