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The Vulcania Posted by Geoff on Sep 17, 2013
A few days ago Serena published an article about her Grandmother’s war diary, which you can read here. Reading about Vincenza’s journey from Berbera to Brindisi on the former luxury liner turned Red Cross rescue ship, I became curious as to the history of the Vulcania. A contemporary poster advertising the M.V. Vulcania During its…
Nutella Party! Posted by Geoff on Sep 6, 2013
Ingredients for a Nutella party: 1. Lots of Nutella 2. Home made pandolce (sweet bread) 3. A rocky mountain stream 4. VERY IMPORTANT! Children Nutella parties don’t take place very often in our village here in Lunigiana. Nutella, pandolce, and rocky mountain streams are all pretty easy to find, but what we lack, unfortunately, is…
Let me give you a hand Posted by Geoff on Aug 20, 2013
Mano = hand, like occhio = eye, which we explored in a previous blog, is another word whose roots can be found in a range of vocabulary and expressions which I’ll cover in this blog. But first, let’s have a look at the hand itself. The first thing to note is that la mano is…
Occhio! Posted by Geoff on Aug 13, 2013
The Roman philosopher Cicerone (Cicero) once said: "Ut imago est animi voltus sic indices oculi" ("As the face is the image of soul so the eyes are its mirror"). Above: Sharbat Gula by Steve McCurry We have many interesting expressions in Italian that derive from the word occhio (eye), but let’s begin with the…
Dark Lake Posted by Geoff on Aug 5, 2013
Like groups of dancers frozen in a still photograph, the twisted faggi (beech trees) repose upon a golden carpet of last autumns leaves. The rugged sentiero (footpath) mimics their contortions as it snakes its steep way up past monumental blocks, pried from the cliff faces to our left by winters icy claws and cast down…
Archeologi dell’aria Posted by Geoff on Jul 29, 2013
I’ve always had an interest in the history of aviation and aviation archaeology, so I was particularly fascinated when I found a news item from 2011 about the recovery of a wrecked A-20 bomber and its crew, shot down by German anti-aircraft fire just days before the end of WWII in Italy. Here is an…
Walking on the Clouds Posted by Geoff on Jul 19, 2013
The wind curves over the ridge tearing at shards of cloud and dragging them down towards Lago Santo which lies way below us in its natural amphitheatre. The ragged fragments of cloud dissolve amongst the pines and beeches. We are enveloped in a bigger cloud, visibility drops to a few meters. This draws our attention…