Archive for the year 2011
Tortelli di Zucca Posted by Serena on Nov 12, 2011
Halloween isn’t an Italian tradition, but it’s become popular within the last few years. A friend said to me “ non mi piace Halloween, ma amo le lanterne fatte con le zucche” (“I don’t like Halloween, but I love the pumpkin lanterns”). At this time of year zucche are in abundance, so here is a…
Tu and Lei – Part 1 Posted by Serena on Nov 9, 2011
In Italian we have two main forms of addressing people: the informal tu and the formal lei. We normally use tu with family, friends, and children. Lei is used with people we don’t know, and professionals, such as doctors, lawyers, the police etc. Have a look at the following examples in which the informal is…
Alluvione a Genova Posted by Serena on Nov 6, 2011
I don’t want this to become the ‘Italian Flood Blog’, but the disastrous events which are taking place here at the moment are just too big to ignore. This time it’s the city of Genova on the Ligurian coast that has been very badly hit by torrential rain and floods. In the following video recorded…
Il Milite Ignoto–The Unknown Soldier Posted by Serena on Nov 4, 2011
Today, the 4th of November, is the Giornata delle Forze Armate e dell’Unità Nazionale (Army Forces and National Unification Day). It commemorates the end of the First World War and the unification of Trentino Alto Adige and Friuli Venezia Giulia in the North East of Italy, which were previously under Austrian dominion, with the Regno…
Novembre Posted by Serena on Nov 2, 2011
Nome (Name): The month of novembre (November) takes its name from the Latin word novem (nine) because it was the ninth month in the Roman calendar. Festività (Festivals): On the 1st of November we celebrate Tutti i Santi (All Saints), which is a national holiday. When I was a child the 2nd of November, Tutti…
L’Incubo di Acqua e Fango Posted by Serena on Oct 31, 2011
Here in northern Toscana and Liguria we’re all still pretty much in a state of shock after last week’s devastating flash floods, and in terms of blogging it’s difficult to think of much else. In our little village near Pontremoli we were pretty much cut off from the rest of the world for a few…
Maltempo Flagella Nord Italia Posted by Serena on Oct 28, 2011
A couple of days ago I wouldn’t have imagined that I’d be able to publish this blog today. On Tuesday we were hit by monsoon like rains which caused horrendous flash flooding and widespread damage. Up in our little village in Lunigiana things seemed pretty bad as walls started collapsing, the telephone and internet stopped…