Archive for the year 2008
Il Cinghiale in Italia (The Wild Boar in Italy) Posted by Serena on Nov 7, 2008
It’s wild boar hunting season here, and that means that twice a week, on Wednesdays and Sundays, we have to be very careful where we go for our camminate (walks) as it’s not just the cinghiali (boars) that might get shot, those hunters use some pretty serious hardware to bring down their quarry. Luckily as…
Buono o Bello? Posted by Serena on Nov 6, 2008
Good or nice? These two adjectives, together with a couple more, have a very strange habit when they precede a noun. Lets look at them! But before doing so you may want to have a look at the articolo indeterminativo (indefinite article) and articolo determinativo (definite article) that I summarized in my previous post “Articles…
Man Rides Pig Underwater! – Part 2 Posted by Serena on Nov 3, 2008
I’m sure you’ve all been waiting for part two of the story of the Maiali (Pigs) or SLC Human Torpedoes that were pioneered by Italy during La Seconda Guerra Mondiale (The Second World War). In part one I explained that the Maiali were transported to the area of operation on board a specially adapted conventional…
E’ morto l’ultimo reduce della Grande Guerra Posted by Serena on Nov 1, 2008
Born on the 23rd August 1898 Delfino Borroni, who died earlier this week, was the last surviving Italian reduce (veteran) of the Grande Guerra (Great War, i.e. WW1). Borroni was called up in 1917 at the age of nineteen to serve in the Bersaglieri Ciclisti (infantry with bikes), and began his combat career on the…
Articles, articles, articles! Posted by Serena on Oct 30, 2008
In English there are only three forms for the definite and indefinite articles: “the, a, an”. But, being Italians, as usual we like to complicate our language and to have as many variations as possible on one little word. Lets start with the articolo indeterminativo (indefinite article: a/an). This is not too bad; we have…
La Cascata delle Marmore Posted by Serena on Oct 28, 2008
Hidden away in Umbria, the green heart of Italy, a wonderful discovery awaits you: La Cascata delle Marmore (The Marmore Falls). The Legend of the falls Once, a beautiful nymph called Nera fell in love with Velino, a handsome shepherd. But the goddess Juno, wife of Jupiter, was jealous of the lovers and transformed…
Autoironia Posted by Serena on Oct 27, 2008
When God created the world and all it’s individual countries, he looked down at Italy and realised that he had been unfair in making it the most beautiful…………so, in compensation, he created the Italians! So goes the old joke, and it illustrates really well our passion for laughing at our national characteristics and ourselves. For…