by Dianne Hales | Sep 22, 2020 | Books, books on Italy, coronavirus, history, Italian language, Italy, literature, Renaissance, Roman history, Rome, Travel, Venice, Web/Tech, Weblogs, women, worldwarII
This year, for the first time in decades, I didn’t go to Italy. But Italy came to me–in the form of wonderful books and programs inspired by a passion for Italy. I was happy to feature them in my summer blogs. The harvest season seems a perfect time to share a...
by Dianne Hales | May 19, 2020 | amore, art history, Books, books on Italy, culture, Current Affairs, Florence, food, Food and Drink, history, Italian language, Italy, Language, Leonardo da Vinci, literature, love in Italy, Music, Renaissance, Romance, Sayings and expressions, Travel, Tuscany, Web/Tech, Weblogs, wine
Not even a global pandemic can stop people from doing what they love. Over the last few months, we’ve seen dancers dance; singers sing; actors perform—wherever and whenever they could. The same is true of writers. While sheltering at home in California, I...
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...
by Dianne Hales | Nov 20, 2019 | Books, books on Italy, culture, history, Italy, Romance, Travel, Venice, Web/Tech, Weblogs
Why Venice means so much to so many… No place on the planet looks like Venice, half sea and half land, an architectural fantasy that rose out of the Adriatic mudflats like a maritime Oz. None may have had a more improbable genesis or left a more remarkable...
by Dianne Hales | Sep 25, 2019 | Books, books on Italy, culture, history, Italy, Language, Travel, Venice, Web/Tech, Weblogs
In the early fifteenth century, a Venetian sailor wanted to bring his fiancée a souvenir of his exotic voyages. Too poor to afford a proper gift, he plucked a ruffled sea plant called Halimeda opuntia from the waters off Greece and carried it home to the island of...
