Archive for May, 2012
L’Infinito di Leopardi Posted by Serena on May 16, 2012
A couple of months ago my uncle Luciano gave me a CD on which the great late actor Vittorio Gassman reads some poems from the most important Italian poets of the Romantic era: Ugo Foscolo, Alessandro Manzoni, and Giacomo Leopardi. Listening to them brought to mind the time when, aged eighteen, I had to study…
Bella Posted by Geoff on May 15, 2012
I’ve made a few notes in English at the end of this blog for the words and phrases highlighted in bold. If you have any questions please feel free to leave a comment. Non è stato difficile decidere come chiamarla. Un batuffolo di pelo rosso bianco e nero, occhi accattivanti, e una coda da scoiattolo…
Bagnato Posted by Serena on May 11, 2012
In our last blog we looked at asciutto and secco (dry). Well here comes the rain again, so let’s see what vocabulary we need to describe … wet! umido = damp: il bucato è ancora umido (the washing is still damp) l’umidità (dampness – noun fem.): dopo tutta questa pioggia c’è molta umidità in cantina…
Asciutto Posted by Geoff on May 9, 2012
With all the rain we’ve had over the last few weeks wet and dry has become a bit of an obsession! Over the next couple of blogs we’ll at some of the vocabulary that we use to describe these conditions. Let’s begin with asciutto = dry: ormai il bucato dev’essere asciutto (the washing should be…
Ciambella allo Yogurt Posted by Serena on May 7, 2012
The most traditional Italian home made cake is without doubt la ciambella, a ring-shaped sponge cake which, in recipe books, is often called la ciambella della nonna (Granma’s ciambella) to make it sound more ‘authentic’. To bake una ciambella you need a ring-shaped cake tin, but if you don’t have one you can always use…
Il Nostro Gatto Matto Posted by Geoff on May 4, 2012
Si chiama Smokie, ha appena più di un anno, è un simpaticone … ma matto da morire! Infatti, a volte non siamo sicuri se si tratti di un gatto perché sembra più un canguro, o una giraffa! È arrivato da noi quando era piccino, la sua mamma l’aveva più o meno abbandonato, e lui si…
Articoli per il Bagno Posted by Geoff on May 2, 2012
Here is a useful list of articoli per il bagno (toiletries), with some expressions that you might want to use if you find yourself in Italy or you have some Italian guests staying with you: il dentifricio = the toothpaste, e.g. il dentifricio è quasi finito (the toothpaste has almost run out) lo spazzolino da…