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Archive for July, 2010

Gli Alpini – part 1 Posted by on Jul 29, 2010

As I wrote in my last article ‘Al Passo dei Due Santi’, last Sunday my husband, my parents and I went to hear a concert given by the local Alpini choir. Gli Alpini (the Alpines) are an Italian military corps and the oldest active mountain infantry in the world. They are very popular in Italy…

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Al Passo dei Due Santi Posted by on Jul 26, 2010

Yesterday my husband and I took my parents to il Passo dei Due Santi (the Pass of the Two Saints) in the Appennino Tosco- Emiliano, located about 10 km west of Pontremoli a volo d’uccello (as the crow flies). The pass lies on the border between the regions of Toscana in the south and Emilia…

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Come Picchia il Sole! Posted by on Jul 23, 2010

Meriggiare pallido e assorto presso un rovente muro d’orto. To slump at noon thought-sick and pale under the scorching garden wall. These opening lines of Montale’s famous poem (here with a translation by Millicent Bell) perfectly evoke the ambience of a hot summer day. I don’t expect to compete with a Nobel prize winner, but…

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Il Telefono Posted by on Jul 20, 2010

Il telefono, for some a lifeline, for others a necessary evil. It’s good to be in touch, but sometimes ‘ti viene la voglia di buttarlo dalla finestra!’ (you feel like throwing it out of the window!) Here is a bit of useful telephone vocabulary: telefonare a qualcunodare un colpo di telefono a qualcuno chiamare qualcuno…

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Pitone Sbuca dal Water Posted by on Jul 16, 2010

A few days ago I wrote about my morning routine, and my need for una tazzina di caffè to bring me out of the world of dormiveglia. Imagine emerging from bed and stumbling into the bathroom  for your morning ablutions only to see a python pop its head up out of the toilet, now that…

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A Handy Collection Posted by on Jul 13, 2010

When children learn to speak, they progress from using fairly generic terms to more specific ones as they gradually acquire and refine their vocabulary. They might, for example, begin by learning the word ‘dog’, believing that it can be applied to any small four legged animal. They then learn to differentiate dog from cat, rabbit…

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My Morning Routine Posted by on Jul 10, 2010

‘Pericolo di morte’ è il cartello che, secondo mio marito, bisognerebbe appendere nella nostra cucina la mattina prima che io abbia bevuto il mio sacrosanto caffè. (‘Danger of death’ it’s the sign that, according to my husband, should be hung in our kitchen before I’ve drunk my holy coffee.) Yes, like many Italians I’m very…

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