Archive for May, 2017
La Bruschetta Posted by Serena on May 31, 2017
La bruschetta (pronounced broosketta) is an old peasant recipe which makes use of pane raffermo (left over bread). In the old days it could easily be preprepared during a short break whilst out working in the fields. Nowadays, it’s a popular Italian antipasto, the ‘nibble’ of choice to go with one’s aperitivo. The generic name…
The Mystery Of The Castle Skeleton Posted by Serena on May 30, 2017
Here’s our English translation of last week’s article Il Mistero Dello Scheletro Del Castello: Castello dell’Aquila a Gragnola, in Lunigiana. Arrampicato su uno sperone di roccia, controlla una vista spettacolare a 360 gradi in questo paesaggio così drammatico e di importante passaggio per le armate e il commercio da nord a sud. Castello dell’Aquila (The…
Il Mistero Dello Scheletro Del Castello Posted by Serena on May 26, 2017
Castello dell’Aquila a Gragnola, in Lunigiana. Arrampicato su uno sperone di roccia, controlla una vista spettacolare a 360 gradi in questo paesaggio così drammatico e di importante passaggio per le armate e il commercio da nord a sud. Uno scheletro di uomo coperto da un cumulo di terra e sassi, viene scoperto in un angolo…
In The Hall Of The Mountain King Posted by Geoff on May 25, 2017
What, you may ask, has a piece of music by Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg got to do with the Italian landscape? Let me explain … When I was a child, music was always present somewhere in the background. My mother loved romantic classical music, and had a gramophone collection of popular pieces. Some of those…
The Italian Subjunctive – 3. Perfect Tense Posted by Geoff on May 24, 2017
So far in this series on the Italian subjunctive we’ve covered the Present Tense, and Irregular Verbs. Today we’re going to move on to the slightly more complex congiuntivo passato (perfect subjunctive). Constructing the congiuntivo passato: We construct the congiuntivo passato by using use the present subjunctive of the auxiliary verbs essere (to be) or…
The Foundlings – Nina’s Story Posted by Geoff on May 19, 2017
Here’s my translation of Serena’s recent article I Trovatelli – La Storia Di Nina: Nina è una gattina dolcissima dagli occhi bellissimi. Anche lei, come tutti i nostri mici, è una randagia del paese, che ha contribuito molto alla sopravvivenza della sua razza. Ora che non è più giovanissima (pensiamo che abbia 7 o 8…
I Trovatelli – La Storia Di Nina Posted by Serena on May 17, 2017
A few months ago I wrote a couple of blogs about how we found each member of our feline family. Well now we have a new entry: Nina, a beautiful sweet female cat, who was one of the village strays for several years until she came to us for help. Here’s her story: Nina è…