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 | Mar 31, 2020 | Books, books on Italy, Easter, history, Italy, Religion, Sicily, Travel, Web/Tech, Weblogs
La Settimana Santa (Holy Week) will be different this year, especially in Italy. I recall the chants of the crowd at St. Peter’s on Palm Sunday, the Pope’s recital of the Stations of the Cross at the Colosseum on Good Friday, the explosion of bells and shouts of...
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 Dianne Hales | Aug 20, 2019 | Books, books on Italy, history, Italy, Language, Sicily, Travel, Web/Tech, Weblogs
“Stai attenta!” (Be careful!), Captain Tonino shouts as I dive into the Tyrrhenian Sea off Sicily’s northeastern tip. I ignore his warning. The Aeolian islands, ancient playground of the gods, shimmer as irresistibly now as in times long past. Above me Stromboli, the...
by Dianne Hales | Jul 16, 2019 | Books, books on Italy, history, Italy, Language, Sicily, Web/Tech, Weblogs
La passione italiana dates back to a time before time when a geologic frenzy carved a boot in the middle of the Mediterranean. Convulsing and colliding, tectonic plates thrust an ancient seabed so high that tiny crustaceans were trapped and fossilized in the Italian...
