Summer in Italian: Sailing

by | Jul 20, 2021 | boats, Books, books on Italy, Italian, Italian language, Italian words and expressions, Italy, Language, learning Italian, Sayings and expressions, summer in Italy, Travel, Web/Tech, Weblogs

For years we sailed San Francisco Bay in a boat called Canto del Mare (Song of the Sea). When we started sailing in Italy, we had to master a new maritime vocabulary, starting with the names for various Italian boats (imbarcazioni italiane): *Rowboat — barca a remi...

Summer in Italian: The Beach (La Spiaggia)

by | Jul 13, 2021 | Books, books on Italy, Italian, Italian language, Italian words and expressions, Italy, Language, learning Italian, Sayings and expressions, summer in Italy, Travel, Web/Tech, Weblogs

The beaches on the northern California coast where I live are beautiful, dramatic — and usually windy, foggy and cold in the summer months.  As much as I love walking and jogging on them, none can compare with una spiaggia italiana. If I could, I’d spend...

Summer in Italian: A Season in the Sun

by | Jul 6, 2021 | Books, books on Italy, history, Italian, Italian language, Italian words and expressions, Italy, Language, learning Italian, summer in Italy, Travel, Web/Tech, Weblogs

  Italians sometimes describe themselves as “solari” (sunny, cheerful, radiant). Il sole italiano (the Italian sun) certainly has inspired il culto del sole (sun worship) throughout the peninsula. Could anyone other than Italians have written a love song to the...

Summer in Italian: Swimming

by | 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...