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Archive for June, 2013

Una Visita Dal Cardiologo Posted by on Jun 28, 2013

Lunedì mattina ho accompagnato mio padre all’ospedale per un elettrocardiogramma e una visita cardiologica di routine. L’appuntamento era per le 8.30 del mattino, per cui mi sono dovuta alzare prima delle 7.00 (io che odio alzarmi la mattina presto!), per essere a casa dei miei per le 8.00. Siamo arrivati all’ospedale alle 8.15 e nella…

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The Machine Gun Soloist: Part 2 Posted by on Jun 25, 2013

Luciano Lutring, ‘Il Solista del Mitra’, ‘nemico pubblico numero uno’, fuorilegge, e latitante (‘The Machine Gun Soloist’, ‘public enemy number one’, outlaw, and fugitive). At the end of part 1 we left Luciano at a turning point in his life … si era innamorato di una bella ragazza (he had fallen in love with a…

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Breaking The Boxes Posted by on Jun 21, 2013

Rompere le scatole (to break the boxes) is a very commonly used Italian euphemism for rompere le palle (to break one’s balls), or to be more vulgar rompere i coglioni (to break one’s testicles). This idiomatic expression is used with the meaning of “to really annoy someone”: “Basta, mi stai rompendo le scatole!” (“Enough, you’re…

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The Machine Gun Soloist: Part 1. Posted by on Jun 18, 2013

“Un giorno mia zia mi chiese di andare a pagare una bolletta alle poste. Io andai. Ma l’impiegato era lento e detti un pugno sul bancone. Nel movimento si vide la finta pistola che portavo sotto la cintura. L’impiegato credette che fosse una rapina e mi consegnò i soldi. Io pensai: “È così facile?”. E…

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Without Title Posted by on Jun 13, 2013

At the moment I’m reading a book by the writer Andrea Camilleri, world famous creator of the fictional detective Salvo Montalbano. The book I’m reading, which was published in 2005, is a historical detective novel entitled Privo di titolo (Without title). It’s set in Sicily, Camilleri’s  favourite location for his stories, during the Fascist era…

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Babel’s Tower Posted by on Jun 11, 2013

Last weekend Geoff and I went to Zurigo, Svizzera (Zurich, in Switzerland), for my cousin Francesca’s 50th birthday. Francesca, whose parents are both Italian, grew up in Switzerland, where her father used to work for the Italian Embassy in Zurich. She married a Swiss lawyer, and has two teenage children. Bilingual in Italian and Swiss…

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Focaccia al Mais Posted by on Jun 7, 2013

Just outside Pontremoli there’s a bakery that makes a delicious focaccia al mais (cornmeal focaccia). As much as I’d like to buy it fresh every day, it’s not practical for me and Geoff, because we live in a tiny little village 10 km north of Pontremoli, in the opposite direction from the bakery. So, as…

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