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From Sestri To Punta Manara – Part 1. Posted by Geoff on Dec 27, 2017
It’s the day before Christmas Eve, and we’re in our favourite Pontremoli bar with some friends. “Allora ragazzi, cosa fate per la vigilia?” asks Claudio, the barman. Serena and I have a long standing tradition of going for a walk and having a picnic somewhere beautiful on Christmas day. But this year hanno messo brutto…
Bianco Natale Posted by Geoff on Dec 20, 2017
Yes dear readers, here it is: The Inevitable Festive Blog! I have to admit that we’re not particularly interested in Christmas. We’re not religious, have no children, and don’t care to fill our lives with useless cianfrusaglie, so it simply doesn’t mean much to us. What’s more, we have no TV and live in a…
How To Use Accents In Italian Posted by Geoff on Dec 18, 2017
Spelling in Italian is simple: once you know the basic rules you’ll be able to read a word and pronounce it with a fair amount of accuracy. Knowing where to put the accent, however, is not always so straightforward. Let’s have a look at the rules for using accents in Italian. All words have accents…
Speaking Italian … More Or Less Posted by Geoff on Dec 15, 2017
“Parli l’italiano?” (Do you speak Italian?), “Più o meno” (More or less). I guess that ‘più o meno’ is a reply that many of us might give to the question ‘parli l’italiano?’, vero? Well it’s probably one of the expressions that most students of Italian learn fairly early on. Because just for once in this…
Heard Of Cows? Posted by Geoff on Dec 11, 2017
Heard of cows/herd of cows, get it? Well it could have been worse, I’d originally thought of calling this post ‘As One Cow Said To The Udder’! But that’s enough silly wordplay for today. Last week Serena published Carolina And Marianna Go For Walk, and I felt that this charming little story merited not just…
History In A Map – The Answers Posted by Geoff on Dec 8, 2017
Here are the solutions to our History In A Map quiz. Well done everyone who had a go. Now let’s see how many you got right? 1. Clue: famous 19th Century composer of operas, from Busseto, near Parma. One of his pieces, “Va’ pensiero”, is considered the unofficial Italian anthem = Viale Verdi 2. Clue: a…
History In A Map – A Quiz Posted by Geoff on Dec 5, 2017
If you’ve travelled in Italy you’ll have noticed a commonality amongst the names given to streets and squares. Let’s see if you can identify some of the most well known ones from the clues below, then fill in the missing name. Here’s an example to get you started: Clue: All roads lead there = Via…